MD & DO Extreme low stats but high upward trend applicant

[hopefulmed18]

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Hi everyone, I have quite the non-trad story here.

I have 2.73 gpa. I went to college at 15 and failed my first two years due to an extreme family situation. I had a 0.6 my first year, a 1.7 my second, 3.8 my third, 3.8 my fourth, and a 3.9 my fifth. I have retaken all the courses I did poorly in. I could take years of units and still not have a 3.0 gpa. I have a current science gpa of 2.5. I had a 1.6 sGPA ofr my first 25 credits. I haven't had to retake any pre-reqs yet and have A's and 2 B's in all my bio, gen chem, ochem, and physics courses. I have a 516 mcat. I don't know how to proceed from here. I can get my science GPA up to a 3.0 for sure. I am from California and I am asian from a privileged family so that will actively work against me. I will do anything to get into a DO or MD program, I just need to know how to avoid this automatic cutoff of 3.0 which most schools have. I have so many credits from my first two years that I would need 2 years of full time coursework with a 4.0 just to get up to a 3.0 cGPA. Every SMP needs a 3.0 minimum GPA. Please let me know if you guys have any advice. Also - I have 100 hours of tutoring English to underprivileged kids, 800 clinical hours, and 50 shadowing hours. I worked in a research lab as an assistant but I am not published in any articles or anything.

 

[Faha]

You should be able to receive interviews at DO schools if you apply broadly and I suggest these:
TUNCOM
UIWSOM
NOORDA-COM
KHSC-COM
ICOM
BCOM (both schools)
ARCOM
NYIT-AR
WCU-COM
ACOM
LMU-DCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
OCOM
BUCOM
WVSOM
UP-KYCOM
MU-COM
DUQCOM
MERITUS-COM
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
You could try some of the newer MD schools such as Roseman, Alice Walton, Belmont and Methodist (when it opens). Let us know a year from now how your cycle went.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

It would also help knowing what your experiences are. Describe your shadowing, clinical, non-clinical/community experiences. What are your leadership and research experiences? A lot of details are needed to form a desirable profile because it's not just your grades and MCAT that will see you through.

 

[hopefulmed18]

I have shadowing hours with primary care MD and DO, as well as an ENT (I plan on shadowing more). My clinical experience mostly comes from how I am a registered behavioral therapist. I have volunteered in hospice a for around 150 hours spread out over 2 years. I am a marathon runner! With my RBT job I have lead parent consults and frequently advise newer RBTs, who shadow me. I helped out in an autism research study lab - nothing substantial, I mostly organized files and got the experimental setting ready. I have been helping underprivledged elementary students learn how to write for over 6 years. After high school it's just been around 100 hours of that. I plan on getting my EMT or MA license for more clinical experience soon. Please let me know what else I can do!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Before submitting, get 150 hours of any of the following activities: food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

 

[hopefulmed18]

thanks! will do. I contacted around 30 holistic MD school. I’ve gotten many positive responses in the sense of - you have a strong upward trend and we won’t screen you out for a <cogs of 3.0 if you have a post bacc of at least 3.5 gpa or your last 40 credits in bachelors are 3.5+ . Does anyone know if this is true or if i’m wasting my time with pursuing an MD/DO. I’m ORM, I’m 20 with a bachelors degree from a top 30 university. This is all i’ve ever wanted to do but I don’t know how to feel about potentially spending 60k+ just applying- I don’t have that much money to spend 🙁

 

[LunaOri]

With 3 years of a 3.8+ GPA, you could take a shot at a few MD schools—try your state schools, Albany, Quinnipiac, UVM.