Are you post bac material??

[hopefuldoc28]

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[NewmansOwn]

An upward trend is always looked upon favorably, as is research experience. That being said, your GPA is most likely too low for the top formal postbac programs. Perhaps even more importantly, you've taken too many of the prereqs (most formal programs allow you to have only taken one -- maybe two at the most -- of the classes). Give some less structured programs a look, or consider saving money and taking the remaining classes at your local state university. Your BCPM is going to be low no matter what, so you should definitely consider some upper-level science courses to counterbalance.

 

[camaras2480]

Hey everyone!

I am a rising senior at Johns Hopkins majoring in Public Health-- I have only taken a few premed classes (one sem of chem+lab, one sem of bio+lab, one sem of orgo)-- i didn't do so well in these classes (B-'s to one D)...my gpa was about a 2.7 until the summer after my sophomore year I was diagnosed with ADD and started taking medication while my dad was also diagnosed with cancer-- since then I have made deans list every semester (3.7 at least) and brought my GPA up to a 2.97 and by the end of this year will definitely have over a 3.0. I want another chance at taking these classes and another shot at applying to med school. I also have about 4-5 years of research experience. Do you think I have a chance at getting into a respectable post bac school with my history if I explain my circumstances?? I want to do a career changers program as I haven't taken too many pre med classes. Let me know what you think!

You should make a decision: MD or DO.

If DO, I say go forward with Postbac - any program that accepts you, and many will, since you seem on par to break 3.0. The DO application system (AACOMAS) allows grade forgiveness - that is, when you retake a given course, they accept the newer grade, in essence replacing the old one. This allows you to "raise" your GPA much faster than the AMCAS (MD) system, which merely averages the two grades.

If MD, you should look into SMP programs (note that many will require most of your pre-reqs to be complete). These programs are designed to be the desperate, last shot for students to "fix" their uGPA. SMP programs do not hit your uGPA directly; instead, they give you a new GPA to present to the Adcom. The SMP curriculum generally includes courses taken with the medical students, providing you an opportunity to excel at the medical school level.

Note that SMP is more expensive (usually by a lot) than a Postbac.

Also remember, whichever way you go, the MCAT is still a major factor. A strong MCAT (35+) will make things a lot easier on you as you continue down the road to med school.