Has anyone recovered from a poor SMP?

[whatsupdoc89]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Is there anyone in the world out there that did not totally rock an SMP but still found a way to gain admission into a US medical school?

I'll spare everyone the details but I withdrew early from an SMP due to poor performance, have never taken MCAT or applied and I'm just trying to figure out if there's anywhere to go from here. Spare me the negativity, I know this is an impossible hole to climb out of but I'm 28 and I've got about 7 years of fight left in me before I throw in the towel.

Current plan is to take the MCAT this spring, and then take non-degree graduate courses in biology to bring up my graduate GPA.

 

[Cardboard101]

Did you receive grades for the SMP? Are there withdraws on your transcript from it?

 

[de Ribas]

to bring up my graduate GPA

did you mean undergraduate?

 

[RNthenDoc]

...I could be way off base here, but wouldn't a DIY post-bacc be the way to get your GPA up?

 

[Cath Up]

...I could be way off base here, but wouldn't a DIY post-bacc be the way to get your GPA up?

Correct- SMPs don't raise your undergrad GPA. They are considered graduate-level classes. So if you have an undergrad GPA below 3.0 (science and/or cumulative) then a DIY postbacc (taking undergrad courses at any school) is super useful (not always needed but often the most practical and smartest choice) and is the only way to raise your undergrad GPA.

SMPs are useful as a last-ditch effort to get into a med school. If you can get into an SMP that guarantees admission or interview or whatever with below a 3.0, then that is the main way you can get into an allopathic or osteopathic school with below a 3.0 and without a DIY-postbacc. Some schools don't have 3.0 cutoffs, but most programs have that as their main cutoff (many are higher, especially in the MD world). Some applicants can get into schools (DO, usually) without an SMP and with a c/s GPA below 3.0, but this can require reaching out to schools and asking them to consider you despite high likelihood of not making their algorithmic pre-screens.

It is my opinion that SMPs are most useful for applicants with above a 3.0 in both GPAs (it is less risky to take a DIY postbacc to raise your GPA above 3.0 and show you have improved as a student) and are actively aiming for MD. SMPs are expensive and high-risk high reward, if one performs well. For example, I had slightly above a 3.0 with a decent upward trend across undergrad, did a short DIY postbacc to continue that trend, and was accepted to DO programs. I could potentially have gotten into SMPs, performed very well, and would have much more of a shot at MD programs. I decided that SMPs were not worth the risk, cost, and time for that endeavor.

I really really encourage anyone pursuing an SMP to be aware of the success rate of previous SMP students in matriculating into med school. There are a number of SMPs that have increasingly poor rates of this happening. Additionally, a number of SMPs will do some fancy wordsmithing or obfuscation on their "outcomes" pages to make it seem like those going on to med school are higher than reality.

 

[Goro]

Is there anyone in the world out there that did not totally rock an SMP but still found a way to gain admission into a US medical school?

I'll spare everyone the details but I withdrew early from an SMP due to poor performance, have never taken MCAT or applied and I'm just trying to figure out if there's anywhere to go from here. Spare me the negativity, I know this is an impossible hole to climb out of but I'm 28 and I've got about 7 years of fight left in me before I throw in the towel.

Current plan is to take the MCAT this spring, and then take non-degree graduate courses in biology to bring up my graduate GPA.

I've seen it happen, thanks to connections and a high MCAT score. But this was an extreme outlier, and if you performed poorly in an SMP, you'll get killed in med school.

Getting into med school isn't the end game...it's only the beginning. We learned from bitter experience with our first SMP class that the weakest students will not make it in med school. Hence, we're quite rigorous with who we matriculate from our own SMP (or others).

That said, I have seen people tank one SMP, and somehow reinvent themselves in the second. Those we can accept without worry.

tldr: don't engage in wishful thinking...if you want to go to med school, you need to earn it.

 

[Cath Up]

I've seen it happen, thanks to connections and a high MCAT score. But this was an extreme outlier, and if you performed poorly in an SMP, you'll get killed in med school.

Getting into med school isn't the end game...it's only the beginning. We learned from bitter experience with our first SMP class that the weakest students will not make it in med school. Hence, we're quite rigorous with who we matriculate from our own SMP (or others).

That said, I have seen people tank one SMP, and somehow reinvent themselves in the second. Those we can accept without worry.

tldr: don't engage in wishful thinking...if you want to go to med school, you need to earn it.

My word. Those brave, indebted souls.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I know one who did a second SMP and one who didn't do one and both got in! Get a good MCAT, work on ugGPA and NOT gGPA! The filters are meant to work for ugGPA (because baccalaureate student are who they are targeting).

Don't ever jump into an formal post-bacc or SMP, without trying your best to get a good ugGPA and MCAT. I've seen too many fools who had a good ugGPA and bad MCAT (1st take) get wrecked in their SMPs and ruin their chances for medical school, when a simple retake of the MCAT would have gotten them school of their dreams.