Hey everyone! I am looking for advice/suggestions/criticisms moving forward, and want to say thank you advance for reading my long post!
I am currently enrolled in a very loosely-structured post-bacc program at UMD. There is a suggested guideline of courses, but I can take them in whatever order I want and basically pick or choose what classes I want to take. It is essentially between a structured post-bacc program and a DIY program. I will not get a certificate or degree from this program. As of right now, I am planning on only taking the pre-reqs for medical school in this program (Gen chem, bio, organic chemistry, etc.) and I am about halfway through with them. In fall 2019, after finishing my pre-reqs for medical school and assuming I get all A's, I will have a 3.75 BCPM GPA. Additionally, I have 2 non-science degrees on top of my post-bacc program, and my overall GPA will be 3.2 or 3.3. I will have around 200 undergrad credit hours or something ridiculous like that, so boosting my overall GPA is VERY hard. For my second degree, I got a 4.0 and a 3.8, respectively, and my GPA went up about .02 or something like that. However, I will have 2 years of scribing experience in both an ED setting and hospitalist setting, as well as plenty of volunteering hours (not in a hospital setting, but with a cause that is very important to me) by next fall. I also don't know if this will help me, but the hospital I currently scribe at is associated with a medical school and when I am rounding, I am doing so with an attending who is teaching and overseeing medical school students, residents, a fellow, and students shadowing. I actually have learned a lot from this, as the attending and/or fellow will often quiz the medical students in real-time. I also plan on assisting with research starting spring 2019. The only thing keeping me from a 4.0 BCPM GPA would be a C in algebra from Fall 2012 and a C in statistics in 2014. I have two W's on my transcript from 2016 in Gen Bio and Gen Chem due to me registering for them without advice from my advisor after already having graduated with my first degree and not having any review for either of those classes in over 4 years. I have a fairly detailed backstory about my poor grades/withdraws, but of course, I know everyone has excuses/reasons and these will not make-or-break my case.
Anyway, my question is, once I am finished with the pre-reqs, should I take more classes or look into a SMP or go right into studying for the MCAT during Spring 2020? Due to the loose nature of my post-bacc, I could take additional classes, such as biochemistry, biostatistics, etc. or take a MCAT prep class. I am trying to stay in my area and there are no DO schools around, so I am mostly going to be looking at MD schools. I am just worried about my overall GPA and how much of a hinderance that will be. I know colleges like a good upward trend which I do have and plan on continuing to have, but I am still very worried.
Thank you again in advance!
I am currently enrolled in a very loosely-structured post-bacc program at UMD. There is a suggested guideline of courses, but I can take them in whatever order I want and basically pick or choose what classes I want to take. It is essentially between a structured post-bacc program and a DIY program. I will not get a certificate or degree from this program. As of right now, I am planning on only taking the pre-reqs for medical school in this program (Gen chem, bio, organic chemistry, etc.) and I am about halfway through with them. In fall 2019, after finishing my pre-reqs for medical school and assuming I get all A's, I will have a 3.75 BCPM GPA. Additionally, I have 2 non-science degrees on top of my post-bacc program, and my overall GPA will be 3.2 or 3.3. I will have around 200 undergrad credit hours or something ridiculous like that, so boosting my overall GPA is VERY hard. For my second degree, I got a 4.0 and a 3.8, respectively, and my GPA went up about .02 or something like that. However, I will have 2 years of scribing experience in both an ED setting and hospitalist setting, as well as plenty of volunteering hours (not in a hospital setting, but with a cause that is very important to me) by next fall. I also don't know if this will help me, but the hospital I currently scribe at is associated with a medical school and when I am rounding, I am doing so with an attending who is teaching and overseeing medical school students, residents, a fellow, and students shadowing. I actually have learned a lot from this, as the attending and/or fellow will often quiz the medical students in real-time. I also plan on assisting with research starting spring 2019. The only thing keeping me from a 4.0 BCPM GPA would be a C in algebra from Fall 2012 and a C in statistics in 2014. I have two W's on my transcript from 2016 in Gen Bio and Gen Chem due to me registering for them without advice from my advisor after already having graduated with my first degree and not having any review for either of those classes in over 4 years. I have a fairly detailed backstory about my poor grades/withdraws, but of course, I know everyone has excuses/reasons and these will not make-or-break my case.
Anyway, my question is, once I am finished with the pre-reqs, should I take more classes or look into a SMP or go right into studying for the MCAT during Spring 2020? Due to the loose nature of my post-bacc, I could take additional classes, such as biochemistry, biostatistics, etc. or take a MCAT prep class. I am trying to stay in my area and there are no DO schools around, so I am mostly going to be looking at MD schools. I am just worried about my overall GPA and how much of a hinderance that will be. I know colleges like a good upward trend which I do have and plan on continuing to have, but I am still very worried.
Thank you again in advance!
