Low GPA Low MCAT Confused.

[Shotapp]

A lot of what you said is irrelevant, and the assumptions you make are ridiculous (such as having several sub 3.0 GPAs).

The quote you replied to is literally showing you that the above user contradicted himself in the thread, after saying I should have not given advice that he literally gave.

Lol what? I got no words...

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[premedbrah]

Alright let's just let this argument die here. Doesn't look like the OP cares too much anyways lol

 

[PastorDoc]

Alright let's just let this argument die here. Doesn't look like the OP cares too much anyways lol

The Realists vs Dreamers debate was exciting for a minute though

 

[de Ribas]

I can see the point, if OP can't break 490 on MCAT for example, what purpose would post bacc or SMP serve? I don' think that post bacc will significantly help to get acore of 500+.

I would also suggest to at least go over MCAT subjects and do some FL pracrice tests to see where you are before going for post bacc.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Do you not see the irony here? You literally told the OP to waste money before taking the MCAT. YOU SAID IT, not me.

You contradict yourself absurdly some times.

I'd almost wager more than one person uses your account. Probably 3 with the amount of contradictions you post.

Lol you are the most dense poster I have ever encountered, and that includes HamsterBoo. There is absolutely no contradiction and you have some absurdly low reading comprehension. That earlier post you quoted was IN RESPONSE to you, and I was saying that if OP is to retake the MCAT then they will need a DIY Post Bac to retake all the MCAT pre-reqs because they literally know nothing about the basic sciences that the MCAT tests on. Nothing. A 480 is LESS than the type of score someone can get by randomly clicking answers. You can’t take the MCAT unless you at least have a good foundations on those topics. It is literally impossible for them to get up to over a 500 on the MCAT unless they retake those courses because it’s clear they have no knowledge about them.

A lot of what you said is irrelevant, and the assumptions you make are ridiculous (such as having several sub 3.0 GPAs).

The quote you replied to is literally showing you that the above user contradicted himself in the thread, after saying I should have not given advice that he literally gave.

I want everyone to know that this poster is a PRE-MED, who hasn’t been accepted yet, and knows absolutely NOTHING about getting accepted to medical school.

I don' think that post bacc will significantly help to get acore of 500+.

See above, when you are scoring in the low 480s, TWICE, you need to retake those courses just to get a grasp on the material being tested. Yes the MCAT is mostly a critical thinking exam, but you can’t critically think about topics you don’t understand. Clearly they have SEVERE content deficiencies.

To put it into context I scored a 501 on my first FL practice exam before I did ANY actual MCAT prep simply on content knowledge alone.

 

[de Ribas]

you need to retake those courses just to get a grasp on the material being tested.

I agree. I see the point of course. I think there might be another limiting factor for low MCAT score. I think careful self-analysis is needed for OP on why they scored twice so low. Is it poor content knowledge, reading comprehension, test anxiety or something else.

I definitely agree about the coursework, but my point was that if OP can go over the content and do some practice tests and see if there is any improvement at all.

Also, CARS and Psych/Soc sections do not require science coursework but with 480 I am sure these are around 120 as well.

What would low CARS score mean then? apparently it's not just poor science content knowledge.

What do you think?

I am just discussing, not trying to argue my point.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I agree. I see the point of course. I think there might be another limiting factor for low MCAT score. I think careful self-analysis is needed for OP on why they scored twice so low. Is it poor content knowledge, reading comprehension, test anxiety or something else.

I definitely agree about the coursework, but my point was that if OP can go over the content and do some practice tests and see if there is any improvement at all.

Also, CARS and Psych/Soc sections do not require science coursework but with 480 I am sure these are around 120 as well.

What would low CARS score mean then? apparently it's not just poor science content knowledge.

What do you think?

I am just discussing, not trying to argue my point.

The problem is that two scores that low probably indicate significant deficits in all of the bolded. I would honestly argue that psych/soc does require some sort of class work, as the tested content is all something that is covered in some intro to psychology/sociology courses, but it also requires good reading comprehension similar to CARS. CARS is its own animal and simply requires someone to 1. Know how it tests, and 2. Have good reading comprehension to be able to pull out the concepts that the question writers want. OP is probably lacking in both of those areas as well.

One issue I have is I just don’t think some of the above posters realize just how low a 480 score is, and it happened twice. This isn’t something that can simply be corrected by a prep course and some practice tests.

 

[DO2015CA]

I agree. I see the point of course. I think there might be another limiting factor for low MCAT score. I think careful self-analysis is needed for OP on why they scored twice so low. Is it poor content knowledge, reading comprehension, test anxiety or something else.

I definitely agree about the coursework, but my point was that if OP can go over the content and do some practice tests and see if there is any improvement at all.

Also, CARS and Psych/Soc sections do not require science coursework but with 480 I am sure these are around 120 as well.

What would low CARS score mean then? apparently it's not just poor science content knowledge.

What do you think?

I am just discussing, not trying to argue my point.

Disclaimer: did not take this mcat

I think if they are scoring low on the non-science sections then they lack the ability to think critically. Verbal was essentially a reading comprehension test on steroids when I took the mcat.

Aside from that point I’m done arguing about this topic lol. No use

 

[Lawpy]

Super stressed right now. Not sure what to do. Counselor is not good at giving advice. Need someone to help me out and show me a path to take. I am currently a senior at MSU. Right now I am clueless of what I should do. Is it too late to apply for post bac programs? Or should I do masters? Or should i do accelerated nursing and then apply to DO schools? I am trying not to give up.
My STATS:
cGPA: 2.8
sGPA: 2.75
MCAT: 480, 483
CNA hours: 500
Shadowing DO hours: 30
Volunteer hours: 100

I’m going to be blunt, you need to find a plan B. Nursing is a great career and I suggest you look into that if you want to stay in the medical field.

I agree with this. Sorry OP but I don't think medicine is a practical option anymore.

 

[Lawpy]

I can see the point, if OP can't break 490 on MCAT for example, what purpose would post bacc or SMP serve? I don' think that post bacc will significantly help to get acore of 500+.

I would also suggest to at least go over MCAT subjects and do some FL pracrice tests to see where you are before going for post bacc.

See above, when you are scoring in the low 480s, TWICE, you need to retake those courses just to get a grasp on the material being tested. Yes the MCAT is mostly a critical thinking exam, but you can’t critically think about topics you don’t understand. Clearly they have SEVERE content deficiencies.

To put it into context I scored a 501 on my first FL practice exam before I did ANY actual MCAT prep simply on content knowledge alone.

From what I saw, it looks like OP had a sub-3.0 GPA and somehow decided to take the MCAT twice and did badly on both. I'm actually unsure how to achieve a low score like a 480 but I think it has to do more than just content deficiencies. I think simply randomly selecting answers on the real exam can lead to around 480.

Basically, should OP really want to pursue medicine, she needs to realize the following: it's going to be long and expensive. She needs to do major grade repair to bump her GPAs to around a 3.2, meaning that she needs at least 2 years of 4.0 GPA performance to allay academic worries to adcoms. By then, both her MCAT scores would have expired, so she needs to study extremely hard and extremely efficiently to ensure she decisively breaks 500+ (honestly, aiming for 507+ is more practical given her low GPA even if there's a major grade trend). And while doing all these, she needs to continue her clinical and volunteering experiences to make her ECs current.

This is a very difficult path if she wants to pursue medicine, and honestly it's impractical. So her best and most realistic choice is to pursue a different career entirely.

 

[AlteredScale]

Reminder to keep the conversation civil during any discussion on the this thread and to act professionally with regards to opposing opinions.

Thanks.

 

[Prehealth1011]

I can see the point, if OP can't break 490 on MCAT for example, what purpose would post bacc or SMP serve? I don' think that post bacc will significantly help to get acore of 500+.

I would also suggest to at least go over MCAT subjects and do some FL pracrice tests to see where you are before going for post bacc.

I agree with this. I did a SMP with all 1st year med school courses, and none of my exams were as "hard" as the MCAT. I could memorize and do an info dump on test days and come out with As on med school exams without much trouble. Some courses required more critical thinking than the others but it was still more concrete and not as vague as the MCAT was for me.

In other words, i don't think doing well in a postbacc will necessarily increase one's MCAT score. The MCAT is quite a bit different than the exams in med school. That's how it was for me anyway.

 

[Shotapp]

I agree with this. I did a SMP with all 1st year med school courses, and none of my exams were as "hard" as the MCAT. I could memorize and do an info dump on test days and come out with As on med school exams without much trouble. Some courses required more critical thinking than the others but it was still more concrete and not as vague as the MCAT was for me.

In other words, i don't think doing well in a postbacc will necessarily increase one's MCAT score. The MCAT is quite a bit different than the exams in med school. That's how it was for me anyway.

No one said a successful post-bac will lead to a solid MCAT score. Just that it will help build and instill good work ethic/study skills for MCAT prep. A person with a 2.8cGPA/2.5sGPA hasn't shown good work ethic in his/her academics. This will translate to an abysmal MCAT score

 

[Prehealth1011]

No one said a successful post-bac will lead to a solid MCAT score. Just that it will help build and instill good work ethic/study skills for MCAT prep. A person with a 2.8cGPA/2.5sGPA hasn't shown good work ethic in his/her academics. This will translate to an abysmal MCAT score

I wouldn't spend 40k to develop good work ethic, unless the SMP came with a guaranteed acceptance.

