Average GPA, Need Some Advice

[wanderingstudent10.10]

Hi All,
Well I've been wandering around here for quite some time, (mainly late night searching GPA/MCAT averages and otherwise stressing myself out), but I've never posted, so if I make some mistakes, please feel free to let me know. I'm in my second year of college and could use a little guidance on what my chances are at D.O (and perhaps M.D) school, and any advice some more seasoned pre-meds could offer me. But first, a little about me.

My avg GPA right now is at a 3.44, mostly B+ range and A's, no grades below a B with an upward trend since my first quarter (deans list past two quarters). My science GPA is probably around 3.2ish ( conservative estimate, I haven't officially calculated it out). I am finishing out my first quarter of OCHEM and doing just fine, still need to take physics

My volunteer and clinical work is pretty average, I would say. I volunteer weekly at a hospital, and a crisis clinic as a volunteer counselor, and I work part time as a CNA in a dementia care facility. No research yet, looking to get involved with research next year.

Special Circumstances: I moved 3000k miles my freshman year of college, I commute 2 hrs to and from my college, I am kind of a traditional nontraditional student (married and in my early 20's... my husband is military and has been deployed damn near constantly since I started school), and I was a special education student in high school with a documented disability, nearly didn't graduate because of attendance issues, now I am in college and haven't needed to utilize any disability resources (which I am really proud of myself for).

I don't really know if I am a competitive applicant for D.O school with my current stats (obviously haven't taken the MCAT yet) and if not, if my gpa is salvageable. I guess what I am looking for is some advice. What do I need to do to make myself competitive, am I going the right direction and pursuing the right ECs, and do I still have a shot for becoming a D.O/M.D? I appreciate the help!

Note: I am interested in D.O because I have a strong interest in pursuing primary care.

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[adrian710]

You'll stand a decent shot with a 500+ MCAT for admittance somewhere. Shoot for 504 to have a good shot at a solid amount of schools. Apply broadly.

 

[TheOther]

As a sophomore, you still have a little over a year to polish your application (if you planned on matriculating right out of undergrad). If you want to be competitive, this means increasing your cGPA/sGPA to 3.5+/3.3+, respectively and doing well on your MCAT. Make sure you shadow DOs as well - most DO schools require a letter from one. And honestly, research isn't too necessary. As long as you really start excelling in your classes, do well on the MCAT and continue getting clinical experiences, you should be fine. If you can do summer research that won't interfere with studying for school/MCAT, then that would be ok too, of course.

 

[Goro]

Your GPA is very competitive for any DO school, including mine.

Hi All,
Well I've been wandering around here for quite some time, (mainly late night searching GPA/MCAT averages and otherwise stressing myself out), but I've never posted, so if I make some mistakes, please feel free to let me know. I'm in my second year of college and could use a little guidance on what my chances are at D.O (and perhaps M.D) school, and any advice some more seasoned pre-meds could offer me. But first, a little about me.

My avg GPA right now is at a 3.44, mostly B+ range and A's, no grades below a B with an upward trend since my first quarter (deans list past two quarters). My science GPA is probably around 3.2ish ( conservative estimate, I haven't officially calculated it out). I am finishing out my first quarter of OCHEM and doing just fine, still need to take physics

My volunteer and clinical work is pretty average, I would say. I volunteer weekly at a hospital, and a crisis clinic as a volunteer counselor, and I work part time as a CNA in a dementia care facility. No research yet, looking to get involved with research next year.

Special Circumstances: I moved 3000k miles my freshman year of college, I commute 2 hrs to and from my college, I am kind of a traditional nontraditional student (married and in my early 20's... my husband is military and has been deployed damn near constantly since I started school), and I was a special education student in high school with a documented disability, nearly didn't graduate because of attendance issues, now I am in college and haven't needed to utilize any disability resources (which I am really proud of myself for).

I don't really know if I am a competitive applicant for D.O school with my current stats (obviously haven't taken the MCAT yet) and if not, if my gpa is salvageable. I guess what I am looking for is some advice. What do I need to do to make myself competitive, am I going the right direction and pursuing the right ECs, and do I still have a shot for becoming a D.O/M.D? I appreciate the help!

Note: I am interested in D.O because I have a strong interest in pursuing primary care.