Applying Late; Low SMP GPA

[luftfaust]

My stats:
- 28 y/o non-trad, currently in 2nd year of SMP at a DO school.
- GPA: 3.35c, 3.22s. 3.65 post-bacc, 3.0 SMP (watered down med school classes).
- MCAT: 31 - 12B 9P 10V.
- ~40 hours of combined hospital volunteer and shadowing (2 doctors - OMM specialist & family med MD).
- ~150 hours of community volunteering.
- ~900 hours of research - 1 poster, 1 pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
- 1000+ hours of extracurricular and leadership, mostly at a local church.

I'm worried about my performance at SMP. We were lectured on almost the same material as the DO students, just at a slower pace. I'm just barely over own school's cutoff so will get an II here for now.

My question is, would it be worth applying to other schools this late? If so, should I try to address it in my app? I would appreciate any suggestions.

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[Goro]

It's not too late for DO schools, but with your poor SMP performance, I can't recommend a career in Medicine. You'll get rejected at my school.

Too few hours of clinical volunteering on top of that, to make matters worse. Shadowing is not volunteering. You have yet to prove to Adcoms that you really want to be around patients, or that you know what you're getting into.

My stats:
- 28 y/o non-trad, currently in 2nd year of SMP at a DO school.
- GPA: 3.35c, 3.22s. 3.65 post-bacc, 3.0 SMP (watered down med school classes).
- MCAT: 31 - 12B 9P 10V.
- ~40 hours of combined hospital volunteer and shadowing (2 doctors - OMM specialist & family med MD).
- ~150 hours of community volunteering.
- ~900 hours of research - 1 poster, 1 pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
- 1000+ hours of extracurricular and leadership, mostly at a local church.

I'm worried about my performance at SMP. We were lectured on almost the same material as the DO students, just at a slower pace. I'm just barely over own school's cutoff so will get an II here for now.

My question is, would it be worth applying to other schools this late? If so, should I try to address it in my app? I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[luftfaust]

@Goro Thanks for the reply. Our school did take in numerous 3.0's for the last cycle. Does that make the situation any different? Along with the fact that the coursework was modeled after the medical curriculum? Should I still restrict my application just to my current school?

 

[ZedsDed]

@Goro Thanks for the reply. Our school did take in numerous 3.0's for the last cycle. Does that make the situation any different? Along with the fact that the coursework was modeled after the medical curriculum? Should I still restrict my application just to my current school?

There are DO SMPs that streamline students into the host med school, pending a certain cutoff performance. That is not the same as thinking you would be successful in medicine. Unfortunately, the sub-par performance does not bode well for your potential as a medical student. Hence Goro's hesitance in recommending medicine as a career for you.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Your post bacc was fine, why did you do an SMP?

 

[luftfaust]

To boost my stats even further and apply DO and MD. I really should have known better.

 

[GypsyHummus]

To boost my stats even further and apply DO and MD. I really should have known better.

Well, if your SMP has automatic acceptance, you should be fine.

 

[Goro]

If your school is OK with your performance, then they're your prime target. At my school, we've found that poor SMP performance is a major risk factor for poor performance in our COM, hence our reticence.

So, apply broadly!

 

[j4pac]

To boost my stats even further and apply DO and MD. I really should have known better.

Good teaching lesson for all pre-meds....at your expense.

With your undergrad grades you could have stamped your ticket to many DO programs with one semester of grade forgiveness and volunteering.

 

[DoctorHill]

My stats:
- 28 y/o non-trad, currently in 2nd year of SMP at a DO school.
- GPA: 3.35c, 3.22s. 3.65 post-bacc, 3.0 SMP (watered down med school classes).
- MCAT: 31 - 12B 9P 10V.
- ~40 hours of combined hospital volunteer and shadowing (2 doctors - OMM specialist & family med MD).
- ~150 hours of community volunteering.
- ~900 hours of research - 1 poster, 1 pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
- 1000+ hours of extracurricular and leadership, mostly at a local church.

I'm worried about my performance at SMP. We were lectured on almost the same material as the DO students, just at a slower pace. I'm just barely over own school's cutoff so will get an II here for now.

My question is, would it be worth applying to other schools this late? If so, should I try to address it in my app? I would appreciate any suggestions.

I would still apply, you still have some SMP classes left to complete before you finish? The only weakness is the GPA but the rest of your application is strong and your post bacc is good. If possible, setup a meeting with a faculty with whom you've taken a class that has influence on the adcom committee. Make them aware of your situation and it'll show interest/willingness to do what it takes. Don't give up.

 

[TrueWolverine]

It's not too late for DO schools, but with your poor SMP performance, I can't recommend a career in Medicine. You'll get rejected at my school.

Too few hours of clinical volunteering on top of that, to make matters worse. Shadowing is not volunteering. You have yet to prove to Adcoms that you really want to be around patients, or that you know what you're getting into.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but do adcoms look for specifically volunteer work in clinics or is a paid job acceptable as well? Is patient contact in other healthcare fields (like a PT clinic for example) still seen as beneficial?

 

[Goro]

Paid jobs with patient contact are excellent to have in one's app.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Gotta agree with the above. The poor SMP performance is really going to make things an uphill battle for you. It's sad to see someone that would have been a good candidate without it having his/her chances ruined + losing and money.