How do I look?

[41@31]

---

Members do not see this ad.

First, it's nice to see that I have so much company. Second (and I'm sure this question gets asked ALOT around here)... what are my chances? I graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania in 1996 with a BA in English. I was then a rock musician for a decade. I am now finishing my last semester of a 2-year post-bac at SUNY Stony Brook, and I'm prepping to takie the April MCAT. Here are my stats:

-Post-Bac ('04-'06) (all the pre-reqs (w/ Calc I/II) + microbio): 4.0

-UPenn ('92-'96): (only BCPMS's were BIO/CALC and I got C's/D's): 2.49

-Combined Undergrad GPA (Post+Penn): 3.0

-Combined BCPM (Post+Penn): 3.3

-9 months as a scribe in the ER (following attendings and writing charts when they interview patients-helping with tests-samples-splinting-you name it)

-2 years volunteering in a pediatric practice.

-6 months as a researcher in the ER (called us "Academic Associates").

-2 semesters of research in organic chemistry (with my gen chem prof. who also wrote a letter of rec for me).

-I just got a 35 on the practice AMCAS 3R test, so let's say 31-38 MCAT.

How do I look? Will schools see that I've changed in the 14 years since I was first a freshman?

 

[blee]

I graduated from Cornell in '99 with a 2.75, and did a post-bacc year in '04-'05 with a 3.93. 37R on the MCAT. Five acceptances this year. 🙂

If my experience is at all consistent with what adcoms would see in applicants like myself, I'd say you're in good shape.

 

[41@31]

I graduated from Cornell in '99 with a 2.75, and did a post-bacc year in '04-'05 with a 3.93. 37R on the MCAT. Five acceptances this year. 🙂

If my experience is at all consistent with what adcoms would see in applicants like myself, I'd say you're in good shape.

Thanks, blee. Your words are encouraging. Congrats on the acceptances!

 

[kelli]

Hey Blee, congrats on the acceptances. 🙂 Way to go! 👍

I have a quick question though... I know you did a one-year postbacc at Georgetown. Was that the SMP? another formal post-bacc? Or just one year of various prerequisites that you hadn't completed prior to applying?

 

[premedmaybe]

congrats blee! words of encouragement 🙂

 

[blee]

Once I settle on the school at which I will matriculate, I plan to post my story as completely (but succinctly) as I can. I seem to repeat myself every so often here, and maybe it would help if we had a sort of "testimonials" thread for people who wonder if it can be done. I'm no superhero, but I worked hard and it paid off.

kelli - Georgetown offers a pre-med post-bacc program as well as the SMP. Here's the somewhat helpful website for it:

http://college.georgetown.edu/programs/premed/pbpm.html

It's a certificate program, but it isn't structured like some post-baccs out there. I had actually taken the pre-reqs as an undergrad, but so much time had passed that I figured it would be best for me to take them again, both to boost my GPA and to study for the MCAT. Turned out to be a good strategy; I honestly remembered nothing that would have helped me out during my post-bacc year, except for a little bit of gen chem.

 

[njbmd]

First, it's nice to see that I have so much company. Second (and I'm sure this question gets asked ALOT around here)... what are my chances? I graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania in 1996 with a BA in English. I was then a rock musician for a decade. I am now finishing my last semester of a 2-year post-bac at SUNY Stony Brook, and I'm prepping to takie the April MCAT. Here are my stats:

-Post-Bac ('04-'06) (all the pre-reqs (w/ Calc I/II) + microbio): 4.0

-UPenn ('92-'96): (only BCPMS's were BIO/CALC and I got C's/D's): 2.49

-Combined Undergrad GPA (Post+Penn): 3.0

-Combined BCPM (Post+Penn): 3.3

-9 months as a scribe in the ER (following attendings and writing charts when they interview patients-helping with tests-samples-splinting-you name it)

-2 years volunteering in a pediatric practice.

-6 months as a researcher in the ER (called us "Academic Associates").

-2 semesters of research in organic chemistry (with my gen chem prof. who also wrote a letter of rec for me).

-I just got a 35 on the practice AMCAS 3R test, so let's say 31-38 MCAT.

How do I look? Will schools see that I've changed in the 14 years since I was first a freshman?

Hi there,
A couple of things to keep in mind: Compared to a person with a greater than 3.7 GPA and MCAT of greater than 35 with good curriculars, you come up pretty short. The reason that I am saying this is that many things determine how competitive you will be. You do not have an MCAT score and like on election day, the polls don't count. The second thing is that medical school is getting more competitive every year and you have to see how you stack up with the people that are applying the same year as you. There are plenty of folks who have everything together and are not fighting a very poor first-time GPA.

