In need of a lot of advice. Please help!

[HAG]

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First post, so please be gentle!

I'm a 21 year old white male living in LA and I just graduated from UCLA with a 3.3 overall GPA in one of the toughest science majors offered at the school. Both my science GPA and the GPA in my major is around a 3.0. My extracurriculars are amazing (partly the reason for my low GPA), and I have decent research experience (3+ years and counting, no publications yet). I'm obviously not looking to apply to med schools right now. I'm thinking of taking a few years off (this is where I need advice)

I was going to apply to a few one year SMPs, but many of the deadlines had already passed for fall 2012 admission. I took the MCAT for the first time in January of 2011 and got a 24 (all 8's). I retook it again this May, and I got a 21 (7 Physical, 9 Verbal, 5 Bio). I have no general upward or downward trend in my grades throughout college.

- I'm planning on singing up for the January 2013 MCAT and retaking a prep class and studying as much as I can from the end of August until the end of January (around 5 months)
- I'm still involved in my research lab, so I can continue to work there this year (or maybe consider finding a paid research position/job instead to make some money in the meantime)

Hopefully after I do better (above 30) on my MCAT in January, I'll apply to one-year SMPs and try to get a really high GPA this time around without any distractions. This means that I won't be applying to med schools until after the spring of my Masters program so I can have something to show med school that I can indeed excel in that type of environment. This means if I get into an allopathic medical school in the US on my first cycle, I'd have had 3 years off from graduating UCLA and starting medical school.

So I guess my questions are what would you guys do in my situation in terms of SMPs, research, and the year off before and after my SMPs, along with any words of wisdom.


Thank you!

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Whats going to kill you right now is the GPA...

First thing is don't take the MCAT again until you know you are truly ready. Taking it more than 3 times is going to look bad. So if you have to push it back past January so be it. Its better to push it back if you're not 100% confident that you can get 30ish.

Next, the GPA issue. I personally think staying in you're lab right now is a waste of time. You have plenty of research experience. There are a lot of programs other than SMP programs that are far more flexible. There are a ton of post-bacc programs out there that you can enroll in any time in the year (you can start 1st semester, 2nd semester, or summer semester). If you enroll in that and take upper level science classes you will be able to prove you can handle the academic portion of med school. A lot of these programs offer classes at night as well so you can work during the day doing research or medical scribing or whatever else you think will improve your app.

Your GPA isn't horrible and I know many people in the post bacc program that I was in that had GPAs below yours. The timeline for post-bacc programs is variable, you really stay as long as you need to. I only stayed for 1 semester but I know other students that stayed for 2 years.

 

[HAG]

I just dont understand the concept of the post-bacc interms of improving my GPA. Would the grades I earn in those classes boost my GPA as if I was just taking more classes on top of my undergrad units? Because at this point I have so many units that even if I get As it won't make my GPA look THAT much better, so that's why I thought that if I get a masters degree and get a higher GPA it would look more legit than just taking a few post-bacc classes.

Also, the reason I'm thinking of research is just so it looks like I'm doing something in my year off instead of just sitting around. So should I try to find paid position or something? I think I can study enough in 5 months for the January MCAT and just get it over with.

 

[tn4596]

Colonel chicken's guidance are wise. if you read around on here, it is consensusthat med school weight undergrad gpa heavily which is why post-bacc is the bestsolution. schools don't think so highly of master gpa because of grade inflation in graduate programs. also let me just add that some school, not all, averageyour mcat scores so you are fighting an uphill battle on both mcat and gpa.

 

[red doctober]

Colonel chicken's guidance are wise. if you read around on here, it is consensusthat med school weight undergrad gpa heavily which is why post-bacc is the bestsolution. schools don’t think so highly of master gpa because of grade inflation in graduate programs. also let me just add that some school, not all, averageyour mcat scores so you are fighting an uphill battle on both mcat and gpa.

+1

Granted that you apply when these scores are still valid, I would definitely look up what schools average scores and cross them off your list. On the flip-side, some schools take the best score from each section.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I just dont understand the concept of the post-bacc interms of improving my GPA. Would the grades I earn in those classes boost my GPA as if I was just taking more classes on top of my undergrad units? Because at this point I have so many units that even if I get As it won't make my GPA look THAT much better, so that's why I thought that if I get a masters degree and get a higher GPA it would look more legit than just taking a few post-bacc classes.

Also, the reason I'm thinking of research is just so it looks like I'm doing something in my year off instead of just sitting around. So should I try to find paid position or something? I think I can study enough in 5 months for the January MCAT and just get it over with.

Post bacc grades may not improve your cumulative GPA too much but are shown as a separate row on your application. If a med school sees a mediocre cumulative GPA but a solid 4.0 Postbacc they will be more lenient and forgiving of the cGPA. Your AMCAS app breaks down grades by year (highschool, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, Postbacc Undergraduate, Graduate). AKA, a post bacc will raise your undergrad cGPA (even if its just a little) while a Masters Program wont change the cGPA at all. So if you have a good trend ending with a 4.0 postbacc you're application is gonna be a lot more appealing.

And just to show how important it is to make sure you're ready before taking the MCAT again... Less than 10% of matriculating students last cycle took the MCAT 3 or more times. https://www.aamc.org/download/269322/data/msq2011.pdf (page 6 middle of the page). It starts to look bad when you take it that many times

 

[NightGod]

Colonel chicken's guidance are wise. if you read around on here, it is consensusthat med school weight undergrad gpa heavily which is why post-bacc is the bestsolution. schools don’t think so highly of master gpa because of grade inflation in graduate programs. also let me just add that some school, not all, averageyour mcat scores so you are fighting an uphill battle on both mcat and gpa.

That advice about master's programs does NOT apply to an SMP, however. Those programs are specifically designed to show that you can handle the rigors of med school (and thus, hard as hell, near MS1 difficulty) and many are affiliated with a specific med school and are designed as feeder programs for that school-excel in the SMP and you'll have a much better chance than most at getting into that specific school.