Is a 3.6 post-bacc GPA acceptable?

[tarheel101]

Hi everyone! I'm a pre-med student who graduated from college with a 3.0 GPA. I am currently doing a DIY post bacc in upper level biology courses. I was wondering what GPA I should be aiming for. Of course, I know I should be aiming for all A's, but what is the minimum GPA I should maintain during the post-bacc? I want to know if I will be in troubled waters if I have a 3.5 or 3.6 GPA.
I do plan on applying after I complete 30 credit hours (so next cycle), and I will plan on completing a one year masters while I complete my first round of medical school applications. Therefore, if I do, for some reason end up with a 3.5 or 3.6 GPA during my post-bacc, I will still have my masters grades to plump up my application.
Thanks in advance!

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[bears1992]

A postbac for the purposes of grade repair should be atleast a 3.7. The average postbac GPA for matriculant DO applicants was 3.7. Keep in mind that not all of those students with postbac were doing it for grade repair, some had a great GPA and just needed the prereqs. If just looking at postbacs from matriculant students that needed grade repair, that postbac GPA is probably a bit higher.

http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-s...riculant-profile-summary-report.pdf?sfvrsn=10

Also, why are you working towards a masters while applying? I don't see how that would help your chances. Focus on stringing together a few semesters of As, don't worry about a masters unless you are doing a SMP.

 

[tarheel101]

Thanks for that!
I'm *hope* to do a SMP. My adviser (and I agree with her) believes that since my undergrad GPA is low, I need to do a post-bacc to do GPA repair and the SMP will further solidify that I can handle intense courses.

 

[bears1992]

Whatever floats your boat. Most of the adcoms on this site say that GPA repair is more about sustaining excellent grades for a significant period of time, rather than the overall GPA you end up with.

 

[tarheel101]

I will consider your advice, and see what ends up being the better option for me. Thanks for your help!

 

[backside_attack]

I will still have my masters grades to plump up my application.

Don't count on this. This is a huge misconception among people applying. Having an advanced degree is not a good metric on which to judge applicants, and the GPA won't factor in to your cGPA or sGPA - it's listed separately. Think of a grad degree as a cool EC and not much more. There's rampant grade inflation in many grad programs and can't be used as a consistent metric, so don't overestimate the "plump up" it will give you.

 

[Skiiiiiing]

For MD, it's not. Median matriculant has a 3.7 sGPA

About a third of the premed courses are either very fair or down right inflating. 3/5 of the remaining are reasonable. A handful are buttholes. A 3.6 in this kind of environment says what?

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone! I'm a pre-med student who graduated from college with a 3.0 GPA. I am currently doing a DIY post bacc in upper level biology courses. I was wondering what GPA I should be aiming for. Of course, I know I should be aiming for all A's, but what is the minimum GPA I should maintain during the post-bacc? I want to know if I will be in troubled waters if I have a 3.5 or 3.6 GPA.
I do plan on applying after I complete 30 credit hours (so next cycle), and I will plan on completing a one year masters while I complete my first round of medical school applications. Therefore, if I do, for some reason end up with a 3.5 or 3.6 GPA during my post-bacc, I will still have my masters grades to plump up my application.
Thanks in advance!

Maybe for your state MD school, and definite;y for DO schools, but successful SDNers who share with with me thier stories about reinvention for MD schools generally have 3.7+ GPAs form post-bac or SMP.

 

[Blitz1817]

My post bacc GPA is currently 3.9/3.98 over 30+ credits. How many credits does everyone think is necessary for a post-bacc to be considered "sustained" long enough? What if it is spread out over a few years with a class, occasionally two, accompanied by working full time?

 

[tarheel101]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone, I appreciate it! I am trying for all A's, I just wanted to know at what point will I be in troubled waters if I don't earn straight A's.
Also, I have a similar question to Blitz1817.....how many credit hours is considered enough for post-bacc? I know UNC-CH says to have at least 30 credit hours, and Wayne State recommends 20+ hours.