Low cGPA and sGPA, high MCAT. Advice?

[hopefulgal7]

Hello! I am a a current female junior of African descent at a top 25 university. I need advice. Unfortunately, due to emotional and mental health reasons, my first 4 semesters of college did not flow too smoothly. I ended my Sophomore year with a 2.6 cumulative GPA and a whopping 1.7 Science GPA (yeah, I know how terrible that is). After going to therapy this past summer to finally address my mental/emotionally stability, I felt like a new woman, and completely thrived during my junior year, receiving straight A's in every single course I've taken my first and second semester of my 3rd year as an undergrad, and these courses included Organic Chemistry I and II, Biology II, Biochemistry, and Mammalian Physiology. This raised my cumulative GPA to a 3.1 and my science GPA to a 2.5. I studied my butt off for the MCAT, on which I recently discovered that I scored a 39. Aside from numbers, I have about 75 hours of shadowing under my belt; volunteer as a tutor for elementary school students in a local low-income neighborhood; am very involved with global health disparities awareness, having had a public health internship and medical volunteer experience abroad as well as research dealing with domestic health inequities; am the Vice President of an organization on campus, founder of another, and on the executive board of 2 more (these orgs are a mixture of health-oriented and cultural groups); and I volunteer as an EMT.

With the information provided, what advice would you give on what my next step should be? Should I give applying to allopathic (as well as a couple DO) schools a shot, or should I do some sort of year-long post-bacc program to strengthen my academic record? If denied the first round, I plan on enrolling in a post-bacc program.

Thanks in advanced!

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[Catalystik]

Hello! I am a a current female junior of African descent at a top 25 university. I need advice. Unfortunately, due to emotional and mental health reasons, my first 4 semesters of college did not flow too smoothly. I ended my Sophomore year with a 2.6 cumulative GPA and a whopping 1.7 Science GPA (yeah, I know how terrible that is). After going to therapy this past summer to finally address my mental/emotionally stability, I felt like a new woman, and completely thrived during my junior year, receiving straight A's in every single course I've taken my first and second semester of my 3rd year as an undergrad, and these courses included Organic Chemistry I and II, Biology II, Biochemistry, and Mammalian Physiology. This raised my cumulative GPA to a 3.1 and my science GPA to a 2.5. I studied my butt off for the MCAT, on which I recently discovered that I scored a 39. Aside from numbers, I have about 75 hours of shadowing under my belt; volunteer as a tutor for elementary school students in a local low-income neighborhood; am very involved with global health disparities awareness, having had a public health internship and medical volunteer experience abroad as well as research dealing with domestic health inequities; am the Vice President of an organization on campus, founder of another, and on the executive board of 2 more (these orgs are a mixture of health-oriented and cultural groups); and I volunteer as an EMT.

With the information provided, what advice would you give on what my next step should be? Should I give applying to allopathic (as well as a couple DO) schools a shot, or should I do some sort of year-long post-bacc program to strengthen my academic record? If denied the first round, I plan on enrolling in a post-bacc program.

Thanks in advanced!

Can you calculate what another year of straight As would do for your cGPA and BCPM GPA? Did you get any C-, Ds, and Fs in prerequisites? Any withdrawals?

 

[Goro]

You definitely need to bump the sGPA up some more. Med schools would be doing you no favor by admitting you if you couldn't handle the curriculum. All signs are hopeful, though.

Hello! I am a a current female junior of African descent at a top 25 university. I need advice. Unfortunately, due to emotional and mental health reasons, my first 4 semesters of college did not flow too smoothly. I ended my Sophomore year with a 2.6 cumulative GPA and a whopping 1.7 Science GPA (yeah, I know how terrible that is). After going to therapy this past summer to finally address my mental/emotionally stability, I felt like a new woman, and completely thrived during my junior year, receiving straight A's in every single course I've taken my first and second semester of my 3rd year as an undergrad, and these courses included Organic Chemistry I and II, Biology II, Biochemistry, and Mammalian Physiology. This raised my cumulative GPA to a 3.1 and my science GPA to a 2.5. I studied my butt off for the MCAT, on which I recently discovered that I scored a 39. Aside from numbers, I have about 75 hours of shadowing under my belt; volunteer as a tutor for elementary school students in a local low-income neighborhood; am very involved with global health disparities awareness, having had a public health internship and medical volunteer experience abroad as well as research dealing with domestic health inequities; am the Vice President of an organization on campus, founder of another, and on the executive board of 2 more (these orgs are a mixture of health-oriented and cultural groups); and I volunteer as an EMT.

