Apply or not to? HELP

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thekiterunner89

thekiterunner89

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Hi

So I'm debating whether to apply or not apply this cycle
Cgpa 3.6 Sgpa 3.0

Got a C+ in chemistry 1, retook it but got a D, however when I transfered to my current school only the C+ was accepted and D was rejected as a credit so not sure what to make of that. However got a B+ in Chem 2 and an A in Orgo 1. And a B in a physics (hate that subject)

Expecting a good mcat score

Over 1000 hours of volunteering at a hospital and 500+hrs other volunteer experiences, over 200 hrs of clincial patient contact

Non traditional applicant. In college now. Started a student club am the president, member of 2 more clubs on campus.

Suffered significant financial crisis, parents were broke started work at 17 by leaving HS. From pakistan so i am not URM unfortunately.

Speak 5 languages fluently and 1 just the basics.

Starting research in August- in physics.

Teaching experience for like 4 years total. Volunteer tutoring experience.. Have not shadowed a DO! Only MDs

Lors from 2 MDs chem 2 professor, orgo professor and physics lab professor(doing research w him too), and two from my major dept (non science)..also a stellar Lor from pre med advisor.
Resident of NYC🙂
Not sure if i am leaving anything out, but...

Any chances??
 
You need to shadow a DO and retake science classes as most schools prefer a DO letter and those which accept an MD letter prefer higher stats.
 
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You need to retake the chem 1 course because AACOMAS will take the most current retake which in your case was the D.

Shadow a DO

Raise your sgpa by retaking any science classes you got lower than a B- in.
 
I'm in senior year, so I can't take chem again, i have 21.5 credits in fall and 22.5 in spring. So I can't add more classes but I'm taking additional science classes to boost the gpa. I still have orgo 2, physics 2 left and I'm taking bio 1 and 2 together (only got ap credit for it but taking at college level now)
I cant take courses after i graduate because financial aid won't pay for them

My pre med advisors know my history pretty well, as does my major advisor. They said i should apply because the upward trend is what speaks, and an essay, secondaries etc.

I REALLY want to apply for the 2016 cycle, i know ill get better grades, i had somethings happen which resulted in my cgpa being VERY low and my sgpa being low, from a 2.0 i have pulled jt up to a 3.6 and by graduation I am expecting a 3.8-3.9.

Someone told me that we can submit our applications online, then add the mcat score and as the semester proceeds we can send in our latest transcripts to our chosen schools. Is this possible?

My aim is either SUNY downstate, SUNY Stony Brook, NYIT and Touro NY. Of course ill be applying to a bunch of other places but maybe ill have a shot in state?

I need help deciding please
 
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thekiterunner89 said:
I'm in senior year, so I can't take chem again, i have 21.5 credits in fall and 22.5 in spring. So I can't add more classes but I'm taking additional science classes to boost the gpa. I still have orgo 2, physics 2 left and I'm taking bio 1 and 2 together (only got ap credit for it but taking at college level now)
I cant take courses after i graduate because financial aid won't pay for them

My pre med advisors know my history pretty well, as does my major advisor. They said i should apply because the upward trend is what speaks, and an essay, secondaries etc.

I REALLY want to apply for the 2016 cycle, i know ill get better grades, i had somethings happen which resulted in my cgpa being VERY low and my sgpa being low, from a 2.0 i have pulled jt up to a 3.6 and by graduation I am expecting a 3.8-3.9.

Someone told me that we can submit our applications online, then add the mcat score and as the semester proceeds we can send in our latest transcripts to our chosen schools. Is this possible?

My aim is either SUNY downstate, SUNY Stony Brook, NYIT and Touro NY. Of course ill be applying to a bunch of other places but maybe ill have a shot in state?

