MAMS or Apply to Med school?

[Lisumi]

Hi!

I am currently a senior and my current gpa is 3.37.. I havent taken my MCAT... I am planning to take my MCAT after i graduate... but i am debating on either i should apply for a Master's of Arts in Medical Sciences or go and apply to med schools...

I have 1 yr of clinical volunteer, 2 years of mentoring and 1 year of research and i did shadowing too and other volunteer programs...

What do you guys think??

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[aSagacious]

In general, applying with a 3.4 is going to be a steep uphill battle. Of course nobody can tell you definitively if you will or won't get in by GPA alone. Important factors like life circumstances, extra-curricular activities, MCAT, letters of recommendation, etc could readily make up for a sub-par GPA.

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to 'what are my chances' forum.

 

[sector9]

Hi!

I am currently a senior and my current gpa is 3.37.. I havent taken my MCAT... I am planning to take my MCAT after i graduate... but i am debating on either i should apply for a Master's of Arts in Medical Sciences or go and apply to med schools...

I have 1 yr of clinical volunteer, 2 years of mentoring and 1 year of research and i did shadowing too and other volunteer programs...

What do you guys think??

Are you thinking of applying to MD programs only, DO only, or both?

Your GPA is pretty low for MD. Your GPA is still below the average for DO schools but definitely in the "acceptable" range depending on MCAT and school list.

Is there a reason that your GPA is low? If you do the master's, you need to have really good grades in the program in order to have a shot at med school. If you aren't prepared for that high pressure environment, it may be better to do a do-it-yourself postbacc.

What is your sGPA/BCPM GPA? Does your GPA have an upward trend?

The one sentence version of your ECs sounds decent but more info would help us give you more specific advice (info like time commitment per week, time span, shadowing hours and in what specialties, any leadership, etc.)

You can look at the percentage of student accepted at various MCAT scores into MD schools in this thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=838625