With the information provided, what advice would you give on what my next step should be? Should I give applying to allopathic (as well as a couple DO) schools a shot, or should I do some sort of year-long post-bacc program to strengthen my academic record? If denied the first round, I plan on enrolling in a post-bacc program.

Thanks in advanced!

 

[hopefulgal7]

Can you calculate what another year of straight As would do for your cGPA and BCPM GPA? Did you get any C-, Ds, and Fs in prerequisites? Any withdrawals?

Yes, freshman and sophomore year, I received a D in Chemistry II, Physics II, Calculus, and one of my Biology classes, a B in Physics I, a C in Chemistry I, and a B- in Statistics. Another year of straight A's would bump up my cGPA to around a 3.2 and my sGPA only to around a 2.7. I'm thinking about just giving medical school a shot and just applying to post-baccs if denied.

 

[lmn]

You should look to finish school strong and do a post-bacc, even with a great upward trend, I'd be surprised if you don't get screened because your sGPA is just completely off the radar low. Keep in mind, if you apply this cycle and fail, you will have to deal with the challenges of being a reapplicant. If you do apply, you probably want to look into schools like Howard/any others that you fit the demographic for, and have generally much lower admissions requirements in terms of gpa/mcat, those schools you probably have a strong shot at despite your gpa.

 

[Catalystik]

Yes, freshman and sophomore year, I received a D in Chemistry II, Physics II, Calculus, and one of my Biology classes, a B in Physics I, a C in Chemistry I, and a B- in Statistics. Another year of straight A's would bump up my cGPA to around a 3.2 and my sGPA only to around a 2.7. I'm thinking about just giving medical school a shot and just applying to post-baccs if denied.

Another year of great grades would go a long way toward reassuring adcomms that you're past what held you back in the earlier college years. And, many schools require a minimum grade in the prerequisites, DO schools among them. I suggest you retake those classes before applying, unless you find some that you're sure are more lenient.

 

[dial1010usa]

hopefilgal7- Congratulations on your amazing MCAT score. How did you study for MCAT and how many weeks/months? What program did you join, online kaplan etc?

 

[hopefulgal7]

hopefilgal7- Congratulations on your amazing MCAT score. How did you study for MCAT and how many weeks/months? What program did you join, online kaplan etc?

I studied for about 6 months and was very motivated since I knew the MCAT would be my last shot at proving myself to medical schools. I did individual studying for 3 months and was part of a Princeton Review class for the remaining 3 months.

 

[SOS007]

Similar situation

(Asian female) I have a 3.1 sGPA and 3.2 cgpa according the AAMCAS gpa calculator (acc to my undergrad its 3.32 cgpa) and a 40 MCAT.

Intern for hospice
Shadowed for 2 years- 3 different doctors (cardiologist/ ER/ orthopedic surgeon)
Research- 2 pubmed publications and was part of the school research team also- published on 1 poster.
some in school activities and clubs.

Chances at MD, if any at all? or should I just apply DO?

 

[gyngyn]

Similar situation

(Asian female) I have a 3.1 sGPA and 3.2 cgpa according the AAMCAS gpa calculator (acc to my undergrad its 3.32 cgpa) and a 40 MCAT.

Intern for hospice
Shadowed for 2 years- 3 different doctors (cardiologist/ ER/ orthopedic surgeon)
Research- 2 pubmed publications and was part of the school research team also- published on 1 poster.
some in school activities and clubs.

Chances at MD, if any at all? or should I just apply DO?

A new thread would likely garner a better response.

 

[NYDO2014]

You MIGHT be able to get 1-3 acceptances with a 40 MCAT, but you need to research on which medical schools school would forgive a low gpa with a high mcat.
If I were in your position, I would try to stay in undergraduate for a 5th year and take some easy courses to bring up the GPA.

you don't have enough volunteering activity right now, and that can hurt your application.

Similar situation

(Asian female) I have a 3.1 sGPA and 3.2 cgpa according the AAMCAS gpa calculator (acc to my undergrad its 3.32 cgpa) and a 40 MCAT.

Intern for hospice
Shadowed for 2 years- 3 different doctors (cardiologist/ ER/ orthopedic surgeon)
Research- 2 pubmed publications and was part of the school research team also- published on 1 poster.
some in school activities and clubs.

Chances at MD, if any at all? or should I just apply DO?