 

[Shotapp]

I wouldn't spend 40k to develop good work ethic, unless the SMP came with a guaranteed acceptance.

diy post-bac... not smp

 

[DrGainzzz]

OP, my man. If you're about this medicine life, please please focus on your remaining grades and do a post-bac ( DIY or formal) and certainly retake the MCAT. Figure out whats going wrong with your study habits and how your approaching mcat related questions, concepts, etc. When I first started MCAT prep, my first diagnostic was a 486. 6 months later, 507 on real. Everyone's diff and I realized for me I needed to slow down and boil the question down into something I'm more familiar with. I often asked " what topic is this question referring to and what is it asking of me". Don't listen to all the hype on SDN, clearly people like to talk. Some advice is helpful and some isn't so use your head. However, figure out whats best for you and reevaluate how you want to reach those goals. You're capable of better!

 

[premedbrah]

OP, my man. If you're about this medicine life, please please focus on your remaining grades and do a post-bac ( DIY or formal) and certainly retake the MCAT. Figure out whats going wrong with your study habits and how your approaching mcat related questions, concepts, etc. When I first started MCAT prep, my first diagnostic was a 486. 6 months later, 507 on real. Everyone's diff and I realized for me I needed to slow down and boil the question down into something I'm more familiar with. I often asked " what topic is this question referring to and what is it asking of me". Don't listen to all the hype on SDN, clearly people like to talk. Some advice is helpful and some isn't so use your head. However, figure out whats best for you and reevaluate how you want to reach those goals. You're capable of better!

This man knows whats up

 

[GypsyHummus]

Individual exams, no not as hard, but tests are much more frequent.

As far as memorizing, I would say that works for Drugs and Bugs, but not for things like Physio or Biochem and the like, lots of 3rd order questions (equations non withstanding).

OP, I would take a yearlong-break working in a really chill job and think on this whole medicine thing. Even if you get into a medical school, you still gotta pass boards. There is a reason schools look at grades as the number 1 focus. It doesnt matter how awesome of a person you are, if you cant pass the classes, you wont be a doctor.

Im even hesitant after re-reading your original post to recommend podiatry school. All the pod students I know who had low 3.0 are working their rears off just to pass classes. The last thing you want is to get into pod school, approved for a 70K loan and then fail out first year. Podiatry is a great alternative to medicine, but the first 2 years are just as hard, in fact some schools take the classes with the DOs (Although from what I have seen practice question wise, boards are a bit easier for Pods than the USMLE).

I agree with this. I did a SMP with all 1st year med school courses, and none of my exams were as "hard" as the MCAT. I could memorize and do an info dump on test days and come out with As on med school exams without much trouble. Some courses required more critical thinking than the others but it was still more concrete and not as vague as the MCAT was for me.

In other words, i don't think doing well in a postbacc will necessarily increase one's MCAT score. The MCAT is quite a bit different than the exams in med school. That's how it was for me anyway.

 

[Watson & Sick]

Given the OP's obliviousness to the minimum standards for a hopeful admission to med school, the blatant damsel in distress tone, and no follow up replies, I'd say this was one of the most successful trolls I've seen... almost 120 replies from a single post. Impressive.

 

[Prehealth1011]

Individual exams, no not as hard, but tests are much more frequent.

As far as memorizing, I would say that works for Drugs and Bugs, but not for things like Physio or Biochem and the like, lots of 3rd order questions (equations non withstanding).

Even those courses are more "If you know facts A and B, what is fact C". It's still much more concrete and "easier" than figuring out what an 18th century artist was really thinking or what variable should the experimenter have changed in a convoluted table/graph. That's been my experience anyway. I get that not everyone will feel the same way. I would gladly re-do the renal and cardio blocks in Physio over and over again than taking the MCAT.

 

[bmetomed25]

Hi,
I would really appreciate any and all advice on the following scenario requiring methods of gpa enhancement, particularly sgpa:
I majored in BS in Biomedical Engineering at GWU May 2017 with overall GPA 3.4, science gpa 3.1. I had a bad downward trend senior year - 3.3 fall and 3.13 spring semester. Retook general chemistry 1 and 2. Regarding ECs, I have 250 hours of volunteering in two hospitals and 1 nursing home. 16 hours of shadowing at a hospital. I did an undergraduate research fellowship for 8 months on data processing in a lab meant to design robotic devices for autistic children. I had one leadership role in Biomedical Engineering Society club for a year. I didn't have other ECS while in school.

