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Hello everyone,
I am a fourth year undergraduate and I can't decide if I should apply this cycle or wait a year and do a postbac to improve my GPA. I am a Biology major at Duke, but due to some unforeseen medical emergencies my sophomore year, I have a cGPA of 3.4 and a sGPA of 3.1, I am on pace to make the Dean's list with Distinction both semesters this year and finish with ~3.5, ~3.25. The low sGPA is due to failing Orgo II because of the medical emergencies, but I retook it the next semester for a B+. It is worth mentioning that there is an upward trend in both GPAs that will be strengthened this year. I have heard that grade deflation is taken into account for some undergraduate institutions, but I am not sure about my case. I have pretty much written off the top tier MD programs, but I would like to know what my chances are for mid-tier Texas schools (I am a Texas resident). I have yet to take the MCAT, but I am confident I will do well (took practice tests and scoring 513-516 without studying).
Other facts:
3 years of research with two publications (clinical psychology, neurooncology)
200 hours of shadowing with 4 MDs in Texas
~50 clinical volunteer hours
~100 community volunteer hours (I am the service chair of the club)
Two summers of work experience at a health care system in Dallas
One summer of global health research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Thanks so much for your help!
I am a fourth year undergraduate and I can't decide if I should apply this cycle or wait a year and do a postbac to improve my GPA. I am a Biology major at Duke, but due to some unforeseen medical emergencies my sophomore year, I have a cGPA of 3.4 and a sGPA of 3.1, I am on pace to make the Dean's list with Distinction both semesters this year and finish with ~3.5, ~3.25. The low sGPA is due to failing Orgo II because of the medical emergencies, but I retook it the next semester for a B+. It is worth mentioning that there is an upward trend in both GPAs that will be strengthened this year. I have heard that grade deflation is taken into account for some undergraduate institutions, but I am not sure about my case. I have pretty much written off the top tier MD programs, but I would like to know what my chances are for mid-tier Texas schools (I am a Texas resident). I have yet to take the MCAT, but I am confident I will do well (took practice tests and scoring 513-516 without studying).
Other facts:
3 years of research with two publications (clinical psychology, neurooncology)
200 hours of shadowing with 4 MDs in Texas
~50 clinical volunteer hours
~100 community volunteer hours (I am the service chair of the club)
Two summers of work experience at a health care system in Dallas
One summer of global health research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Thanks so much for your help!
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