Chances? so far...

[stargurl2431]

Hi, I needed some advice for my future.
Right now, i'm a junior at UC Berkeley. My cumulative GPA is a 3.217, I've been volunteering for three years at an urgent medical center, and have been tutoring kids for a year. Have not yet taken the MCATS. I'm HOPING to raise my GPA... i know its not good at all.

Chances at med school?

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[Mobius1985]

Assuming that 3.217 is from five semesters, if you spent another equal amount of time and graduated after five full years in college before applying, getting a 4.0 for those additional semesters, you could bring your GPA up to 3.6 and be competitive. If you got a very high MCAT score, you might do fine with a slightly lower GPA, but med schools will still want to see at least two years of extremely good grades so they'll be reassured you have a chance at succeeding with their curriculum. It will not be good enough to be a B+ student. You must prove you are capable of being an A student, especially in upper-level science classes. So you do have a chance at US allopathic medical schools, if you want it enough to work hard and prove you deserve an admission.

 

[flip26]

Assuming that 3.217 is from five semesters, if you spent another equal amount of time and graduated after five full years in college before applying, getting a 4.0 for those additional semesters, you could bring your GPA up to 3.6 and be competitive. If you got a very high MCAT score, you might do fine with a slightly lower GPA, but med schools will still want to see at least two years of extremely good grades so they'll be reassured you have a chance at succeeding with their curriculum. It will not be good enough to be a B+ student. You must prove you are capable of being an A student, especially in upper-level science classes. So you do have a chance at US allopathic medical schools, if you want it enough to work hard and prove you deserve an admission.

Your math is right on needing 5 more semesters, but aren't you describing finishing college on time (for the OP in 3 more semesters), and then doing a one year post bacc?

OP: how many of the pre-reqs have you taken, and what grades have you gotten? If you are a non-science major, the post bacc scenario could work in your favor (if you haven't taken any of the pre reqs, you could knock them out of the park with straight As in a post bacc), but if you have already taken most of the pre-reqs and done poorly on them (by poorly I mean less than an A- average), I question the value of a post bacc for you, unless you are willing to do an SMP...

Regardless, OP, you need to start cranking out straight As NOW and boost your GPA as much as possible before finishing up your BS/BA...

 

[Mobius1985]

Your math is right on needing 5 more semesters, but aren't you describing finishing college on time (for the OP in 3 more semesters), and then doing a one year post bacc?

A post-bac is one way to accomplish GPA repair, but I am suggesting she just say in college an extra year so she'd have precedence in registering for the classes she wants. If she's in a state school, this would be the cheapest way to accomplish her goals. If she's in an expensive private school, she could go ahead and graduate in four years, then register informally (at a state school) for additional undergrad classes, earning post-baccalaureate credit that would still help her undergrad GPA. Potential negatives with the latter plan is that it might be more difficult to get funding if she's not a degree candidate, and also she'd be registering for classes last, after all the degree candidates, and might not get her preferred classes. A way around these last two obstacles, would be to become a candidate for a second bachelors degree without the intent to finish it. It's my bias that my first plan is most efficient, though.

I agree with you, flip26, that if she's not a science major, and has none of the prerequisites, her best bet might be a formal (but expensive) post-bac program which would have many other embedded opportunities to make her a better candidate (counseling, research, shadowing, links to meds schools, etc.).