I had to withdraw from organic chemistry 2 in spring semester (had a poor semester with a 3.1 GPA senior year due to poor time management and mental health issues that I am now resolving and doing much better from) and retook it in the summer getting an A-. I took biochemistry in the fall semester and got an A while volunteering at a nearby hospital 4-8 hours a week. Currently, taking organic chemistry 2 laboratory and volunteering and shadowing. I am planning to take the MCAT in April or May.

I am debating whether I should apply to a smp program(Georgetown SMP, Cinnnati SMP, Tufts MBS, BU MAMS) or a premedical certificate (like the John Hopkins HSI) that involves upper-level undergraduate coursework starting 2018 fall(or summer, depending on the program) or just take additional upper-level science course to help out. I know that if I do a smp, med schools will look at both the undergraduate gpa and smp gpa separately and am just unsure how much a good smp gpa can compensate for my undergraduate science gpa. So I am debated -- will med schools prefer strong peformance in med school coursework or rather see I boost up my undergraduate science gpa?

If I decide to do DIY post bac program, I calculated that if I get As in 32 credits, I am able to boost my undergraduate science GPA to 3.4 (this requires extreme care I know ). I know I also have the option to do 32 credits coursework, MCAT, and apply to post bacs as I apply to med schools. However, if a smp would help more than DIY post bac for my situation, I'd prefer to that because I can take out a federal loan to cover the smp cost while for DIY informal post bac, no financial aid is offered and I have to pay out of pocket.

One more note: I have a thought of doing the Georgetown SMP and doing well in it for this reason: I know someone who is a dean at that med school (not a dean of admissions but a particular dean) and would be willing to support my application.

Any and all advice on this is truly appreciated. Thanks very much for your help.

 

[RNthenDoc]

Hi,
I would really appreciate any and all advice on the following scenario requiring methods of gpa enhancement, particularly sgpa:
I majored in BS in Biomedical Engineering at GWU May 2017 with overall GPA 3.4, science gpa 3.1. I had a bad downward trend senior year - 3.3 fall and 3.13 spring semester. Retook general chemistry 1 and 2. Regarding ECs, I have 250 hours of volunteering in two hospitals and 1 nursing home. 16 hours of shadowing at a hospital. I did an undergraduate research fellowship for 8 months on data processing in a lab meant to design robotic devices for autistic children. I had one leadership role in Biomedical Engineering Society club for a year. I didn't have other ECS while in school.

I had to withdraw from organic chemistry 2 in spring semester (had a poor semester with a 3.1 GPA senior year due to poor time management and mental health issues that I am now resolving and doing much better from) and retook it in the summer getting an A-. I took biochemistry in the fall semester and got an A while volunteering at a nearby hospital 4-8 hours a week. Currently, taking organic chemistry 2 laboratory and volunteering and shadowing. I am planning to take the MCAT in April or May.

I am debating whether I should apply to a smp program(Georgetown SMP, Cinnnati SMP, Tufts MBS, BU MAMS) or a premedical certificate (like the John Hopkins HSI) that involves upper-level undergraduate coursework starting 2018 fall(or summer, depending on the program) or just take additional upper-level science course to help out. I know that if I do a smp, med schools will look at both the undergraduate gpa and smp gpa separately and am just unsure how much a good smp gpa can compensate for my undergraduate science gpa. So I am debated -- will med schools prefer strong peformance in med school coursework or rather see I boost up my undergraduate science gpa?

If I decide to do DIY post bac program, I calculated that if I get As in 32 credits, I am able to boost my undergraduate science GPA to 3.4 (this requires extreme care I know ). I know I also have the option to do 32 credits coursework, MCAT, and apply to post bacs as I apply to med schools. However, if a smp would help more than DIY post bac for my situation, I'd prefer to that because I can take out a federal loan to cover the smp cost while for DIY informal post bac, no financial aid is offered and I have to pay out of pocket.

One more note: I have a thought of doing the Georgetown SMP and doing well in it for this reason: I know someone who is a dean at that med school (not a dean of admissions but a particular dean) and would be willing to support my application.

Any and all advice on this is truly appreciated. Thanks very much for your help.

A 3.4cgpa/3.1sgpa probably isn’t entirely damning, especially if you nailed the MCAT.

I have to defer the DIY-postback vs. SMP (do those help your gpa? I thought not) because I’m not well-versed in it.

Keep your chin up and keep working hard, you sound like you’ll have an interesting application, and knowing a dean personally probably won’t hurt.

