Low MCAT, Post Bacc and Masters Options?

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trinatrina

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Hi there! I am looking for any and all advice I can get here. I am about to graduate undergrad next month. I applied to medical school last summer just in case, but i did pretty bad on the MCAT and did not get accepted. I have a 3.3 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA. I got a 490 on the MCAT. I would love to do a post bacc program or masters program and retake the MCAT, but a lot of programs I am seeing want a higher MCAT than this. I thought the point of post baccs or masters were for people needing to boost MCAT. Is there anyone with similar stats that went to a post bacc or masters program? should i consider taking a year off and just retaking the MCAT without a masters or post bacc? thanks for any advice.

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GPA trend? Are you applying DO? Your sGPA is decent, your cGPA is on the low side and your MCAT is 18th percentile so you definitely need to retake.
 
Are you URM or ORM?

If URM, honestly just save yourself money and study hard and retake the MCAT and you’ll be good for DO and some MD with your gpa and a much better MCAT.

If ORM try gcsom MBS. people have been accepted there with an Mcat near yours. Do great in the program and retake MCAT.

But I really think instead of paying upwards of 50k on a masters, you should just focus on retaking MCAT. If your school offers non-degree seeking courses take a few of those in a do it yourself post-bacc. You’ll save yourself some money and have a good shot and med schools.
 
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GPA trend? Are you applying DO? Your sGPA is decent, your cGPA is on the low side and your MCAT is 18th percentile so you definitely need to retake.
I do have an upward GPA trend, I would be fine applying to do. Not sure if it’s better to just take a year off and just focus on MCAT or do a post bacc program
 
Hi there! I am looking for any and all advice I can get here. I am about to graduate undergrad next month. I applied to medical school last summer just in case, but i did pretty bad on the MCAT and did not get accepted. I have a 3.3 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA. I got a 490 on the MCAT. I would love to do a post bacc program or masters program and retake the MCAT, but a lot of programs I am seeing want a higher MCAT than this. I thought the point of post baccs or masters were for people needing to boost MCAT. Is there anyone with similar stats that went to a post bacc or masters program? should i consider taking a year off and just retaking the MCAT without a masters or post bacc? thanks for any advice.
Just retake the MCAT. Do you know hwy you did so poorly?

Your GPAs are fine for any DO school, including mine.

FYI, there are post-bac programs for career changers, and these include the pre-reqs which help for the MCAT.

SMPs are for GPA resurrection, not for the MCAT.

SMPs are a dime a dozen, so you need to do your research and find one that doesn't require an MCAT score...but you don't need an SMP!
 
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Just retake the MCAT. Do you know hwy you did so poorly?

Your GPAs are fine for any DO school, including mine.

FYI, there are post-bac programs for career changers, and these include the pre-reqs which help for the MCAT.

SMPs are for GPA resurrection, not for the MCAT.

SMPs are a dime a dozen, so you need to do your research and find one that doesn't require an MCAT score...but you don't need an SMP!
I just tried to cram it in right after my finals week of my junior year in May and did not nearly have enough time to study with the course load I was taking and finals. I think if I gave myself a summer to study, I would do much better. Thanks for your reply!
 
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My recommendation is to dedicate solid time to studying for the MCATs using materials recommended by those on the SDN thread. Don't waste your money retaking courses - get some private tutoring if needed if there is some material that you do not understand, but most of what is on the MCAT these days is material you should be able to teach yourself if you have already taken the courses. Khan academy is a great resource if you need some brushing up on concepts. Then take multiple full length practice tests and do NOT retake the MCAT until you are solidly and consistently scoring in a good range. Cramming it in the first time after finals is hard - and for others on this site, there is no reason to do this. Taking a gap year or two is always preferable to feeling like you have to cram in any important aspect of your application. People who feel they must go straight through to med school can take it at the end of their junior summer, but that potentially compromises time that could be spent doing research, etc
 
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I did a MSBS and I didn't take the MCAT before, they just needed the GRE
 
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