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[lilqu]

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Hey guys,
I did some searching around and wasn't able to find the answer to this particular question.
What are the chances of someone who has a modest GPA (3.5-3.6) and MCAT as well extracurriculars doing a SMP in order to get into a medical school like Harvard/John's Hopkins?
Is it possible? Have there been cases of people doing the SMP route and doing well that these school see them as potential candidates for a medical school spot?
Thank you for your time 🙂😎

 

[JSReed]

Prob not gunna happen, unless you get a 38+ on your mcat and get published. SMPs aren't made for tier-jumping, they help you get in to A med school

 

[lilqu]

So pretty much the method is (as an example):
1) apply to Georgetown SMP
2) Accepted due to your LoR's, experience, GPA, MCAT
3) Do as well or better than med students
4) Get accepted into their medical school upon completion.


Therefore it isn't a viable means for applying to other medical schools correct?

 

[bigloley]

Yeah and you're gonna have to do better on your SMP than in undergrad - so your SMP GPA would have to be >3.6 which might be really hard depending on your SMP

Not a good idea

 

[johnnyscans]

FWIW 60% of the students in HMS are classified as "non-traditional". This could mean a wide variety of things: older, younger, military service, etc. What they look for is diversity, academic success and commitment to the field. Obviously academic success is a main deciding factor, as it's a major component of their ranking, and ranking = money, but it's not everything.

Students who get into top medical schools bust their butts for 3/4/5 years to earn that acceptance letter. You mention a modest MCAT and ECs: what does this mean exactly? What, in your eyes, is a modest MCAT? What are your ECs? Do you have any real research experience? Do you have any experiences that help differentiate you from the average candidate? Top schools aren't looking for the ordinary; they're looking for the extraordinary. If your EC list looks something along the lines of "one summer of research, member of premed club, hospital volunteer and soup kitchen volunteer" you've got your work cut out for you.

Historically, SMPs aren't used as a means of achieving admission into top-level schools. They're used by individuals who have no other hope of getting into a US MD school. They've given it their all and now they're faced with a do-or-die tryout for medical school.

If you have aspirations of a top-school you need to demolish your MCATs and have an amazing collection of ECs and LORs, a perfect PS, and be a dynamite interviewee.

 

[DrMidlife]

So pretty much the method is (as an example):
1) apply to Georgetown SMP
2) Accepted due to your LoR's, experience, GPA, MCAT
3) Do as well or better than med students
4) Get accepted into their medical school upon completion.
Therefore it isn't a viable means for applying to other medical schools correct?

Incorrect.

Georgetown, in particular, doesn't take many of its own SMP grads, maybe 15-20%. You do the Gtown SMP to increase your chances in general, and to help you get into your home state's schools. The Gtown model is:
1. strong med school candidates can use concurrent SMP enrollment to spice up a med school app during the SMP year
2. weaker med school candidates can use the completed SMP to spice up a med school app after the SMP year
3. Californians (known exception to the concurrent model) can only use a completed Gtown SMP to improve chances at a UC.

SMPs like Cincinnati, Temple and EVMS take the majority of their SMP grads directly into the host med school.

I suggest if your goal is to get into a prestigious med school, then you need to do prestigious things. SMPs aren't prestigious. What SMPs are: risky and expensive.

You should be looking into a traditional masters with publishing opportunities, if you want an Ivy med school from average stats.

Best of luck to you.

 

[lilqu]

You guys are absolutely fabulous!
Very good and in-depth answers that have pretty much cleared a cloud of confusion in my head.
Therefore as DrMidLife stated, which would be more up my alley (so to speak) doing a traditional 2 year masters in my related field (BS Biomedical Sciences, so I'd look into things such as Biology/Biotechnology, etc. Correct?) and publish, together with stellar LoR, and meaningful experience.
I am guessing the above would improve my chances yet not be a guarantee. How heavily would the MCAT weigh-in at this point?

 

[johnnyscans]

You guys are absolutely fabulous!
Very good and in-depth answers that have pretty much cleared a cloud of confusion in my head.
Therefore as DrMidLife stated, which would be more up my alley (so to speak) doing a traditional 2 year masters in my related field (BS Biomedical Sciences, so I'd look into things such as Biology/Biotechnology, etc. Correct?) and publish, together with stellar LoR, and meaningful experience.
I am guessing the above would improve my chances yet not be a guarantee. How heavily would the MCAT weigh-in at this point?

Hugely. School's do not like it when both numbers are below average, unless you have some astronomical type of EC (multiple Nature quality publications). If you can blow the MCAT out of the water you can effectively paint yourself as a less-risky proposition for the school.

What do your ECs look like?

 

[lilqu]

My ECs include hospital volunteering, shadowing multiple physicians (cardiologist/general surgeon), volunteering at school in at-risk neighborhood, pre-med society officer + president, tutoring kids at local church, teacher's assistant grading test papers.
(Probably not too wild and exciting i suppose)

I have had a hard time finding research opportunities - I don't attend an Ivy league university (such as UF), I attend a small private college. I have even trying contacting physicians that are involved in research projects at Florida hospital numerous times with 0 response.
I'm beginning to think I will just settle for average and get this wild idea out of my head (that of working toward being accepted at an ivy league school)

 

[johnnyscans]

My ECs include hospital volunteering, shadowing multiple physicians (cardiologist/general surgeon), volunteering at school in at-risk neighborhood, pre-med society officer + president, tutoring kids at local church, teacher's assistant grading test papers.
(Probably not too wild and exciting i suppose)

I have had a hard time finding research opportunities - I don't attend an Ivy league university (such as UF), I attend a small private college. I have even trying contacting physicians that are involved in research projects at Florida hospital numerous times with 0 response.
I'm beginning to think I will just settle for average and get this wild idea out of my head (that of working toward being accepted at an ivy league school)

No research will hurt you if you're dead set on the top-tier programs. The rest of your ECs are good; fairly average, but no glaring holes. The problem is there's nothing to differentiate you from the rest of the stellar applicants that most medical schools get; you could argue that shadowing and hospital volunteering are almost requirements more so than ECs.

