I have reapplied twice and not a single interview... should I do a post-bacc?

[alimf92]

I am a huge lurker but never posted. So I graduated w/ a BS in biochem 2 yrs ago. I have been an ER scribe for about 3 yrs this upcoming August. My GPA is 3.4 w/ a science GPA of 3.2. I took the MCAT three times: 24, 27, and finally a 511 last year. I was told my personal statement, letters of rec, and GPA trend are not strong. I had some personal issues towards the end of college due to a relationship, and I made a C in freshman year chemistry. Should I take a post-bacc, like the one at University of North Texas? Would it benefit me to take a few classes? I have great clinical experience and relationships w/ physicians because of my job, but I feel like my grades are holding me back. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

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[deleted851433]

Your stats are actually somewhat similar to mine.
Who wrote your recommendations if I may ask? Did you still have contact with your undergrad profs or was it only physicians who wrote your letters since you graduated two years ago? If I'm not mistaken adcoms place a fair amount of value on professor recommendations, and this will probably matter a little bit more given that your GPA isn't the best to assure adcoms about your academic abilities.

One thing you didn't mention that might help is whether or not you did any volunteering or research. You should probably do at least one of these things if you haven't already. Also apart from scribing what shadowing experience do you have? These are some of the little extra-effort things that demonstrate actual interest in the field of medicine. Scribing is great but you get paid for it, and it doesn't look the same using your free time to contribute to the community or gain extra knowledge of the field and are potential LOR sources (and are rewarding experiences in and of themselves that you will enjoy writing about in your applications and talking about in interviews)

Overall, post bacc is a good idea and I think you should go for it.

As for the personal statement, get as many eyes on it as you can. Get your alma mater's career counselor to look at it, any former premed advisors you might still be cool with/remember you, your English major friends, maybe even some of the physicians you work with with whom you have a good relationship who seem enthusiastic about you wanting to join their field (if they have the time).

 

[alimf92]

Your stats are actually somewhat similar to mine.
Who wrote your recommendations if I may ask? Did you still have contact with your undergrad profs or was it only physicians who wrote your letters since you graduated two years ago? If I'm not mistaken adcoms place a fair amount of value on professor recommendations, and this will probably matter a little bit more given that your GPA isn't the best to assure adcoms about your academic abilities.

One thing you didn't mention that might help is whether or not you did any volunteering or research. You should probably do at least one of these things if you haven't already. Also apart from scribing what shadowing experience do you have? These are some of the little extra-effort things that demonstrate actual interest in the field of medicine. Scribing is great but you get paid for it, and it doesn't look the same using your free time to contribute to the community or gain extra knowledge of the field and are potential LOR sources (and are rewarding experiences in and of themselves that you will enjoy writing about in your applications and talking about in interviews)

Overall, post bacc is a good idea and I think you should go for it.

As for the personal statement, get as many eyes on it as you can. Get your alma mater's career counselor to look at it, any former premed advisors you might still be cool with/remember you, your English major friends, maybe even some of the physicians you work with with whom you have a good relationship who seem enthusiastic about you wanting to join their field (if they have the time).

For the 1st cycle, I had my undergraduate biochem professor write one. I did well in his classes, and he was happy to make me a letter. I also asked a history professor who led a course regarding the history of medicine at the Latin American border. I did well in his class as well, but I had not spoken with him in about 2 years. I also asked a physician who knew me as a scribe and as a friend, as well as the emergency department's medical director. I was told by an admissions counselor at the UT Health medical school in Houston, TX that my letters were not very strong.

I have several shadowing experiences throughout high school and college. My most recent one was last year in Dallas, TX following an orthopedic spine surgeon for a week. However, I am lacking in volunteer history. I plan on joining Big Brother Big Sisters soon though.

For my personal statement, I have several people lined up to read it. I am not quite finished with it, which is why I am not applying to medical school this cycle (it's obviously late as hell). Thanks for the advice!

I'll most likely pursue a post bacc and do really well in it. I lost focus towards the end of my undegraduate, and I was not mature enough for medical school. I am sure this reflected in my application since my GPA trend was unattractive. Hopefully a SMP will fix that.

 

[Faha]

Have you considered applying to DO schools? Your stats are fine for most DO schools. Where is your state of residence?

 

[alimf92]

Have you considered applying to DO schools? Your stats are fine for most DO schools. Where is your state of residence?

