High MCAT Low GPA?

[ColinB]

Long time lurker here goin through the start of apps. I'm facing a low GPA (community com in hs when I was a screw off) but a high MCAT score. Dropped out of college years ago, grew up on fishing boats and big mountains, then decided to go back to school.

cGPA 3.41
sGPA 3.25
MCAT 38Q (12 PS, 12 BS, 14 VR)

GPA has been 3.5-3.80 every year since I returned to college and I'm about to graduate. I've had several hundred hours of shadowing, two years working as an EMT, one year volunteering with a rural EMS agency, 6 months in a research lab, and several other volunteer (non-medical) projects. Oregon resident for what that matters. Looking at lower tier schools, but dreaming big. Thoughts? Am I crazy for thinking I'll get in anywhere?

Thanks,
Colin

 

[Catalystik]

Long time lurker here goin through the start of apps. I'm facing a low GPA (community com in hs when I was a screw off) but a high MCAT score. Dropped out of college years ago, grew up on fishing boats and big mountains, then decided to go back to school.

cGPA 3.41
sGPA 3.25
MCAT 38Q (12 PS, 12 BS, 14 VR)

GPA has been 3.5-3.80 every year since I returned to college and I'm about to graduate. I've had several hundred hours of shadowing, two years working as an EMT, one year volunteering with a rural EMS agency, 6 months in a research lab, and several other volunteer (non-medical) projects. Oregon resident for what that matters. Looking at lower tier schools, but dreaming big. Thoughts? Am I crazy for thinking I'll get in anywhere?

Thanks,
Colin

Historically, for the last three years, All Applicants applying with your stats had a 69% chance of success. If your most recent semesters show a sustained upward grade trend and if you maybe have some As in upper-level Bio, you'd more likely be on the positive side of those stats. Your nontrad status helps too.

 

[Catalystik]

I just wanted to ask why the nontraditional status is advantageous.

Rich life experience and a resulting increased maturity often come with knocking about in a non-university environment.

 

[Catalystik]

I guess I was more trying to gauge if being a nontraditional student is generally viewed by admission committees as a favorable quality--as in, will they sometimes put a greater weight on the nontrad status, thus allowing for a somewhat lower GPA or MCAT?

Thanks again.

All adcomms are different. My observation is that when poor grades were long ago, and recent grades and MCAT score are good, that nontrads may get more leniency on their cGPA, as if much older grades are given far less weight. Just a theory. Meatier ECs are likely another factor.

 

[ColinB]

Thanks for the quick feedback. Luckily, grades have been steadily going up for me and I've been doing well in a lot of upper-div bio. I think being a non-trad helped more with the motivation to stay busy as much as anything else.

 

[tenndoc]

high mcat and strong upward trend? yeah youll be fine