Medical Low sGPA - Should I do an SMP?

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello! This is my first time really divulging all my stats and I'm pretty nervous but I'm trying to get real with my situation.

Im from NJ. I graduated in 2019 with a 3.1 sGPA, 3.52 cGPA (2.8-3.2s freshman + sophomore year, mid-3s junior year and 4.0s senior year). Not sure if it matters, but I did get a D in gen chem 1 which I retook and got a B+, and an F in orgo 1, which I retook and got a C.
I haven't taken my MCAT yet (my date was pushed back to June because of CoVID but my projected scores have been around 510 and I'm about 50% through content review.)

As far as ECs, I have +1500 hours scribing in the ER and ICU (and appx 200 hours training new scribes), 100+ hrs volunteering at a local food pantry (and other misc nonclinical volunteering that I still have to round up), and I'll be volunteering with a hospice once things get back to normal again. I'm also working on securing a research position, pending CoVID.

Also, during my sophomore year I was sexually assaulted. I really don't want to make that the focus of my personal statement or application or anything because it really has nothing to do with why I want to go into medicine, but when it comes to questions about why my grades were improving and then suddenly tanked, it feels silly to pretend like that wasn't a big part of it, but I'm not sure how or when or if I should talk about it.

My initial plan was to take the MCAT and expand ECs through 2020 and apply in 2021, but my sGPA makes me more and more nervous every day. I've been looking into SMPs/post-bacs but I come from a pretty economically disadvantaged background and dropping $20k+ in addition to future med school costs seems pretty unrealistic for me and I would prefer to avoid it, if at all possible.

I apologize for letting this become a novella, and thank you if you read all of this. I'm really just feeling lost and I'm not sure whether I should start filling out SMP/postbac applications or should wait it out. As far as MD vs DO, I'm not strongly against DO schools, but I guess I lean toward MD, like most others. If I forgot anything please let me know and I'll update. Any advice about where to go from here is greatly appreciated.

Obviously an SMP would be your best return on investment if you do well. You could ask admissions recruiters to see if continuing doing undergraduate postbac coursework and keeping up with a very strong GPA could suffice. You don't have an MCAT so it would be important to know whether the programs require an MCAT score or include MCAT prep.

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[Goro]

Very sorry to hear about your assault. Sadly, you're not alone in being such a victim.

You can discuss this, if you want, in prompts that ask about how you dealt with adversity, or those that ask for "explain any poor grades". You can also have a LOR writer explain this all for you if it's too painful.

As a reinventor, you will need to have DO schools on your list, but there are plenty of MD schools that reward reinvention.

Personally, I recommend the SMP, especially if given at a med school

Read this,

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention