(GPA: 3.55 BCPM: 3.61 30O) (Bad 1st half= 4 W's 1 F 2 Cs, med withd)(good 2nd H)

[jgphillips]

Undergraduate: University of Alabama
Residency: Alabama
Major: Biology and Economics
BCPM GPA: 3.6
Cumulative GPA: 3.54
Major (Bio) GPA: 3.7
Major (Econ) GPA: will be 3.51
MCAT: 30O

My road through school was a bit bumpy at first but I had a major turnaround for the last 4 semesters. I made about 50/50 A/B's in my classes I did complete in the first 2 years.

My path of discrepancies:

Freshman Year
1. Fall - W - Calculus - literally could not understand Asian professor; felt class was unfair. Also just being a bad freshmen, im fine owning up to my early mistakes.
2. Spring - W - Calculus - Yes, again - without the option of an english speaking teacher and being stupidly bold in thinking I could "overcome it this time!"
Still got into 3 or so honor societies. NSCS, ALD, I really can't remember.

Sophomore Year
3. Early Fall - W - Organic Chem - beginning of anxiety issues

4. Mid Fall - Medical Withdrawal due to anxiety/panic attacks.
5. Fall/Spring - Work at surgery center for 2 semesters, received counseling, felt OK enough to go back to school

6. Summer - 2 C's - anxiety issue returns
7. Fall - W - Physics 101 - anxiety/panic attacks
8. Fall - F - Business Finance 301 - anxiety/panic attacks
9. Winter break - Received more counseling, worked at surgery center for a few weeks over break

From that point on
Got extremely focused one day and went four Semesters of straight A's (60 hours). Did biology/econ work almost exclusively. Did some simple biomed research. Got a BS in Biology and will turn my Econ minor into an Economics BA by July (will apply to med school in June). Only taking econ classes next semester before applying (in order to get degree).


I'm pretty open about my time off and think especially in my interview I could explain my case. Most of all, I regret not taking the right actions and doing the right things to fix my issues, sooner. When I got that F I had a complete 180 in focus, working hours and hours a day on school. I wanted to be perfect from that point on out.

My Extra:
Research:
-Biomed research (6 hrs/week) (no pub) 1 year

Clinical:
-Worked 1000+ hours in a surgery center. Very hands on job, even took X-rays. Got multiple cert's for handling certain aspects (needles care, bio waste disposal, etc.). 7AM-5PM+, 5 days a week type job. Multiple doc/surgeon/nurse/head nurse rec's here. Truly enjoyed it.
-20+ hours shadowing various doctors

Volunteer:
-Worked staff (interviewed for position) at children's camp for multiple summers.

Other:
-First Year Student Council - 1 Year
-3 academic honor societies 2 years
-Great interview, great with people when in my "element." Rec's will almost certainly note my great manner with the patients.
-I feel like every time I've not been in school, I've been either working in clinical setting or volunteering

SO my app is a double edge sword - what tier should I concern myself with?

Am I competitive with my GPA's or do my situations hurt that?

Be as honest as possible please and thanks so much in advance. This site is pretty amazing.

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[TheMightySmiter]

Your GPA is okay, especially with the strong upward trend. Your MCAT is slightly below average, so that might hurt you combined with the slightly below average GPA. You seem to have great ECs, though. So I'd say you definitely have a chance, particularly at in-state schools. Unless you're from Cali.

Edit: Duh, you said it first thing, you're from Alabama. Yes, I think you have a shot at either of your state schools.

Thinking about it more, it might be worth an MCAT retake if you think you might be able to score higher (33+). If not, don't retake it.

 

[jgphillips]

Your GPA is okay, especially with the strong upward trend. Your MCAT is slightly below average, so that might hurt you combined with the slightly below average GPA. You seem to have great ECs, though. So I'd say you definitely have a chance, particularly at in-state schools. Unless you're from Cali.

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I think I'm going to retake in the coming months. Do you or anyone have any idea what MCAT score would keep me competitive to decent MD's?

oh and I edited to say 1000+ hours of working at the surgical center. Looked at the wrong number on the tax form

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Sorry, I edited right before you posted! I think with your GPA, for a retake, you should shoot for 33+. Of course, the higher it is, the better your chances. A retake is always a gamble because if you don't show significant improvement, the two MCAT scores can actually be worse than the first MCAT score, even if your score goes up by 1 or 2 points or stays the same. So, if you do retake, just be sure you have plenty of time to study and are doing well on your diagnostics.

 

[jgphillips]

thanks for the help!

 

[Catalystik]

Your GPA is okay, especially with the strong upward trend. Your MCAT is slightly below average, so that might hurt you combined with the slightly below average GPA. You seem to have great ECs, though. So I'd say you definitely have a chance, particularly at in-state schools. Unless you're from Cali.

Edit: Duh, you said it first thing, you're from Alabama. Yes, I think you have a shot at either of your state schools.

Thinking about it more, it might be worth an MCAT retake if you think you might be able to score higher (33+). If not, don't retake it.

I agree with MightySmiter's good advice.

Also, I think you'll need to address the anxiety issue somewhere in your application and I think the Secondary essays are the place to do this in detail, rather than the Primary essay which should be more about your path to medicine, unless the anxiety did play a role in your career choice. It is very common to see the essay prompts, "Tell us about a challenge you overcame," or "If there were any difficulties in your academic progress, tell us about it," or "Tell us about a major stress in your life and how you handled it." You can take a look at the essays you'll need to write by checking in the School Specific threads of the PreMed Allo Forum. They rarely change from year to year.