cGPA 3.19/sGPA 3.02 with large amount of clinical experience?

[dread090]

DO-
cGPA: 3.19
sGPA: 3.02

MD-
cGPA: 2.94
BCMP: 2.85

MCAT: Have not taken it yet but for the sake of this thread let's assume I pull off 30-32.

Degree's-
B.S. Biological Sciences
A.S. Registered Nursing

Relevant Experience-
EMT 1.5 years, 30 hours per week
Emergency RN 1.2 years, 36 hours per week
Case Management RN 8 months, 16 hours per week

Extracurricular:
Alpha Phi Omega: Community Service, served as Sergeant-at-arms
National Student Nurse Association: Community Service, served as President

Backstory: I attended UC Irvine for undergrad, couldn't figure out my plan and was not motivated enough to do well. Upon graduation I had great difficulty finding employment so I went back to school to continue taking classes. Eventually I made the decision to pursue the nursing field. En route to my nursing license I became an EMT to begin immersing myself into the healthcare field and worked for 1.5 years on the ambulance. During my nursing program I realized that nursing was not my primary calling and I began concurrently retaking my science classes to improve my GPA. I did not drop out because I always finish what I start, and I figured the more experience I gain the more proficient I will be as a healthcare provider. I then graduated my nursing program and obtained my RN license. During my time in the hospital working closely with staff, patients, families, and physicians, it was reaffirmed for me that I was set on pursuing a career in medicine. I've been working on my GPA for a long time now and I will have worked as an RN for 1 year and 3 months in the emergency department of a medium size hospital and also worked a second job as an RN case manager for hospice patients for 8 months at the time of application to medical school.

I intend on applying primarily to DO schools (WesternU being my top choice) so I'd like to know thoughts on that, but out of curiosity what do you guys think about MD too?

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[Etyan]

The MD route will be hard without pulling a solid 33+ and at least 30-60 units of postbacc 4.0's, or a SMP. Your clinical experiences are certainly fantastic - the problem, however, is that with low stats there's a good chance your application might never reach a human eye.

Applying selectively to schools you have been in communication with will certainly help for getting into a MD program, but your stats need to show pretty dramatic improvement. Good luck!

DO-
cGPA: 3.19
sGPA: 3.02

MD-
cGPA: 2.94
BCMP: 2.85

MCAT: Have not taken it yet but for the sake of this thread let's assume I pull off 30-32.

Degree's-
B.S. Biological Sciences
A.S. Registered Nursing

Relevant Experience-
EMT 1.5 years, 30 hours per week
Emergency RN 1.2 years, 36 hours per week
Case Management RN 8 months, 16 hours per week

Extracurricular:
Alpha Phi Omega: Community Service, served as Sergeant-at-arms
National Student Nurse Association: Community Service, served as President

Backstory: I attended UC Irvine for undergrad, couldn't figure out my plan and was not motivated enough to do well. Upon graduation I had great difficulty finding employment so I went back to school to continue taking classes. Eventually I made the decision to pursue the nursing field. En route to my nursing license I became an EMT to begin immersing myself into the healthcare field and worked for 1.5 years on the ambulance. During my nursing program I realized that nursing was not my primary calling and I began concurrently retaking my science classes to improve my GPA. I did not drop out because I always finish what I start, and I figured the more experience I gain the more proficient I will be as a healthcare provider. I then graduated my nursing program and obtained my RN license. During my time in the hospital working closely with staff, patients, families, and physicians, it was reaffirmed for me that I was set on pursuing a career in medicine. I've been working on my GPA for a long time now and I will have worked as an RN for 1 year and 3 months in the emergency department of a medium size hospital and also worked a second job as an RN case manager for hospice patients for 8 months at the time of application to medical school.

I intend on applying primarily to DO schools (WesternU being my top choice) so I'd like to know thoughts on that, but out of curiosity what do you guys think about MD too?

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I'm not an expert for DO by any means, but I think you would have a solid chance if you can get a 30s MCAT. Because of the relatively low GPA, make sure you apply broadly and to schools that will appreciate your path to medicine. However, it's great that you got your sGPA to break the 3.0 barrier. P.S. --You may get some feedback from Goro (or other faculty/adcom members) that you should put much more weight on than what I say.

As far as MD goes, it's going to be tough with a sub-3.0 GPA. Many MD schools have hard cutoffs at 3.0+. Of course a high MCAT will help, but I would not expect getting much attention. If you do apply MD, make sure you specifically target schools based on mission, etc. I might even recommend calling them and asking if you would be given full consideration. It's not worth the time, effort, money, and stress to go through secondaries and wait for months if you, realistically, have no chance.

You and I are in a similar place with stats/experience. A mid-high 30s MCAT has been enough to get me interviews at a couple of MD schools, but it's not looking too promising beyond that. My one regret so far is that I didn't apply to enough DO schools. I'm rooting for you, and I think some school out there will be lucky to get you. Rock the MCAT, apply early, tell your story, and make sure you're not just applying widely, but smartly.

Good luck!

 

[Goro]

Zero chance for MD programs, even with a 45 MCAT and OK chances for DO. The very low sGPA is a cause for concern. Retake all F/D/C science coursework

DO-
cGPA: 3.19
sGPA: 3.02

MD-
cGPA: 2.94
BCMP: 2.85

MCAT: Have not taken it yet but for the sake of this thread let's assume I pull off 30-32.

Degree's-
B.S. Biological Sciences
A.S. Registered Nursing

Relevant Experience-
EMT 1.5 years, 30 hours per week
Emergency RN 1.2 years, 36 hours per week
Case Management RN 8 months, 16 hours per week

Extracurricular:
Alpha Phi Omega: Community Service, served as Sergeant-at-arms
National Student Nurse Association: Community Service, served as President

Backstory: I attended UC Irvine for undergrad, couldn't figure out my plan and was not motivated enough to do well. Upon graduation I had great difficulty finding employment so I went back to school to continue taking classes. Eventually I made the decision to pursue the nursing field. En route to my nursing license I became an EMT to begin immersing myself into the healthcare field and worked for 1.5 years on the ambulance. During my nursing program I realized that nursing was not my primary calling and I began concurrently retaking my science classes to improve my GPA. I did not drop out because I always finish what I start, and I figured the more experience I gain the more proficient I will be as a healthcare provider. I then graduated my nursing program and obtained my RN license. During my time in the hospital working closely with staff, patients, families, and physicians, it was reaffirmed for me that I was set on pursuing a career in medicine. I've been working on my GPA for a long time now and I will have worked as an RN for 1 year and 3 months in the emergency department of a medium size hospital and also worked a second job as an RN case manager for hospice patients for 8 months at the time of application to medical school.

I intend on applying primarily to DO schools (WesternU being my top choice) so I'd like to know thoughts on that, but out of curiosity what do you guys think about MD too?

 

[DO IVR]

Excellent ECs. Get a 30 and you will get in somewhere with those ECs

 

[user3]

27 and you should be fine for DO