increase chances of admission?

[Dowell1840]

Hi! Im graduating from UCf this december with my BS in Environmental Sciences (not really medical related but still science geared). My gpa is not stellad by any means, I wasted my first two years of school because I got side tracked by the college life, completely my fault and looking back I completely regret it. I should end with around a 3.14 my science gpa might be a little higher. I had changed my major during the middle of a semester and stupidly withdrew from alot of classes also so that's on my transcript. I am set to shadow a family physician and and trying to get a few more. I also have quite a bit of volunteer time accumulated at the hospital. I am more worried about my first two college yrs on my transcript. I have a beginning chemistry class that I had to withdraw from also because of childcare issues that will come up. I am wanting to apply to a DO program but I have no idea if it's even a possibility for me anymore. My transcript shows an upward trend for sure but I'm worried it's not enough. Any suggestions????

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[Awesome Sauceome]

This happens to tons of people, its no problem, either by life circumstances, or just people goofing off the first couple years. Do not lose hope at all. Here is what you can do. First off, that gpa is not going to destroy your app, its not going to help - most averages are around 3.5 - but you are not out of the game by any means. So you could either destroy the MCAT (like 30+) and that will redeem your gpa a little. Or you can retake a couple courses that you did bad on. Personally if you can do both, that would be the best case for getting into a good school. DO schools do not count your original time taking the course into your gpa if you have a retake. So lets say you have 2 or 3 F's or something on your transcript. You retake those bad boys and push em to A's and you will be sitting at like a 3.4-3.5 (depending on how many credits you have total). I know that my retakes pushed my gpa from a 3.2 to a 3.6 and I retook I think 3 or 4 classes altogether (they were D's and F's - I just stopped going to class my freshman year heh). The big thing is to just make sure that the grades for the school's requirements are good. Make sure your bio's, chem's, and physics are around or above a B. That will really help your case.

Otherwise, yea just kill that MCAT (28+) get the gpa to above a 3.2, apply to 10+ schools (if you have those stats), get some experience in the medical field, and you are good to go.

 

[adriano710]

Hi! Im graduating from UCf this december with my BS in Environmental Sciences (not really medical related but still science geared). My gpa is not stellad by any means, I wasted my first two years of school because I got side tracked by the college life, completely my fault and looking back I completely regret it. I should end with around a 3.14 my science gpa might be a little higher. I had changed my major during the middle of a semester and stupidly withdrew from alot of classes also so that's on my transcript. I am set to shadow a family physician and and trying to get a few more. I also have quite a bit of volunteer time accumulated at the hospital. I am more worried about my first two college yrs on my transcript. I have a beginning chemistry class that I had to withdraw from also because of childcare issues that will come up. I am wanting to apply to a DO program but I have no idea if it's even a possibility for me anymore. My transcript shows an upward trend for sure but I'm worried it's not enough. Any suggestions????

I'm sitting at a 3.2 GPA currently. Albeit, I have one more year left to push my GPA hopefully to a 3.4 or so but we are generally the same GPA range (low end). I'm focusing on hitting 28+ on MCAT when I take it next May and along with solid EC's - we are set. Are you in any clubs? Have you been involved in committee's that show some relative leadership skills? All these would contribute to your overall app. I also have a nice upward trend and I believe it can go a long way. Chin up and focus on that MCAT! Best of luck to you.

 

[Dowell1840]

This happens to tons of people, its no problem, either by life circumstances, or just people goofing off the first couple years. Do not lose hope at all. Here is what you can do. First off, that gpa is not going to destroy your app, its not going to help - most averages are around 3.5 - but you are not out of the game by any means. So you could either destroy the MCAT (like 30+) and that will redeem your gpa a little. Or you can retake a couple courses that you did bad on. Personally if you can do both, that would be the best case for getting into a good school. DO schools do not count your original time taking the course into your gpa if you have a retake. So lets say you have 2 or 3 F's or something on your transcript. You retake those bad boys and push em to A's and you will be sitting at like a 3.4-3.5 (depending on how many credits you have total). I know that my retakes pushed my gpa from a 3.2 to a 3.6 and I retook I think 3 or 4 classes altogether (they were D's and F's - I just stopped going to class my freshman year heh). The big thing is to just make sure that the grades for the school's requirements are good. Make sure your bio's, chem's, and physics are around or above a B. That will really help your case.

Otherwise, yea just kill that MCAT (28+) get the gpa to above a 3.2, apply to 10+ schools (if you have those stats), get some experience in the medical field, and you are good to go.

Thank you! I think I might try to retake some courses for sure. I am taking my last orgo class as a non degree seeking student next spring so hopefully everything will push my gpa up further. Do you know if volunteering , even as something like a transporter at a hospital (just discharge and admits) would count any towards experience??

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Hey go ahead to the other thread you just set up and go to edit, and then more options, and try and erase the title and the text (just put a [.] since technically it will not let you delete everything). I think you accidentally set up two of the same thread. You will get more luck with just a single thread going.

