Extended Post bac or what?

[hopefool]

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Hi

I graduated from Cornell with about a 2.7 gpa and now am taking bio, chem and calc at Stony Brook. I plan on taking orgo and physics and the rest of the calc series but then am not sure whether it would be better to continue at Stony Brook and take a bio majors course load and other high level science courses or to apply elsewhere to a special masters program? I feel that getting A's in a bio majors course load to have a very good science gpa will help to offset my low undergrad gpa. And since I went to Cornell that will hopefully explain that I am intelligent/capable but had some problems as an undergrad, mainly being away from home.

Thanks!

 

[kronickm]

Hi

I graduated from Cornell with about a 2.7 gpa and now am taking bio, chem and calc at Stony Brook. I plan on taking orgo and physics and the rest of the calc series but then am not sure whether it would be better to continue at Stony Brook and take a bio majors course load and other high level science courses or to apply elsewhere to a special masters program? I feel that getting A's in a bio majors course load to have a very good science gpa will help to offset my low undergrad gpa. And since I went to Cornell that will hopefully explain that I am intelligent/capable but had some problems as an undergrad, mainly being away from home.

Thanks!

First thing you need to do is get your UG GPA up. Doing an SMP will not do that. Not only is a med school acceptance with a sub-3.0 GPA almost impossible, it is unlikely that many quality SMP programs will accept you. I would vote for "keep on chugging at Stony Brook for a little longer and then reevaluate."

 

[hopefool]

First thing you need to do is get your UG GPA up. Doing an SMP will not do that. Not only is a med school acceptance with a sub-3.0 GPA almost impossible, it is unlikely that many quality SMP programs will accept you. I would vote for "keep on chugging at Stony Brook for a little longer and then reevaluate."

I do plan to take a full course series of a bio major at Stony Brook. My undergraduate gpa may never get to be above 3.0 though. All things considered, that I can do the work and straightened my act out, will med schools still just not accept me?

I know US med schools are going to be tough to get into no matter what I do so what are the opinions on caribbean medical schools that have much less rigorous admissions? getting back into the US and graduating in the first place I hear is difficult.

I have extra curriculars and research under my belt also, will that help?

thanks!

 

[mshheaddoc]

If you ace an SMP you'd have a chance, I kknow a few people that have GPA's up about 2.8-2.9 but they have amazing EC's. Also I might look into DO schools and retaking some of your classes you didn't do well in to boost your gpa. That is what I did.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Hi

I graduated from Cornell with about a 2.7 gpa and now am taking bio, chem and calc at Stony Brook. I plan on taking orgo and physics and the rest of the calc series but then am not sure whether it would be better to continue at Stony Brook and take a bio majors course load and other high level science courses or to apply elsewhere to a special masters program? I feel that getting A's in a bio majors course load to have a very good science gpa will help to offset my low undergrad gpa. And since I went to Cornell that will hopefully explain that I am intelligent/capable but had some problems as an undergrad, mainly being away from home.

Thanks!

How have you done thus far in Bio, Chem and Calc?

Let's say you pull a 3.8 in Bio, chem, calc, Orgo and physics. What will your overall GPA and your science GPA be then?

If your overall and science GPAs are above a 3.0 I feel you are best served doing an SMP. You really get a lot of bang for your buck doing an SMP, especially since as you rack up Ugrad credits you get stonewalled by diminishing returns.

Unfortunately, just because you went to Cornell will never make up for a 2.7. Even after a solid performance in the post-bac you will be fighting an uphill battle.

I do plan to take a full course series of a bio major at Stony Brook. My undergraduate gpa may never get to be above 3.0 though. All things considered, that I can do the work and straightened my act out, will med schools still just not accept me?

Rarely will a medical school accept someone w/ below a 3.0 who has not done a very significant amt of grade remediation or an SMP.

I know US med schools are going to be tough to get into no matter what I do so what are the opinions on caribbean medical schools that have much less rigorous admissions? getting back into the US and graduating in the first place I hear is difficult.

I have extra curriculars and research under my belt also, will that help?
thanks!

Going to a carribean school is not a great idea. Pretty much anyone with a bank account will be accepted. They have very high attrition rates and it is much more difficult/near impossible to match to a competitive residency in the US.

Your options for transfering from a Carribean school to a US school during medical school are near 0.

If your options are DO or Carribean MD most on SDN feel DO is a more viable option.

 

[hopefool]

How have you done thus far in Bio, Chem and Calc?

Let's say you pull a 3.8 in Bio, chem, calc, Orgo and physics. What will your overall GPA and your science GPA be then?

If your overall and science GPAs are above a 3.0 I feel you are best served doing an SMP. You really get a lot of bang for your buck doing an SMP, especially since as you rack up Ugrad credits you get stonewalled by diminishing returns.

Unfortunately, just because you went to Cornell will never make up for a 2.7. Even after a solid performance in the post-bac you will be fighting an uphill battle.




Rarely will a medical school accept someone w/ below a 3.0 who has not done a very significant amt of grade remediation or an SMP.




Going to a carribean school is not a great idea. Pretty much anyone with a bank account will be accepted. They have very high attrition rates and it is much more difficult/near impossible to match to a competitive residency in the US.

Your options for transfering from a Carribean school to a US school during medical school are near 0.

If your options are DO or Carribean MD most on SDN feel DO is a more viable option.

So as for getting into a US medical school have I pretty much dug my own grave? or can I somehow redeem myself for having problems as an undergrad? If I get a 3.8 in my sciences and continue on at Stony Brook to take a bio majors course load while continuing the 3.8 gpa I can raise my gpa to a low 3, at about a 3.1 or so. Even if I get a very high MCAT score will this gpa still put me out of the race for acceptance? Are there schools that will take extenuating circumstances into REAL consideration? or is my gpa an eternal scarlet letter?

