How to come back from a low gpa AFTER graduation

[WDR97]

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I believe I posted this in the wrong section before…

Hello all, looking for advice. I recently decided to pursue medicine after obtaining my bachelors degree. I have completed all the prequisite courses but don’t have a great gpa. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in community college so I ended up taking a lot of fluff classes like media communications and poetry and stuff that I hated and did poorly in. When I finally found out I wanted to do something science/biology related my gpa slowly creeped up and improved each semester. However, my overall science GPA is only 3.37 and my cumulative is 3.35. My freshmen year gpa was 3.07, sophomore was 3.28, junior was 3.58, and senior was 3.69. I didn’t realize I wanted to pursue human medicine until after graduating. I haven’t taken the MCAT and am thinking I should probably study and take that first while everything is still semi-fresh in my mind. Then I was thinking about either pursuing post-bacc courses to slightly raise my GPA and show I can handle the material or pursue a masters SMP. I feel like if I kill the MCAT and take maybe 1 1/2-2 years of post bacc or complete a masters, while gaining relevant experiences I may have a chance. Any advice? Is this a good plan? What kind of postbacc classes, masters programs, experiences should I look into? I started working in a hospital recently and shadowing and I love interacting with patients and think I would feel fulfilled pursuing human medicine. I’m not sure if this matters but I am half-puerto rican and come from a family with a lot of issues that may have affected my grades. I also have an appointment for possible undiagnosed ADHD or undisclosed to me as my father said I had it since I was a child (I’m not sure if it was diagnosed) but am now just finding out about it. I move out soon to live in NYC with my girlfriend and am hoping I can just focus on MCAT/courses and getting away from family drama for awhile. Sorry for the long post and I appreciate any advice.

 

[Dave1980]

I believe I posted this in the wrong section before…

Hello all, looking for advice. I recently decided to pursue medicine after obtaining my bachelors degree. I have completed all the prequisite courses but don’t have a great gpa. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in community college so I ended up taking a lot of fluff classes like media communications and poetry and stuff that I hated and did poorly in. When I finally found out I wanted to do something science/biology related my gpa slowly creeped up and improved each semester. However, my overall science GPA is only 3.37 and my cumulative is 3.35. My freshmen year gpa was 3.07, sophomore was 3.28, junior was 3.58, and senior was 3.69. I didn’t realize I wanted to pursue human medicine until after graduating. I haven’t taken the MCAT and am thinking I should probably study and take that first while everything is still semi-fresh in my mind. Then I was thinking about either pursuing post-bacc courses to slightly raise my GPA and show I can handle the material or pursue a masters SMP. I feel like if I kill the MCAT and take maybe 1 1/2-2 years of post bacc or complete a masters, while gaining relevant experiences I may have a chance. Any advice? Is this a good plan? What kind of postbacc classes, masters programs, experiences should I look into? I started working in a hospital recently and shadowing and I love interacting with patients and think I would feel fulfilled pursuing human medicine. I’m not sure if this matters but I am half-puerto rican and come from a family with a lot of issues that may have affected my grades. I also have an appointment for possible undiagnosed ADHD or undisclosed to me as my father said I had it since I was a child (I’m not sure if it was diagnosed) but am now just finding out about it. I move out soon to live in NYC with my girlfriend and am hoping I can just focus on MCAT/courses and getting away from family drama for awhile. Sorry for the long post and I appreciate any advice.

So you went to community college then transferred to a 4 year college?

As a URM if you did well on the MCAT I think you might be competitive for a DO school if you have a good story and lots of shadowing and volunteering.

 

[WDR97]

So you went to community college then transferred to a 4 year college?

As a URM if you did well on the MCAT I think you might be competitive for a DO school if you have a good story and lots of shadowing and volunteering.

Okay I will work on getting that shadowing and volunteer experience as well as killing the MCAT. Currently have about 300 at least hours of volunteer.

Edit: yes, I went to community college first, obtained an associates in biology after switching from humanities and then obtained my bachelors at a four year university.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Don't take the MCAT yet! Medical schools usually won't consider scores older than 3 years. You'll want to take the MCAT within a year of starting your application cycle. If you're planning to do a few years of postbac, hold off on the MCAT for now.

