Getting Accepted to UCSD medical school, with a low GPA

[Weirdy]

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You lack humility and self awareness.
You can tell a lot from a person's character in how they handle constructive criticism. Instead of swallowing your pride and looking at how you can improve, you resort to a holier than thou mentality.

Getting into medical school will only feed your ego further.
I sincerely hope adcoms see right through you.

 

[JustaDO]

You are on the fast path to becoming the prototypical "I could have done XYZ, *but insert excuse here blaming ____* prevented me." I forsee you "choosing" nursing school as a last resort so you can "focus on patient care" or whatever the line is.

Everything in your posts is egotistic, especially your ability to backseat doctor, and I have no doubt you will not get into UCSD, and trust me, I'm smiling right now 🙂

 

[yungspleen]

Started this thread rooting for you and then I read your comments and I'm no longer doing so. You really need to mature before applying to any medical school. Do a post bac and then apply. But you will 99.9% never get into UCSD. Especially if you're Asian, which I think someone said. But that's fine, there are other schools.

 

[aalamruad]

View attachment 210338
Keep in mind this is nation wide, i would venture to say being an asian in California the odds of getting accepted with those stats are extremely small.

And that 6% is assuming the applicant has average interview abilities. If I had to guess, I'd say OP could never make it through an interview with the horrible attitude, entitlement, excuse-making, and response to constructive criticism displayed in the few posts he's made in this thread.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

I think we're forgetting that medical schools look for a diverse class; open arrogance is certainly a rare trait amongst the ocean of perfect more-altruistic-than-jesus-and-gandhi-combined pre-med application pool.

 

[Upstage]

I completely agree with everyones opinion here. OP is tripping, but i think this discussion is starting to look like a bullying session. They'll get humbled by the application process [emoji16]


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[Goro]

Well, actually we do. Working is good. Working and going to school is also good. BUT one has to excel academically. Otherwise, Adcoms question one's judgement (you kept on taking classes while doing poorly?") and, even more importantly, doubt one's ability to handle a med school curriculum, because one is supposed to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

OP going loose cannon here isn't a good sign.

Also OP, adcoms don't give a crap that you worked two jobs during school to help support your family. I can tell you from experience. Also while we are on the subject of hardship Olympics, I know of an orphan who applied with a compelling story and experience opening up non profits with better stats than yours and she did not get in to an MD school in California. So good luck trying to convince adcoms that your hardship somehow will make up for poor grades and an mcat performance. Life is unfair and no one cares, get used to it. Your best option is to get 3.6+ cumulative gpa and 511+ mcat and apply broadly to MD schools and pray. If you are unwilling to heed the advice others have given in the thread and act like a chided child than good luck tell us how that works out for you!

 

[Jumpyrice]

What does people mean by DO? With his stats, DO schools are a far reach as well unless he does some type of post-bac for at least a year or two.

 

[libertyyne]

Well, actually we do. Working is good. Working and going to school is also good. BUT one has to excel academically. Otherwise, Adcoms question one's judgement (you kept on taking classes while doing poorly?") and, even more importantly, doubt one's ability to handle a med school curriculum, because one is supposed to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

OP going loose cannon here isn't a good sign.

Although in theory that makes sense. I have an average applicant gpa and worked throughout school, I don't believe I got any special treatment for working, rather the mcat score makes a case for me. If you have a humdrum gpa and a humdrum mcat I would think you would be screened out even before a human could see the causes for that.

 

[gyngyn]

Although in theory that makes sense. I have an average applicant gpa and worked throughout school, I don't believe I got any special treatment for working, rather the mcat score makes a case for me. If you have a humdrum gpa and a humdrum mcat I would think you would be screened out even before a human could see the causes for that.

At my school we read every application.

 

[kb1900]

Although in theory that makes sense. I have an average applicant gpa and worked throughout school, I don't believe I got any special treatment for working, rather the mcat score makes a case for me. If you have a humdrum gpa and a humdrum mcat I would think you would be screened out even before a human could see the causes for that.

same here tbh. worked 2 jobs thru college but the fact that i was working to support myself never came up in my interviews/essays because its not relevant. what IS relevant is the ability to excel academically while having other commitments (whether its jobs, ECs, volunteering, reserarch etc.)

