Looking for advice on if I should continue with this cycle or reevaluate....

[awklittlefoot]

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Hi,

So I am currently in this application cycle and I have applied to a couple of schools - mainly state schools (and gotten immediately rejected.) I graduated in 2016 then worked as a research assistant for a year, then did an "academic record enhancer program" - George Squared Program to help my GPA because I had a feeling that it was horrible. I am currently planning on completing the Masters in Physiology at Georgetown during the Spring Semester (2019).

I've reached out to a couple schools and they have emphasized that their minimum requirements to apply are 3.00 uBCPM and a 3.00 uGPA. I am kinda lost with where I should go from here - Should I cut my losses for this application cycle and stop applying? Should I focus on applying to 'SMP' programs to increase my chances or programs with linkages? Should I take undergraduate classes until my uBCPM and uGPA increase?


STATS -
uBCPM - 2.53
uAO - 3.68
uGPA - 2.97

gBCPM - 3.80
gAO - 4.00
gGPA - 3.81

MCAT - 515

Hospital Volunteering - 167 hrs.
Research - 1.5 years.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sunna12]

Are you applying DO or MD?
1. I think you know the honest answer here, your undergrad GPA is too low.
2. When you apply, with a higher GPA, you need to apply to a larger amount of schools all at once up front when the application is first available for submission, not "a couple" in state. Adding on additional schools now will just be throwing away money. I suggest you invest in the MSAR resource next time you apply to reference the lower threshold of GPAs the schools you're applying to are interviewing.
3. you need to improve your undergrad GPA, your graduate GPA is great- doing a masters at Georgetown has a significant chance of decreasing your GPA at this point. It's unfortunate that the uGPA has so much weight, even with a high gGPA, but the BCPM contains the science courses that will be the bread and butter of your first two years of medical school, and your first board exam that will determine (in essence) the rest of your medical life. You need to show admissions you can succeed in these classes. You were likely filtered out from most of your schools based on this factor alone.

Go to a 4-year institution where you know you can succeed at post-bacc courses- it sounds like your first undergrad school may not have been the best fit?

 

[awklittlefoot]

I am applying to MD and DO schools.

I guess the best option would be to cut my losses for this cycle and take post bacc classes until I increase my undergraduate BCPM to at least a 3.0?

Also - thank you for your response. I think I came into this application cycle with somewhat unrealistic expectations. Advisers had told me that I should go ahead and apply and that I had a fair chance since my gGPA and gBCPM are high.

 

[Sunna12]

I am applying to MD and DO schools.

I guess the best option would be to cut my losses for this cycle and take post bacc classes until I increase my undergraduate BCPM to at least a 3.0?

Also - thank you for your response. I think I came into this application cycle with somewhat unrealistic expectations. Advisers had told me that I should go ahead and apply and that I had a fair chance since my gGPA and gBCPM are high.

Try looking into the average GPAs of applicants where you intend on applying- a 3.0 is still pretty low. I can't speak for DO, but for MD you generally need >3.5

 

[676188]

3.0 is minimum for DO

 

[awklittlefoot]

Try looking into the average GPAs of applicants where you intend on applying- a 3.0 is still pretty low. I can't speak for DO, but for MD you generally need >3.5

I just did a quick calculation of how many credits I would need to take to up my uBCPM to a 3.5 - I'd have to take 190ish credits to make it close to that. I was a science major so I had a fair amount of credits in my uBCPM.

I am also considering the Temple program with the conditional linkage... the chances of me getting accepted are low but if accepted I'd have a way in.

 

[awklittlefoot]

3.0 is minimum for DO

Thanks! It'll take me about 40 credits to bring my BCPM to a 3.0. So it would be faster for me to do that and apply to DO schools.