How and where to address my low gpa?

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Unless you are fluent in Spanish or have a history of involvement in the Hispanic community, don't apply to FIU. They're very mission driven.

USF may be up your alley if you apply to SELECT since they have low/no instate preference and are more lenient on grades. But look into what select entails...high tuition, clinical sites are in Pennsylvania.

Also id say drop a bunch of those state schools. You will be much better served applying to privates. The state schools aren't interested in handing out acceptances to high MCAT OOS kids who probably won't go.

Also add Virginia tech. They are perhaps the most "MCAT over everythang" school out there - and have one of the lowest median GPAs to prove it.

I have a lot of work with disadvantaged populations so I was hoping to keep FIU. I don't speak Spanish fluently but I am working on it! I won't be listing it on my application though as I am nowhere near fluent.

Isn't VA Tech a very research oriented school? I saw you got in there. Did you have a research heavy app?

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I have a lot of work with disadvantaged populations so I was hoping to keep FIU. I don't speak Spanish fluently but I am working on it! I won't be listing it on my application though as I am nowhere near fluent.

Isn't VA Tech a very research oriented school? I saw you got in there. Did you have a research heavy app?
I applied to FIU this past cycle because my sGPA was low and I fit with the school. As soon as I got into another school, I was like peace out FIU. No way am I paying $70K/yr for OOS tuition. Before you start applying, you'll feel desperate but during the cycle your priorities will change and you will likely realize that you would rather reapply than go $400K in debt pre-interest for med school. FIU also didn't like the fact that I wasn't from southeast Florida. I actually then ended up getting into Miami even though my sGPA is below their 10th percentile and MCAT is a touch above their median. If you fit with the mission of Miami schools, I think you're a lot lot more likely to get into Miami than FIU. Don't waste the money on applying to FIU

Wait....your GPAs are also higher than mine. I think you're gonna do fine in this cycle and I bet FIU would see you as a low yield applicant
 
I have a lot of work with disadvantaged populations so I was hoping to keep FIU. I don't speak Spanish fluently but I am working on it! I won't be listing it on my application though as I am nowhere near fluent.

Isn't VA Tech a very research oriented school? I saw you got in there. Did you have a research heavy app?

I'd second what Mansamusa said about FIU. Unless you feel a really deep connection to the school, it's just not a good deal for OOS students. Also just working with underserved is not really their thing, it's working with underserved Latin American/carribean patients of Miami. So unless you have a clear record of working with that patient population it makes it very hard to get in there OOS. They're very different from UM...they have a clear mission to provide primary care for the underserved of Miami, while UM's mission is less targeted. Also um has a more reasonable OOS tuition, but that comes with higher average metrics.

Virginia tech is research oriented but not to the degree it claims IMO. I did a gap year in research, but didn't do and ounce of it in UG. I didn't apply with any papers, pubs, abstracts, etc...but they didn't seem to mind too much. Plus they have a short, cheap secondary so it's worth it in my mind.
 
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Revised school list:

*3.5 cGPA/3.36 sGPA
*downward trend in college
*2 semester post bacc (27 credits in total)- 4.0 GPA
*524 MCAT



1) MCW

2) Oakland

3) Tulane

4) Wayne State

5) UCSF

6) Cal Northstate

7) Stanford

8) Keck

9) UCLA

10) UCSD

11) UC Davis

12) Cincinnati

13) Miami

14) Jefferson

15) Wash U

16) Ohio State

17) Western Michigan

18) Tufts

19) Case Western

20) UCI

21) Hofstra

22) NYMC

23) Loyola

24) SLU

25) UIC

26) Virginia Tech

27) UA-Phoenix

28) Einstein

29) Emory

30) Northwestern

@GrapesofRath @gyngyn @Goro

above is my final school list. I swapped and deleted many and wouldn't mind cutting 2-3 more. thank you!
 
Delete Northstate.

I have seen it mentioned on here that they don't provide federal student loans and I am fine with that. I would be willing to take out private loans if it means a chance at a US medical education. If I am okay with that would it be fine to go ahead and apply?
 