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

Anyways, I wish you the best. I went to UCSD and TAed several lower and upper div bio classes there so let me know if you have any questions. You can pm me.


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The people who get into ucsd are still surprised when they even get an interview invite. Even with competitive numbers it's a crapshoot. I got passed over by my undergrad institution's medical school (top choice) with >90%ile mcat and gpa despite getting IIs elsewhere.

Just have an open mind about what medical school you end up at and tackle what's in front of you right now

Hi, OP! Being only a pre-med hopeful myself, I am not qualified weigh in on the discussion about your chances for UCSD, but if you do end up deciding to retake your MCAT, I wanted to share some advice 🙂

I took the MCAT this past August. I did not have $2,000 to spend on a prep course, nor did I have a few hundred dollars to spend on commercial review books. But the resources on Khan Academy are incredible and 100% free! I was working full time while studying over the summer, and dedicated most of my free time to watching/taking notes on Khan Academy videos, doing their multiple choice questions after each set of subject videos, and doing the 300+ practice passages they have on their website. After doing the content review, I did some searching around the internet and took many of the free full and half-length tests that are available. The one thing I did spend money on were the two available AAMC practice tests (but this was only $60 total). I ended up with a 523 (130/131/131/131).

I know it can feel really intimidating to know other people are going into this test having spent thousands of dollars on review courses/books/etc, but it's not impossible to study on your own with the excellent free resources that are available and still do well. My best advice is to keep your chin up, remind yourself of your goal when it gets tough, and try not to let the resources other people may/may not be using get to your head.

Thanks to you 3. Y'all have so far given me the best advices and you all were very cool about it. Honestly I came in this forum looking for some support. If I needed professional advice I'd went to my premed advisors so thank you.
To the people who feel so inclined to give a fellow struggling but hopeful student negative Feedback. You all don't know me, you don't know what I've been through and what I constantly go through, you don't know how hard it took me to get to where I'm at right now. If I listened to every single person who told me I would never get to do what I want To do I would never be where I'm at, so I really don't give a **** what y'all think. It isn't really surprising to me how you all think I'm Asian because only Asians can become doctors right? I'm not a rude person in real life, I came here for support and when I got all these negative answers I wasn't surprised because people already told me DON'T go one SDN, and these are the people that have gotten into UCSD with average grades. But you know you, it's better to learn from your experiences than other people's experiences. Whenever I give younger students feedback after I give them advice on what to do, I always tell them they can do it and they will do it. Last year a single mother who was going to community college asked me if she can get into UCSD with a lower GPA as a biological sciences major and I told her what to do and how to do it, then I told her she can do it. Guess what she's now going to UCSD and taking ochem classes. But honestly thank you all for the feedback, it was all helpful and I appreciate most of them. Peace and love.[emoji120]


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[kb1900]

Thanks to you 3. Y'all have so far given me the best advices and you all were very cool about it. Honestly I came in this forum looking for some support. If I needed professional advice I'd want to my premed advisors so thank you for being good people.

To the people who feel so inclined to give a fellow struggling but hopeful student negative Feedback. You all don't know me, you don't know what I've been through and what I constantly go through, you don't know how hard it took me to get to where I'm at right now. If I listened to every single person who told me I would never get to do what I want To do I would never be where I'm at, so I really don't give a **** what y'all think. It isn't really surprising to me how you all think I'm Asian because only Asians can become doctors right? I'm not a rude person in real life, I came here for support and when I got all these negative answers I wasn't surprised because people already told DON'T go one SDN, and these are the people that have gotten into Ucsd with average grades. But you know you, it's better to learn from your experiences then other people's experiences. Whenever I give younger students feedback after I gave them advice on what to do, I always tell them they can do it and they will do it. Last year a single mother who goes to community college asked me if she can get into UCSD with a lower gpa as a biological sciences major and I told her what to do and how to do it, then I told her she can do it. Guess what she's now going to UCSD and taking ochem classes. But honestly thank you all for the feedback, it was all helpful and I appreciate most of them. Peace and love.[emoji120]


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lets clarify this. Asians actually have an even harder time getting into medical school because they are over represented as a race in medicine.
people were most definitely not saying you were asian because only asians can become good doctors.