What have you been saying to the researchers you've been contacting. What have you been offering them? I'm confident that the only reason I nabbed my research gig is because I offered 2+ years of 30+hrs/week of work for free and I was very interested in his line of research. Have you been selling yourself or just pretty much begging for anything?

 

[lilqu]

The system that they have at Florida hospital in orlando is that there is a site listing all the doctors actively doing research and what research they are actually conducting. You then e-mail someone who is in contact with them asking who you're interested in working with. I did that multiple times.....No response.
I wonder If i should just go to the front desk of research labs (they have a diabetes one by my college) and just ask to see if there's someone I can talk to :/
The fact that my EC's don't distinguish me from an average applicant repel me from even wanting to apply just to receive a rejection ><

 

[johnnyscans]

The system that they have at Florida hospital in orlando is that there is a site listing all the doctors actively doing research and what research they are actually conducting. You then e-mail someone who is in contact with them asking who you're interested in working with. I did that multiple times.....No response.
I wonder If i should just go to the front desk of research labs (they have a diabetes one by my college) and just ask to see if there's someone I can talk to :/
The fact that my EC's don't distinguish me from an average applicant repel me from even wanting to apply just to receive a rejection ><

I'm not saying your ECs are bad. They're average to above average. Your GPA + an average MCAT will get you into medical school.

That said, IVY league is a whole different ball game.

 

[smiley27]

I don't attend an Ivy league university (such as UF)

Was this a joke? Or do you really think UF is in the ivy league?

 

[lilqu]

They consider themselves Ivy league'ish - it's pretty tough to get into UF med school (unless you're super duper rich and make a sizable donation 😛 )

 

[smiley27]

They consider themselves Ivy league'ish - it's pretty tough to get into UF med school (unless you're super duper rich and make a sizable donation 😛 )

The candidates that are considered for harvard/hopkins med don't consider UF particularly tough to get into, they would see UF as a safety. You have a below average gpa and ECs for the elite schools and should worry about just getting into any med school.

 

[lilqu]

ok - I guess you didn't understand what this thread is about.
How does one go about rectifying their condition in order to become a competitive applicant to those schools. I believe I'd be as capable a med student as anyone else in either of those schools - I have made plenty of mistakes thus far, hence my mediocre EC's and GPA.
Your input is pretty worthless thus far.

 

[smiley27]

While UF may be the Harvard of Gainesville, Florida the other 49 states don't perceive UF as an elite academic institution. It's just another state school.

 

[smiley27]

I don't mean to come down on you so don't take it personal. You have competitive ECs for med school, just not for the elite schools.

Get into med school, kill med school, then go do your residency at harvard/hipkins where the name of where you are trained at matters more.

 

[smiley27]

ok - I guess you didn't understand what this thread is about.
How does one go about rectifying their condition in order to become a competitive applicant to those schools. I believe I'd be as capable a med student as anyone else in either of those schools - I have made plenty of mistakes thus far, hence my mediocre EC's and GPA.
Your input is pretty worthless thus far.

Go get published, multiple times. Get a 36+ on the mcat and MAYBE you will get interviewed there. End of thread. Is that worthless?

 

[lilqu]

Go get published, multiple times. Get a 36+ on the mcat and MAYBE you will get interviewed there. End of thread. Is that worthless?

That was helpful, and along the lines of what has been said. Being realistic v. being optimistic. Realism wins :/

 

[smiley27]

That was helpful, and along the lines of what has been said. Being realistic v. being optimistic. Realism wins :/

Go to mdapplicants.com to get an idea of the stats/ECs the people that apply to the top schools have. It's humbling to see the 3.8/34+ MCATers get rejected without secondaries. It takes a lot more than above average numbers and cookie-cutter ECs to get into harvard.

 

[DrMidlife]

Get out of Florida for your grad work, if you're serious about med school at an Ivy.

 

[deleted248403]

They consider themselves Ivy league'ish - it's pretty tough to get into UF med school (unless you're super duper rich and make a sizable donation 😛 )

hahahah I laughed so hard at this.

You have competitive ECs for med school, just not for the elite schools.

Get into med school, kill med school, then go do your residency at harvard/hipkins where the name of where you are trained at matters more.

This. +1

As said SMPs aren't for tier jumping.

With your current GPA, you are gonna need to blow the MCAT out of the water (37+), AND do something truly outstanding (this HIV thing hasn't got a vaccine yet....). Your current ECs suffice, but they don't make you stand out.

 

[johnnyscans]

With your current GPA, you are gonna need to blow the MCAT out of the water (37+), AND do something truly outstanding (this HIV thing hasn't got a vaccine yet....). Your current ECs suffice, but they don't make you stand out.

Oh cmon, we all know the govt.'s already cured HIV.

:tinfoil hat:

 

[deleted248403]

Oh cmon, we all know the govt.'s already cured HIV.

:tinfoil hat:

👍