Is my upward trend good enough?

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az43

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Hey guys, going to get straight to the point. I just graduated from a top10 public school in CA. I was in undergrad for a total of 5 years (3 yrs CC, 2 yrs Uni). I got a pretty low gpa in my 2nd and 3rd year because I started working full time to help my parents bc my dad got injured at work. I'm a first generation URM student. Here are my grades year by year

Overall: cGPA - 3.51 | sGPA - 3.37

Year 1: 3.653 GPA | 4.00 sGPA
Year 2: 3.384 GPA | 3.20 sGPA
Year 3: 2.730 GPA | 2.50 sGPA
Year 4: 3.772 GPA | 3.684 sGPA
Year 5: 3.895 GPA | 3.844 sGPA

Note: Units aren't the same year by year and years 1-3 are semester units while 4-5 are quarter units.

My total CC GPA is a 3.3, University GPA is a 3.84, and cGPA is a 3.51. I graduated w/ department honors and my EC's are good. Do I stand a chance at MD schools if I do well on the MCAT? My goal is to stay in CA.

Also, I got C's in 4 pre req courses (Phys I, Chem II, OChem II, Bio II). Should I retake these in order to boost my sGPA to a 3.5?

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If you are indeed a URM your GPA's are along the lines of what URM MD matriculant GPAs are. African American MD matriculant averages were at cGPA 3.48 sGPA 3.35. You're fine.
 
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The V-shaped trend is not lethal. Be prepared to explain it at interviews, though.

What community do you represent? And please don't' say "Brooklyn".

Hey guys, going to get straight to the point. I just graduated from a top10 public school in CA. I was in undergrad for a total of 5 years (3 yrs CC, 2 yrs Uni). I got a pretty low gpa in my 2nd and 3rd year because I started working full time to help my parents bc my dad got injured at work. I'm a first generation URM student. Here are my grades year by year
 
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The V-shaped trend is not lethal. Be prepared to explain it at interviews, though.

What community do you represent? And please don't' say "Brooklyn".

Represent the Mexican community haha. So there's really no point in retaking those 4 pre rqs and taking more CC bio classes? Would it be a better use of my time if I did full-time research (already have 1.5 years of research in undergrad).
 
Full time research will be good if you need a job and the $. You already have lots of research, so any more (outside of employment, which is good in and of itself) is gilding the lily.

If you're lacking in the other needed ECs, get those in. Your stats are good enough for applying now, especially with the URM boost. But do you have evidence of service to your community???



Represent the Mexican community haha. So there's really no point in retaking those 4 pre rqs and taking more CC bio classes? Would it be a better use of my time if I did full-time research (already have 1.5 years of research in undergrad).
 
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Full time research will be good if you need a job and the $. You already have lots of research, so any more (outside of employment, which is good in and of itself) is gilding the lily.

If you're lacking in the other needed ECs, get those in. Your stats are good enough for applying now, especially with the URM boost. But do you have evidence of service to your community???

I see, I'll keep that in mind. As for service (other than hospital volunteering), I have been volunteering at my local food bank for the past year and plan to continue until I apply next cycle. If I don't do get a paid research position, then I plan on working as a scribe and volunteering at a nearby clinic that serves the latino community. I'm guessing the latter would make my app more competitive? I honestly would rather scribe and work in a clinic than do more research
 
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