assessment

[peabody]

I was hoping to get some advice as to how competitive an applicant I could expect to be. Any thoughts at all are greatly appreciated!

I will be graduating next month with a major in history and a minor in religious studies. I have a 3.45 GPA from my institution, and a 3.6 GPA when you throw in courses from other schools (from summer sessions). The only relevant science course I have taken was an advanced bio course in which I received an A-. My science GPA is already low, however, having received a B- freshman year in astronomy. I am going to start taking the prereqs this summer and evaluate how my science grades are holding up step by step.

My ECs as they stand now are about average. I tutored for one year at a high school for recent immigrants, volunteered for a few years doing mainly administrative/referral type things at a clinic, was employed at a residential treatment center for troubled kids for about a year, worked as a pharmacy tech part-time for a while, and I volunteered at a clinical psychopharm research program for a semester. I interned with a presidential campaign but that is pretty far afield I guess. I also have probably 1000 hours or more of physician observation, but this was mostly in high school (I had a mentor who was in academic medicine). What sorts of things should I do to complement what I already have? I am afraid my ECs seem a little scattered and insubstantial for any one of them to gain me many points.

My first concern is my transcript. You might say it is a little spotty. I will finish my degree in four years, a few credits over the minimum to graduate, but for serious personal reasons I had to take an underload (2 courses) one semester and I had two other semesters of only three courses. Not to mention my home GPA of only 3.45, including a C+, possibly two. Would this be a serious weakness in my application?

I know it's really going to hinge on how well I do in the prereqs and MCAT, but any advice anyone could provide would really be appreciated. Assuming I do reasonably well, do I have a chance?

Congrats to everyone who has gotten in so far!

-peabody

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[Doctora Foxy]

Hi Welcome to SDN! I bet we go to the same undergrad---feel free to send me a PM (private message, just click the envelope icon above this post)

Unfortunately, I can't answer all of your questions. Your ECs sound way above average. Also, I don't think astronomy is counted as part of the science gpa, but I could be wrong. It won't really matter anyway; I got a C- in chem lab first semester and it hasn't really caused me any problems.

I'm a non-science major too and I think your undergrad will work in your favor when applying :wink:

Good luck with everything! Are you going to the premed meeting tomorrow in Ziv commons? There will be seniors that are going to med school next fall as well as dean simmons to answer questions. I don't know u if you get the premed emails, but it's at 7:30pm on Thursday the 25th. I really think you should go.

 

[SMW]

You sound competitive to me as long as you do well with the pre-reqs. The AMCAS application will simply calculate your cumulative GPA (and science GPA), based on all courses you've ever taken anywhere -- no one will care whether your "home" GPA is a little lower. I had a couple of light quarters, and no one ever mentioned it in a dozen interviews. Your EC's are great -- you've got all the bases covered (volunteer, clinical, research) and the presidential campaign internship will make you stand out from the crowd. You just need some way to tie it all together in your PS and a decent MCAT score. Good luck.

 

[analu]

I second SMW's comments on the MCAT and the PS...these will be key to becoming a competitive applicant. Also, from reading your post, does your low science GPA come from BCPM classes, i.e. biology, chemistry, physics, math? These are the classes figured into your science
GPA, not that astronomy course. Sounded like you were starting to work on your prereq courses. If so, these prereq courses are what your science GPA will be based on, so be sure to kick butt this summer! Good luck and aloha.

 

[peabody]

Thanks so much for the responses - I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for the Ziv tip Dra. Foxy (and congratulations on your Finch acceptance )!

Analu - my low science GPA (as far as I understood it) is only from the B- in astronomy. I haven't taken any of the prereqs yet, so I'm relieved that the astro course won't count towards my science GPA.

I feel better knowing my few light semesters probably won't be a major obstacle SMW.

Again, thanks for the comments.

 

[Wednesday]

Your astronomy class DOES go into your BCPM. I put mine into some other catergory (it was even in the astronomy department of my school) and AMCAS moved it to BCPM. But it really won't matter either way, a B- isn't really that bad. Just rock your prereqs! Good luck.

 

[CosciHasher]

peabody & DF - Let me add my voice to yours as a non-science major who's spent some time in Usdan...

I went through the post-bac thing and thankfully did well in the application process. peabody, your GPA sounds fine - much better than mine ever was. Your job now: choose your post-bac program wisely, do well in the classes and rock the MCATs. I know it sounds like a well-worn tune, but that's just the way it goes.

Keep us posted!

Good luck

 

[Taty]

Does somebody know where are CS classes count ? As a science or what?

 

[Doctora Foxy]

I don't think they count under the science gpa. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[CosciHasher]

They didn't.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

Hi, I found a post-bac thread from last week that you may be interested in reading, so here's the link: <a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=010909&p=" target="_blank">Official Post-Bac/Grad Thread</a>