Chances for DO?

[phila.med]

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Hey guys, this is my first post here on SDN.

I'm currently about to finish a health science master's program at a local university thats affiliated with a well-known hospital in the area. I intended to use this master's program as a way to increase my GPA and therefore my chances of matriculating into medical school.

I ended up performing miserably in undergrad due to various circumstances throughout. Ended up with:
sGPA 2.3
cGPA 2.72

Started out rough in my master's program, and should be ending with a sGPA ~3.3

I've taken my MCAT once (2015), but voided my score out of fear that it would be too low. I didn't get as much studying in as I had planned. Planning on taking it again late summer, early fall.

EC wise, I have a stellar track record. I've shadowed doctors (MD and DO) in multiple specialties and cultivated relationships with them that will provide great recommendations. I've also done quite a bit of work in underserved communities throughout the area. Furthermore, I have 4 years of clinical research experience.

I had originally planned to submit my applications in June, but obviously I'll have to wait for a new MCAT score.

Need some advice on where to go from here. I'm considering a few options for the next year:
1.) return to my undergraduate university and re-take my science courses as a non-degree student
2.) applying to a year long certificate SMP with medical school linkages
3.) taking the year off to solely concentrate on the MCAT
4.) going through with applying for the cycle starting in June, primarily for DO schools as well as Caribbean schools

What do you think my chances are for getting in this cycle, is it worth the effort or should I continue to build up my application before applying?

Thanks in advance!

-E

 

[Goro]

1000% agree.

You need to re take classes and get your GPA above 3.0.

Sent from my XT1030 using SDN mobile

 

[phila.med]

You need to re take classes and get your GPA above 3.0.

Sent from my XT1030 using SDN mobile

Do admissions boards take graduate grades heavily into consideration? My last 30 hours of classes have been at a ~3.75 GPA.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Do admissions boards take graduate grades heavily into consideration? My last 30 hours of classes have been at a ~3.75 GPA.

No. Unless it was a SMP then most adcoms view graduate courses as easier and basically expect you to have good grades in them. They are also not factored into your uGPA. You need to make sure your uGPA is above 3.0.

 

[phila.med]

Okay, so the plan right now would be to return to my undergrad institution and retake some classes that are bringing my sGPA down (finances permitting). Here's my next question, would taking lower level classes, that I'll surely get good grades in, look worse than taking higher level undergrad courses? Ideally, I would like to keep the re-take process at a year and apply next cycle for DO. I'm thinking re-taking 8 classes, and getting all A's would significantly impact my sGPA. My non-science classes have been mostly A's and B's.

 

[candbgirl]

The whole purpose of the retakes is to replace your low grade with an A(or at least it should be an A). Did you take pre-reqs in undergrad? If so what grades did you get?


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[phila.med]

The whole purpose of the retakes is to replace your low grade with an A(or at least it should be an A). Did you take pre-reqs in undergrad? If so what grades did you get?


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I took all of my pre-reqs in undergrad, a lot of C's some A's and B's.