Course Questions

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[altered states]

You might wanna look into retaking a few of those C's and take advantage of the DO schools' replacement policy..

 

[dmission]

You might wanna look into retaking a few of those C's and take advantage of the DO schools' replacement policy..

Thanks for the reply. I would like to, ideally, attend an MD school, though. Also, my school doesn't let me retake classes you received a C in. I could do it at a CC, but like I said, would rather focus on MD if it's doable.

 

[Doubtnichts]

I'm not sure how much taking the bio courses is going to help. You didn't get the C's in bio... I would work really really hard on trying to get a decent grade in biochem. Even though it doesn't have as heavy of a weight, it is an upper lever chem course.

 

[dmission]

I'm not sure how much taking the bio courses is going to help. You didn't get the C's in bio... I would work really really hard on trying to get a decent grade in biochem. Even though it doesn't have as heavy of a weight, it is an upper lever chem course.

Do two C+'s in Ochem pretty much doom someone? Is there anything I can do about that at this point? Also, would it look good or bad if I retook the general chem classes (received two C+'s) at a Community College anyway, even if MD schools will only average them?

Thanks for the reply!

 

[dmission]

Bump. Just wondering what to do here, seems like not a lot of successful applicants that got C+'s in Ochem 🙁

The weirdest part is focusing on engineering classes to raise my GPA. Is that the right thing to do, here?

 

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Final bump, hoping to maybe get some attention from Catalystik

 

[RebelxSoldier]

I'm sure you can get into one of the 133 MD schools in the United States with a 3.2 GPA, just not the high profile ones (Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc.)

Don't let anyone fool you in to thinking you have to have a 40 MCAT and 3.9 GPA just to be considered.

 

[Catalystik]

Do two C+'s in Ochem pretty much doom someone? Is there anything I can do about that at this point? Also, would it look good or bad if I retook the general chem classes (received two C+'s) at a Community College anyway, even if MD schools will only average them?

Two C+s in OChem will only doom your application if you failed to grasp the material sufficiently to do well on the MCAT, in which case a retake is in order. However, if you were a victim of harsh grading practices or one bad test that pulled you down, and understand the concepts well, then a high grade in Biochem would be a good redemptive measure. Other than that, I'd suggest taking enough upper-level Bio to float your BCPM back up to a decent level. Remember that your BCPM grade trend will be apparent on a year-by-year bsis on your AMCAS application, but so will the total. I think more than two upper-level Bios may be in order for you.

 

[mulberry]

Retake the chem and orgo classes. CC or 4 year university. If your sGPA is still low, take the DO route. Lots of people have a stigma with the DO title. If that's you, take a look at the top 3 (federal loans) or top 4 (full CA approval=50 states licensure) Caribbean schools. Msg me if you have any questions, I'll be more than glad to help.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Since you are doing engineering, why not take some advanced chemistry courses? That way, they can see that you just couldn't handle organic chemistry but can manage regular chemistry.

You don't want to re-take anything above C- unless there is a really good reason. I would just focus on ensuring that your MCAT's very solid for your 3.2 GPA.

 

[Catalystik]

why not take some advanced chemistry courses? That way, they can see that you just couldn't handle organic chemistry but can manage regular chemistry.

Good idea, as this helps your BCPM, too.

 

[dmission]

Thank you, I will try to take an upper division chem class as well. Hopefully, my GPA will continue to rise, I still have about 1.5 years to do so, and I'm going to work really hard. Is it strange that for a few grading periods though, I'll have mostly engineering and math classes? Is it bad if these are the classes that raise my GPA (and not pre-med classes?)

Thanks again.

 

[indya]

all of your math classes will count towards your bcpm gpa. engineering won't. I think that they will probably want good grades in biology and chemistry especially, but they probably won't downgrade you much if you have higher grades in physics and math.

 

[gravitywave]

Thank you, I will try to take an upper division chem class as well. Hopefully, my GPA will continue to rise, I still have about 1.5 years to do so, and I'm going to work really hard. Is it strange that for a few grading periods though, I'll have mostly engineering and math classes? Is it bad if these are the classes that raise my GPA (and not pre-med classes?)

Thanks again.

no, and no. it doesn't matter how you get the GPAs up, but they need to come up. it's not the C+s in orgo that are killing you, it's the overall B/B+ average. there is some leeway for an engineering major, but quite honestly you are going to have to slaughter the MCAT to have a decent shot at allo. think 34 or better.

edit: missed the part about having three semesters left. going 3.7+ through to the end will work wonders. do what you have to do to make that happen, you'll thank yourself on MCAT day.

 

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Thank you all for the helpful replies!