At a bit of a crossroads, any advice?

[willtrytilidie]

Hi, I'll try and keep it short and sweet and leave out what I can

So, long story short: I finished undergrad July of 2019 with a cGPA in the ~2.7s, I've since taken about 22 credits post-bac at my local CC (orgo 1, Micro, etc) and have gotten all A's (one withdrawal) and my cGPA is currently at 2.93, with one class (online biochemistry) in progress, which I should get an A in.

I did terrible during the CC portion of my undergrad, as I signed up straight from high school in 2011 and basically registered for 6 classes in two semesters- never showed up either semester and got 6 F's.. I took 3 years off from school to work and registered again in 2014, transferred to a state university in 2017 and finished my bachelors with about a ~3.4 junior year and ~3.5 senior year, and now 4.0 postbac about 22 credits in.

Anyway, while my cGPA is 2.93, my sGPA is at 3.01. I'm obviously not planning on applying this cycle, so my dilemma now is that, I'm basically tapped out in science courses to take at my CC. All that's left I could take there is Orgo 2, which I'm going to do in the spring. At this point with how close I am to a cGPA of the bare minimum 3.0, I'm a bit conflicted as to whether I should re-enroll at the university i graduated at and take some upper level courses I have not yet taken, or just go straight for an SMP, possible masters program. I'd really appreciate anyone's personal opinion on what they'd do in this situation! The problem with the upper level science route is that even at my uni, I've taken most of the relevant upper level science courses as well lol and probably have only a few I could take.

I have all A's in my prereqs except a B in physics 1 and a B in A&P 2. I've got A's and B's in neurobiology, genetics, immunology, vertebrate histology, pathophysiology. I am currently studying for the MCAT and finishing biochem while working as a scribe/medical assistant in private practice neurology. I have about 1500 hours here and 3400 hours as an emergency room scribe. Is it a bad idea to retake some of my B's? Money isn't really an issue for me right now, and I know I'd get an A in anything I had a B in since I'm not working nearly as much as I was when I took those classes and have nothing but time to study. But I'm worried that this may not be a great look.

Again, thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and I'd love to hear any opinions on whether a SMP or masters would be a better option for me than to keep grinding out whatever post-bac classes I can to raise my cGPA further (also, I realized this post ended up being long anyway. Sorry!)

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[8YearsLate]

Retaking B's won't really help you. Taking harder versions of that class (i.e. getting an A in a restricted prerequisite dissection course to make up for a B in A&P) might look good and continue to boost GPA. Did you calculate your GPA improvement before you began taking prereqs or just hope for the best? (no judgement, just curious - wish it would have gone up more for you!) I think if you get a really killer score on MCAT, you'll find a school (probably DO) that's willing to look past your shaky beginning and focus on your successful recency. I really can't comment on SMP vs. Masters, because I know that med schools look at those separately, so they won't "erase" your GPA/sGPA. Someone will be able to offer more advice, but the advice is probably going to be something along the lines of "do not take any more CC credits, get A's in upper-levels at a University, get to a 3.2, and get a 508+ (DO) or 515+ (MD) on MCAT to be in the running."

 

[Calizboosted76]

I was in a similar boat. I have a 2.97 sGPA and a 2.67 cGPA. I took the time to do 60 credit hours of upper level sciences at the end of my bachelors degree and finished those at a 3.8 GPA. I got a 506 MCAT and I am sitting on two interviews with a third looking very promising (due to getting a secondary and this specific school only sends those to they are interested in interviewing. Keep pushing, if this is something that you want you will get there one way or another.

 

[Faha]

Just take some non science courses at the CC in the spring (in addition to the Orgo class) in order to raise your cGPA to 3.0 .

 

[DO2015CA]

I’d recommend studying for the mcat and taking that. If you get a competitive score then either do SMP or take non-science courses (ethics? Sociology? stuff you could spin as taking it to aid help you as a dr) to boost above 3.0. Your science is already there. Just need to get the cGPA. Obviously sciences would be better because it will raise both. But really you need the cGPA to move past 3.0 for filter cut offs

 

[8YearsLate]

Just take some non science courses at the CC in the spring (in addition to the Orgo class) in order to raise your cGPA to 3.0 .

I don't know if this holds true in all areas, but I know that as a "second-degree-seeking" student, I did not qualify to take non-biomed-related courses. I think I would have had to like, pay out of pocket and audit it, OR change my major or add a minor that required those classes. There were classes (like sociology) that I was hoping to take during my post-bacc, but it was not feasible/worth it. Just a consideration.

 

[deleted1066189]

What's your goal score for the MCAT? I'd recommend 2-3 months fulltime studying if you can.

Not sure if you want to spend another 2 years fixing your application, up to you! You could always jump the gun and apply podiatry after taking the MCAT (you wouldn't have to do particularly well). That said, it's not a path most people would bother considering.