gpa evaluation and when to go for it?

[Nasrudin]

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Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share your stories of overcoming obstacles, its been very helpful.


I need help assessing when to put my chips on the table. Undergrad gpa is around 2.75, majored in literature until I dropped out in 97. Returned to college partime/fulltime 9-13 units while working full-time my gpa since then has been 3.9+(1 A- in a gen chem lab). I've been doing what I thought I needed to do--prove I could handle a medical courseload, so I'm getting a general biology arts degree, i graduate next fall 2008, plan to sit for the mcat either that spring or summer. My cum will sit at around a 3.3 or so, paradoxically my science gpa should be around a 3.8 or higher depending what courses get allocated. At what point should i stop taking courses and just go for it.
The thing that makes me play conservative is I don't have any money in the bank, I can't afford to lay out the cash for an smp, and my wife is an artist and I'd like to give her the chance to be in a somewhat metropolitan area so she can make moves herself. So that puts me in a highly competitive pool of applicants, and I'm wondering if I should keep bringing up my gpa to the "magical" 3.4-3.5 range so that my applications will pack enough punch that I will not have to spend the money on 30 applications or a reapplication, by taking undergrad classes at institutions I can afford to attend.
Sorry for the length. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[njbmd]

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share your stories of overcoming obstacles, its been very helpful.


I need help assessing when to put my chips on the table. Undergrad gpa is around 2.75, majored in literature until I dropped out in 97. Returned to college partime/fulltime 9-13 units while working full-time my gpa since then has been 3.9+(1 A- in a gen chem lab). I've been doing what I thought I needed to do--prove I could handle a medical courseload, so I'm getting a general biology arts degree, i graduate next fall 2008, plan to sit for the mcat either that spring or summer. My cum will sit at around a 3.3 or so, paradoxically my science gpa should be around a 3.8 or higher depending what courses get allocated. At what point should i stop taking courses and just go for it.
The thing that makes me play conservative is I don't have any money in the bank, I can't afford to lay out the cash for an smp, and my wife is an artist and I'd like to give her the chance to be in a somewhat metropolitan area so she can make moves herself. So that puts me in a highly competitive pool of applicants, and I'm wondering if I should keep bringing up my gpa to the "magical" 3.4-3.5 range so that my applications will pack enough punch that I will not have to spend the money on 30 applications or a reapplication, by taking undergrad classes at institutions I can afford to attend.
Sorry for the length. Any suggestions appreciated.

Choose your schools very carefully and be sure to include osteopathic schools that are very forgiving of "youthful lack of focus". If you apply broadly and rock on the MCAT, you should be able have a shot at many schools, especially those that tend to look at an upward trend. You real key is doing well on the MCAT (no multiple re-takes).

Prepare carefully for that exam. Make sure that you are ready to TAKE the exam and do well. Go through the MSAR and look at the average GPAs for schools. The closer an average is to yours, the better your chances, again, with a good MCAT which is very doable for you since your science GPA is so high.

Good luck!

By broadly, I don't mean 30 schools, I mean your state schools, osteopathic schools and some of the private schools that do not screen for GPA. New York and Boston will be tough markets for you but look at smaller cities that have multiple medical schools.

 

[Nasrudin]

thanks njb. I've cut and pasted your post unto my appliacation file. by the way I've really found your posts helpful and I think you must be an amazing physician. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to require a vascular surgeon I hope someone like you is on the other end of the knife.--Ben.

p.s. so then what should I do with my time after I finish the MCAT to follow through for a possible reapp? I have clinical experience but only minimal volunteer work. do you think its worth it to keep taking classes or should i just broaden the strength of my app. thnx

 

[twohearted]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been in school for 4 years and because of two bad years followed by two great years I'm only at a 3.0. I am starting over w/ a new major bio which is going well and because I have taken minimal science as of yet, when I apply my stats could be 3.3 overall and 3.9 sci. if I can keep it up. I've been wondering if schools will be able to look past two bad first years if I will have had four great years after that.
Good luck to you!

 

[Nasrudin]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been in school for 4 years and because of two bad years followed by two great years I'm only at a 3.0. I am starting over w/ a new major bio which is going well and because I have taken minimal science as of yet, when I apply my stats could be 3.3 overall and 3.9 sci. if I can keep it up. I've been wondering if schools will be able to look past two bad first years if I will have had four great years after that.
Good luck to you!

yeah good luck to you too. I've heard anecdotal success from people in our stat range but unfortunately they usually have something to push them through like: 1. a killer MCAT 2. some fantastic philanthropic activity 3. High quality research credentials 4. SMP-with favorable performance. Or some combinations of these.

For me a high MCAT seems the most reasonable to achieve...not that it will be easy, I just mean that if we work our butts off it will be possible. In the year of application i'll also look to do some good community service. Research seems more a factor of connections and natural ability in the lab as well as inordinate amounts of time to do good work. It seems we'll have too just pick some things and try to do them really well. For me i think i narrowed it down to this order: 1) High MCAT effort 2) decent community service 3) maybe...just maybe I could get paid work in a lab enough to pay my bills and do some work i'm interested in. #3 seems very unlikely and #4 is just too much money, for me.

 

[twohearted]

Yeah, I am really hoping that I won't have to do a SMP. Too much money, plus if you don't perform really well then you're even worse off.