I need help deciding please
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You said your cGPA was 3.6? Thats not low at all.
 
thekiterunner89 said:
I'm in senior year, so I can't take chem again, i have 21.5 credits in fall and 22.5 in spring. So I can't add more classes but I'm taking additional science classes to boost the gpa. I still have orgo 2, physics 2 left and I'm taking bio 1 and 2 together (only got ap credit for it but taking at college level now)
I cant take courses after i graduate because financial aid won't pay for them

My pre med advisors know my history pretty well, as does my major advisor. They said i should apply because the upward trend is what speaks, and an essay, secondaries etc.

I REALLY want to apply for the 2016 cycle, i know ill get better grades, i had somethings happen which resulted in my cgpa being VERY low and my sgpa being low, from a 2.0 i have pulled jt up to a 3.6 and by graduation I am expecting a 3.8-3.9.

Someone told me that we can submit our applications online, then add the mcat score and as the semester proceeds we can send in our latest transcripts to our chosen schools. Is this possible?

My aim is either SUNY downstate, SUNY Stony Brook, NYIT and Touro NY. Of course ill be applying to a bunch of other places but maybe ill have a shot in state?

I need help deciding please
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Be careful. The D on the retake already looks bad.
If you take too many credits, overload yourself and do badly, it's really going to hurt your chances. It's better to take an extra year and get a better gpa than to finish on time (My UG didn't allow people to take 22 creds)

It looks like you are applying MD and DO.
You should have a different gpa for both because they calculate things differently (with retakes, what is considered sci, etc). If you are going DO, definitely retake the D. Even if your school doesn't count it, AMCAS and AACOMAS do.
Your school GPA is not what they see when you apply, so spend some time calculating what it would be for MD and DO [I'm assuming you haven't since you have retaken classes but only have one sGPA]
 
So you are taking MCAT without finishing prerequisites, particularly Biochem? Forget it, and work on your academics. You barely have any record of succeeding in science classes.

Also, as has already been mentioned your sGPA is not a 3.0 for either MD or DO schools.
 
Your gpas will probably be different for MD and DO Applications depending on your retakes because AMCAS averages while AACOMAS takes the most current retake.

As for the D in chem 2 if that was your most current retake you need to retake that for a C or higher because most school don't accept lower than a C for pre reqs.

And definitely try and finish all your pre- reqs before taking the MCAT for the best possible chance of doing well

Check your AMCAS gpa calculations and AACOMAS gpa calculations, they do things different (retaking courses, DO doesn't include math in your Sgpa)
 
.
 
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So the story with the D:- I retook it and got a D because my spouse was in the hospital and had to undergo surgery on their heart, not exactly a graceful period- so during that semeater which was fall last year my grades suffered tremendously- so i had a D in 3
Classes, only one of which I'm retaking that being stats. Unfortunately i have as mentioned earlier 21.5 credits im the fall and spring- i could potentially take it next summer but not too sure of that.

As for the mcat- I am giving it soon and only have orgo left to study. I took Biology 1 and 2 as well as Biochemistry many years ago, those grades were not added to my gpa and have only been noted as Credit on my transcript qs they are HS credits from another country.

Also, my Bio 1 and 2 grade hasnt been added to this- Its gonna boost the sgpa up again.

The only reason I reached out for advice is because my pre mes advisors are pushing me to apply- they're saying my story is "unique" and my life experience matters and adcoms notice that. They also keep stressing on the upward trend on my transcript, in fact my major advisor, minor advisor and MD I'm shadowing say the same things.

I just don't know what to do. My life experience to me doesn't seem that differwnt or unexpected but when i was explaining my Ds i had to get into it, so they seemed pretty amazed by it. I'm not a bad student and ive shown a lot of improvement in sciences-- rhe last cpl years have just taken a bad bad toll on my chem1, algebra and trig, and stats grades- :-/
 
Supernatural17 said:
Your gpas will probably be different for MD and DO Applications depending on your retakes because AMCAS averages while AACOMAS takes the most current retake.

As for the D in chem 2 if that was your most current retake you need to retake that for a C or higher because most school don't accept lower than a C for pre reqs.

