Grad GPA problem

[grad4ever]

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I'm about to graduate with an MPH from a top 10 school. My undergrad GPA is nothing shocking, 3.5 or 3.6. My grad GPA...ugh. Haven't calculated yet, but it might be between 3.2 and 3.3. There were a number of reasons, what with the school's lovely new core courses (with C's given out generously to my classmates), having to fly out a couple of times to visit hospices abroad, and my idiotic assumption that working while attending school would be a good idea. (Though I will spend significantly less time paying off those private school loans, so there's that.)

I was going to work a few years with my MPH, then if I was still mentally up for it do a post-bacc to get my prerequisites, and then apply to DO programs. But with the grad GPA... I known downward trends (high uGPA to low gradGPA) can kill apps...should I even bother considering a future in DO?

FYI: MPH was never a means to an end. One of my Professors was a DO and I grew interested. If only I knew then what I know now -_-

 

[parrotlet2016]

You can always say that you found your desire to become a doctor later on in life after working with your MPH for a few years. Take some classes later on and do well on the MCAT. If you can do well in both later on, you still have a shot. Just remember that you can't excuse a low GPA. Fix the reasons and do well.

 

[Moose A Moose]

I don't think it's an ap killer if the rest of your portfolio is strong.

undergrad GPA >> grad GPA

 

[grad4ever]

Huh. I was expecting a couple of, "Yup, you're doomed." I guess it's not as hopeless as I thought.
But yeah, if I'm going to do a post-bacc and take the MCAT I definitely won't be compromising my grades for work again.

 

[Goro]

A poor performance in an MPH is NOT good. MPH's by themselves aren't very useful to an Adcom because we have difficulty assessing the rigor of courses like "Women's Health in the Third World" or "Global Health Disparities".

But you should have been acing this material.

A post-bac or SMP may be in order. But also best to have Plan B.

I'm about to graduate with an MPH from a top 10 school. My undergrad GPA is nothing shocking, 3.5 or 3.6. My grad GPA...ugh. Haven't calculated yet, but it might be between 3.2 and 3.3. There were a number of reasons, what with the school's lovely new core courses (with C's given out generously to my classmates), having to fly out a couple of times to visit hospices abroad, and my idiotic assumption that working while attending school would be a good idea. (Though I will spend significantly less time paying off those private school loans, so there's that.)

I was going to work a few years with my MPH, then if I was still mentally up for it do a post-bacc to get my prerequisites, and then apply to DO programs. But with the grad GPA... I known downward trends (high uGPA to low gradGPA) can kill apps...should I even bother considering a future in DO?

FYI: MPH was never a means to an end. One of my Professors was a DO and I grew interested. If only I knew then what I know now -_-

 

[grad4ever]

The blunt assessment is good, I need the truth!

Besides, this was never really about Plan A or Plan B, it's basically looking into my future career move, however distant that may be, and not making a bad decision due to ignorance or bad planning (like I did with my MPH). And I would've had to take a post-bacc anyway to get my science prerequisites. Although now that I think about it, future applicant pools may have drastically higher stats than me depending on how long I stay in my current career field, so even asking this right now may be moot. Oh well.

A follow-up question though is if a really good MCAT (510+) could offset bad MPH GPA, or whether that's a different sort of assessment.

 

[mathnerd88]

The blunt assessment is good, I need the truth!

Besides, this was never really about Plan A or Plan B, it's basically looking into my future career move, however distant that may be, and not making a bad decision due to ignorance or bad planning (like I did with my MPH). And I would've had to take a post-bacc anyway to get my science prerequisites. Although now that I think about it, future applicant pools may have drastically higher stats than me depending on how long I stay in my current career field, so even asking this right now may be moot. Oh well.

A follow-up question though is if a really good MCAT (510+) could offset bad MPH GPA, or whether that's a different sort of assessment.

Yes, a really good MCAT could offset a bad GPA. At my school, the student they accepted with a 3.2 GPA had a 37 (519-520) MCAT score. Again, this is anecdotal.

You're going to want/need better than just a 510 if you want to offset your low grad GPA.