Apply now, or wait another year?

[ErinC9132]

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Hi all,

My stats:
Undergrad GPA: 2.58 (from Stanford... probably doesn't help though!)
Post-bacc GPA: 4.0 (all of the med school pre-reqs taken here)
Cumulative undergrad GPA (including post-bacc): 3.02
BCPM: 3.22
Will take the May 10th MCAT... we'll see how that goes! 🙂 From my practice tests so far, I think I can get somewhere in the 33-35 range...
Worked as a clinical research coordinator for 3 years before going back to my post-bacc... LOTS of patient interaction (and two great rec letters to prove it!)

My question is this: should I wait a year and take a few more classes/get more patient experience to improve my application, or just apply this year (starting in June)? One caveat: I'm a CA resident, and I'm considering moving to FL this summer for personal reasons. Don't know how this will affect me, applications-wise... I figured I don't have a great chance of getting into the UC's, so a FL resident status (applying to the FL public schools) might actually be a better shot than my current CA resident status (applying to the UC's)...

If you've read this far, thank you!! Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. 🙂

 

[violette]

Getting into CA schools is going to be nearly impossible. I went to the same school as you, but had a somewhat higher GPA. After my postbacc my GPA should get close to 3.5. Nonetheless, everyone I spoke to told me to change my state residency if I could. One thing I can suggest is applying to a large number of private schools this year. Moving over the summer, taking more classes in Fl, and reapplying next year if you don't get in on the first try. Good luck. What was your undergrad major, btw?

 

[Blade28]

At what institution did you take all your post-bac pre-reqs?

 

[ErinC9132]

Thanks so much for reading! My undergrad major was HumBio (a horrible choice in retrospect - should have stuck with the history classes I actually did well in!). I actually bounced around a bit for my post-bacc - did most of it at San Francisco State, with a summer at Santa Clara and an extra semester at San Jose State.

Your advice is *exactly* what I was thinking, so it's good to get some support. 🙂

 

[Ferrismonk]

I'm not sure how much this helps, but I applied and was rejected from the school I wanted to get into. I talked with the admission director on what I could do to improve my application and reapplied for the following year after doing everything that she said. I was accepted the second time largely because I had proved my commitment to that school. So my advise is to apply then reapply if you don't get in. Just make sure you've improved your application between the two apps. 😀

 

[gman33]

I'd take at least one more year of classes before applying. You really need to raise both GPAs in order to have a realistic shot at any schools. You also might need to do a SMP after that.

It probably wouldn't hurt anything (except financially) to apply to some schools this time, but you'd need to apply very broadly. 40+ schools and those fees add up.

 

[ErinC9132]

So apply to several private schools (plus the FL schools) this June, move to FL over the summer, and see what happens... then if no acceptances, re-apply as an official FL resident? That way I would have "reapplicant" status at all of the FL schools, which might help? Thanks for the advice about contacting admissions people - I can definitely see how that would be smart. 🙂

I definitely see what you're saying about raising my GPA... but I can't really afford to go full-time student again! Would a couple of A's earned in night classes really help me out that much?

 

[gman33]

I don't like to see people apply with an unrealistic plan.
Let me be blunt; this is not intended to be mean.

Your gpa is way too low to have a realistic shot at any MD schools.
Now if you want to apply just to see what happens, go ahead but you need to apply to 40+ schools at a minimum. I wouldn't recommend it.
You need another 60 credits at UG level, or 30 UG + a SMP.
I understand not being able to go to school full-time now, but this is what you need to do if you want to get into med school. You can do this part-time while working, but then it will take longer.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[ErinC9132]

Ouch. That one hurts. But thanks for the honest opinion...

Out of curiosity, if my main goal is to work autonomously with patients, and you don't think I have a shot at med school, would you recommend PA/DO school instead? Any other thoughts?

 

[hawk126]

Stanford undergrad will certainly help (even though your GPA isn't so hot). Even if you get a 34 or so it's going to be tough in CA; although even with another year's worth of undergraduate credits your GPA isn't going to move a whole lot. I guess I would take another year's worth of upper division science coursework and hit the MCAT review books hard. If you're scoring 33+ on your practice exams, there's no reason to think you couldn't score 36+ after a solid year of additional studying. I would think that a 36+ and at 3.2 would make you somewhat competitive in CA, and really competitive at private schools all over the country. Good Luck!!

 

[Blade28]

Out of curiosity, if my main goal is to work autonomously with patients, and you don't think I have a shot at med school, would you recommend PA/DO school instead? Any other thoughts?

Quick bit of clarification - DO school IS med school. For all intents and purposes (especially at this stage of the game), MD = DO.