 

[Dowell1840]

I'm sitting at a 3.2 GPA currently. Albeit, I have one more year left to push my GPA hopefully to a 3.4 or so but we are generally the same GPA range (low end). I'm focusing on hitting 28+ on MCAT when I take it next May and along with solid EC's - we are set. Are you in any clubs? Have you been involved in committee's that show some relative leadership skills? All these would contribute to your overall app. I also have a nice upward trend and I believe it can go a long way. Chin up and focus on that MCAT! Best of luck to you.

I am in clubs and a student org I am on the committe. They arent health related but I am in them so hopefully that helps! I am planning on devoting alot of studying and efffort to the mcat to try to get a high score though.

 

[adriano710]

I am in clubs and a student org I am on the committe. They arent health related but I am in them so hopefully that helps! I am planning on devoting alot of studying and efffort to the mcat to try to get a high score though.

It all sounds good!

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Thank you! I think I might try to retake some courses for sure. I am taking my last orgo class as a non degree seeking student next spring so hopefully everything will push my gpa up further. Do you know if volunteering , even as something like a transporter at a hospital (just discharge and admits) would count any towards experience??

Absolutely, transporter is fine. They say "as long as you are close enough to smell the patient" then its clinical experience. I mean obviously you have a kid and stuff, so be reasonable on what you can accomplish with the time you have. A little bit of volunteering each week/month over a longer period of time looks better than a ton of volunteering in a short amount of time. Take little bites. But yea, get some experience with that and it will surely help. You also mentioned you were going to shadow a family doc. Thats really good, especially for DO schools. After shadowing for a while, try and get a letter of recommendation - since you will need one for more schools. Thats another box to check. Otherwise just keep up with school and try and do the best that you can there. Extracurriculars are definitely important, but realistically like 75% of the weight on your application is grades and MCAT.

 

[Dowell1840]

Absolutely, transporter is fine. They say "as long as you are close enough to smell the patient" then its clinical experience. I mean obviously you have a kid and stuff, so be reasonable on what you can accomplish with the time you have. A little bit of volunteering each week/month over a longer period of time looks better than a ton of volunteering in a short amount of time. Take little bites. But yea, get some experience with that and it will surely help. You also mentioned you were going to shadow a family doc. Thats really good, especially for DO schools. After shadowing for a while, try and get a letter of recommendation - since you will need one for more schools. Thats another box to check. Otherwise just keep up with school and try and do the best that you can there. Extracurriculars are definitely important, but realistically like 75% of the weight on your application is grades and MCAT.

Yea for sure.I'm spacing it out I just wanted to make sure it would count for something and not be time wasted! Thanks!

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I am in clubs and a student org I am on the committe. They arent health related but I am in them so hopefully that helps! I am planning on devoting alot of studying and efffort to the mcat to try to get a high score though.

Yea focus on the grades and MCAT. Realistically it probably goes like this:
Grades and MCAT > Clinical experience > research = non-clinical volunteering =shadowing

You need a little of everything to be well rounded (well not so much research for most DO schools). Another thing that helps, if you have the time is to do some sort of non-clinical volunteering. Like find something you enjoy and do that. I know some people who are really passionate about urban agriculture (like volunteering on urban farms that sell produce for super cheap to the inner city folkes). Others I know help out in soup kitchens or whatever. That type of altruism is definitely favored upon at DO schools. My wife and I (who is the farthest thing from trying to get into med school) volunteered together at a homeless shelter over a couple of winter seasons. It was actually pretty fun doing something like that together. And as it turns out, will help my app, so it was a win win.

But again, good grades and MCAT can erase a lot of application sins heh.

 

[verynice]

Yea for sure.I'm spacing it out I just wanted to make sure it would count for something and not be time wasted! Thanks!

DO schools are very understanding when it comes to grades and stats in general. Depending on your MCAT and ECs, you should be fine. Getting above a 3.2 is very beneficial if possible, but won't kill you if you can't get over the hump. Generally to get into a DO school you are going to want to shoot for 3.2+/24+ with meaningful ECs. This isn't a guarantee by any means, but you should be able to get some interviews if you can get your numbers at or above those.

Biggest piece of advice is not to give up. It's going to be a long hard process, but totally worth it, and totally doable in your position. Seek advice here on SDN and profit.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

DO schools are very understanding when it comes to grades and stats in general. Depending on your MCAT and ECs, you should be fine. Getting above a 3.2 is very beneficial if possible, but won't kill you if you can't get over the hump. Generally to get into a DO school you are going to want to shoot for 3.2+/24+ with meaningful ECs. This isn't a guarantee by any means, but you should be able to get some interviews if you can get your numbers at or above those.

Biggest piece of advice is not to give up. It's going to be a long hard process, but totally worth it, and totally doable in your position. Seek advice here on SDN and profit.

yea for sure. You get those numbers and ECs and apply to enough schools and you should be good. Prepare for the future, since competition is definitely going up every year, but all the same, just do the best you can and it will help you.