assess my progress

[medmom]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Okay when I changed my major from nursing to pre-med I had a 2.77. Last semester was a 3.6 (raised cum to .30), this semester I anticipate another 3.6 (raise cum to 3.07) and next semester i anticipate another 3.6 (rais cum to 3.145) Okay so I am taking the MCAT in April. When I apply I should have a 3.14 cum and a 3.24 BCP. so, my questions;
1) Is that enough of an upwards trend?
2) would I be at all competetive?
3) what kind of an MCAT range would be good?
I am doing an internship with a DO and also a MD, ec's should be as good as I can get because I also have 3 kids. Any other suggestions to help improve?
These are the schools I am going to apply to:
1. West virgina
2. Virginia
3. Kirksville
4. Michigan
5. Lake erie
6. UNE
7. New jersey
8. Washington?
👍 👎

 

[supersash]

i'm just another pre-med, but from what i hear, the upward trend is a very good thing, and 3 consecutive over 3.5 semesters looks good to me! i'm in a similiar situation, terrible freshman year (GPA way lower than yours) bringing down my cum GPA. i will probably only graduate with a 3.15 cum.

i'm also curious to hear what a competitive MCAT would be with those stats (like i said, mine are similar).

great job bringing it up, and good luck!

 

[dr.z]

I think you'll have a decent shot depending on your MCAT if you can keep the upward trend.

 

[Nate]

Great job with the grades, keep it up! I think you should shoot for the best MCAT you can. I made my cut-off for retaking it a 28, but I think that as long as you score upwards of 26 you should be competitive. If you work hard you can do it and this is coming from a parent. Good luck

 

[USArmyDoc]

Okay when I changed my major from nursing to pre-med I had a 2.77. Last semester was a 3.6 (raised cum to .30), this semester I anticipate another 3.6 (raise cum to 3.07) and next semester i anticipate another 3.6 (rais cum to 3.145) Okay so I am taking the MCAT in April. When I apply I should have a 3.14 cum and a 3.24 BCP. so, my questions;
1) Is that enough of an upwards trend?
2) would I be at all competetive?
3) what kind of an MCAT range would be good?
I am doing an internship with a DO and also a MD, ec's should be as good as I can get because I also have 3 kids. Any other suggestions to help improve?
These are the schools I am going to apply to:
1. West virgina
2. Virginia
3. Kirksville
4. Michigan
5. Lake erie
6. UNE
7. New jersey
8. Washington?
👍 👎

I think you are good to go if you can score a 25+ on the MCAT. You trend is very promising and I think it will erase any doubts about your ability to become a physician. This is of course based that you do well on the MCAT.

 

[fitnessexpert]

A lot of schools look at the last two years of classes and graduate school because they know that some people have a hard time adjusting to college life.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Do well on the MCAT and apply to any DO school you'd like. Be sure to be one the guys who has AACOMAS finished early. start working on the DO letter now and the LORs.

 

[smc927]

Believe it or not your story is very common. You are doing the right things. Apply with confidence!

 

[elise]

I had a cum. GPA of 1.63 for my freshman year. I think that's the lowest I've heard of here. But the next year, I had a 4.0, and after that a/b grades for the rest of college. I have the same concerns as you do, because my GPA is only a 3.2 overall, 3.4 science, and it would be .2 or more higher without that stupid year. I had a 30 mcat, and I'm planning on just telling them the truth about what happened.

I had some serious issues that year, I didn't just spend my time partying or something; I was diagnosed with OCD as a child, and my mother hid it and refused the recommended treatment. That year I went nuts with the compulsive behaviors, until I hardly ever even left my room, ate, or slept. When I got pneumonia later in college, I got my medical records for the campus health center, and was shocked to learn that my mother had done that. In hindsight, an idiot in a hurry could have known I had OCD, so I feel stupid about being the last one to know, but I always trusted my family doctor and mother, and thought that it must just some character flaw of mine.

I'm sure if you are just honest about what happened, without being overly apologetic/pathetic, you'll be fine. I was once asked why I was still trying to get into medical school after all that, and I responded "well should I crawl in a hole and die?" Life goes on, and having the ability to make it go on after some -the ground should be swallowing me up right about now- event is a strength in my opinion.

 

[docmd2010]

I had a cum. GPA of 1.63 for my freshman year. I think that's the lowest I've heard of here. But the next year, I had a 4.0, and after that a/b grades for the rest of college. I have the same concerns as you do, because my GPA is only a 3.2 overall, 3.4 science, and it would be .2 or more higher without that stupid year. I had a 30 mcat, and I'm planning on just telling them the truth about what happened.

I had some serious issues that year, I didn't just spend my time partying or something; I was diagnosed with OCD as a child, and my mother hid it and refused the recommended treatment. That year I went nuts with the compulsive behaviors, until I hardly ever even left my room, ate, or slept. When I got pneumonia later in college, I got my medical records for the campus health center, and was shocked to learn that my mother had done that. In hindsight, an idiot in a hurry could have known I had OCD, so I feel stupid about being the last one to know, but I always trusted my family doctor and mother, and thought that it must just some character flaw of mine.