That being said, you shoot for the highest GPA and MCAT that you can get. You seed in your application and you see what happens. That is the main reason why these "What are my chances?" threads are pretty useless. If you think you have what it takes to be a physician, then apply and find out. Worse case scenario: You don't get in. Best case scenario: You get in and then there's medical school. It's a whole different game.

njbmd 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

First, it's nice to see that I have so much company. Second (and I'm sure this question gets asked ALOT around here)... what are my chances? I graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania in 1996 with a BA in English. I was then a rock musician for a decade. I am now finishing my last semester of a 2-year post-bac at SUNY Stony Brook, and I'm prepping to takie the April MCAT. Here are my stats:

-Post-Bac ('04-'06) (all the pre-reqs (w/ Calc I/II) + microbio): 4.0

-UPenn ('92-'96): (only BCPMS's were BIO/CALC and I got C's/D's): 2.49

-Combined Undergrad GPA (Post+Penn): 3.0

-Combined BCPM (Post+Penn): 3.3

-9 months as a scribe in the ER (following attendings and writing charts when they interview patients-helping with tests-samples-splinting-you name it)

-2 years volunteering in a pediatric practice.

-6 months as a researcher in the ER (called us "Academic Associates").

-2 semesters of research in organic chemistry (with my gen chem prof. who also wrote a letter of rec for me).

-I just got a 35 on the practice AMCAS 3R test, so let's say 31-38 MCAT.

How do I look? Will schools see that I've changed in the 14 years since I was first a freshman?

Agree with njbmd with respect to you (although I don't agree that folks in general should send in their apps prematurely to see if they have gotten their stats up to snuff for med school, if that is what she is suggesting in her last paragraph. People always need to get their ducks in a row first, before pulling the trigger).
You have showed nice post-college improvement, and that will help a lot, but some places are still going to have trouble getting past a 2.5 UG GPA no matter what your ultimate GPA is, so you can expect to need to apply broadly and to a much bigger number and range of places than the typical person with your postbac grades and projected MCAT might to get some nibbles. And virtually everyone who goes into the MCAT is optimistic of scoring smashingly -- so a lot of us are skeptical about folks asserting that they will score in the 31+ range. There are plenty of folks on SDN who had to retake the MCAT even after solid practice tests. Good luck.

 

[liverotcod]

My story sounds a little like yours. After a miserable first pass at undergrad I finally graduated in 1993 with a 2.3 or so GPA and essentially no prereqs. I had careers as a Kinko's manager and then a software developer.

Beginning in 2002, I did a a-la-carte post-bacc at Virginia Commonwealth University, in which I got a 4.0. My MCAT was 39 after practice tests ranging from 35-38. My final GPA was overall 2.95, science 3.4. Because I recognized what njbmd points out--that my application had higher than average risk--I applied in 2004 to 30 schools, had about 16 interview invites, went to 9, and had 7 acceptances.

So, anecdotally, there's certainly hope. My interviewers consistently informed me their committees were looking for candidates that were mature, had faced real-world (non-academic) challenges. My recent academic work and MCAT adequately demonstrated (their words) my capacity.

Then again, I didn't get interviews at UChicago, Harvard or Northwestern. Nor did I get a free-ride scholarship at Pitt. Oh well.

To answer your original question, I would put your chances at very high for at least a couple acceptances, so long as you:
-do upper 30s on the MCAT
-apply broadly
-interview well

 

[liverotcod]

so a lot of us are skeptical about folks asserting that they will score in the 31+ range.

I couldn't agree more. But I do feel that consistently high scores on the official practice tests are pretty predictive of one's real score.

 

[relentless11]

You do not have an MCAT score and like on election day, the polls don't count.

God that could be the best saying ever...haha. Soooo true.

I agree with what everyone else has said. The OP's EC's and Post-bacc is good. However EC's are only icing on the cake. With a relatively low overall GPA even when including post-bacc, and a yet to be determined MCAT score, it'll be rough.

I learned the hardway (first time I took the MCAT) that practice exams are not really a good indicator of how well you do on the real test. Its more of an indicator of where you are strong, and where you are weak in terms of the subjects. I did way better the 2nd time, got a 36S, but I was bouncing around 35's, 36's, and 37's during the last 4 proctored practice exams. Not one, or two, or three, but FOUR. Even then I've known people to miss their practice exam scores by 2-3. Don't get me wrong, getting a 35 on a practice exam is really good. However, don't put too much thought into practice exams, considering there are something like 7 versions of the test on testing day, and they can vary between extremely hard to extremely easy. Which are "curved" based on the test version so it evens out at the end, but yea. Good luck with that😉

 

[Gabby]

You are my hero! I'm saving this post to read over and over again each and every time I doubt my chances!

My story sounds a little like yours. After a miserable first pass at undergrad I finally graduated in 1993 with a 2.3 or so GPA and essentially no prereqs. I had careers as a Kinko's manager and then a software developer.

Beginning in 2002, I did a a-la-carte post-bacc at Virginia Commonwealth University, in which I got a 4.0. My MCAT was 39 after practice tests ranging from 35-38. My final GPA was overall 2.95, science 3.4. Because I recognized what njbmd points out--that my application had higher than average risk--I applied in 2004 to 30 schools, had about 16 interview invites, went to 9, and had 7 acceptances.

So, anecdotally, there's certainly hope. My interviewers consistently informed me their committees were looking for candidates that were mature, had faced real-world (non-academic) challenges. My recent academic work and MCAT adequately demonstrated (their words) my capacity.

Then again, I didn't get interviews at UChicago, Harvard or Northwestern. Nor did I get a free-ride scholarship at Pitt. Oh well.

To answer your original question, I would put your chances at very high for at least a couple acceptances, so long as you:
-do upper 30s on the MCAT
-apply broadly
-interview well