I will caution you that I knew someone from a *VERY* well respected allopathic school socially, and that wasn’t enough to get me an II this far; my app is probably just not up to their snuff. In both our cases I think it’s worth a shot, though!

 

[Magus5454]

Hi,
I would really appreciate any and all advice on the following scenario requiring methods of gpa enhancement, particularly sgpa:
I majored in BS in Biomedical Engineering at GWU May 2017 with overall GPA 3.4, science gpa 3.1. I had a bad downward trend senior year - 3.3 fall and 3.13 spring semester. Retook general chemistry 1 and 2. Regarding ECs, I have 250 hours of volunteering in two hospitals and 1 nursing home. 16 hours of shadowing at a hospital. I did an undergraduate research fellowship for 8 months on data processing in a lab meant to design robotic devices for autistic children. I had one leadership role in Biomedical Engineering Society club for a year. I didn't have other ECS while in school.

I had to withdraw from organic chemistry 2 in spring semester (had a poor semester with a 3.1 GPA senior year due to poor time management and mental health issues that I am now resolving and doing much better from) and retook it in the summer getting an A-. I took biochemistry in the fall semester and got an A while volunteering at a nearby hospital 4-8 hours a week. Currently, taking organic chemistry 2 laboratory and volunteering and shadowing. I am planning to take the MCAT in April or May.

I am debating whether I should apply to a smp program(Georgetown SMP, Cinnnati SMP, Tufts MBS, BU MAMS) or a premedical certificate (like the John Hopkins HSI) that involves upper-level undergraduate coursework starting 2018 fall(or summer, depending on the program) or just take additional upper-level science course to help out. I know that if I do a smp, med schools will look at both the undergraduate gpa and smp gpa separately and am just unsure how much a good smp gpa can compensate for my undergraduate science gpa. So I am debated -- will med schools prefer strong peformance in med school coursework or rather see I boost up my undergraduate science gpa?

If I decide to do DIY post bac program, I calculated that if I get As in 32 credits, I am able to boost my undergraduate science GPA to 3.4 (this requires extreme care I know ). I know I also have the option to do 32 credits coursework, MCAT, and apply to post bacs as I apply to med schools. However, if a smp would help more than DIY post bac for my situation, I'd prefer to that because I can take out a federal loan to cover the smp cost while for DIY informal post bac, no financial aid is offered and I have to pay out of pocket.

One more note: I have a thought of doing the Georgetown SMP and doing well in it for this reason: I know someone who is a dean at that med school (not a dean of admissions but a particular dean) and would be willing to support my application.

Any and all advice on this is truly appreciated. Thanks very much for your help.

First of all, you were likely better off posting this by itself instead of this thread. Take a look at the underdogs thread in here. I did it without a post bacc or SMP(3.29s3.17c) 515 MCAT. I didnt have any advice or id have definitely pursued a post bacc my 2nd year instead of reapplying and would likely be in an MD school now. I just knew that with my abundance of credits(almost 200) even a year of straight As wouldnt raise my GPA that much. I didnt know that many schools would look favorably on the effort and reward that.

However, things worked out in my personal life in a way i didnt forsee, i got things straight there, was accepted to my top choice DO school and im waiting to hear back from my state MD( they do all decisions at once)

 

[NRAI2001]

Yes your GPA is low. I m not sure how the new MCAT is exactly scored (whats a 500 equivalent to on the old MCAT?).

If you really want med school you can do it. I knew a guy with a similiar GPA to yours and he was able to get into a US MD school (Nebraska). I know many others with similar scores get into DO schools. All of them had to do post baccs (at special post baccs or some just stayed at their undergrad or local college and took more classes) or masters programs and got 30+ mcats (low 30s).

You can do it. Don't listen to the people telling you to go to nursing school. If your willing to put in hard work for a year or two you can do it!! Apply broadly when you re ready.

 

[de Ribas]

Yes your GPA is low. I m not sure how the new MCAT is exactly scored (whats a 500 equivalent to on the old MCAT?).

500 is about 25

 

[deleted804295]

Just taking a look at OPs post history she really is not cut out for medical school. No not simply because of her low scores but due to her lack of motivation.

OP started posting in SDN about a year and a half ago, all her posts are on how she has a low GPA and she still wants to get in. During this year and a half OP could have raised her grades if she truly wanted to get into medical school but rather she allowed them to drop...? As aspiring doctors we need to be rising to the vocation not trying to get in through mediocrity.

I love the story of an underdog, I want to help OP rise to her aspirations but I can only do that if an individual actually wants to rise to their aspirations. OP's track record simply hasn't shown that.