And definitely try and finish all your pre- reqs before taking the MCAT for the best possible chance of doing well

Check your AMCAS gpa calculations and AACOMAS gpa calculations, they do things different (retaking courses, DO doesn't include math in your Sgpa)
Click to expand...

If DO doesn't include math in the sgpa then its 3.3, cause i messed up a math class in the fall last year.
 
allantois said:
So you are taking MCAT without finishing prerequisites, particularly Biochem? Forget it, and work on your academics. You barely have any record of succeeding in science classes.

Also, as has already been mentioned your sGPA is not a 3.0 for either MD or DO schools.
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So if i retake chem 1 this summer, and get an A, DO schools would consider that grade?
Also, is there a way to add grades to your aackmas once you submit it online? Like if i want to submit Aug 5 but have a 4.0 in the fall and wanna send those grades. Is there a way I can do that?
 
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AACOMAS doesnt recalculate your grades I believe, you can send a copy of your new transcripts to schools but they also don't recalculate

If you hoping for D -> A, I'd wait to apply
DO schools use only the last attempt. So right now you have a D in a prereq which I'm pretty sure disqualifies you from most schools. (It's not a passing grade, that sucks about your spouse)

It all depends on how good of a school you want to go to. The more your app improves the better school you get into. You might want to consider applying early next cycle
Also your chances as a reapplicant are lower. Since you think your application would benefit from summer/fall grades, I think you should wait
 
Btw, my lowest grades are in stats and math, are you SURE DO schools dont add those, bec if i just use orgo, chem, physics and a summer retake of chem 1, with an A, my sGPA is 3.5. I am retaking stats and the core math class but if that isn't included then it saves me 2 (Ds) hence a low SGPA!

And another thing i need to ask i just signed up for a summer chem1 class. Since i have already taken it once, does it really reflect negatively to DO schools that i took it in the summer just so i can use the grades that come out in the first week of August to apply?
I want nothing more than to apply this cycle, so I'll even take geology to boost my sgpa right now
 
thekiterunner89 said:
Btw, my lowest grades are in stats and math, are you SURE DO schools dont add those, bec if i just use orgo, chem, physics and a summer retake of chem 1, with an A, my sGPA is 3.5. I am retaking stats and the core math class but if that isn't included then it saves me 2 (Ds) hence a low SGPA!

And another thing i need to ask i just signed up for a summer chem1 class. Since i have already taken it once, does it really reflect negatively to DO schools that i took it in the summer just so i can use the grades that come out in the first week of August to apply?
I want nothing more than to apply this cycle, so I'll even take geology to boost my sgpa right now
Click to expand...

Math is definitely not included in sGPA
 
DetectiveAlonzo said:
All these retakes and extra classes don't mean a thang without a MCAT score.
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True but if the sGPA is 3.0 or 3.3, I don't think an excellent or perfect mcat score would change anything. MD schools will immediately screen me out
 
funCapture.PNG
 
Yes. It is a real medical school, but most of the people who go there end up failing anyway and performing poorly on their USMLE;however, going to a Carribean school still gives you access to general surgery programs...in rural south areas. The major downside is the cost.
You will end up in massive debt(just worse debt than your nearby med schools). You would basically be forced into going to school longer for a higher paid speciality (oncology). For instance, the chair at the Anderson Texas health care cancer center went to a Caribbean school. Which is a VERY notable medical institution.

PS>I am using a tablet to type
 
Simpson said:
Yes. It is a real medical school, but most of the people who go there end up failing anyway and performing poorly on their USMLE;however, going to a Carribean school still gives you access to general surgery programs...in rural south areas. The major downside is the cost.
You will end up in massive debt(just worse debt than your nearby med schools). You would basically be forced into going to school longer for a higher paid speciality (oncology). For instance, the chair at the Anderson Texas health care cancer center went to a Caribbean school. Which is a VERY notable medical institution.

PS>I am using a tablet to type
Click to expand...