I have seen it mentioned on here that they don't provide federal student loans and I am fine with that. I would be willing to take out private loans if it means a chance at a US medical education. If I am okay with that would it be fine to go ahead and apply?

There's more to it than that in terms of flaws. Really do spend more time looking into it.

This list is fine. You can delete NYMC and Va Tech without reducing your odds if you want to cut 2-3 options. If you want a New York school try Downstate or Stony Brook instead.
 
There's more to it than that in terms of flaws. Really do spend more time looking into it.

This list is fine. You can delete NYMC and Va Tech without reducing your odds if you want to cut 2-3 options. You're good to otherwise.

Thank you to and @gyngyn for your advice. I have another concern that I have been wondering about. Do you think 27 credits over 2 semesters is enough to show adcoms that my work ethic has changed and prove to admissions committees that I have what it takes? I keep hearing about "30 credits" being the magical number. I know it's literally a 3 credit difference but I just want to know how it will be perceived.
 
Thank you to and @gyngyn for your advice. I have another concern that I have been wondering about. Do you think 27 credits over 2 semesters is enough to show adcoms that my work ethic has changed and prove to admissions committees that I have what it takes? I keep hearing about "30 credits" being the magical number. I know it's literally a 3 credit difference but I just want to know how it will be perceived.

It's not going to make any kind of difference that is worth worrying about in anyway
 
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OP,

I don't want to be debbie downer, but I would advise you not to have expectations. Apply broadly and if you get in, great, if not, then you're probably an unfortunate victim of the unceasing movement of the goalposts for getting into medical school. Once upon a time that MCAT would have been pretty much a guarantee of acceptance, but now there are so many applicants that med schools can afford to turn down people like us who -horror of horrors - may have made mistakes in the past.

I am in a similar situation to you - cGPA of 3.34, sGPA of 3.87, and MCAT 520. I applied to 25 schools last cycle and managed to receive one interview that turned into a WL. I am putting the finishing touches on my 2016 app right now.

Apply everywhere, high, low, MD, DO. I have found after asking numerous pre-med advisors and admissions staff that nobody knows what the hell to make of applicants like us. Are we good applicants with flaws, bad applicants with an edge, or do we average out to mediocrity? I've never gotten a good answer to this.

Apply broadly and have a plan to be working on improving your app during this gap year in case you have to reapply. I think applicants like us tend to slip through the cracks. Elite schools see the GPA and turn us down, but non-elite schools see the MCAT and assume we wouldn't deign to go to their measly institution.
 
OP,

I don't want to be debbie downer, but I would advise you not to have expectations. Apply broadly and if you get in, great, if not, then you're probably an unfortunate victim of the unceasing movement of the goalposts for getting into medical school. Once upon a time that MCAT would have been pretty much a guarantee of acceptance, but now there are so many applicants that med schools can afford to turn down people like us who -horror of horrors - may have made mistakes in the past.

I am in a similar situation to you - cGPA of 3.34, sGPA of 3.87, and MCAT 520. I applied to 25 schools last cycle and managed to receive one interview that turned into a WL. I am putting the finishing touches on my 2016 app right now.

Apply everywhere, high, low, MD, DO. I have found after asking numerous pre-med advisors and admissions staff that nobody knows what the hell to make of applicants like us. Are we good applicants with flaws, bad applicants with an edge, or do we average out to mediocrity? I've never gotten a good answer to this.

Apply broadly and have a plan to be working on improving your app during this gap year in case you have to reapply. I think applicants like us tend to slip through the cracks. Elite schools see the GPA and turn us down, but non-elite schools see the MCAT and assume we wouldn't deign to go to their measly institution.
Since we're going the anecdote route, just for some balance:
I applied last cycle, 3.3 gpa (after a postbacc), 40 MCAT, CA resident, had an alcohol IA. I got 7 interviews, 2 acceptances. I'd agree with the advice in this thread that the low-MCAT schools aren't worth the application. Only one of the low-MCAT schools I applied to gave me so much as the time of day. NYMC, Jefferson, etc...that type of school? No response (except from Wayne, but a. they have a postbacc gpa replacement policy that made me a 4.0/40 applicant for them, b. I applied early enough that they were required to give me immediate feedback due to an incentive they set up, and c. they still didn't accept me until traffic day passed and I still had no hits from other schools, and then suddenly they wanted me enough to award me a scholarship).
 
