Bad Bio grade low gpa

[helpmeout123]

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Hi I'm just trying to figure out what my chances are on getting into MD schools now and whether I should retake bio and the mcats.
I'm going to be a Senior at an Ivy League school and currently have a 3.15 GPA and 3.0 Science GPA. I had a terrible freshman year with 8 credits of bio averaging between D+ and C-. I've been bringing it up since then and took the MCATS this summer an got 12PS 10VR 9BS M. I'm worried that the bad bio and 9BS MCAT will be a black mark on my app so should I retake the class or MCATs or both?
For extra curriculars I'm a varsity athlete, had a summer in a diet office in the hopital, currently volunteer in the local ER and plan on working for a surgeon in my gap year.
Do I have a chance of getting into NY/PA med schools and would retaking bio help me out at all? Thanks for your help.

 

[Dartmouth2005]

Hi I'm just trying to figure out what my chances are on getting into MD schools now and whether I should retake bio and the mcats.
I'm going to be a Senior at an Ivy League school and currently have a 3.15 GPA and 3.0 Science GPA. I had a terrible freshman year with 8 credits of bio averaging between D+ and C-. I've been bringing it up since then and took the MCATS this summer an got 12PS 10VR 9BS M. I'm worried that the bad bio and 9BS MCAT will be a black mark on my app so should I retake the class or MCATs or both?
For extra curriculars I'm a varsity athlete, had a summer in a diet office in the hopital, currently volunteer in the local ER and plan on working for a surgeon in my gap year.
Do I have a chance of getting into NY/PA med schools and would retaking bio help me out at all? Thanks for your help.

First, what is your state of residency?

Second, what are your other science grades? I am wondering how you have a 3.0. Is it just the Bio?

 

[Doctor246853]

Hi I'm just trying to figure out what my chances are on getting into MD schools now and whether I should retake bio and the mcats.
I'm going to be a Senior at an Ivy League school and currently have a 3.15 GPA and 3.0 Science GPA. I had a terrible freshman year with 8 credits of bio averaging between D+ and C-. I've been bringing it up since then and took the MCATS this summer an got 12PS 10VR 9BS M. I'm worried that the bad bio and 9BS MCAT will be a black mark on my app so should I retake the class or MCATs or both?
For extra curriculars I'm a varsity athlete, had a summer in a diet office in the hopital, currently volunteer in the local ER and plan on working for a surgeon in my gap year.
Do I have a chance of getting into NY/PA med schools and would retaking bio help me out at all? Thanks for your help.

Good job on the mcat! If you KNOW you can score higher then go for it but PLEASE dont come back and post you got a 30M, Ill cry for you. You really have to bring up that gpa tho. Are you URM? The athlete status will help.

 

[Catalystik]

Applying right now would give you less than a 25% chance of an acceptance, considering the lateness of the cycle, the sparse ECs, the low BCPM GPA, and the low grades in prerequisites. Your MCAT score is not a hindance to an acceptance, but your grades are. If your recent grades have been excellent, you might consider a Special Masters Program, to override the low undergrad GPA, as another year of college or a formal postbac won't be enough to get your GPA into a more competitive range.

 

[helpmeout123]

Hi all thanks for the replys,
I'm from NY.
As far as my other Science classes I have C+ and B- chem. (Bad freshman year). A and B+ Physics, B+ and B- orgo, A- microbio, A- biochem, B and A- anatomy and lab, A stats and A calc.
I would consider an SMP I guess if that would be more helpful than getting some good clinical experience.
Really the most important thing at this point is the decision whether to retake bio or to take some other upper level bio stuff to improve the gpa.
Thanks again

 

[Catalystik]

Average clinical experience for applicants seems to be about 150 hours over 1.5 years. You'll be expected to have some no matter where you apply, MD or DO schools. If you prefer MD to DO, I think that would be more likely to happen with either an extraordinarily high MCAT score (say 35+), assuming a steep upward grade trend in the sciences, or if you complete an SMP with excellent grades.

To answer your most pressing question, consider:
Retaking those C-/D+ Bio classes might enable you to get a much higher Bio subscore.
Some med schools require Bs or better in prerequisites, but not all, so you'll need a good understanding of the schools' expectations that you intend to target.
You might be fine just taking upper-level Bio and getting some As for many schools.

I personally lean in favor of retaking, as it likely to help you, and certainly won't hurt except for the time required (and possibly expense), but that doesn't mean it's 100% essential that you do so.