Going to Trinity is an extremely bad idea and I wouldn't recommend applying there until exhausting all other US based options. Caribbean schools do not give you guaranteed access to diddly squat, certainly not Trinity. If you look at Trinity's most recent match list, the only general surgery spot was a preliminary spot, meaning only internship. They did not get a general surgery residency. Trinity emphasizes small classes but hides the exact number. I would imagine that many more students than the few that matched started out first year and were weeded out. US MD programs calculate match rates based on their starting, not finishing class.

Excepting to match into even general surgery is a reach for many students. Most are just hoping to match at all and not end up with overwhelming debt. Going into a higher paying field is not typically an option. A few outliers from many years ago does not ensure repetition. For every one exceptional match there are many more unmatched students from below the border.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Going to Trinity is an extremely bad idea and I wouldn't recommend applying there until exhausting all other US based options. Caribbean schools do not give you guaranteed access to diddly squat, certainly not Trinity. If you look at Trinity's most recent match list, the only general surgery spot was a preliminary spot, meaning only internship. They did not get a general surgery residency. Trinity emphasizes small classes but hides the exact number. I would imagine that many more students than the few that matched started out first year and were weeded out. US MD programs calculate match rates based on their starting, not finishing class.

Excepting to match into even general surgery is a reach for many students. Most are just hoping to match at all and not end up with overwhelming debt. Going into a higher paying field is not typically an option. A few outliers from many years ago does not ensure repetition. For every one exceptional match there are many more unmatched students from below the border.
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I agree, and I should not have used trinity as my example.
 
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OP, you mentioned taking upwards of 20 credit hours the next 2 semesters. Are those all in classes you NEED to graduate? Could you sub some of those 20+ hours with your retakes? You mention taking additional science classes to boast your sGPA, so could you cut those and sub them with your retakes?
 
Monkitty said:
OP, you mentioned taking upwards of 20 credit hours the next 2 semesters. Are those all in classes you NEED to graduate? Could you sub some of those 20+ hours with your retakes? You mention taking additional science classes to boast your sGPA, so could you cut those and sub them with your retakes?
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No I can't do that, i just need to retake chem1 which I will do in the winter session and since my college doesnt offer it im going to have to end up doing it in the college i transfered from.. doesn't seem like a terrible idea
 
I don't know if you are serious, but your chances of applying and succeeding this cycle are dismal. You haven't even taken the MCAT yet. You can't just say you are going to do fine since:

1) Your past performance in a few of the science classes has been poor.

2) You haven't even taken all of the prerequisites to the MCAT yet.

3) Judging from your grammar on your posts, as well as, you being from another county, verbal is probably going to give you a lot of difficulty.

Familial sickness is a legitimate excuse for the semester you took the class in. However, you still have to show adcoms you are capable of doing well in the class. How do you expect to do well in 21+ credits, when you are preparing for the MCAT, and filling out the primary/secondary applications?

Story matters, essays matter: but unless you show schools you are capable of handling medical school, they mean nothing.

I would recommend you take a gap year, organize yourself and your application, and then apply.
 
Iridescent said:
I don't know if you are serious, but your chances of applying and succeeding this cycle are dismal. You haven't even taken the MCAT yet. You can't just say you are going to do fine since:

1) Your past performance in a few of the science classes has been poor.

2) You haven't even taken all of the prerequisites to the MCAT yet.

3) Judging from your grammar on your posts, as well as, you being from another county, verbal is probably going to give you a lot of difficulty.

Familial sickness is a legitimate excuse for the semester you took the class in. However, you still have to show adcoms you are capable of doing well in the class. How do you expect to do well in 21+ credits, when you are preparing for the MCAT, and filling out the primary/secondary applications?

Story matters, essays matter: but unless you show schools you are capable of handling medical school, they mean nothing.

I would recommend you take a gap year, organize yourself and your application, and then apply.
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My grammar?
I'm sorry I wasn't focusing on my grammar when writing on a random online forum. You can tell me anything else but telling me I'll suffer on the mcat on the verbal reasoning section? Really? I grew up in another country the only reason for mentioning that is because it took a severe toll on me leaving my family behind, I speak better English with a strong American accent than half the people in college with me.

