I need some advice I dont know what to do

[vaguirre]

Ok where do i start, well I have been out of school for 4 years now and my UG gpa is not great its a 3.0. I ve always thought I wanted to go into medicine but went back and forth about it . Anyways I ve decided I wanted to give it a try so I know my gpa alone is loooww for medical school but, if i do a post bac. academic enhancer master program how much would that help? What kind of MCAT score would I need to be competative. I dont want to waste anymore time I need some realty

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[rbnsafsadgf]

Given that you have been out of school for four years, I think a post-bac with a good GPA (>3.6) would really help you. Those four years separate yourself from your old GPA a bit.

Since you can't change your old grades (unless you retake classes and apply to DO schools), I would suggest focusing on doing well in a post-bac and making that "the new you."

Did you take science class while you were in college?
What have you been up to for these last four years?
Any GPA trends with that 3.0?

You may receive friendlier (and more helpful) answers in the non-traditional forum, rather than this one.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Do you have the pre-reqs done? If not then you'll need to take a post-bac and spend some time to study. Then you'll need a 30+ on the mcat and get into a SMP.
However you could just go back to college and retake some classes you've done badly in (C or less) and get A's in them. If you do this you could raise your gpa up to 3.4 pretty easily by using DO's grade replacement. Then if you can score around a 28 on the mcat you'll be good for DO.

Since your also a non-trad you might get some brownie points btw.

 

[osteohopeful09]

yes, the above poster seems right-on. DO is a possibility for you if you do a post-bacc and do moderately well.

If you do a post-bacc, get all As (or close to it), and rock the MCATs, you have a good shot for MD admission.

Being gone from school for 4 years, and with the GPA that, while decent, is not high enough for US MD school, you will def. want to do a post-bacc to "prove" to adcom (and even yourself) that you're primed and ready to hit the ground running with med school.

Nothing wrong with DO, btw.

 

[robrobbberts]

I had a 3.0 in undergrad, with a few of the prereqs done. I went back to school about 4 years later, had to redo all the prereqs mainly because they would have been too old for most medical schools (I heard that they had to be more recent, and my grades weren't that great in them anyways).

I got straight A's, did well on my MCAT, had 7 MD interviews, accepted at 3 schools, 3 wait-lists (in great position on one of them, one is unranked, the other I don't know), and I am still waiting to hear back from another school. I am also not an URM.

So it is definitely doable. After this year, it will have been about 3 years of classes. I had two years of prereqs, and then I took more upper-level classes during my applications year. Just make sure you start volunteering in something from the very beginning, and try to find some good research.

I still suggest applying to DO as backup.

 

[illegallysmooth]

I had a 3.0 in undergrad, with a few of the prereqs done. I went back to school about 4 years later, had to redo all the prereqs mainly because they would have been too old for most medical schools (I heard that they had to be more recent, and my grades weren't that great in them anyways).

I got straight A's, did well on my MCAT, had 7 MD interviews, accepted at 3 schools, 3 wait-lists (in great position on one of them, one is unranked, the other I don't know), and I am still waiting to hear back from another school. I am also not an URM.

So it is definitely doable. After this year, it will have been about 3 years of classes. I had two years of prereqs, and then I took more upper-level classes during my applications year. Just make sure you start volunteering in something from the very beginning, and try to find some good research.

I still suggest applying to DO as backup.

Argh. That's so annoying. Perhaps you should have applied to the "back-up" too since you didn't get in anywhere.

The bottom line with DO schools, in regard to this thread, is that they are more accepting of non-traditional applicants, such as both yourself and the OP. For non-trads, I think it is insane not to apply to DO schools.

 

[FrazzleSnazzle]

I got straight A's, did well on my MCAT, had 7 MD interviews, accepted at 3 schools, 3 wait-lists (in great position on one of them, one is unranked, the other I don't know), and I am still waiting to hear back from another school. I am also not an URM.

Argh. That's so annoying. Perhaps you should have applied to the "back-up" too since you didn't get in anywhere.

Wait, what?

 

[illegallysmooth]

Wait, what?

My bad. Thanks for pointing it out, for some reason I read it as applied to 7, interviewed at 3, WL at 3. Sometimes I think I have some strange form of dyslexia as I tend to reverse certain things, but it's never affected my studies (to my knowledge at least).

So, sorry robrobberts.

 

[robrobbberts]

My bad. Thanks for pointing it out, for some reason I read it as applied to 7, interviewed at 3, WL at 3. Sometimes I think I have some strange form of dyslexia as I tend to reverse certain things, but it's never affected my studies (to my knowledge at least).

So, sorry robrobberts.

No problem. I guess I shouldn't have used the word 'backup.' It sounds a bit degrading and what I should have said is to not discount DO schools. They may have lower average MCAT scores and whatnot, but they can be great programs.

 

[illegallysmooth]

No problem. I guess I shouldn't have used the word 'backup.' It sounds a bit degrading and what I should have said is to not discount DO schools. They may have lower average MCAT scores and whatnot, but they can be great programs.

Well aren't we civilized?

 

[Arjuna]

Ok where do i start, well I have been out of school for 4 years now and my UG gpa is not great its a 3.0. I ve always thought I wanted to go into medicine but went back and forth about it . Anyways I ve decided I wanted to give it a try so I know my gpa alone is loooww for medical school but, if i do a post bac. academic enhancer master program how much would that help? What kind of MCAT score would I need to be competative. I dont want to waste anymore time I need some realty

Do a post bacc. What is your background? Depending on that, you can check out Bryn Mawr, Hopkins, and a couple others. Good luck.

 

[jvesco22]

Argh. That's so annoying. Perhaps you should have applied to the "back-up" too since you didn't get in anywhere.

The bottom line with DO schools, in regard to this thread, is that they are more accepting of non-traditional applicants, such as both yourself and the OP. For non-trads, I think it is insane not to apply to DO schools.

If you're a non-trad with competitive stats, what's the point of applying DO?

 

[illegallysmooth]

If you're a non-trad with competitive stats, what's the point of applying DO?

The point of applying DO is the same as the point of applying MD. To find a school that suits you and become a physician.

And again, DO schools are more accepting of non-traditional applicants. Furthermore, in my opinion, they care more about the non-numerical merits of one's application. I have seen several well-qualified people get rejected from all MD schools (good MCATs, great GPAs). It's a problem of too many applications for a limited number of seats. There are people that are very misinformed or uninformed about DO schools and don't bother applying DO, therefore...

From AACOM:
AACOMAS received a record number of 12,617 completed applications for the 2009 entering class at the 27 osteopathic colleges and branch campuses that are part of AACOMAS.

Obviously it will vary from school to school, but that roughly averages out to 467 applications per school.

From AAMC:
For the 2009-2010 entering class, U.S. medical schools received 562,694 applications. (131 US MD schools)

= 4,295 per school.