Low GPA because of surgeries. SMP or retake for MD?

[Iris3]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Content retracted

 

[candbgirl]

I wouldn't apply with a 2.89. You'd be auto screened at all MD schools and many DO( I know you aren't interested in DO). You only want to apply to med school once with the best possible application and you don't have a good or even very competitive application at this point. Why didn't you drop your classes the first semester of junior year? You obviously we're still sick and recovering from your surgery last summer. If the ECs you mentioned are your only ECs you have weak ECs and they need some buffing up too. You don't want to apply with big holes in your application because you don't want to be a reapplicant.
I think you should get well and strong so your physical health doesn't continue to hold you back. Plan to take at least one gap year if not two. I don't know much about SMPs but I'm not sure you would even get into one with a 2.89. So you'll have to do some retakes to bump your GPA up. What is your sGPA? Take care of yourself first!


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile app

 

[LizzyM]

No, you should not apply with a 511/2.89. The 511 is equivalent to a 31 or 32 on the old MCAT.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321516/data/factstablea24-3.pdf tells us that of Asian applicants over 3 recent cycles, 21 out of 158 (13.3%) were admitted to medical school with stats in your range. That is very low odds and it would include people who have earned graduate degrees or who had extraordinary careers and then did a post-bac later to prepare for med school.

@candbgirl wrote some good advice above while I was looking up the numbers. 🙂

 

[Goro]

Retakes will only incrementally increase your GPA. If you're boning for the MD (and do keep in mind that begets can't be choosy) then acing a SMP is in order.

Hello,
I just finished my junior year as a biology major at a top 10 public university (known for low GPA).
My undergraduate situation is unique so I posted this question again, despite the overwhelming number of posts about SMP vs retakes on SDN.

History:
I did receive some low grades during my freshman year, but I had been improving it during my sophomore year.
Unfortunately, during both of the summer breaks I had so far (summer break after freshman and sophomore years), I had to undergo surgeries due to pneumothorax (one on each lung each summer).
I was able to somewhat handle the course load during the sophomore year, but after the second surgery, my grades this year (junior) dropped severely, with several Cs and two Ds.
These courses (Cs and Ds) include physics (electricity and mag), anatomy, biochem 1, evolution, and immunology.

My Stats and EC:
Numerically, I had cGPA around 3.45 at the end of sophomore year with strong upward trend, but as of now, I have a 2.89.
I took the MCAT last month (April 2016) and got 511 (128/128/129/126).
EC wise, the surgeries essentially made me take "breaks" from the EC activities I was doing.
I volunteered for a semester at a children's hospital during sophomore year, stopped and currently restarted volunteering at a large midtown hospital.
Research wise, I was in a cancer research lab for two semesters during freshman-sophomore year, stopped, and joined a different lab (studies muscle aging with mice) during second semester of my junior year (spring 2016).
These "stop" points coincide with the fall semesters when I returned from surgeries so I got tired easily.
As a semi-replacement to shadowing, I have been taking seminar courses where we have guest physicians come in every week and talk about their experiences.
I am also one of the founding members of a badminton club and teach beginners how to play.

Summary:
My history aside, I understand very clearly that something needs to be done about this GPA.
I am interested in the allopathic MD schools, not DO, or dental.
Currently, I am preparing a med school application that will be ready for submission this summer (I was expecting much better grades this semester).
I have a solid belief that I can retake courses where I received Cs and Ds and get As, proving that I do know the material.
I am ethnically classified as asian, with US citizenship.

With this in mind, I would like advice on how I should proceed for best shot at med school acceptance.
Should I take another undergrad year and retake the low grade courses or is my time much better spent at just going to a strong SMP?
Another question is whether I should even apply to medical schools this summer.

Please give me your opinions.
Thank you.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I am interested in the allopathic MD schools, not DO

I love how it's always the people who have about a rats chance in hell at MD that are so opposed to DO... Even for an SMP you will need to get your GPA above 3.0. At this point I suggest podiatry if you won't consider DO.

 

[candbgirl]

There is a lot of that in these forums.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile app

 

[Terror Billy]

The best advice you've been given here is DO NOT APPLY this cycle. If you are dead set on MD you need at least 1-2 years of GPA rehabilitation in the form of SMP and also when healthy need to buff up your ECs

 

[tantacles]

I love how it's always the people who have about a rats chance in hell at MD that are so opposed to DO... Even for an SMP you will need to get your GPA above 3.0. At this point I suggest podiatry if you won't consider DO.

Nah. The ones who are a good fit for MD just don't feel the need to mention it despite many of them not wanting to do DO at all.


Large dogs

 

[candbgirl]

I love my podiatrist. I always feel so good after I see her!


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile app

 

[Instatewaiter]

The best advice you've been given here is DO NOT APPLY this cycle. If you are dead set on MD you need at least 1-2 years of GPA rehabilitation in the form of SMP and also when healthy need to buff up your ECs

One thing to note is that SMPs do not change your undergraduate GPA as these are masters programs. Yes they can help you overcome crappy grades but not if the school is going to automatically screen you out. So those places that screen those below a 3.0 would automatically screen out the OP's application even were he to rock the SMP.

So, OP you may need to either increase your GPA to a 3.0 in the time you have left in college or take additional courses after college (post-bac work) to get your GPA above 3.0 AND then do an SMP. From the standpoint of grade remediation, going DO may help as they will replace grades rather than just average them, allowing you to remediate your GPA in markedly less time. However there are those who are opposed to going DO.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Dont be 'dissing them DPM's, (defending my brother here)

Oh no I absolutely was not, maybe I should have put a space between comments. It was actually a suggestion with his GPA and MCAT combo. They would love a 511 MCAT. Honestly sometimes I think the DPMs are on to something: they have a good balance of OR and clinic and while they don't make quite as much they make enough and have a pretty good lifestyle.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Nah. The ones who are a good fit for MD just don't feel the need to mention it despite many of them not wanting to do DO at all.


Large dogs

True. I've come to realize that any post with "I am opposed DO" in it usually means the thread to follow will be about how someone is begging for the MD knowing full well they don't have the stats. The big dogs never have to even think about it