Is applying even worth it? Is studying for the MCAT even worth it?

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orange_elephants

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So here are the facts:
I'm a senior majoring in biochemistry. I always wanted to apply to med school but my hesitation is my GPA. Right now I have a 3.65 overall. The reason that it's so low is because I was originally majoring in biomedical engineering. Fall semester of my sophomore year, I had to drop calc based Physics II with a W, I made a C in honors calc III, and D's in both organic I and engineering mechanics. After that I switched my major to biochemistry and have been doing better ever since. I retook organic I and got a B and got an A in organic II. Had it not been for that awful semester I believe my GPA would be significantly higher (I had a 4.0 my freshman year).

So I guess my questions are
1) is my GPA too low to apply?
2) if not, what would be a good MCAT score to shoot for to be a competitive applicant?

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So here are the facts:
I'm a senior majoring in biochemistry. I always wanted to apply to med school but my hesitation is my GPA. Right now I have a 3.65 overall. The reason that it's so low is because I was originally majoring in biomedical engineering. Fall semester of my sophomore year, I had to drop calc based Physics II with a W, I made a C in honors calc III, and D's in both organic I and engineering mechanics. After that I switched my major to biochemistry and have been doing better ever since. I retook organic I and got a B and got an A in organic II. Had it not been for that awful semester I believe my GPA would be significantly higher (I had a 4.0 my freshman year).

So I guess my questions are
1) is my GPA too low to apply?
2) if not, what would be a good MCAT score to shoot for to be a competitive applicant?

Your GPA isn't too low to apply. Not at all. The only real red flag on your app is the D in Organic I, but you retook it and then got an A in organic II and majored in an organic-intensive major. That's fine. Your GPA is fine.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/factstablea16.pdf

The average GPA total was a whopping 3.7 last year. It says the average MCAT was a 508.7. So aim for above 510 to make up for your very insignificantly lower GPA. The key to your application will be everything else (assuming your MCAT isn't really low which would hurt or really high, which still makes the rest of your app important). Your GPA isn't blowing anyone away, so your non-academic things need to be great. There's a lot of info on sdn about extracurriculars and essay writing. These will be important for you. If your ECs aren't right, take two gap years. One to get them right, and one to apply during.
 
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