High MCAT, continue post-bacc or SMP?

[KittyKats]

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Non-trad, long break after undergrad due to family
MCAT above 90th percentile. (will expire, will retake)
Low GPA, currently doing post-bacc

Should I stop when my cGPA is above 3.0 and apply to an SMP?
or continue until cGPA is 3.2 and apply to DO schools?

 

[Goro]

Non-trad, long break after undergrad due to family
MCAT above 90th percentile. (will expire, will retake)
Low GPA, currently doing post-bacc

Should I stop when my cGPA is above 3.0 and apply to an SMP?
or continue until cGPA is 3.2 and apply to DO schools?

Depends upon how many credits you've taken on your path to reinvention.

Either way is fine. SMP is higher risk, but higher reward.

 

[KittyKats]

30 or so credits, but will take another 15 over the next semesters

I heard some schools won't give secondaries if cGPA is under 3.25.

 

[DocJanItor]

DO schools are more forgiving of lower cgpas with reinvention. MD schools you'd likely need an SMP to have a reasonable chance.

 

[deleted555445]

the advice i've gotten is: take 25-35 credits of upper-level science and kill them, make sure your overall sGPA is above 3.0 (probably best to use 3.1 as a benchmark to be safe), but then if you have a good MCAT you can be competitive for some MD's that reward reinvention. you're obviously going to have to have good EC's and essays like everyone else, and definitely include DO's on your list as they are more rewarding for reinvention. but once you have done a good amount of post-bacc classes at 3.8+, shoot your shot. try to increase that MCAT as much as you can when you retake, it'll be part of your reinvention story and will be your best gauge for school selection on the MD side.

take a look at this chart, but take it with a grain of salt because you don't know how many people in your category either did an SMP (increasing their chances relative to you) or applied right out of school with that GPA with no upward trend or, god forbid, a downward trend (decreasing their chances relative to you).

for SMP's, i dont really see the value. they're weighted more highly than post-baccs, but for the price and time commitment i'd rather just do a DIY post-bacc while working than doing a practice year of med school. but they do yield results...

 

[DocJanItor]

the advice i've gotten is: take 25-35 credits of upper-level science and kill them, make sure your overall sGPA is above 3.0 (probably best to use 3.1 as a benchmark to be safe), but then if you have a good MCAT you can be competitive for some MD's that reward reinvention. you're obviously going to have to have good EC's and essays like everyone else, and definitely include DO's on your list as they are more rewarding for reinvention. but once you have done a good amount of post-bacc classes at 3.8+, shoot your shot. try to increase that MCAT as much as you can when you retake, it'll be part of your reinvention story and will be your best gauge for school selection on the MD side.

take a look at this chart, but take it with a grain of salt because you don't know how many people in your category either did an SMP (increasing their chances relative to you) or applied right out of school with that GPA with no upward trend or, god forbid, a downward trend (decreasing their chances relative to you).

for SMP's, i dont really see the value. they're weighted more highly than post-baccs, but for the price and time commitment i'd rather just do a DIY post-bacc while working than doing a practice year of med school. but they do yield results...

There's a limit as to what can be repaired by a DIY post-bacc. I had a 2.52 cGPA and 42 credits at a 4.0 only boosted me up to a 2.85. I think it would've taken another 60-80 credits to hit a 3.0. I basically would've had to take the equivalent of the final 2 years of a bio degree. Even then, just hitting a 3.0, my chances wouldn't have been phenomenal and I certainly wouldn't have gotten into the caliber of school that I'm currently at.

Additionally, I was lucky enough to matriculate into the associated medical school where I took my SMP so I was exempt from about 1/3-1/2 of my M1 classes (and a discount!)

So there is a use case for them, but I think a lot of people are too quick to attend an SMP when they don't realize just how stressful and challenging it can be. And while a good SMP GPA can get you into med school, a bad one can keep you out forever.

 

[deleted555445]

There's a limit as to what can be repaired by a DIY post-bacc. I had a 2.52 cGPA and 42 credits at a 4.0 only boosted me up to a 2.85. I think it would've taken another 60-80 credits to hit a 3.0. I basically would've had to take the equivalent of the final 2 years of a bio degree. Even then, just hitting a 3.0, my chances wouldn't have been phenomenal and I certainly wouldn't have gotten into the caliber of school that I'm currently at.

Additionally, I was lucky enough to matriculate into the associated medical school where I took my SMP so I was exempt from about 1/3-1/2 of my M1 classes (and a discount!)

So there is a use case for them, but I think a lot of people are too quick to attend an SMP when they don't realize just how stressful and challenging it can be. And while a good SMP GPA can get you into med school, a bad one can keep you out forever.

I agree there's a limit, if you can't realistically get above 3.0 just doing post-bacc you have to consider other routes. i was just working off the assumption that OP could given they mentioned 3.2 is an option. i think graduating with like a 2.9 and then taking enough classes to get to 3.2 (biased because thats literally me rn lol) at a consistent 4.0 plus a good MCAT and good EC's is enough reinvention to avoid an expensive SMP. your options are narrowed but you can still apply MD and DO with decent confidence. but obviously i'm just some guy who hasn't even applied yet so i'm just relaying the general advice i've gotten from others, i'm not an SME myself.

 

[swamzi]

What is SMP?