Med School Worries

[TheGuy2000]

Hey fellow SDN'ers,
I'm in kind of a weird situation right now. I'm currently a junior at a top 3 liberal arts school, but my grades just won't cut it for med school. I have a 3.01 right now, and about the same for BCPM, and this will probably raise to about a 3.2 by the time I graduate next year. My question is this, what should I do to boost my stats and help me further assure my acceptance into med school. I live in New Orleans, so would Tulane be a valid option? Or any other places that would be good to help me boost my stats. Stupid LAC's and their lack of grade inflation
Thanks,

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[drlexygoat]

Well, there are people in worse situations than you who have gotten accepted. However, I'll say what you already probably know : your GPA (science and non science) shoudl ideally come up a bit. If your GPA stayed where it is now, you'd need a pretty decent MCAT (I'd say 34+) to get the adcom's attention.

I take it you're applying NEXT year, right? If you're a junior, you could apply this year but I'd wait. Yoru best bet: do some post-bac work in science courses to bring that GPA up. If adcoms see a positive trend in grades, they'll view that as pretty favorable.

Don't lose hope, though!!!

 

[jlee9531]

an upward trend in grades would be very favorable to have in the low gpa situation as some of us are in.
i started off with under a 3 for the first year, but i showed a nice increases compared to my first year and the people that interviewed me all noticed the positive trend.
you do need a strong mcat tho...hopefully doubles across the board for you.

also i do hope you have strong ECs and good LORs. the rest of your application needs be strong.

and if you are still not confident in applying then you can attempt to do postbacc and or a masters as well...

 

[DMBFan]

I was looking at these post-bac sites and maybe I misread, but it said that you can't apply to these programs if you have taken science/premed classes in the last 5 years.

 

[jlee9531]

I was looking at these post-bac sites and maybe I misread, but it said that you can't apply to these programs if you have taken science/premed classes in the last 5 years.

you did.
my friend is doing postbacc at upenn and he just graduated a science major last year.

 

[TheGuy2000]

Thanks for the quick response, yah I'm thinking about doing a post-bacc program, since my sciences are decent, not great, but I have no intention of ever seeing orgo again, (well if I did well on my April MCAT at least), so what schools should I look for? I mean I don't want to do a 5th year somewhere if I'm just going to get B's. I want A's! Any easy programs you guys know of?!
Tanks

 

[jlee9531]

i mean you should get a 4.0 or close to it at any post bacc you attend from what my friends in those programs tell me.

so just go to a place that doesnt seem to be too expensive etc...

 

[MEDicated]

Hey fellow SDN'ers,
I'm in kind of a weird situation right now. I'm currently a junior at a top 3 liberal arts school, but my grades just won't cut it for med school. I have a 3.01 right now, and about the same for BCPM, and this will probably raise to about a 3.2 by the time I graduate next year. My question is this, what should I do to boost my stats and help me further assure my acceptance into med school. I live in New Orleans, so would Tulane be a valid option? Or any other places that would be good to help me boost my stats. Stupid LAC's and their lack of grade inflation
Thanks,

hey....well you have a couple of options.

1) apply this year and see how things go (take the MCAT if you havent already)......there is a program at tulane that allows anyone who has received an interview at one allopathic medical school in the US to take some classes with their 1st year med students. the following year, they admit about 90-100% of these people into their medical school as 1st year students (you can still apply to other schools while doing this in new orleans).

2) wait it out this year and take classes post-bac for one year. it is not necessary to take a "post-bac. program", just that you take classes at a 4 year university (preferably a state school to save money and it would be easier). im not sure what state universities are in new orleans (LSU is close????).

i was in a similar situation and i opted for route 2. my gpa kinda sucked and i took courses and it's worked for me. the problem with route 1 is that it would be crazy expensive and put you in debt. most likely, coming from a top notch college you will do well on the MCAT and have many more options after 1 year of post-bac. PM me if you have questions and good luck!!

 

[TheGuy2000]

Cool dudes, you guys rock, my mood has gone from to in the past half hour. I just had one last quick question. I was always under the impression that post-bacc programs had to do with taking Orgo, Gen Chem, Physics, and Bio over again in the course of a year, which I certainly don't want to or need to do. What are these post baccs, which jlee says a 4.0 is very possible at, without having to retake the BCP again? Thanks again !

 

[giggledesi]

Hi,
There are a lot of post-baccs that allow you just to take upper level bios to raise your bcpm gpa, ike there is a special science program at UPenn and here are some programs at Tulane. Georgetown and BU have special masters programs made just for this purpose. I am planning on attending one myself... good luck!

 

[Noj11]

Hey all,
This is my first post
I am in a pretty similar situation to TheGuy. I am a junior who has lowish GPA of 3.3 and an even lower Science GPA of 3.1. I go to a top engineering school (even though i'm a biology and business major) that is known for very harsh grading. My one saving grace is that my MCATs are pretty solid 37R (13PS, 10VR, 14BS). Some people have told me that my GPA will keep me out of a lot of places. Others have told me that my MCAT will make up for it. i really don't know what to think. Looking at MDapplicant.com there are not that many profiles i have found with similar stats to mine (reputable school, low GPA, high MCATs). So it is really hard for me to gauge what quality of schools i would stand a decent chance of getting accepted to. I'm interested in Schools in large cities in the Northeast (NY, Boston, Philly, even Chicago). So i am wondering:

1. If any of you guys know of applicants with similar stats to mine. If so, where have they been accpeted.

or

2. If you can give me a good idea of schools in the cities mentioned above where i would stand a good chance of acceptance.

thanks