Insight on Best Route to Take

[Aryder117]

Hello! I am a recent graduate from a mid tier liberal arts college, and hold a B.S. in Biology and a Psychology minor. Throughout undergrad, I had hoped to apply directly to medical school, but my GPA is slightly lower than competitive (cGPA: 3.37). My extracurriculars are competitive, however, with hospital volunteer hours, various laboratory participation, EMT certification, and MA job in a cardiology practice for this upcoming year (gap year).
My plan as of right now is to take the MCAT in February and supplement my application with a heavy load of clinical hours through MA and EMT-B. After taking the MCAT, I would like to apply to various degree granting Post-Bacc programs (Tufts, Georgetown, BU, LUC, etc.). However, even though I am fully invested in this route and have been for quite some time, is there hope for me to get accepted into one of these post bacc programs? (Minding that my GPA leans towards the low end and my degree is from a mid tier Liberal Arts school)? The average accepted GPA is ~3.3, but I assume these applicants are from higher ranking schools. I plan on beginning MCAT prep within the end of the month and testing in February.
Thank you for any and all insight, it is greatly appreciated!

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[Catalystik]

Hello! I am a recent graduate from a mid tier liberal arts college, and hold a B.S. in Biology and a Psychology minor. Throughout undergrad, I had hoped to apply directly to medical school, but my GPA is slightly lower than competitive (cGPA: 3.37). My extracurriculars are competitive, however, with hospital volunteer hours, various laboratory participation, EMT certification, and MA job in a cardiology practice for this upcoming year (gap year).
My plan as of right now is to take the MCAT in February and supplement my application with a heavy load of clinical hours through MA and EMT-B. After taking the MCAT, I would like to apply to various degree granting Post-Bacc programs (Tufts, Georgetown, BU, LUC, etc.). However, even though I am fully invested in this route and have been for quite some time, is there hope for me to get accepted into one of these post bacc programs? (Minding that my GPA leans towards the low end and my degree is from a mid tier Liberal Arts school)? The average accepted GPA is ~3.3, but I assume these applicants are from higher ranking schools. I plan on beginning MCAT prep within the end of the month and testing in February.
Thank you for any and all insight, it is greatly appreciated!

What is your BCPM GPA?
What is your year-by-year cGPA?
What sorts of classes brought your GPA down?
Are you referring specifically to Special Masters Programs as the sort of postbac you'd engage in (which tend to require an MCAT score)?

 

[Goro]

Hello! I am a recent graduate from a mid tier liberal arts college, and hold a B.S. in Biology and a Psychology minor. Throughout undergrad, I had hoped to apply directly to medical school, but my GPA is slightly lower than competitive (cGPA: 3.37). My extracurriculars are competitive, however, with hospital volunteer hours, various laboratory participation, EMT certification, and MA job in a cardiology practice for this upcoming year (gap year).
My plan as of right now is to take the MCAT in February and supplement my application with a heavy load of clinical hours through MA and EMT-B. After taking the MCAT, I would like to apply to various degree granting Post-Bacc programs (Tufts, Georgetown, BU, LUC, etc.). However, even though I am fully invested in this route and have been for quite some time, is there hope for me to get accepted into one of these post bacc programs? (Minding that my GPA leans towards the low end and my degree is from a mid tier Liberal Arts school)? The average accepted GPA is ~3.3, but I assume these applicants are from higher ranking schools. I plan on beginning MCAT prep within the end of the month and testing in February.
Thank you for any and all insight, it is greatly appreciated!

Don't bother with emt-b, that's just a glorified bus driver

 

[Aryder117]

What is your BCPM GPA?
What is your year-by-year cGPA?
What sorts of classes brought your GPA down?
Are you referring specifically to Special Masters Programs as the sort of postbac you'd engage in (which tend to require an MCAT score)?

BCPM: 3.24
Year-by-Year: Freshman: 3.65 (Psychology Major, no science curriculum)
Sophomore: 3.2 (First year Bio curriculum supplemented with Core classes)
Junior: 3.2 (Second year Bio curriculum with 4 sciences each semester, 3 Labs/sem)
Summer going into Sr. year: 4.0 (Microbiology w/ Lab and Neurobiology, both from Loyola University of Chicago)
Senior Year: 3.52

Classes that significantly lowered GPA: Gen chem I, GBio 1, Organic 1&2, Genetics (all were B- save for Organic 2, C+)

Yes, I would be interested in a degree granting program, such as the SMP, that requires MCAT scores. On the optimistic side, I do have 5-6 months of study time with the last month entirely dedicated to MCAT prep (The first 5 months or so would be studying alongside a 40h/week job).