Hi @Catalystik this is my WAMC. thank you for looking. and sorry to everyone for bumping this old thread.

One edit to the original post is that I actually ended up shadowing 3 docs for a total of 75 hours (EM- 30 hours, OBGYN- 30 hours, my former pediatrician 15 hours).
 
How many courses would you recommend an A in? I had a downward trend in college but attempted to redeem myself in a post bacc with 27 credits (9 courses) over the course of 2 academic semesters so my course load was very heavy each term. Is that "sufficient remediation"?
Can you give me a rundown of your year-by-year GPAs and what classes you took for your postbac? While you're working on that, I'll read through your megathread.
 
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I'm not quoting you, in case you want to remove the details of your post.

To answer your question: 1-1.5 years of excellent grades are generally deemed to redeem a mediocre academic record. In your case, considering your MCAT, I think 2 full-time semesters are sufficient. Especially as you took exactly the med-school type classes I would have recommended.

Just for practice, tell me why you took a dive senior year?
 
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I'm not quoting you, in case you want to remove the details of your post.

To answer your question: 1-1.5 years of excellent grades are generally deemed to redeem a mediocre academic record. In your case, considering your MCAT, I think 2 full-time semesters are sufficient. Especially as you took exactly the med-school type classes I would have recommended.

Just for practice, tell me why you took a dive senior year?

Thank you I appreciate that.

I will consider adding in another semester of classes in the spring if I don't have any interviews by the fall.

I am guessing I really didn't have my life together at that point in addition to immaturity and laziness is not an appropriate response? :confused:
I had had deficits in my study habits and time management skills (definitely took more on in extracurricular activities than I could handle) which I recognized and fixed. Growing up helped too.
 
as well as all of your state schools, a solid group of mid-tiers, and a carefully selected group of top schools (perhaps 8-10). Avoid any schools that have a 90th percentile MCAT of below 39.

As someone with a ~3.6/3.5 and 522+ MCAT this is giving me massive anxiety...

Half my list has schools with around a 36 or 37 90th percentile MCAT
How can I find these schools with 39 90th percentile MCATs that aren't in the top 20 US News?
I can't apply to all of those because a 3.5 or 3.6 is well below many of their 3.65 or 3.7 10th percentile GPAs

Or should I?

Best range of schools for you will be those that have an McAT median around 33-35 that are OOS friendly and get <10k apps a year.

Is this for privates or publics or both?

low yield lower tier schools that rarely interview people with this mcat like NYMC Drexel GW etc and "aiming too low" per se isn't going to get you more interviews

Really? NYMC and Drexel will yield protect high MCATs like this?


Delete the schools where your MCAT is way above the 90th%.


How much is way above?

They like high MCAT's, though.

Any schools other than USC, Vtech, and Hofstra to apply to in this position?
 
Any schools other than USC, Vtech, and Hofstra to apply to in this position?

Here are schools that I think have a predilection for high MCATs:

Hofstra
Wash U
Cincinnati
Case Western
Iowa
OSU
Emory
Rochester
Einstein
USC
BU
SLU
Miami

Don't worry too much about the 10th percentile. You're close enough.
 
1) I am guessing I really didn't have my life together at that point in addition to immaturity and laziness is not an appropriate response? :confused:
2) I had had deficits in my study habits and time management skills (definitely took more on in extracurricular activities than I could handle) which I recognized and fixed. Growing up helped too.
1) Considering that "time of immaturity and laziness was one year ago, I agree, this response would not be reassuring to me.

2) You did well your junior year, so a deficit in study habits is less believable. Maybe work on the "too many ECs" angle/ with time management/failure to recognize one's limitations.
 
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