Boosting Grades During Application Cycle

[pratzel15]

Greetings,

I've got a pretty tricky decision to make as I feel I need to bolster my grades as much as possible, but I don't know whether applying a little bit later will affect me significantly?

FWIW, I'm a rising Junior attending a highly respected top 5 state school (not California) with a 3.43 cum./3.36 sgpa as it stands...on the lower end because I decided to go the Engineering route and it wasn't as forgiving as I had thought.

I plan to take general biology lab (first half) along with a semester of biochem. lecture at a 4-year university closer to home in 2015-- the year I plan to send out my applications. Both are notoriously hard at my school, and I feel like I need to take all measures to protect my gpa at this point in order to stand a chance. With these courses factored in, I want to send in my AMCAS at the end of june/beginning of july? Can anyone help me gage if this is still a reasonable timeframe to maximize my chances of acceptance?

Kindly appreciate the advice

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[DaenarysDuhh]

Greetings,

I've got a pretty tricky decision to make as I feel I need to bolster my grades as much as possible, but I don't know whether applying a little bit later will affect me significantly?

FWIW, I'm a rising Junior attending a highly respected top 5 state school (not California) with a 3.43 cum./3.36 sgpa as it stands...on the lower end because I decided to go the Engineering route and it wasn't as forgiving as I had thought.

I plan to take general biology lab (first half) along with a semester of biochem. lecture at a 4-year university closer to home in 2015-- the year I plan to send out my applications. Both are notoriously hard at my school, and I feel like I need to take all measures to protect my gpa at this point in order to stand a chance. With these courses factored in, I want to send in my AMCAS at the end of june/beginning of july? Can anyone help me gage if this is still a reasonable timeframe to maximize my chances of acceptance?

Kindly appreciate the advice

I am not totally clear on your timeline, but if you plan to take these courses in the spring of 2015 before you apply, then yes, they will factor into AMCAS's calculation of your GPA if you submit in June/July.

I am not sure where you are planning to take these classes, but be careful about taking them at a community college, because some schools don't accept it...awful

 

[pratzel15]

I am not totally clear on your timeline, but if you plan to take these courses in the spring of 2015 before you apply, then yes, they will factor into AMCAS's calculation of your GPA if you submit in June/July.

I am not sure where you are planning to take these classes, but be careful about taking them at a community college, because some schools don't accept it...awful

Sorry if I wasn't clear at first. I plan to take general bio lab (1st sem.) and biochemistry lecture the summer AFTER I graduate prior to getting my AMCAS verified. The courses will end around the end of June and only then can I go get my AMCAS verified. Is this OK because I've always heard that you should apply on the earliest possible date to maximize chances of acceptance?

Thanks

 

[pandaman2000]

Applying in June isn't considered late so it's fine.

Like the other poster said, make sure your 4 year university you're taking them at isn't a significant drop from your undergrad...would look bad.

This is a far down the road though. You should concentrate on bring that GPA at least above a 3.5+ and getting a good a MCAT. If by that summer your gpa is still ~3.4, you're going to have a tougher time regardless.