I know someone that got in with a 2.5. Everyone should really stop worrying so much about numbers. You are all more than that. Good luck to everyone applying.
I'm a firm believer that the only compensation to a low gpa is some rocking semesters of great gpa. So to answer your question, research and a good mcat may not be that helpful...yes, a good mcat may say you're fairly intelligent (or a good test-taker), but gpa is an indication of something in addition to intelligence -- persistance, time management, hardwork, etc -- that are important to med schools as well. So if you're concerned about the GPA, I'd advise take some upper division courses to prove that you can ace them despite earlier failure. Grad schools are known to inflate grades so they won't help too much either...and from personal experience, it is much easier to get an A in grad school than undergrad, and med schools know that. Good luck!
Lot's of things I suppose. Do you really want a list? If you want to improve your GPA do a postbacc or master's. If you have phenomenal EC's don't worry about. Apply early and to a fair amount of schools and you will get in. Maybe not this year, but eventually. Good luck.
no, if your ECs fall short of saving a 3rd world country from asteroid impact, id say you will have an extremely difficult time getting into an MD program. i would do a postbacc and get your science gpa up. your mcat is good enough that with a strong upward trend in gpa, you should have a shot in a year or so.
Ok, If I do five courses, each 6 semester hours, I only upgrade the GPA to about 3.0. This is because, I have done a lot of courses: 6 yrs of undergrad, and one year is when i did really bad. The last two years of these 6 yrs, I have a GPA of 3.1, and my Grad GPA of 4 courses, (3 semester hours each) was 3.8.
My Grad couses were tough, biomed eng, so i don't see how the undergrad courses would be tougher.
Let me know. I'm sick of this GPA thing. It's bothering me!
