Is SMP necessary if gpa is 3.0+?

[Jedimuscle23]

Right now I am sitting at a 2.94 overall and a 2.59 science gpa with almost all the premed prerequisites finished (used to be a 3.1 science gpa with old grade replacement policy). My last 60 hours have been >3.2gpa. I have plenty of upper level science classes that I can still take at least 24-28 credit hours.

If I hypothetically ace my next 6-8 science classes that would bring my overall gpa up to a 3.10 and my science to a 3.02. If I paired this with a great MCAT 505+ would an SMP be necessary at that point? Or should I save money and not go SMP?

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[BeachBlondie]

I got in with a 3.36c/3.1c/4.0g and 30 MCAT (~80th percentile).

With a respectable MCAT, more doors will open (I was interviewed allopathic, as well, even before my graduate education started). I think your focus should be the MCAT before you consider more education.

 

[Alienman52]

I got in with a 3.36c/3.1c/4.0g and 30 MCAT (~80th percentile).

With a respectable MCAT, more doors will open (I was interviewed allopathic, as well, even before my graduate education started). I think your focus should be the MCAT before you consider more education.

I concur, but also:

OP, it's tough to say. Those GPAs IMO are still too low. Ask yourself how many courses you would Have to take to raise them both to over 3.25 at least. Then coupled with a 505+ MCAT you may have a shot. If the number of courses is too many, then I would go the SMP route (unless you believe you can knock the MCAT out of the park- 513+)

Good luck


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[HuntDoc]

I concur, but also:

OP, it's tough to say. Those GPAs IMO are still too low. Ask yourself how many courses you would Have to take to raise them both to over 3.25 at least. Then coupled with a 505+ MCAT you may have a shot. If the number of courses is too many, then I would go the SMP route (unless you believe you can knock the MCAT out of the park- 513+)

Good luck


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I agree with Alienman. However I also think you should consider how difficult the MCAT is and the additional stress you would place on yourself knowing you are pairing it with a lower GPA. If you took the SMP, you could give yourself some wiggle room on the MCAT.

 

[Alienman52]

I agree with Alienman. However I also think you should consider how difficult the MCAT is and the additional stress you would place on yourself knowing you are pairing it with a lower GPA. If you took the SMP, you could give yourself some wiggle room on the MCAT.

Strongly concur with the above, OP.


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[insaiyanpredent]

Same boat as you are. Haven't graduated yet but will be in the spring. Deciding whether to do a DIY post bacc or SMP.

 

[saltandsugar]

Can you take the MCAT first and see how you did before you make that decision? I agree with above that you should have both above 3.25 with a 505+ MCAT to give yourself the best chances (with excellent ECs/LORs).

 

[Insert Member Name Here]

Ironically the MCAT is a great focus point whether you decide to do a linkage SMP or not. Often times students who focus on getting the grades needed to do well on the SMP don't prepare sufficiently in raising their MCAT score to meet the cut-off standards and vice versa.

 

[IslandStyle808]

My vote for take the MCAT and raising your grades. This is the least financially draining if you can get a good MCAT score. I've known people to leave SMPs with 15-30k in debt because they couldn't meet the requirements. SMPs should be a last resort for medical school.

 

[Insert Member Name Here]

@IslandStyle808 A focus on the MCAT basically kills two birds with one stone. It covers half the strain that comes with most linkage SMPs and applying for straight admission into medical programs. Hell, it even covers the part where you don't get the required GPA to link into your program, but still try to apply to an outside DO program with a strong SMP GPA e.g. 3.5+ when the cutoff for some is around 3.7.

 

[IslandStyle808]

@IslandStyle808 A focus on the MCAT basically kills two birds with one stone. It covers half the strain that comes with most linkage SMPs and applying for straight admission into medical programs. Hell, it even covers the part where you don't get the required GPA to link into your program, but still try to apply to an outside DO program with a strong SMP GPA e.g. 3.5+ when the cutoff for some is around 3.7.

Just another note.

If you do an SMP and you have the MCAT, when you apply to schools outside of the SMP they will want to know how well you did in it. So if you had a MCAT of 507 and a ugGPA of 3.2 for example, this could have been enough to have gotten you in. However, the school you interviewed at will now say "let's see how you do in this SMP." They will automatically put you on a waitlist, when you would have gotten an acceptance instead if you didn't take the SMP. If the SMP GPA doesn't meet the cut off of the linkage school, and it doesn't satisfy the school that waitlisted you; then you would have shot yourself in the foot. And the reason why I know this is because it almost happened to someone I knew.

 

[Insert Member Name Here]

@IslandStyle808 For the person you know who did the SMP, did they weigh points according to class performance?

