Chances at Med when returning to complete Sci Requirements

[harshaw]

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Hello,

I'm a BA grad in Journalism who is considering returning to school and getting my Med requirements. My original track was Med, but due to some small crises, I changed majors.

My current situation is that I received a 2.9GPA for my BA, but my ECs include Editor-in-Chief of my school newspaper, Academics Director for my sorority, Editor for the student lifestyle magazine and some others. I also have experience in clerking for a hospital throughout high school, along with UC Berkeley Summer Medical programs and a pretty impressive high school career with great grades, SATs and ECs from a pretty exclusive private school.

I wanted to get some opinions on my chances of being accepted into a Med program if I either went and took the postgrad courses for my sci requirements opposed to getting a second BS. I am also curious as to the MCAT scores I would need to be competitive enough to be accepted into a non-Ivy/mid program.

Thank you in advance for any advice offered.

 

[LeoGer]

Realistically, I don't think you have much of a chance with a 2.9 GPA. That's the first thing I would take care of. You need to take undergraduate courses to raise it, as grad-work is separate. An MCAT score of 33 is competitive outside of the top 25 schools. You EC work will really help your application, but again, that 2.9 needs to come up.

EDIT: In my opinion, if you raise your GPA to ~3.2 and then destroy an SMP, you'd be in a much better situation.

 

[harshaw]

Realistically, I don't think you have much of a chance with a 2.9 GPA. That's the first thing I would take care of. You need to take undergraduate courses to raise it, as grad-work is separate. An MCAT score of 33 is competitive outside of the top 25 schools. You EC work will really help your application, but again, that 2.9 needs to come up.

EDIT: In my opinion, if you raise your GPA to ~3.2 and then destroy an SMP, you'd be in a much better situation.

Thank you for your response.

I need to go back into undergraduate coursework to complete my science requirements anyway, having a BA in Journalism doesn't give me near the credits necessary in science or math. So if I transfer in my generals, which I received good grades in, and complete a second undergraduate degree and raise my overall GPA, acceptance isn't a complete impossibility?

I'd hate to return and complete a second undergrad for this explicit purpose only to be rejected.

 

[LeoGer]

I'm not an expert and was just giving my amateur opinion, but I don't think acceptance is at all out of the question. However, you have used up all your freebies, so you have to be on you 'A' game from here on out. The only question is whether it will take 1 year or 4 years to show a true change in dedication. If you are willing to apply to DO schools, you can even retake some of your lowest grades and they will be replaced.

The MCAT is a very important part of your application and needs to be taken seriously. Make sure you have 2-3 months in your schedule to prepare for it. Your high school accolades won't matter for your application, but a high SAT can give you confidence in your ability to perform well on the MCAT.

Good luck.