Medical admission with 3.2?

[DJW1025]

I started college with 24 hours of AP credit so that I didn't have to take most of the freshman level classes. Regrettably, however, they don't figure into my GPA at all. My first semester at college was a wake-up call - between o.chem and calculus and zoo, I made the first B's I've ever made. I'm set to graduate a year early (in May 2012) and hope to start medical school August 2012, but that speed came at a cost: my uGPA is 3.2, and my science GPA is also 3.2.

I've now completed and/or am enrolled for spring in all of my medical school prerequisites (made high B's) and am planning on taking the MCAT in May 2011, and then either do the early application in June, or possibly take some summer upper level science classes and apply by the later deadline.

I am really, really worried about being admitted. Even if I do great on the MCAT, my uGPA is still 3.2, sGPA 3.2. I regret taking the AP credit because if I hadn't, my GPA presumably would be higher, but what's done is done.

I am doing other things to help my application - volunteering at a free health clinic sponsored by my church, joining the psy club at school, etc. Also, I am in the Honors College at OU and am taking the classes necessary to graduate cum laude, but unless I can get my GPA to 3.4, I won't receive that designation.

Will the University of Oklahoma admission panel delve into the reason my GPA is only 3.2 so that I can explain the AP stuff? Or would it be best for me NOT apply to medical school in 2011 but rather go back and take the gen chem and intro to psych and calc I classes that I tested out of, this time for credit so that I can hopefully get A's and boost my GPA and then apply in 2012?

Thanks for any input.

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[TriagePreMed]

Boosting the GPA is in order if you want to go MD, or you could always go for an SMP.

 

[Catalystik]

With a 30+ MCAT score, you might have a shot at some DO schools with your current cGPA, with some As in science classes this next semester probably being essential toward that end (namely, an upwad grade trend).

I think you'd be better off spending the fourth year in college. An extra year in college won't be of any benefit if you keep getting Bs, though. If you think that near-straight As are possible for the next three semesters via AP retakes and new coursework---ideally some upper-level Bio, you could get your cGPA > 3.4 (only slightly below the average for those entering DO schools). At this level with a steep, solid, consistent recent upward grade trend, a 26-27+ MCAT score would likely get you get a DO acceptance. Or you could consider completing an SMP if your MCAT is at least a 30+ and have a chance at MD. A 33+ might give you a shot at MD without the SMP. (Ballpark figures given for illustration purposes.)

 

[tanay]

I'd stay in college for a 4th year. There's nothing wrong with that. I also came in with a good amount of AP credits, but I will be taking upper level classes in my major and minor during my senior year. I think that would potentially boost your GPA (I believe the poster before me said to a 3.4). I know a few friends who got into med school with a 3.4 GPA. I don't know their MCAT scores though (they did have good ECs).

Best wishes!

 

[DJW1025]

Thanks so much for the replies. I did some number crunching, and I think I can get my GPA up to 3.4 because I actually still have some easy core classes left to take (western civ, political science, etc) and since I am in the Honors College and took the required Honors classes, a 3.4 means a cum laude designation. Hopefully that designation will mean something. I am really hoping to get into the Univ of Oklahoma medical school as my first choice, but I would consider others, and I've heard good things about the DO program in Tulsa too.

I also decided to add a summer semester and take some biochem classes so I can complete my minor in chemistry.

I am taking the MCAT in May, and if it's decent, I'm going to go ahead and apply, and if I don't get in, just take the extra year.

Between my schoolwork and studying for the MCAT and my duties as a TA, I've had to cut my volunteering at the clinic down from once a week to just twice a month. Hope that doesn't kill me but something had to give.

Thanks for all the replies a couple weeks ago BTW.