Low Post-bac GPA?

[MoodicalStudent]

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my undergraduate gpa is decent (3.4), but my post-bac gpa is slightly below 3.0 (2.9-something). how much of an effect does my post-bac gpa have to admissions people? i was in a new place and was trying many new things.

i know a perfect post-bac has little effect, but i dont know if the inverse is true

 

[Maxprime]

Are you already done w/ your post-bacc? If not, I'd suggest spending another year fixing your post-bacc GPA.

Otherwise, like all things in this app process, it's not really possible to quantify how much an ADCOM will dislike a bad post-bacc GPA. But I'm willing to say that they definitely will have a lot of questions for you - also, were they in your pre-reqs or in advanced courses? If they are pre-reqs, I think you're toast if you don't spend some time fixing that. My .02 only.

 

[MoodicalStudent]

Are you already done w/ your post-bacc?

...also, were they in your pre-reqs or in advanced courses?

yes, done with post-bac. no, it was not pre-reqs but graduate courses to improve my chances for getting in.

thanks for your two cents, though. i have to plan appropriately

 

[drizzt3117]

I know a perfect post-bac has little effect, but i dont know if the inverse is true.

This statement is completely untrue. I'm not sure how it's even possible to come to that conclusion. If it were true, why would anyone even do postbac?

my undergraduate gpa is decent (3.4), but my post-bac gpa is slightly below 3.0 (2.9-something). how much of an effect does my post-bac gpa have to admissions people? i was in a new place and was trying many new things.

If it's graduate GPA, it's not really postbac per se, at least not in the context of how the term is normally used here, and won't have a huge effect (unless its a SMP, in which case, you're pretty much done). Generally, though, if you do poorly in postbac undergrad classes you're not getting into med school with very few exceptions.

 

[MoodicalStudent]

i mean graduate postbac, sorry. i always read how little graduate gpa affects your chances, but i heard few people have a bad grad gpa. and yes, it was a smp. so does an smp hold more weight than mcat?

i have taken the mcat only once (35R), three years ago, so i need to retake it. i petitioned for the score to be accepted but with no success

EDIT: added my unaccepted mcat score

 

[Law2Doc]

This statement is completely untrue. I'm not sure how it's even possible to come to that conclusion. If it were true, why would anyone even do postbac?

Agreed. This is SO wrong. A perfect postbac can have a HUGE impact in getting someone whose undergrad is just shy of competitive into med school. A poor postbac can dig a deep hole for someone in terms of making themselves competitive. Thus with a 3.4 ug and a 4.0 postbac, I would say, you are in good shape. With a 3.4 ug and a 3.0 postbac, I would say you probably have a few years to go.

 

[Law2Doc]

i mean graduate postbac, sorry. i always read how little graduate gpa affects your chances, but i heard few people have a bad grad gpa. and yes, it was a smp. so does an smp hold more weight than mcat?

i have taken the mcat only once, three years ago, so i need to retake it. i petitioned for the score to be accepted but with no success

SMP is viewed different than grad, in this respect because while many grad programs are generous with high grades, the issue with an SMP is not only the grades but demonstrating an ability to handle med school classes. Doing well in an SMP thus helps a lot, because you are basically taking med school level classes. The same can't be said for other graduate degrees.

 

[Maxprime]

i mean graduate postbac, sorry. i always read how little graduate gpa affects your chances, but i heard few people have a bad grad gpa. and yes, it was a smp. so does an smp hold more weight than mcat?

i have taken the mcat only once, three years ago, so i need to retake it. i petitioned for the score to be accepted but with no success

SMP is a whole different story. If you bombed M1 courses, I think you're in for a long haul to come back from that. It's just tough to defend it to an ADCOM when they ask, "what makes you think you can be successful as a med student here?" Obviously, little is impossible - but you're in for a long haul.

The only suggestion I can think of is to repeat the SMP and nail it - even then it's a risk for an ADCOM because it's easier to ace classes the 2nd time around. Combine a 4.0 in an SMP with a good MCAT and that school may take you - but, again, you'd have to really impress some faculty members.

 

[drjds]

To the OP, I'm in the exact situation. However, I'm in a tougher shape b/c my MCAT is not nearly as high as yours and I'm going through some crazy situations for the Master's part (2nd year) of the program. Let me know what you decide to do.

 

[MoodicalStudent]

SMP is a whole different story. If you bombed M1 courses, I think you're in for a long haul to come back from that. It's just tough to defend it to an ADCOM when they ask, "what makes you think you can be successful as a med student here?" Obviously, little is impossible - but you're in for a long haul.

The only suggestion I can think of is to repeat the SMP and nail it - even then it's a risk for an ADCOM because it's easier to ace classes the 2nd time around. Combine a 4.0 in an SMP with a good MCAT and that school may take you - but, again, you'd have to really impress some faculty members.

i called a few, cheaper post bacs and all of them said the same thing: an unwritten rule apparently is that you must not have attended a postbac before. should i just take some local graduate classes to bump my graduate gpa?

and drjds, i currently have an mcat of zero, since three year old mcats are not accepted, and yes i will let you know what i do and the results. hopefully it will be helpful and not disheartening for you

 

[Law2Doc]

i called a few, cheaper post bacs and all of them said the same thing: an unwritten rule apparently is that you must not have attended a postbac before. should i just take some local graduate classes to bump my graduate gpa?

No, you should take some local UNDERgraduate classes (i.e. an informal postbac) and bump your UNDERgraduate gpa. The graduate GPA is not meaningful here.

 

[MoodicalStudent]

No, you should take some local UNDERgraduate classes (i.e. an informal postbac) and bump your UNDERgraduate gpa. The graduate GPA is not meaningful here.

i should clarify: i took a smp postbac, not a traditional postbac. i got my bs degree two years ago with a 3.4 gpa. the smp postbac counted as a graduate gpa

and i didn't fail any classes in the smp, but a few b- grades pulled my gpa under 3.0.

is it possible to change the thread title to low smp gpa?

 

[Law2Doc]

i should clarify: i took a smp postbac, not a traditional postbac. i got my bs degree two years ago with a 3.4 gpa. the smp postbac counted as a graduate gpa

and i didn't fail any classes in the smp, but a few b- grades pulled my gpa under 3.0.

Notwithstanding that, taking grad classes outside of an SMP probably won't help you here. It's not the grad GPA that's the issue, it's the struggling (B-'s) in med school type courses in the SMP that is the issue. The point of the SMP is to prove you can thrive in med school, more than adding another GPA to the mix.

 

[drizzt3117]

If you didn't have success in a SMP, you're going to have a rough time in admissions. The reason SMPs are considered risky is because of exactly this situation. If you do well, you have a great chance to get into med school, but if you do poorly, you're essentially locked out. I kinda doubt you can repeat SMPs either, as the OP noted.