I'm sure if you are just honest about what happened, without being overly apologetic/pathetic, you'll be fine. I was once asked why I was still trying to get into medical school after all that, and I responded "well should I crawl in a hole and die?" Life goes on, and having the ability to make it go on after some -the ground should be swallowing me up right about now- event is a strength in my opinion.

firstly, props for overcoming tje struggles that you underwent...i respect what you have overcame and think you will make a great physician. good job on the mcat too!
i too started off low, 2.49 overall my first smester, but i'm applying with a 3.52, (busted my butt during the next 2.5 years, basically got nothing lower than 3.7). i got a 25 on the mcat which isn't great, but hopefully i'll get in somewhere. i wish you the best.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Okay when I changed my major from nursing to pre-med I had a 2.77. Last semester was a 3.6 (raised cum to .30), this semester I anticipate another 3.6 (raise cum to 3.07) and next semester i anticipate another 3.6 (rais cum to 3.145) Okay so I am taking the MCAT in April. When I apply I should have a 3.14 cum and a 3.24 BCP. so, my questions;
1) Is that enough of an upwards trend?
2) would I be at all competetive?
3) what kind of an MCAT range would be good?
I am doing an internship with a DO and also a MD, ec's should be as good as I can get because I also have 3 kids. Any other suggestions to help improve?
These are the schools I am going to apply to:
1. West virgina
2. Virginia
3. Kirksville
4. Michigan
5. Lake erie
6. UNE
7. New jersey
8. Washington?
👍 👎

UNE-COM & KCOM are your best bets

You should also apply to AZCOM.

 

[TAI786]

Honestly, Elise and medmom, both of you guys impress the hell out of me. The amount of will power and fortitude it takes to turn something around like that is beyond me.

@Medmom: I'm not fit to give you a school-by-school breakdown of where you'll get admissions, but (as Elise pointed out) have a solid explanation for why your GPA was so poor when you switched to pre-med. If a med school admissions committee still discriminates against you for the earlier slip-ups, it's their loss.

@Elise: <<I feel stupid about being the last one to know>>
In hindsight everything seems as if it should have been obvious enough. But, in real time, nothing's that apparent. Don't blame yourself.

 

[medmom]

thanks for the encouragement guys. I hope osudoc is right because UNE is my first choice 😍 . The only thing is that I don't have some great excuse for my bad grades. I was just a nursing major and I wasn't that into it. Also, I figured that I was just going to be a nurse so I really didn't need to know that much. I mean why does a nurse need stats anyways? So, I slacked off. Also, I had my first daughter and I just wasn't sure how to manage everything effectively. 👎 Bad excuse I know. So, if they have to ask I don't have some awesomely valid reason like elise.

 

[WhiteMage]

i messed up my freshmen year by taking very few classes, and i was on academic probation. i'm a soph now, and i messed up again by taking too many credits. i'm hoping to boost my cum GPA by repeating the courses i flunked and get it replaced by a better grade. i hope everyone feels better because i want to apply to medical school. no doubt i won't get in, but i'm willing to try and explain myself to them..if explaining is feasible at all..we'll see how i do on the MCATs next year. i'm the underdog

I had a cum. GPA of 1.63 for my freshman year. I think that's the lowest I've heard of here. But the next year, I had a 4.0, and after that a/b grades for the rest of college. I have the same concerns as you do, because my GPA is only a 3.2 overall, 3.4 science, and it would be .2 or more higher without that stupid year. I had a 30 mcat, and I'm planning on just telling them the truth about what happened.

I had some serious issues that year, I didn't just spend my time partying or something; I was diagnosed with OCD as a child, and my mother hid it and refused the recommended treatment. That year I went nuts with the compulsive behaviors, until I hardly ever even left my room, ate, or slept. When I got pneumonia later in college, I got my medical records for the campus health center, and was shocked to learn that my mother had done that. In hindsight, an idiot in a hurry could have known I had OCD, so I feel stupid about being the last one to know, but I always trusted my family doctor and mother, and thought that it must just some character flaw of mine.

I'm sure if you are just honest about what happened, without being overly apologetic/pathetic, you'll be fine. I was once asked why I was still trying to get into medical school after all that, and I responded "well should I crawl in a hole and die?" Life goes on, and having the ability to make it go on after some -the ground should be swallowing me up right about now- event is a strength in my opinion.

 

[TAI786]

I don't think that's a bad explanation, just combine it together: On one hand you were growing disenchanted with pursuing a profession in nursing (you didn't find it challenging and weren't sure it was what you wanted to be doing the rest of your life), and on the other hand you had many other things going on in your life (as in, you had a child that required the majority of your day). The equilibrium (-big word in osteopathy-) was lost and your grades reflected it.

Something like that doesn't necessarily have a place in your application (unless you can make it fit in *very* briefly so you'll still have enough time to convey your ambitions and future goals), but it's the type of thing that's going to come up in an interview. In any case, I don't forsee it being that big of a problem, you changed your major to something more difficult, and you still improved. That, alone, speaks for itself. Good luck!