What are other methods of getting accepted? for instance, reapplying to the same schools several times, what schools take low gpa candidates etc.

I am confident that I can get a 3.8 gpa and continue it for another 60-80 credits and get an a very good score on the MCAT, (30 and up) but after all the work and time will I still have hardly any chance at all?

Thanks forum

 

[drizzt3117]

It will be hard. How many credits do you have at Cornell? If you take as many credits during postbac as you did in ug at 4.0 you can raise your gpa to 3.35, which combined w/ a mid 30s mcat may be competitive. You likely dont need me to tell you that it wont be easy, but it is possible.

 

[Nasrudin]

So as for getting into a US medical school have I pretty much dug my own grave? or can I somehow redeem myself for having problems as an undergrad? If I get a 3.8 in my sciences and continue on at Stony Brook to take a bio majors course load while continuing the 3.8 gpa I can raise my gpa to a low 3, at about a 3.1 or so. Even if I get a very high MCAT score will this gpa still put me out of the race for acceptance? Are there schools that will take extenuating circumstances into REAL consideration? or is my gpa an eternal scarlet letter?

What are other methods of getting accepted? for instance, reapplying to the same schools several times, what schools take low gpa candidates etc.

I am confident that I can get a 3.8 gpa and continue it for another 60-80 credits and get an a very good score on the MCAT, (30 and up) but after all the work and time will I still have hardly any chance at all?

Thanks forum

Dr. Rizz's profile is the prototype of The-count-of-mounte-cristo proportions for which we should all base our master plan to the extent that our situations permit. If you look in the brief profile you will see the work ahead. Pointing to the center field wall while sitting on a .1XX batting average, however, is quite precocious. I don't doubt you necessarily, but wait until you're waste deep in the **** and your mind starts to question things. It happens to all of us. I am in a position half way between you and he and I can tell you your money and your patience for smelling 4-5 years of u-grad science roses will be squandered.

I am sitting on 4 years of 3.96 post bac gpa and my gpa is sitting around a 3.3. That's light years of blood sweat and tears from where you sit and I am still looking for what kind of move I can make to make my last push. The odds are slim. There's no use ignoring that fact. Consider your fears confirmed.

And yes he is correct. To stand an outside chance as is I will need a jammin MCAT. I have my doubts. But the threat of failure at this point still burns enough desire in me to pull out the stops in preparation for it. Will it in the end pay off? Will I score even close as high as he did? Who knows? But there's only one way to find out.

What I'm saying is that for the low gpa folks it's a long haul with no rosy picture at the end of it. So rather than wonder the what if's, just decide if this is what you have to do with your time and settle in for the fight of your life.

And try to enjoy the struggle. Sounds strange. Maybe. But the alternatives are going to make you the worse for the wear.

And then you when you have put in all that work and your still coming up a little short and very pedigreed folks are whispering doubtful suggestions and politely sneering your mongreled academic history.....stand up to the plate anyway, and take your shot. Winning or losing be d@mned.

 

[drizzt3117]

I am not sure about being the prototype for anything but one thing to note is that as a nontrad, adcoms will treat you differently than a typical premed. Entering the app process with more experiences than other ppl will be useful.

 

[postbacker]

I am not sure about being the prototype for anything but one thing to note is that as a nontrad, adcoms will treat you differently than a typical premed. Entering the app process with more experiences than other ppl will be useful.

I think (or at least hope) that is true, but one first has to get past the GPA screens...the low numbers some of these non trad hopefuls have are decimating their chances of ever getting a foot in the door...

 

[postbacker]

Generally, the screen is a 3.0 I think. I don't think most of us are under any illusion of applying to Harvard or anything. My GPA entering post-bac will only be a 3.4, and about 3.5 after post-bac, and my science GPA is below a 3 though I will move it to 3.2 or 3.3. With those stats, you can get past the screens at some schools and then you just hope that the rest of your application can warrant a second look.

And I think a lot of us know that we'll end up going to Caribbean schools or something on that order. I think very few people have false hopes about what schools they will be competitive for.

I have to respectfully disagree with you here...I read stuff on SDN every day that blows my mind...people with low 2.x GPAs...and they seem to have zero concept of what it would take to raise 4 years of a low 2.x to the 3.x threshhold (ummm, like around 4 years of 3.9 for starters)...

Your numbers sound pretty good - I don't think you need to be looking at off shore med schools if you hit those post bacc numbers...good luck.

 

[Nasrudin]

There is the paradox of hopeless causes at work here as well. Granted, "false" hope might open one to self-deception. Hope in general, however, might be the last bastion from which we will have to storm the beach. I am for self-realized hope of the sort that helps us carry on despite the gloomy statistics and crippling, cryptic, and suggestive dissuasions from the "people in the know."

 

[drizzt3117]

My experiences in the admissions process during this cycle and 2 yrs of postbac have led me to believe that the process is a lot more about fit than raw stats than ppl think. Yes numbers are important, especially for obtaining interviews, but in many cases schools have very different goals in admissions than most premeds think. For those applicants w/ low gpas, the mcat is going to be vital, though. My advice to ppl would be to carefully study the msar and target schools at which at least one of your stats

 

[drizzt3117]

is significantly above the avg and the other is at least close to the avg (less than 4 pts or .4) If less than 10 schools meet those criteria then more improvement is necessary. Sorry for the split, im on my mobile.