Destroyed my gpa during dual enrollment but did well my last 3 years. Do I have any chance?

[Cutler623]

cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.3
MCAT: 31 (I'll be retaking it but I hear this year it's much harder)

I took 49 college credits in high school and came out with a measly 2.4GPA. I got into a middle of the pack school and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree three years later with a 3.5GPA (from the university not cumulative) while working full time as a draftsman. I took all my pre-med science classes after graduation at a state school and got 4.0GPA. I looked at three schools in my area and none would allow me to retake any classes I passed leaving my stuck with that 2.4 GPA I earned while in high school.

I know I have zero chance for an MD school, but would a bottom tier DO look past my disastrous first two years and focus on the last four years of my education? My only concern would be finding a school out of state. I'm in Florida with my wife and she has wanted to get out of Florida for some time (crazy right?). I live right by NSU which sucks because that's probably my best bet.

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[AnatomyGrey12]

Ok as a first time poster but a long time lurker older member's comments take precedence over mine, but I say that to retake that MCAT would be unwise, unless it is expired. You should not be shooting for "low tier DO" with this stats. Even just those stats alone make you competitive for most if not all DO schools. With such a strong upward trend I say you might as well even throw some MD apps out there, especially at your state schools. Also lower tier MD schools should give you some love. Bad grades as a dumb high schooler will be far less important than a 4.0 in your pre-reqs and a 3.5 in mechanical engineering.

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Apply to DO schools. Your stats and MCAT are fine for most DO schools. Some schools have sGPA cutoffs, but those are few and far between. Your stats are good. Focus on the rest of the application.

 

[pericardium]

You definitely have a shot at more than the "bottom tier" schools and you really don't need to retake the MCAT unless it's expiring.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Don't be surprised that you have a shot at top-tier schools. With you application, it should be mostly mid-tier with some top and some bottom.

 

[edgerock24]

cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.3
MCAT: 31 (I'll be retaking it but I hear this year it's much harder)

I took 49 college credits in high school and came out with a measly 2.4GPA. I got into a middle of the pack school and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree three years later with a 3.5GPA (from the university not cumulative) while working full time as a draftsman. I took all my pre-med science classes after graduation at a state school and got 4.0GPA. I looked at three schools in my area and none would allow me to retake any classes I passed leaving my stuck with that 2.4 GPA I earned while in high school.

I know I have zero chance for an MD school, but would a bottom tier DO look past my disastrous first two years and focus on the last four years of my education? My only concern would be finding a school out of state. I'm in Florida with my wife and she has wanted to get out of Florida for some time (crazy right?). I live right by NSU which sucks because that's probably my best bet.

You're in decent shape, as is, for the majority of DO schools.

Your solid MCAT score is not the problem. Your lowish GPA's are (however, your MCAT does a good job to even everything out -- as well as the upward trend). What is your reasoning behind retaking the MCAT?

I ask because I've seen this a ton of times in the past on SDN: an applicant has low GPA's and a high MCAT. The MCAT is not holding them back at all, yet they decide to retake the exam. Makes absolutely zero sense. Also, a decision like this could lead adcoms to infer that such an applicant has poor reasoning ability.

 

[Seth Joo]

cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.3
MCAT: 31 (I'll be retaking it but I hear this year it's much harder)

I took 49 college credits in high school and came out with a measly 2.4GPA. I got into a middle of the pack school and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree three years later with a 3.5GPA (from the university not cumulative) while working full time as a draftsman. I took all my pre-med science classes after graduation at a state school and got 4.0GPA. I looked at three schools in my area and none would allow me to retake any classes I passed leaving my stuck with that 2.4 GPA I earned while in high school.

I know I have zero chance for an MD school, but would a bottom tier DO look past my disastrous first two years and focus on the last four years of my education? My only concern would be finding a school out of state. I'm in Florida with my wife and she has wanted to get out of Florida for some time (crazy right?). I live right by NSU which sucks because that's probably my best bet.

You would be okay for DO schools, for MD schools no.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Would OP really not have a chance at MD even though his bad grades happened as a 16-17 yo? At the least he should apply to his state schools. Especially when his undergraduate GPA is most likely a 3.6+.

 

[Seth Joo]

Would OP really not have a chance at MD even though his bad grades happened as a 16-17 yo? At the least he should apply to his state schools. Especially when his undergraduate GPA is most likely a 3.6+.

No chance at all at MD schools, he has a chance at most DO schools except for the top programs.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Of course given EC's are all in line.

 

[echo87]

Would OP really not have a chance at MD even though his bad grades happened as a 16-17 yo? At the least he should apply to his state schools. Especially when his undergraduate GPA is most likely a 3.6+.

As someone in a similar situation, I got absolutely nothing from 25+ MD schools

 

[Cutler623]

You're in decent shape, as is, for the majority of DO schools.

Your solid MCAT score is not the problem. Your lowish GPA's are (however, your MCAT does a good job to even everything out -- as well as the upward trend). What is your reasoning behind retaking the MCAT?

I ask because I've seen this a ton of times in the past on SDN: an applicant has low GPA's and a high MCAT. The MCAT is not holding them back at all, yet they decide to retake the exam. Makes absolutely zero sense. Also, a decision like this could lead adcoms to infer that such an applicant has poor reasoning ability.

I was under the impression that I would need a 35+ Because of my low gpa. My main concern is my application will get trashed because of the gpa. If I can look good enough on paper to get an interview, I can explain that I'm a muchdifferent student than I was during high school.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

The average matriculant MCAT for MD schools is about a 31... DO is lower at around 28ish. A 35+ is definitely not necessary. And I think most people would say that a 31 with your GPAs should get you a lot of interviews at DO schools, given you apply to all "tiers". If you have good ECs you should be in good shape

 

[Seth Joo]

The average matriculant MCAT for MD schools is about a 31... DO is lower at around 28ish. A 35+ is definitely not necessary. And I think most people would say that a 31 with your GPAs should get you a lot of interviews at DO schools, given you apply to all "tiers". If you have good ECs you should be in good shape

He is in good shape for DO.