 

[libertyyne]

At my school we read every application.

I guess I stand corrected. I still feel like not a lot of traction is to be had with the "I worked two jobs thats why i have a subpar GPA and average MCAT". But I am willing to admit I may be wrong, Looking at the 10th and 90th percentiles of GPA and MCATs and their relative stability it seems that very few people get in with hardship exceptions. My personal experience during my first application cycle years ago confirms that for me, but my experience is just an anecdote.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

For most people, the amount they forget after 1 year is very similar to the amount they will forget any time after that. In other words, after a year or so, they have forgotten most of what they will forget. Literally, textbook psychology.

Just sayin.....

most people don't learn organic chemistry

these are the people that have gotten into UCSD with average grades.

You don't have average grades

 

[Goro]

I agree with you 100% there. The below is an excuse, not an explanation. People often try to make the leap from the below to "I would had a 4.0 GPA if I weren't working."

We prefer that people actually prove that logic by getting the 4.0 GPA.


I guess I stand corrected. I still feel like not a lot of traction is to be had with the "I worked two jobs thats why i have a subpar GPA and average MCAT".

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I agree with you 100% there. The below is an excuse, not an explanation. People often try to make the leap from the below to "I would had a 4.0 GPA if I weren't working."

We prefer that people actually prove that logic by getting the 4.0 GPA.


I guess I stand corrected. I still feel like not a lot of traction is to be had with the "I worked two jobs thats why i have a subpar GPA and average MCAT".

I was wondering if you could shed some light on what I've been told, which is that having to work due to financial hardship cuts you some slack in the EC area (with regards to volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical) but does not cut you slack in the stats area. Not to the point where you don't have to do it, but not as much as would be preferable.

 

[JustaDO]

To the people who feel so inclined to give a fellow struggling but hopeful student negative Feedback. You all don't know me, you don't know what I've been through and what I constantly go through, you don't know how hard it took me to get to where I'm at right now.

Bravo, your a very unique snowflake who was the only one who had difficulties in life.

If I listened to every single person who told me I would never get to do what I want To do I would never be where I'm at, so I really don't give a **** what y'all think.

Except in this case, its what we know.

Last year a single mother who was going to community college asked me if she can get into UCSD with a lower GPA as a biological sciences major and I told her what to do and how to do it, then I told her she can do it. Guess what she's now going to UCSD and taking ochem classes.

What a feat to be accepted into a undergraduate program, you are a living legend, and I'm sure your encouragement was her defining moment in life.

 

[JustaDO]

I was wondering if you could shed some light on what I've been told, which is that having to work due to financial hardship cuts you some slack in the EC area (with regards to volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical) but does not cut you slack in the stats area. Not to the point where you don't have to do it, but not as much as would be preferable.

My advice: relax. From your numerous threads and posts, you are stressing out about the micro, when its the macro details that matter.

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

I think it's great how you are able to take care of your family and work while going to school. It's not something anyone can do. However, it is important to be realistic about attending UCSD for medical school with a low gpa as it is one of most competitive schools in the US. People this far have given helpful responses and to echo what they've already said, you can still get into a DO school and there's nothing wrong with that- you will be a doctor either way.

Thank you I appreciate the input!

Bravo, your a very unique snowflake who was the only one who had difficulties in life.



What a feat to be accepted into a undergraduate program, you are a living legend, and I'm sure your encouragement was her defining moment in life.

Let's be clear, I did not imply that my encouragement was her defying moment, I wanted to show that there is no point of making people feel like crap when you don't know if they will make it or not, all you can do is give them advice and hope they don't give up. JustaDO, if you're a medical student, you are not a DO so think about changing your name to something like NothingYet.

 

[BombsAway]

Hi, OP! Being only a pre-med hopeful myself, I am not qualified weigh in on the discussion about your chances for UCSD, but if you do end up deciding to retake your MCAT, I wanted to share some advice 🙂

I took the MCAT this past August. I did not have $2,000 to spend on a prep course, nor did I have a few hundred dollars to spend on commercial review books. But the resources on Khan Academy are incredible and 100% free! I was working full time while studying over the summer, and dedicated most of my free time to watching/taking notes on Khan Academy videos, doing their multiple choice questions after each set of subject videos, and doing the 300+ practice passages they have on their website. After doing the content review, I did some searching around the internet and took many of the free full and half-length tests that are available. The one thing I did spend money on were the two available AAMC practice tests (but this was only $60 total). I ended up with a 523 (130/131/131/131).

