I'm seeing a lot of your posts elsewhere, and I'm going to bulk respond in this thread for no particular reason. If I seem abrupt and negative, it's because there's a TON of info to absorb here, and I personally don't have a lot of patience for fluff. Time for the big girl panties. Just ignore me if that's not what you're looking for.
First, no matter what you do, more undergrad or an SMP or a 40 on the MCAT, there aren't any guarantees that you'll get into med school. Nobody gets a guarantee.
Second, no matter what advice you follow, you're going to see anecdotes of people who did it totally differently and completely against what you've been told, decisions you agonized over, and these folks will have just as much or more success as you, and/or get done faster, and/or get into your dream school that rejected you with identical stats.
So, you know, caveat emptor.
MCAT: the median MCAT for matriculating med students is a 32.
GPA: the average overall undergrad GPA for matriculating med students is 3.73; science is 3.60
Link:
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/2008mcatgpa.htm
Rejection: 60% of applicants don't get in. Every year. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is an underqualified pool.
You won't find similar data on graduate GPAs, partially because grad work is far less standardized than undergrad (which isn't all that standardized). Realistically, you should view your grad degree as (mostly) a really solid extra-curricular that adds nice beef to your application. I say "mostly" because you're at Hopkins, and micro's hard, so I think it'll carry some weight.
Now, there's a legendary and questionable formula, called the "
LizzyM" on SDN (it's called other things elsewhere). This says that your basic caliber as an applicant is determined by multiplying your undergrad GPA by ten and adding your MCAT score. If you have a 70, you can apply top tier. With a 60, so I'm told, you shouldn't even apply (not that I listened; see mdapps profile 8488 for how well that went). In the absence of universally reputable and applicable advice on what MCAT score to get, this can be instructive.
As I understand it, you currently have a 2.85 overall, 2.5 science. If you invest another 2 years in undergrad, at a 3.7, you can potentially raise these to overall 3.13 and science 2.9. Should you? I'd vote yes, and other folks here would vote no.
I personally would like to see you with an MCAT score
well over 30, because it's the one app asset remaining where you can be traditionally impressive against other candidates. With a 30, you're slightly better than meh, against a red flag GPA. See the MCAT forum for tips on scoring over 30.
OK, so what to do.
1. Spend as much time and effort as you possibly can on maxing your MCAT score. IMHO this means aiming for the last '09 test, which is mid-September. But if you're not ready to kill it in September,
then don't take the test yet. Take a prep course and be religious.
2. Also in '09, at a minimum, go get an A in an undergrad upper div science class, whatever you haven't taken yet, maybe neuro or genetics. And go get an A in an upper div humanities class. Should you do more undergrad coursework than this? Not unless you're going to try to get up over 3.0. At a minimum, IMHO, you should show some fresh credibility at the undergrad level.
3. With your MCAT score in hand, and some fresh undergrad grades, apply to SMPs in December '09. Go ahead and make your case to the programs that have 3.0 cutoffs, and try for some consideration. Get on a plane if you have to. Believe in the product.
Beyond all this, it all depends on how well you execute the above. Can you apply to med school, maybe your state school(s), in June 2010? Sure. Should you? Depends.
Best of luck to you.
