CUM 3.56 BCPM 3.26, ANY advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[DoctorWatson57]

Hello all, I'm looking for any advice from those already in med school as well as feedback from those that will be applying to med school for 2013 (like me). My cumulative undergrad GPA is 3.56 and my science GPA was 3.26. My nonscience courses GPA was 3.85 (I know, big difference...) I graduated from Stony Brook with a Psych major, Bio minor, and 3 years of research under my belt at Brookhaven National Lab in the Neurobiology field, as well as three attendances to the Society for Neuroscience conferences. I presented my research as poster presentations all three years and am working on first draft of my manuscript to be hopefully sent out for review by June.

I am working as a Medical Assistant at a dermatology office full-time and am pursuing my Master's degree in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (about to complete my first semester of studies). I am taking my MCATs on June 17th and plan on sending out my primary application by (latest) August. I hope to apply to a large number of schools (30-35 range) so as to increase my chances of being granted an interview.

ANY feedback or personal experience with any GPA's in my range or what MCAT score would make me a truly competitive applicant would be appreciated! My premed advisor at Stony is giving me a very hard time about my science GPA, and perhaps rightfully so. Is it worth it taking an extra Orgo course at John Jay (nowhere near a renowned premed institution)? Do I even STAND a chance? I keep hearing horror stories about 37 MCATS and 3.8 GPAS not being accepted!!

Thank you!!😀

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[mdbound1987]

Those people with 37/3.8 don't get accepted because other aspects of their app other than numbers suck or they are bad interviewers. Your SGPA is low so it may be a good idea to bring it up a little bit. You could kill the mcat to offset your gpa though, so 35+ if you can. Also is this a complete list of your activities? If so, I see no volunteering (medical or non-medical), leadership positions, or extracurriculars. I'm guessing schools will count your med assistant job as shadowing, but you should shadow another physician in a different specialty too. You've gotta cover all of your bases with this stuff. Also, most importantly, DO NOT submit your primary in august. If you submit it in june and indicate that you will be taking ur mcat in june, when your scores return in mid-july your app will be complete. If you wait to submit your app till august, you may not be verified until early to mid-september. That 2 month difference is huge! People who can have 37/3.8 and cover everything else necessary to get in can afford to apply this late (although they shouldn't risk it). Since you have a somewhat low gpa, you need to apply as early as possible to increase your chances. A good example is me, I had a good gpa and amazing (I was told this by interviewers) ECs, volunteering, leadership, research, shadowing, and essays, but my mcat wasn't that great. I applied in early june and I will be at my #1 choice MD school this fall. If I applied later in the app season, I probably would be reapplying this June. Good luck.

 

[Catalystik]

An MCAT score of 32 would compensate for your lowish cGPA at some schools. But your advisor is right about your BCPM GPA. A 3.2 is at the bottom 10th percentile for Stony Brook's med school. At SUNY Upstate it's 3.3, Rochester 3.3, Downstate 3.4, Buffalo 3.2, NYMC 3.2. Why would they accept you when so many other applicants have a great BCPM? Well, one positive is that your research is terrific and you'll eventually have racked up a good amount of clinical experience, but you have no formal shadowing, no leadership, teaching, or nonmedical community service (though your masters will be an interesting "EC" to list).

I'd suggest that a year of upper-level science classes, earning straight As, would be a great way to reassure adcomms that you can excel in the hard-science curriculum of a med school. And during the time you're doing that, you can beef up the Experiences you need to become a competitive applicant.

 

[DoctorWatson57]

Thanks for the advice!! These are not all my activities. I have approx 60 hours of volunteer experience and 40 hours of shadowing a doctor in my undergrad years. In addition, I was a tutor for a short while during my undergrad years. I'd really like to apply in June as well, but that must mean that I have to score at least (I imagine) a 33 on my MCATs to be looked at as a somewhat competitive applicant. Any advice on the best MCAT study tips? I have approx 6 weeks before my test and plan on devoting almost every waking minute of at least 1 month to studying!!

 

[Catalystik]

SDN's MCAT Discussions Forum has tips and tricks and a guide to how to study (somewhere), that I've seen many give rave reviews about. Check there.