 

[IslandStyle808]

@IslandStyle808 For the person you know who did the SMP, did they weigh points according to class performance?

I'm not certain as to how they weighed his grades. They might have had a bare minimum SMP GPA in mind that would have left them satisfied (ex. like getting a 3.0). In some SMPs get a 3.0 is hard to do, considering you would be in the top 50% of the class if you were actually attending that DO school. If they were basing it off a bare minimum, then taking the SMP would have been a bad move (instead of it putting him/her ahead of the applicants, it became a weeder tool to reject him). I'm very sure that person would have gotten in otherwise if they didn't take SMP. Overall it was a bad move on his part to do one in the first place.

 

[j9260]

I personally did an SMP because my MCATs were in the low 20s and my grades in a few upper level science classes were abysmal (Cs), even though my undergrad cGPA & sGPA were above 3.0. I felt those two components on my application were big red flags, and that belief was backed up by my pre-med advisor and an M2 who looked over my profile.

Was just admitted to my top choice school yesterday (same place as SMP). Got a 512 this past summer and a strong upward trend in SMP to A-/As.
I believe my SMP played a big part in my acceptance and has helped me feel a lot more confident and ready for med school. I also credit my MCAT jump to my SMP because a lot of the same topics showed up and my study skills were a whole lot better.

The curriculum in my SMP program consisted of 60% of the first-year DO class lectures. A great chance to prove yourself if you think you have what it takes.
But very risky if you don't do well. So it could make or break your chances.

Given your situation, I would do very well on those upper level courses and go off of that. If you do very well on those upper level courses (A-/A), focus all your attention on the MCATs to make up for your cGPA, instead of going for an SMP.
Only time I would recommend SMP track for sure in your case is if you get anything less than a B in these upper level science courses you're about to take AND if you have good reason to believe you would do differently (and much better) in the SMP.
Gray area for anything in between. ​

 

[BobbyKoch]

what smp did you do? pm me if you'd prefer.

 

[CJhooper123]

Personally, I've always found SMP's to be too risky (coming from someone who doesn't have the $$$ to toss around). I am sure people have had success w/ SMP's... I just don't think it statistically separates you from a "DIY PB" student who took similar courses at a much lower price (if someone has these numbers... please prove me wrong). If a program has linkage, then the gamble is up to you. Are you willing to spend/bet ~$30K that you will be top ~10% of your SMP class and will obtain a top-notch MCAT?

I'd go DIY PB if you want to save money. Take ~30 credit hours... get the GPA above 3.0. Study hard for the MCAT and score 505+.
Boom. You could earn a DO acceptance (assuming EC's and other credentials are up to par)

 

[Cath Up]

Got in with a 3.18c/3.08s 509 MCAT. I took 3 cc courses and 1 university course (all 1 at a time) as a postbacc- and one of the cc courses was during my application so schools didn't even see it. I had good ECs and got multiple acceptances and >5 interviews to DO programs.

Given my experience, I think DIY post bacc is a preferable route for DO programs. Cheaper, less risky, could be less time consuming, and you can work full time while doing it.

 

[BobbyKoch]

Meanwhile I have nearly identical MCAT and gpa. Decent ECs, but not 1000s of hours like some. Two interviews, two waitlists.

I’m considering an SMP because I’ve taken almost all the upper level science courses my local university offers.

 

[Shotapp]

Meanwhile I have nearly identical MCAT and gpa. Decent ECs, but not 1000s of hours like some. Two interviews, two waitlists.

I’m considering an SMP because I’ve taken almost all the upper level science courses my local university offers.

Which poster do you share nearly identical stats?

 

[BobbyKoch]

Parslea

 

[Cath Up]

Meanwhile I have nearly identical MCAT and gpa. Decent ECs, but not 1000s of hours like some. Two interviews, two waitlists.

I’m considering an SMP because I’ve taken almost all the upper level science courses my local university offers.

I’m glad you point that out because my stats probably are not super predictive of the outcomes I have had this cycle. I legit did not think my stats were good enough to have much more than a 30% chance at an acceptance this cycle, based on previous underdog threads and acceptance stats that schools post.

I always try to mention that my “good” ECs and essays (spent a lot of time on the essays and had writers edit them) probably helped make the difference but given that my ECs are not usually considered “great”, I’m not sure how much they helped. But outside of GPA/MCAT, that’s all that’s left...maybe some people’s ECs and essays are insufficient.

 

[BobbyKoch]

I agree. It's interesting that the two schools who interviewed me both had basically open ended, one page, tell us about yourself style secondary prompts. It seems like most other schools use shorter more directed prompts and I struggled with them in comparison.