Looking for some advice

[Syntax2211]

Hello
I am looking for some advice i graduate next week with a B.S in Biology, i have a 2.8 sGPA and a 2.91 cGPA and i have yet to take the MCAT's. I know that i have no chance of getting in to a DO school with my current GPA so i was thinking of going back to school for a second degree and work towards making my GPA more competitive. i was just wondering is this the best option i have to increase my GPA? any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

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[skargylejohn]

Hello
I am looking for some advice i graduate next week with a B.S in Biology, i have a 2.8 sGPA and a 2.91 cGPA and i have yet to take the MCAT's. I know that i have no chance of getting in to a DO school with my current GPA so i was thinking of going back to school for a second degree and work towards making my GPA more competitive. i was just wondering is this the best option i have to increase my GPA? any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

That's tough man....
To get into a DO school you'd need a 3.4/3.5 to be competitive. If you rock the MCAT (32+) a 3.2 might even get looked at.

My advice would be to enter all your course work into an excel spreadsheet, calculate your sgpa and cpa, and see how many classes with an A-/A you'd need to raise your gpa up. At that point you'd be able to judge the program length needed.

Oh, and rock the MCAT...

Best of luck!

 

[Catalystik]

Hello
I am looking for some advice i graduate next week with a B.S in Biology, i have a 2.8 sGPA and a 2.91 cGPA and i have yet to take the MCAT's. I know that i have no chance of getting in to a DO school with my current GPA so i was thinking of going back to school for a second degree and work towards making my GPA more competitive. i was just wondering is this the best option i have to increase my GPA? any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

Your best and fastest option would be to take advantage of the AACOMAS grade replacement policy by retaking your lowest grades for the same credits or better, starting with the prerequisite sciences. The retake need not be at the same school. The course name needn't be identical so long as the course content is demonstrably similar per the course catalogs.

When one retakes, only the most recent grade is included in the calculation of your application GPA by AACOMAS. Besides retakes, it's a good idea to also take some original upper-level Bio to show you can excel the first time you are exposed to new material.

Use this spreadsheet to help you figure out the effect retaking a class might have:
DO GPA calculation spreadsheet:http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=450050
Newer modified version: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=839864

AMCAS BCPM GPA varies from AACOMAS sGPA, and includes (scroll to bottom half): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=552026

 

[411309]

That's tough man....
To get into a DO school you'd need a 3.4/3.5 to be competitive. If you rock the MCAT (32+) a 3.2 might even get looked at.

My advice would be to enter all your course work into an excel spreadsheet, calculate your sgpa and cpa, and see how many classes with an A-/A you'd need to raise your gpa up. At that point you'd be able to judge the program length needed.

Oh, and rock the MCAT...

Best of luck!

This is wrong advice. With a 3.2 and 29 or 30 mcat you would be competitive at a lot of schools. Even a 28 would you give you a chance.

 

[Temperature101]

This is wrong advice. With a 3.2 and 29 or 30 mcat you would be competitive at a lot of schools. Even a 28 would you give you a chance.

Even with 26 OP would get a chance...28+ would make OP competitive with a 3.2 c/sGPA. I have a friend who had a 3.5 cGPA and 3.3+ sGPA and 24 MCAT...He did not apply last year to DO schools because he followed people's advice on SDN. I told him that he was crazy . He then retake the MCAT and got 29 and was able to get multiple acceptances...Then he realize that he made a big mistake by not applying last year when other applicants told him when he went to these interviews that they have 24-25 mcat and get multiple interviews. SDN is a good source for knowledge regarding the application process; but sometimes people in here give bad advice.

 

[411309]

yes, a 26 hed have a chance with a 3.2 but based on statistics alone aiming for at least a 28 would be ideal and could put you near a lot of school's LizzyM score.

 

[Temperature101]

yes, a 26 hed have a chance with a 3.2 but based on statistics alone aiming for at least a 28 would be ideal and could put you near a lot of school's LizzyM score.

Where is that lizzym score?

 

[skargylejohn]

Only a handful of DO schools have a LizzyM score below 62 and a 3.2/28 would only get you to a 60. I can give specific schools if you want but I don't have them on hand right now.

Then again who knows. OP could really fit in with one of the top tier DO schools and get in with a 3.2/28 but he has a long way to go to get there from ~2.9.

OP I recommend an SMP or going back to redo pre-reqs at your 4 year or one of equal ranking to take advantage of the AACOM grade replacement policy.