Hi all,
I applied to med schools this year out of desperation and realize that perhaps I shouldn't have. My cGPA is 2.9; however, for the past decade, my family has undergone huge difficulties that negatively impacted my college career. I mentioned this in my personal statement, thinking that maybe some of my poor grades would be looked over. I got a 25Q on the MCAT (9V 7P 9B).
Looking back now, I see that I was just panicking and wanting so bad to get out of this situation, so I applied and hoped that my 'story' would shed some light on my poor stats.
After only getting rejections so far, I am trying to figure out what to do. I want to raise my GPA, my question is: can I do this by taking classes at a Community college? I can't afford a post-bad program or SMP. I will be studying to take the MCAT again and hopefully perform better this next time.
Please give me advise and your opinions as to what I should do. I am also debating enrolling in an EMT class. I have pretty good EC (shadow a surgeon, tutor inner city kids, volunteer at hospital).
I'm going to be blunt. I do blunt well.
I am currently a 4th year med student at a US MD school who came to med school with a GPA that was <3.0. Just from your post there are a few things that I notice.
First- while I do not know much about your family situation and I am sure that it was very difficult to deal with, it came off as very whiny in print. So I would first and foremost have a few people re-read your personal statement to make sure that this sentiment did not come across. Excuses are NEVER ok in a personal statement. You cannot explain away poor performance because when compared to someone with immaculate grades you still look tarnished. At best, all you can do is take responsibility. This shows maturity and that you are moving past what caused you to do so poorly. Without doing that, the ADcom will always wonder, well if something bad happens again to this guy, will he fail out of med school?
Second- with regard to both your grades and MCAT, your MCAT needs to improve significantly. A 2.9 and 25 looks like you didn't have the mental capacity to succeed in college and would do poorly in med school. However a 2.9/30 look like you were a slacker but if so motivated you could do well in med school. The latter is a better place to start from because with a few years of strong course work it can show you are motivated. So one thing you need to improve is your MCAT score... but i'm sure you knew that
Your grades suck. You need to improve them but taking undergrad courses. That said, based on the number of courses you have taken you won't be able to make a huge dent in them so you may have to do a graduate program after you take undergrad grades.
Third- community college is not the way to go. Most schools do not view CC credits on the same footing (esp after you did poorly in college) as a 4yr college. Many will not even accept CC credits for the pre-recs. That you already did poorly in a 4yr college makes these credits even less useful for you. If you do choose to take some CC credits, you also need to take some university credits after to show you've got what it takes at the university level and that the CC grades were not just because they were easier.
Fourth- Undergrad GPA and graduate GPA are separate on AMCAS. So while I would recommend that you improve your undergrad GPA to over a 3.0, you will likely need to take an SMP or get a masters degree to get into medical school. Know though, that these degrees are basically a last ditch effort. If you do poorly in them, you can kiss your chances of
ever going to med school goodbye.
Fifth- your chances of an acceptance to an MD school next year are close to 0 and still very low for DO schools. If money is an issue, don't apply next year and instead wait a year and start taking undergrad courses to improve that GPA.
Six-
if you want MD: Take at least a year of undergrad courses and get a 4.0 (over a 3.5 is a must). The next year enroll in either an SMP or a masters program and get at minimum a 3.7. An SMP is preferred. You will likely need to take more than 2 years to get in. You will also need to reatake the MCAT
If you want DO- retake all the courses you did poorly in and retake the MCAT. Apply in 1 year if your GPA is much better.
Seven- you need to prove you know what you are getting into. You need more clinical experience. Whether you go the EMT route or just shadowing, you need more. EMT looks really good but you may not have time with the courses you need to take.
Last- you cannot do this half assed. You are going to put yourself at financial risk and spend years of your life for the chance at getting into med school. If you do not get your ass in gear, you will waste your time and tens of thousands of dollars trying.