Side Bar: Would having completed the B.S. in Biology in three years, with all of the science course cramming etc., play to my advantage in application and potential interviewing?
Thank you for your respsonse!

 

[Catalystik]

1) BCPM: 3.24
Year-by-Year: Freshman: 3.65 (Psychology Major, no science curriculum)
Sophomore: 3.2 (First year Bio curriculum supplemented with Core classes)
Junior: 3.2 (Second year Bio curriculum with 4 sciences each semester, 3 Labs/sem)
Summer going into Sr. year: 4.0 (Microbiology w/ Lab and Neurobiology, both from Loyola University of Chicago)
Senior Year: 3.52

Classes that significantly lowered GPA: Gen chem I, GBio 1, Organic 1&2, Genetics (all were B- save for Organic 2, C+)

Yes, I would be interested in a degree granting program, such as the SMP, that requires MCAT scores. On the optimistic side, I do have 5-6 months of study time with the last month entirely dedicated to MCAT prep (The first 5 months or so would be studying alongside a 40h/week job).

2) Side Bar: Would having completed the B.S. in Biology in three years, with all of the science course cramming etc., play to my advantage in application and potential interviewing?

1) Your original question was "is there hope for me to get accepted into one of these post bacc programs?" My response would be yes, there is hope, depending on how strong your MCAT score is. If MD programs would be your goal, you would aim for a minimum of 511 (the average for those matriculating), but much higher would be far better. A lower score is still consistent with successful acceptance to an SMP, but you'd have a higher chance of more success with DO program acceptances in the end. This is a generalization and I would modify my answer were you from a state with more lenient med schools, or other factors.

Note that if you engage in an SMP, you'd need a GPA of 3.7+ to enhance odds of an MD acceptance. Other than that one summer, you haven't demonstrated an ability to excel in the sciences. This would be a very expensive, high risk effort. Maybe you should convince yourself that you have the academic capability through some undergrad postbac classes locally. Doing so and getting a string of As would certainly make you a more attractive SMP candidate, besides.

Another warning: SMPs are a nontraditional masters. They do not result in a usable degree for any other purpose than professional school acceptances.

2) Your new question: "Would having completed the B.S. in Biology in three years, with all of the science course cramming etc., play to my advantage in application and potential interviewing?" Answer: No, not the tiniest bit.

 

[Aryder117]

Don't bother with emt-b, that's just a glorified bus driver

1) Your original question was "is there hope for me to get accepted into one of these post bacc programs?" My response would be yes, there is hope, depending on how strong your MCAT score is. If MD programs would be your goal, you would aim for a minimum of 511 (the average for those matriculating), but much higher would be far better. A lower score is still consistent with successful acceptance to an SMP, but you'd have a higher chance of more success with DO program acceptances in the end. This is a generalization and I would modify my answer were you from a state with more lenient med schools, or other factors.

Note that if you engage in an SMP, you'd need a GPA of 3.7+ to enhance odds of an MD acceptance. Other than that one summer, you haven't demonstrated an ability to excel in the sciences. This would be a very expensive, high risk effort. Maybe you should convince yourself that you have the academic capability through some undergrad postbac classes locally. Doing so and getting a string of As would certainly make you a more attractive SMP candidate, besides.

Another warning: SMPs are a nontraditional masters. They do not result in a usable degree for any other purpose than professional school acceptances.

2) Your new question: "Would having completed the B.S. in Biology in three years, with all of the science course cramming etc., play to my advantage in application and potential interviewing?" Answer: No, not the tiniest bit.

I was wondering if the postbac classes before an SMP program would be useful, so thank you for clarifying that.
Thank you for your help and insight, and for clarifying some major concerns! I appreciate it!

 

[Goro]

I was wondering if the postbac classes before an SMP program would be useful, so thank you for clarifying that.
Thank you for your help and insight, and for clarifying some major concerns! I appreciate it!

Post-bac classes might be good to get your feet wet, and help you with MCAT. IF you have taken these already, then it might be better to dive into the SMP.

You're fine right now for DO schools.