I know it can feel really intimidating to know other people are going into this test having spent thousands of dollars on review courses/books/etc, but it's not impossible to study on your own with the excellent free resources that are available and still do well. My best advice is to keep your chin up, remind yourself of your goal when it gets tough, and try not to let the resources other people may/may not be using get to your head.

Forget the OP, I wanna hear more from this cat (or dog, i suppose)

 

[JustaDO]

JustaDO, if you're a medical student, you are not a DO so think about changing your name to something like NothingYet.

Ouch, I simply must get ointment for this burn you inflicted upon me, I only hope that one day, you will remember me as one of the numerous challenges in your life to medicine.

 

[Pusheen]

As a low-income person who worked a ton through college, I actually think medical school admissions are pretty fair. We have FAP, without which I could probably never apply, we have a disadvantaged section, we have many opportunities to demonstrate our work ethic and any adversities faced in both secondaries and interviews.

Instead of being bitter about people who have it easier, use your circumstances to grow into a more mature and thoughtful individual. If you can do that and articulate it well you are golden

 

[Weirdy]

Thanks to you 3. Y'all have so far given me the best advices and you all were very cool about it. Honestly I came in this forum looking for some support. If I needed professional advice I'd went to my premed advisors so thank you.
To the people who feel so inclined to give a fellow struggling but hopeful student negative Feedback. You all don't know me, you don't know what I've been through and what I constantly go through, you don't know how hard it took me to get to where I'm at right now. If I listened to every single person who told me I would never get to do what I want To do I would never be where I'm at, so I really don't give a **** what y'all think. It isn't really surprising to me how you all think I'm Asian because only Asians can become doctors right? I'm not a rude person in real life, I came here for support and when I got all these negative answers I wasn't surprised because people already told me DON'T go one SDN, and these are the people that have gotten into UCSD with average grades. But you know you, it's better to learn from your experiences than other people's experiences. Whenever I give younger students feedback after I give them advice on what to do, I always tell them they can do it and they will do it. Last year a single mother who was going to community college asked me if she can get into UCSD with a lower GPA as a biological sciences major and I told her what to do and how to do it, then I told her she can do it. Guess what she's now going to UCSD and taking ochem classes. But honestly thank you all for the feedback, it was all helpful and I appreciate most of them. Peace and love.[emoji120]


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You are yet again proving our point.
Quick to assume but very inexperienced. The "because only asians can become doctors right?" statement shows how immature and biased you are.

Grow up.

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

Ouch, I simply must get ointment for this burn you inflicted upon me, I only hope that one day, you will remember me as one of the numerous challenges in your life to medicine.

Fosho, at the top of my resume I will put a commenter on SDN named JustaDO ( who by the way still says burn ) impeded me from my accomplishments but as soon as I found out he/she was a lowlife medical student who instead of studying or doing something productive with their own time thrives on SDN, I overcame it

 

[JustaDO]

Fosho, at the top of my resume I will put a commenter on SDN named JustaDO ( who by the way still says burn ) impeded me from my accomplishments but as soon as I found out he/she was a lowlife medical student who instead of studying or doing something productive with their own time thrives on SDN, I overcame it

Strong words from 2.7 here. Work hard and get that "upward trend" to 3.2, I'm sure that will be what gets you in.

 

[libertyyne]

OP are you URM. Your stats would mean a different liklihood of acceptance if so.

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

You are yet again proving our point.
Quick to assume but very inexperienced. The "because only Asians can become doctors right?" statement shows how immature and biased you are.

Grow up.

I was never the one who brought up race, in fact, i never once mentioned race in my thread because my race has nothing to do with any of this. And I am not the bias one, the people that said I was an entitled and then said I was Asian were the bias ones. BTW they later deleted that post I'm sure it was you.

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

OP are you URM. Your stats would mean a different liklihood of acceptance if so.

what does urm mean?

