Current SMP student. Should I apply to more places?

[TarpolianDynamite]

Hey all,

So I am a current SMP student and in our program we are guaranteed an interview in the spring if we meet a minimum GPA. Pretty standard stuff, but recently we were told that we need to have an AACOMAS application filled out and submitted soon. My stats from under-grad are pretty horrible:

cGPA: 3.03
sGPA:3.21
a few W's and an F
MCAT 1st attempt: 492
MCAT 2nd attempt: 500
>2500 clinical hours (paid Medical Assistant)
>300 shadowing

No great reason why my grades are so low I just had trouble adjusting to a big college coming from a small town and after losing my scholarship I had to work a lot (>40 hr/week) to pay for school. So, my question is:

Should I apply to more places now that I am enrolled in this SMP and my grad GPA is going up and if so which ones?
Also, should I be doing anything now to really seal the deal with my one guaranteed interview?

Thank you for your input!

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[BobbyKoch]

I'd apply to more DO schools....the fresh ones (ACOM, ARCOM, ICOM, etc).

Not worth keeping all your melons in one basket imo.

 

[dial1010usa]

You need to work hard in order to get into med school. If your SMP grades go low the doors for med school will be shut down for you. Get a loan instead of working >40 hours. SMP is very fast pace and you are not in undergrad school anymore. SMP courses are pretty close to 1st year of med school. Been thru this SMP program so that's why giving you advice.
All the best!

 

[Magus5454]

You need to work hard in order to get into med school. If your SMP grades go low the doors for med school will be shut down for you. Get a loan instead of working >40 hours. SMP is very fast pace and you are not in undergrad school anymore. SMP courses are pretty close to 1st year of med school. Been thru this SMP program so that's why giving you advice.
All the best!

OP was talking about their undergrad GPA, not the SMP grades

 

[Magus5454]

I'd apply to more DO schools....the fresh ones (ACOM, ARCOM, ICOM, etc).

Not worth keeping all your melons in one basket imo.

Do well in your SMP and don't only apply to the one school.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

You are in SMP because of mediocre undergrad. Do well in SMP and apply broadly and you should be successful. Work harder than you ever have, because medical school is harder than SMP and if you cant excel in SMP you won't in med school. My advice to myself and my students,(and adult children), is that if you aren't getting what you want, you aren't working hard enough. That advice has served me well over these many years. Best of luck and get busy!

 

[dial1010usa]

OP was talking about their undergrad GPA, not the SMP grades

I guess I misread your comments.

 

[Goro]

I'd apply to more DO schools....the fresh ones (ACOM, ARCOM, ICOM, etc).

Not worth keeping all your melons in one basket imo.

Agree 100%. You can't bank on your interview at your SMP school...we've rejected our own SMP kids at interview because they had horrendous interviews. granted this has been rare, but it did happen.

 

[TarpolianDynamite]

I guess I misread your comments.

Sorry! I should have said "...why my grades were so low..." instead of are. I am doing really well right now. Finals are next week and I am sitting at A's in all of my classes. I am pretty confident I will finish this semester with a 4.0 and a lot of that is because I am not working and I can finally focus on just school and take full advantage of this opportunity. Thank you everyone for your advice, I appreciate it!

 

[dial1010usa]

Sorry! I should have said "...why my grades were so low..." instead of are. I am doing really well right now. Finals are next week and I am sitting at A's in all of my classes. I am pretty confident I will finish this semester with a 4.0 and a lot of that is because I am not working and I can finally focus on just school and take full advantage of this opportunity. Thank you everyone for your advice, I appreciate it!

Chances are you will get into same school where you are doing SMP unless you don't want to go there but you should add few other schools too but its gonna be hard to travel for interviews. I applied to only one school because my SMP gpa was pretty high and that's all they cared about.
All the best!

 

[TarpolianDynamite]

Chances are you will get into same school where you are doing SMP unless you don't want to go there but you should add few other schools too but its gonna be hard to travel for interviews. I applied to only one school because my SMP gpa was pretty high and that's all they cared about.
All the best!

That's great to hear (read). My SMP school is and has been my top choice medical school so I would love to stay here but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot either.