Anyway, your situation isn't terrible. People have gotten into med school with your GPAs even without the benefit of postbac work (though they are pretty rare). Some solid postbac work will really help your application, and with a good MCAT, I think you'll be competitive for DO and maybe some MD.

Do you have any med school prerequisites left to take?

 

[Mad Jack]

This is the sort of situation SMPs were made for. The number of courses you would have to take to bump that GPA would be inefficient compared to a good SMP, particularly if you can find one that is linked.

 

[WDR97]

Don't take the MCAT yet! Medical schools usually won't consider scores older than 3 years. You'll want to take the MCAT within a year of starting your application cycle. If you're planning to do a few years of postbac, hold off on the MCAT for now.

Anyway, your situation isn't terrible. People have gotten into med school with your GPAs even without the benefit of postbac work (though they are pretty rare). Some solid postbac work will really help your application, and with a good MCAT, I think you'll be competitive for DO and maybe some MD.

Do you have any med school prerequisites left to take?

Nope, I believe I’ve taken them all. For my post-bacc I would either take higher level courses and/or retake a few but I haven’t gotten below a C in any course and I’ve read through forums and groups that taking new courses seems to look better than retaking old courses. Thanks for giving me a little confidence and guidance! My gpa is average/a little below average for what I was originally going for and my family issues may have affected my grades. I wasn’t sure if I had a shot. I’ll hold off on the MCAT until after post-bacc or masters.

 

[WDR97]

This is the sort of situation SMPs were made for. The number of courses you would have to take to bump that GPA would be inefficient compared to a good SMP, particularly if you can find one that is linked.

Do you believe it would be cheaper and more beneficial to take and perform well in continued undergraduate courses? I keep seeing people say that doing well for at least a year full time can persuade adcoms that I can handle med school. I would feel odd not getting a degree for continued coursework but I heard SMPs are high risk and not even a guaranteed acceptance so I’m not sure what is cheaper/will give the greatest benefit.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Then I absolutely agree with @Mad Jack that the SMP will be the most direct, efficient route for you to go. And that changes my advice about the MCAT a little. If you choose a 1-year SMP, I think you should study for the MCAT now and take it before you matriculate into the program. I assume you will apply during the cycle after your SMP ends, so the MCAT will still be fresh. If you choose a 2-year program, you might consider taking the MCAT after.

But here's the deal with SMP in case you weren't aware: they're academically intense programs and it's critical that you find a way to excel in them. It's a very high risk/high reward scenario. If you don't do well, it's probably going to take medical school off the table entirely.

So make sure to get that ADHD addressed, surround yourself with supportive people, and focus on your keeping your improved study habits sharp. Your upward trend looks great and it's crucial that you maintain that through the SMP.

 

[WDR97]

Then I absolutely agree with @Mad Jack that the SMP will be the most direct, efficient route for you to go. And that changes my advice about the MCAT a little. If you choose a 1-year SMP, I think you should study for the MCAT now and take it before you matriculate into the program. I assume you will apply during the cycle after your SMP ends, so the MCAT will still be fresh. If you choose a 2-year program, you might consider taking the MCAT after.

But here's the deal with SMP in case you weren't aware: they're academically intense programs and it's critical that you find a way to excel in them. It's a very high risk/high reward scenario. If you don't do well, it's probably going to take medical school off the table entirely.

So make sure to get that ADHD addressed, surround yourself with supportive people, and focus on your keeping your improved study habits sharp. Your upward trend looks great and it's crucial that you maintain that through the SMP.

Thank you so much for all the advice. I’ll wait until I get everything sorted out to decide what to do!

 

[WDR97]

Then I absolutely agree with @Mad Jack that the SMP will be the most direct, efficient route for you to go. And that changes my advice about the MCAT a little. If you choose a 1-year SMP, I think you should study for the MCAT now and take it before you matriculate into the program. I assume you will apply during the cycle after your SMP ends, so the MCAT will still be fresh. If you choose a 2-year program, you might consider taking the MCAT after.