 

[libertyyne]

I was never the one who brought up race, in fact, i never once mentioned race in my thread because my race has nothing to do with any of this. And I am not the bias one, the people that said I was an entitled and then said I was Asian were the bias ones. BTW they later deleted that post I'm sure it was you.

Actually OP race does play a role in your liklihood of acceptance. If you are URM it may help your cause.
Under Represented in Medicine.

 

[libertyyne]

what does urm mean?

Under Represented in Medicine

"Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population."

AAMC https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/urm/
"Which consisted of Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (that is, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and mainland Puerto Ricans. "

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

Actually OP race does play a role in your likelihood of acceptance. If you are URM it may help your cause.
Under Represented in Medicine.

nah dude, I'm not gonna rely on that. I'm a work hard, maybe retake some classes get my grades to at least a 3.6, save up for kaplan courses and get a high mcat score. Maybe I will do the ms/bs program on campus or think about doing the postbac or retake some ochem classes at my community college. IDK so much things to do. I'll worry about all this once i graduate.

 

[libertyyne]

nah dude, I'm not gonna rely on that. I'm a work hard, maybe retake some classes get my grades to at least a 3.6, save up for kaplan courses and get a high mcat score. Maybe I will do the ms/bs program on campus or think about doing the postbac or retake some ochem classes at my community college. IDK so much things to do. I'll worry about all this once i graduate.

It changes the conversation, however the advice remains the same. Raise your GPA do better on the MCAT and apply broadly. Apply Broadly. Good Luck.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

nah dude, I'm not gonna rely on that. I'm a work hard, maybe retake some classes get my grades to at least a 3.6, save up for kaplan courses and get a high mcat score. Maybe I will do the ms/bs program on campus or think about doing the postbac or retake some ochem classes at my community college. IDK so much things to do. I'll worry about all this once i graduate.

Why do you want to go into medicine?

 

[Kpw101]

OP isn't lol looking for advice more than he is looking for validation for what he is doing. You've said thank you to everyone who said something along the lines of what you wanted to hear but have not expressed gratitude to everyone who has given you realistically sound advice.

Getting into medical school isn't a god given right. With your GPA, what sounds like a weak first MCAT performance DO school is the most realistic choice for you right now and there is nothing wrong with that, in fact it would be an amazing honor to go to a DO school for anyone. Fix your mentality. UCSD is a top school and frankly speaking you might have closed that door already.

 

[candbgirl]

Wow so much hate and disrespect towards people trying to help you. Be sure to behave just like you have here and your path will be determined. Get a grip special snowflake.


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[HopefullyOneDay]

OP isn't lol looking for advice more than he is looking for validation for what he is doing. You've said thank you to everyone who said something along the lines of what you wanted to hear but have not expressed gratitude to everyone who has given you realistically sound advice.

Getting into medical school isn't a god given right. With your GPA, what sounds like a weak first MCAT performance DO school is the most realistic choice for you right now and there is nothing wrong with that, in fact it would be an amazing honor to go to a DO school for anyone. Fix your mentality. UCSD is a top school and frankly speaking you might have closed that door already.

Bro, I appreciate you all! I wasn't trying to be rude. I apologize if I hurt anyone, that was not my intention.

 

[HopefullyOneDay]

Strong words from 2.7 here. Work hard and get that "upward trend" to 3.2, I'm sure that will be what gets you in.

It changes the conversation, however the advice remains the same. Raise your GPA do better on the MCAT and apply broadly. Apply Broadly. Good Luck.

Thanks,

Strong words from 2.7 here. Work hard and get that "upward trend" to 3.2, I'm sure that will be what gets you in.

Thanks y'all! JustaDo your roast game is strong! I'm sure if we met somewhere else other than SDN we would be good friends. Goodluck to you too libertyyn, hope you find the best fit school for you.

 

[Umyo]

HopefullyOneDay


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[Bacchus]

Thread closed as this is heading quickly to the streets of Nowhere and Defamatory Aves. SDN is a place of communication. It may not be what you want to hear, but if it doesn't violate the TOS, it's allowed. Let us all be introspective and make sure we didn't precipitate the words of this thread on ourselves.