Low gpa + good MCAT = hope?

[BearPolar]

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Hi. I originally posted this on Braluks SMP sticky but thought I would post it up here for a speedier response. Here is the situation:

I am just trying to figure out a reasonable game plan for gaining admittance to med school. I graduated with a BSc from a major state research university but royally screwed up my med school prereq's (which I completed post-bacc) resulting in a 2.5 overall gpa. I also do not have many EC's. My one shining premed moment so far is a 33S on the MCAT. I have considered taking more post-bacc science courses but due to the 160+ credits I already have it would take a large number of A's to raise my gpa anywhere near competitive. I have also considered the caribbean schools but feel this might be a last resort. So it comes down to -- would a SMP accept me, and if so, could I gain a med school acceptance if I did very well in said SMP. Thanks for any advice!

 

[RoadRunner17]

You will still need your GPA to get above 3.0 to even be considered at most, if not all, of US medical schools.

Your best bet would seem to be doing a post-bac, retaking the classes you did poorly in, taking more classes to get yourself above 3.0, then applying to DO schools which will replace grades for the classes that you repeated, i.e. if you got a D in Biology I, retook and got an A, they will consider you to have gotten an A in Biology I (no D). This is probably your best bet.

If you decide you don't want to consider DO at all, you still need to get your GPA above 3.0, write strong essays, get lots of ECs, do a SMP and apply extremely broadly. Aside from the SMP, these are things you will still need to do no matter what you do.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Post-bac to bring the GPA as close to 3.0--> SMP--> apply to schools you want to go to


If you dont want to go DO, dont apply DO. Talk to deans of your state school and get your name out there. Every little bit helps so make it obvious you are going to make the effort.

Outside of doing well in your classes, set up appointments and meetings with deans. Do volunteer work. Get involved with stuff the medical school does. At this point you kinda need to stick all your eggs in 1 basket. If you dont get into MD, apply elsewhere.

 

[BearPolar]

Ok. RoadRunner17 and Instatewaiter -- thanks for the advice. So if I understand this correctly -- good performance in a SMP will not overcome a low undergrad or postbacc gpa? Arguably the courses seem like they would be harder and should demonstrate ones potential. I guess what I am getting at is that I am trying to figure out how to minimize the time required to salvage my academic record. I have already sunk a lot of time into postbacc work but dug myself a hole performance-wise because I thought I could pay for it all by working full-time while taking classes. In the end I just ended up working to much and not studying enough. I looked at my latest transcript and I now have about 55 credits of postbacc work. It would take roughly 45 credits of straight A science to raise my BPCM to a 3.0 -- that is a boatload of A's and I don't know if I can commit to doing that followed by more premed work in an SMP at which point I still would not obviously be guaranteed even an interview. How much of a factor does cumulative gpa factor into ones attractiveness as an applicant as opposed to just recent coursework? Would it be enough to get 30 credits of straight A's (something I might be able to do in one year if I can cut my work hrs.) followed by either an SMP (if they'll accept me) or applying directly after this to DO schools? One more question -- is it generally recommended to retake core prereq courses that one has done badly in or move on to other courses in the same field but mid and/or upper level? I didn't do very well in chemistry and was thinking of taking additional but different chem classes to try to make up for this.

 

[Perrotfish]

So if I understand this correctly -- good performance in a SMP will not overcome a low undergrad or postbacc gpa?

No, a good performance in an SMP DOES compensate for low undergrad/postbac GPAs. The problem is that a 2.5 is too low to get admitted to an SMP anyone has ever heard of with the possible exception of the DO SMPs (that you need to look into). You need to get your GPA up to at least a 2.75 before any allo SMP will look at you, and being below a 3.0 an admission is still gonna be rough anywhere but VCU.

The second problem, as Instawaiter mentioned, is that a lot of medical schools autoscreen out anyone with less than a 3.0. If you don't get your GPA to a 3.0 you'll either need to eliminate those schools from application list or personally call their ADCOMs to see if you can get them to un-autoscreen you based on your SMP grades. I tried the phone call thing to get by VCU's autoscreen, BTW. They weren't sympathetic. An SMP can't help you if no human being ever sees your app.

Honestly, if it would take 2 full years of aditional undergrad just to get you to a 3.0, the Caribbean is probably something you should seriously consider. With that kind of MCAT you could get into a top 4 school as early as this coming spring. Now lots of students who start the islands schools either don't graduate or don't get a residency (leaving you smothered under debt forever), so make sure you're absolutely SURE you've fixed the problem that got you the 2.5 in the first place. However, if you CAN rock your classes and the boards the islands might get you a medical degree almost half a decade before you could reasonably excpect to graduate from a US school. Also, in your medical career they're only going to care about the last thing you graduated from, so if you finish Caribbean school followed by a US residency you're not going to be treated as a Carib graduate, but rather a US residency diplomate just like everyone else.

So to sum up, I'd say either

1) DO SMP

or

2) Caribbean Big 4 school.

How much of a factor does cumulative gpa factor into ones attractiveness as an applicant as opposed to just recent coursework? Would it be enough to get 30 credits of straight A's (something I might be able to do in one year if I can cut my work hrs.) followed by either an SMP (if they'll accept me) or applying directly after this to DO schools?

Trends are nice but cumulative GPA seems to matter most, based on what people have reported here. Also, no offense, you're probably not going to get straight As. Very few people can manage a 4.0 and the ones that can generally never get anything else. If you make a truely stellar turnaround you might make a 3.6 or maybe even a 3.7. You should probably base your calculations on realistic numbers. As for making this turnaround while taking a full courseload and working full time or near full time... seriously? Again, be realistic. If you got a 2.5 as a full time student how could you get a 4.0 as a full time worker with a full student schedule? If you are going to take courses try not to go nuts on the number of credit hours. Every C you get digs the hole a little deeper.

One more question -- is it generally recommended to retake core prereq courses that one has done badly in or move on to other courses in the same field but mid and/or upper level? I didn't do very well in chemistry and was thinking of taking additional but different chem classes to try to make up for this.

You need to retake anything you got less than a C in, don't retake anything you got a B in. For Cs you can either retake them or not at your discression but only retake them if you're SURE you can get As from here on out. Also obviously retakes are a better idea if you're planning on going DO, since they only take your most recent grade in a course.