What is a "strong" upward trend? I definitely have an upward trend. I did very poorly most of my semesters. After seeking treatment for my eating disorder beginning of my junior year, my grades have been going up. Prior I was barely pulling Cs and I have about 3 D's. That first semester after I pulled a 3.3, winter semester a 3.7, just finished spring half-term with a 4.0 and I think I will be able to maintain a 4.0 for this summer half-term, next fall and winter. Without trying to sound overconfident, I am pretty sure I can do well in any class I take and I think I can ace the MCAT. It was never the courses that was the problem.
So, if you can finish your last 4 semesters with a 4.0, and it sounds like you had some ~2.0 semesters early on. I'd say that's a strong upward trend. In that case you have a couple of options.
If you can finish college with a 4.0 the last semesters and beast the MCAT (whatever 36+ would equate to on the new exam), and you should have a GPA at about 3.4+. With scores in this range and an overall well rounded app (clinical experiences, some ECs) then you would actually have a good chance at getting into a low to mid-tier state school. I know SDN logic may tell you otherwise, but it's true according to the MCAT/GPA table. Here's the link if you haven't seen it before
https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstable25-4.pdf You can compare your potential GPA/mcat percentages of getting accepted to other combinations.
You could also go to a SMP to help your app and improve your chances. Many of them also cost around 40k a year. You could also try and boost your app by getting a double major and acing all your classes which would bring up your GPA, but of course the gains start to get minimal once you have 120+ hours already under your belt.
If you want to go the DO route, and you can make a 4.0, good mcat, and retake your Ds and some of your Cs (DO schools do grade replacement when calculating GPAs), then you would potentially be a shoe-in. No worries.
Whatever you decide, note that it is contingent on your getting a 4.0 (or damn close to it) for the rest of your college career (which is something you've only done on a half-term so far), and you need to do well on the mcat (which is a tougher beast than it might sound like). So, first things first before deciding on what masters program to do, is to finish your coursework strong. Good luck!