I am a Texas resident. I applied to the DO schools here and I had no success there.

 

[Faha]

A post bacc would help you if you did well and raised your cGPA to 3.5. I also suggest applying broadly to at least 15 DO schools and include many of the newer schools. Work on improving your personal statement and getting to know the professors in your post bacc classes so you can ask them for LORs.

 

[futureDocDD]

Since you are open to DO's, I think you should take SMP with linkage to DO school. For example, Touro in NYC accepts their top 35 SMP students with 3.5+ GPA.

Admission to the D.O. Program at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is limited to the top 35 M.S. students ranked by M.S. Program GPA, who have met the following standard:

• Completion of the M.S. curriculum
• A GPA of 3.5/4.0 or higher
• A Pass on the Comprehensive Examination

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Where did you apply?

 

[giguerex35]

what DO schools did you apply to if you dont mind me asking?

 

[dial1010usa]

I would suggest go DO route and apply broadly. Your GPA is avg but MCAT is really good. If you don't mind which DO schools you want to go to, apply to newer schools and mix with other schools. Take some Science classes even at community college or state university and get a science LOR. Shadow a DO and get LOR. I'm sure you know that for DO route some schools emphasis on DO letter even though its not required. Keep doing volunteer work and you know that majority of schools need 2 science and 1 non science LOR. Look below the school stats, you are competitive for lot of schools. Your MCAT 511 is equivalent to old of 33.

School Location cGPA/sGPA/MCAT
Touro-NY 2017? 　 3.4/3.4/30.8
Touro-Ca 2017? Vallejo, CA 3.49/3.42/30.4
MWU-CCOM Chicago, IL 3.59/3.53/29.5
RVU 　 3.6/3.57/28.33
DMU Des Moines, IA 3.68/3.68.28.2
RowanSOM 　 3.63/3.55/28
MSUCOM 　 3.6/3.6/28
NYITCOM Old Westbury, NY 3.6….28
UNTHSC-TCOM 　 3.57/3.46/28
COMP Pomona, CA 3.58/3.56/28
COMP-NW Lebanon, OR 3.55/3.5/28
MWU-AZCOM Glendale, AZ 3.48/3.44/29
LECOM-B Bradenton, FL 3.50/3.40/28
NSU Fort Lauterdale, FL 3.49/3.40/28
PCOM Philly 3.46/3.37/28
TUNCOM Henderson, NV ?/28
OU-HCOM Athens, OH 3.65/3.61/27.42
ATSU-KCOM Kirksville, MO 3.56/3.47/27
UNECOM 　 3.5/3.45/27
LECOM-E/SH 　 3.48/3.35/27
ATSU-SOMA Mesa, AZ then several places for MS2-4 3.42/3.32/27
PCOM-GA Near ATL ?/27
MUCOM (Marian) Indianapolis, IN 3.57…26.25
OSU-COM 　 3.61/3.54/26
KCUMB Kansas City, MO 3.60/3.53/26
CUSOM 　 3.55/3.23/26
WCU 　 3.5/3.4/26
ACOM 　 3.45….26
LMU 　 ?/26
PNWU Yakima, WA 3.41/3.30/25.86
VCOM-CC 　 3.61/3.55/25
VCOM-VC 　 3.59/3.52/25
WVSOM Lewisburg, WV 3.4/3.4/25
KYCOM 　 3.5/3.4/24

 

[kubyx]

I am a huge lurker but never posted. So I graduated w/ a BS in biochem 2 yrs ago. I have been an ER scribe for about 3 yrs this upcoming August. My GPA is 3.4 w/ a science GPA of 3.2. I took the MCAT three times: 24, 27, and finally a 511 last year. I was told my personal statement, letters of rec, and GPA trend are not strong. I had some personal issues towards the end of college due to a relationship, and I made a C in freshman year chemistry. Should I take a post-bacc, like the one at University of North Texas? Would it benefit me to take a few classes? I have great clinical experience and relationships w/ physicians because of my job, but I feel like my grades are holding me back. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

A 3.4 cGPA with a 511 is more than enough to get you into a DO school. You could even land an MD spot potentially, but it's a long shot with that GPA. Instead of doing a post bacc, I think you should focus on new letters and EC's. There's no reason not to have a strong letter, and I agree with the saying that 'a bad letter hurts more than a good letter helps'. It's a pretty basic screening tool and if you can't find a few people to vouch for your abilities, no med school is going to take that chance.

So, better letters and some commitment to volunteering with a certain patient population can probably do wonders for you. Good luck

 

[Goro]

I am a huge lurker but never posted. So I graduated w/ a BS in biochem 2 yrs ago. I have been an ER scribe for about 3 yrs this upcoming August. My GPA is 3.4 w/ a science GPA of 3.2. I took the MCAT three times: 24, 27, and finally a 511 last year. I was told my personal statement, letters of rec, and GPA trend are not strong. I had some personal issues towards the end of college due to a relationship, and I made a C in freshman year chemistry. Should I take a post-bacc, like the one at University of North Texas? Would it benefit me to take a few classes? I have great clinical experience and relationships w/ physicians because of my job, but I feel like my grades are holding me back. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Your sGPA and multiple MCATs are hindering you, especially the former.

So yes, you need a post-bac or SMP.

 

[alimf92]

A 3.4 cGPA with a 511 is more than enough to get you into a DO school. You could even land an MD spot potentially, but it's a long shot with that GPA. Instead of doing a post bacc, I think you should focus on new letters and EC's. There's no reason not to have a strong letter, and I agree with the saying that 'a bad letter hurts more than a good letter helps'. It's a pretty basic screening tool and if you can't find a few people to vouch for your abilities, no med school is going to take that chance.

So, better letters and some commitment to volunteering with a certain patient population can probably do wonders for you. Good luck

Thank you so much for your advice. In my freshman year, I took "Honors" G-chem I. This class turned out to be much harder than the non-honors section, and I made a C in it. Also, I was exempt from taking the GChem I Lab section because I passed the associated honors section. I am now re-taking Gchem and will finally take the lab component so I can have a grade for it. Do you think its worth my time doing that as well? I am also taking Cell Bio again since I also made a C in in it.

 

[kubyx]

Thank you so much for your advice. In my freshman year, I took "Honors" G-chem I. This class turned out to be much harder than the non-honors section, and I made a C in it. Also, I was exempt from taking the GChem I Lab section because I passed the associated honors section. I am now re-taking Gchem and will finally take the lab component so I can have a grade for it. Do you think its worth my time doing that as well? I am also taking Cell Bio again since I also made a C in in it.

I guess that depends how badly you want the coveted 'MD' vs a DO degree. I personally just want to get into medical school and get my education going, so I'm not going to go back to undergrad and retake all of these classes so that I can incrementally bump up my GPA to get into allo school. Allo or osteo, the end result is the same to me. If you really want allo school, and DO is not something you will consider, you can certainly keep doing that. Just remember that they don't do grade replacement, so even turning a C into an A is not going to dramatically increase your GPA. It's a high cost proposition for a relatively low payoff IMO. I would apply to DO and MD broadly and hope to get in like that, personally. Also, this is just my opinion, but I would find it really obvious if someone were simply retaking low-level classes to bolster their GPA. If anything, you need to be taking upper-level courses to show your ability to handle the rigors of med school.

 

[Shotapp]

Thank you so much for your advice. In my freshman year, I took "Honors" G-chem I. This class turned out to be much harder than the non-honors section, and I made a C in it. Also, I was exempt from taking the GChem I Lab section because I passed the associated honors section. I am now re-taking Gchem and will finally take the lab component so I can have a grade for it. Do you think its worth my time doing that as well? I am also taking Cell Bio again since I also made a C in in it.

Brah, why are you retaking a low-level prereq? You already demonstrated that your knowledge on that subject is proficient via your new MCAT score. You are going backward and that is not going to impress Adcoms. Do a post-bac where you take new upper-level science classes.

 

[Doc_Ock]

Your stats are good for DO. Having said that, a downward trend will make adcoms very nervous. It wouldn't hurt to take a few upper-level science courses to show you've still got it.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

If you apply post pacc, focus on schools with guarantee linkages. DO NOT go to a school with weak linkages. They just steal money from students. My Medical school has a nonguaranteed linkage and I have several friends who didn't get into med school after doing well in the program.... now they have a bunch more debt and no acceptances. No bueno.

 

[TeddyBoomBoom]

told my personal statement, letters of rec, and GPA trend are not strong.

Weak letters could be the problem, especially if they’re weak enough for you to have been told about it.