But here's the deal with SMP in case you weren't aware: they're academically intense programs and it's critical that you find a way to excel in them. It's a very high risk/high reward scenario. If you don't do well, it's probably going to take medical school off the table entirely.

So make sure to get that ADHD addressed, surround yourself with supportive people, and focus on your keeping your improved study habits sharp. Your upward trend looks great and it's crucial that you maintain that through the SMP.

Oh, one final question! The SMP program I’ve been looking into has 2 options: one is 30 credits of course work (masters of biomedical science) and the other option is about 20 credits coursework + 10 credit research thesis (master of science). Both have the opportunity for a guaranteed interview if I hit a certain gpa. I have very little research experience so do you think I should look into the research oriented one or just go all out with coursework? I can switch while I’m in the middle of one option.
Thanks again!

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Oh, one final question! The SMP program I’ve been looking into has 2 options: one is 30 credits of course work (masters of biomedical science) and the other option is about 20 credits coursework + 10 credit research thesis (master of science). Both have the opportunity for a guaranteed interview if I hit a certain gpa. I have very little research experience so do you think I should look into the research oriented one or just go all out with coursework? I can switch while I’m in the middle of one option.
Thanks again!

I'm sorry, but I actually don't know. I went the DIY postbac route myself, as I was a career changer and needed to take all the prereqs. If I had to guess, I'd say go with the one with the linkage to the higher-ranked medical school, unless other factors about the program (location or whatever) tipped the scales for you. But please take that advice with a grain of salt, because there are probably other factors I'm not considering. If you want other opinions, I think there's an active SMP thread going in the nontraditional forum right now, you could ask this question there.

Just want to mention, make sure you're considering the time it will take to complete any outstanding ECs in your postbac timeline. I wasn't clear on how far along you were in that aspect of your application. But once you're done with shadowing, community service (nonclinical volunteering) and have enough clinical hours, you're basically ready to go.

 

[Mad Jack]

Oh, one final question! The SMP program I’ve been looking into has 2 options: one is 30 credits of course work (masters of biomedical science) and the other option is about 20 credits coursework + 10 credit research thesis (master of science). Both have the opportunity for a guaranteed interview if I hit a certain gpa. I have very little research experience so do you think I should look into the research oriented one or just go all out with coursework? I can switch while I’m in the middle of one option.
Thanks again!

Do research if you wamt to do research, don't if you don't. You probably won't get anything groundbreaking with no research experience over the course of one year anyway. I would also see if you can get opinions from current SMP students, as they can tell you what the general vibe is. Some are cakewalks, some are weed-outs. Make sure you're going into something you can succeed at. If the only local SMPs are too challenging to make the risk worth it, just do a DIY postbacc and ace it then apply. You'll have a consistent upward trend. If you're a URM and your MCAT is decent, by the way, you could possibly get by with your current trend and GPA, but to slam dunk it one year at 4.0 would be ideal

 

[WDR97]

Do research if you wamt to do research, don't if you don't. You probably won't get anything groundbreaking with no research experience over the course of one year anyway. I would also see if you can get opinions from current SMP students, as they can tell you what the general vibe is. Some are cakewalks, some are weed-outs. Make sure you're going into something you can succeed at. If the only local SMPs are too challenging to make the risk worth it, just do a DIY postbacc and ace it then apply. You'll have a consistent upward trend. If you're a URM and your MCAT is decent, by the way, you could possibly get by with your current trend and GPA, but to slam dunk it one year at 4.0 would be ideal

Thank you so much for this advice! I’ve been freaking out because of course I would have a career change this late. I thought I’d screwed myself with mistakes, family struggles, and now this possible adhd revelation. Thanks again!

 

[Mad Jack]

Thank you so much for this advice! I’ve been freaking out because of course I would have a career change this late. I thought I’d screwed myself with mistakes, family struggles, and now this possible adhd revelation. Thanks again!

Oh there was a guy that came back and had a strong upward trend for two years but was so behind the 8 ball that even after two years of postbacc his GPA was only 3.0ish and he still got a MD spot without URM status or anything like that. It's possible to come back from most things, and you're nowhere near a lost case. You'd probably be an admit to many DO schools right now with a good enough MCAT