On every practice test I have taken for the MCAT my HIGHEST score has been on Verbal, now its called cars but same thing. It came to the point where my pre med advisor said "stop focusing on verbal" till a week before the exam and do everything else.

But thanks for judging my English which is totally not the issue right now.

Fyi, in case you didn't pick up, I'm giving the MCAT before the fall semester- ie before the 21 credits. My performance on one science (chemistry) class has been poor- which I admit and said I'll retake, consideringn every other grade has been an A or B I can't see how I can't point to a clear upward trend. As for pre reqs, I'll be done with them before I graduate and I mentioned twice (i think) that i have taken all the pre reqs they just didn't transfer over.
 
Random question not about me: does an F in physics 1 later replaced by a B ruin any med school chances? (For someone in sophmore year).
 
OP, retake all F/D/C science coursework. Where you do this is unimportant. Doing well is important. You need to show Adcoms that you can survive medical school, which, so far, you haven't. Your stats currently are lethal for MD schools, and or life support for DO.
 
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thekiterunner89 said:
My grammar?
I'm sorry I wasn't focusing on my grammar when writing on a random online forum. You can tell me anything else but telling me I'll suffer on the mcat on the verbal reasoning section? Really? I grew up in another country the only reason for mentioning that is because it took a severe toll on me leaving my family behind, I speak better English with a strong American accent than half the people in college with me.

On every practice test I have taken for the MCAT my HIGHEST score has been on Verbal, now its called cars but same thing. It came to the point where my pre med advisor said "stop focusing on verbal" till a week before the exam and do everything else.

But thanks for judging my English which is totally not the issue right now.

Fyi, in case you didn't pick up, I'm giving the MCAT before the fall semester- ie before the 21 credits. My performance on one science (chemistry) class has been poor- which I admit and said I'll retake, consideringn every other grade has been an A or B I can't see how I can't point to a clear upward trend. As for pre reqs, I'll be done with them before I graduate and I mentioned twice (i think) that i have taken all the pre reqs they just didn't transfer over.
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No need to get defensive on a "random online forum". If you are expecting everyone to say, yea just apply, then you have your answer and no longer seek advice. As for the MCAT, my point was and still remains that until you have a tangible score, you cannot know where/how to apply. On top of that, you have prerequisite classes you HAVE to retake before applying. Schools will straight up screen you out. Also, if you spend the summer preparing for the MCAT (which is what you should do), what about the primary, secondary, and the rest of the process that needs to be done to apply? That will have to be done with your 21+ credits. And if you do manage to get interviews, when will that happen? During your 21+ credits. These my my 2 cents on this matter. Take my advice and wait to apply or leave it.
 
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Goro said:
OP, "retake all F/D/C science coursework. Where you do this is unimportant"- aren't you not supposed to take courses at any institution outside your current college? I am taking about 6-7 classes (not science) at a sister college (because there is an agreement that between them that allows us to do that). If I take a retake science class there because it fits into my schedule better, does it matter? I have heard several students say that you get automatically screened out if you take classes anywhere but your current college.

For instance, I can't retake Chem 1 despite having done Gen Chem 2 (B), Orgo 1 (A), Orgo 2 (A) till next spring because it isn't available on the days/time I need. I can take it this fall if i take it at another school as mentioned before. What do you think? Is it a deal breaker to do science at a different college?
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No. People do this all the time; many at CC's to save money.


For instance, I can't retake Chem 1 despite having done Gen Chem 2 (B), Orgo 1 (A), Orgo 2 (A) till next spring because it isn't available on the days/time I need. I can take it this fall if i take it at another school as mentioned before. What do you think? Is it a deal breaker to do science at a different college?
 
Your science gap is low and you failed chem. Please do repeat the course wherever you can, univ extension is an option but cc also works. A killer mcat PS score can further help you to show your ability to do science.
 
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