mostly C's, do i have a shot?

[RaniC]

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i have recieved c's in most of my science classes, but A's in my non-science. my gpa is a 3.02, do i have any shot of getting into med school?

what schools do you think i have a shot at? 😕

also...i studied really hard for the mcats...i haven't gotten my scores back yet, but am expecting at least a 33.

 

[patzan]

uuuhhhh, what is your BCMP GPA? Anything below 3.0 is really really pushing it. Many schools have a min. 3.0 to get secondaries/interviews. Be sure to include foreign med schools in your apps.

 

[DrWuStar]

honestly, i think your chances would be slim right now. but all hope is not lost. med schools need to feel sure you will be able to handle their work load, which is mostly science. how are you expecting such a good mcat score when you didn't do too well in all the classes it is based on? (don't read that sacrstically - i'm just trying to understand) did you use better study habits? were you slacking off in your undergrad courses? if you feel that is the case, and then you really buckled down for the mcat, you would probably do well to take a few more science classes (either a formal post-bac semester or just a few classes at your local U without formally enrolling), put the same amount of effort into them as you did into the mcat, and get A's. a good mcat score coupled with a record of improvement will give you a shot at getting in. the ad coms forgive people for messing up in college. they understand that you can be unfocused in college and then change your tune, work hard and do great. you need to give them concrete evidence that you fit that description. good luck!

 

[Eraserhead]

Everyone has a shot. Yours is just not the best one.

If you have a stellar essay, ECs, MCATS, LORs etc. you will get in somewhere I'm sure. The better this other stuff is, the more options you will likely have.

Like your GPA plus 33-34 MCAT plus great other stuff = some acceptance IMO. If you get like a 28-30 though that's another story.

 

[Amy B]

That is going to be really rough. If you GPA is 3.02, what is your science GPA? AMCAS will use your science classes to give you your overall science GPA. That includes Math, biology, phyiscs, chem, and all the classes that fall into those 4 groups.

 

[superdevil]

i don't get it; you got mostly C's in your science classes, but you're expecting "at least a 33" on your MCAT? that's ~95 percentile, dude.

if i were in your place, i would take some more classes (getting A's, mind you) to show med schools that you're disciplined enough to hack it in med school. i know a lot of people who screwed around for 2-4 years in college and were banking for the MCAT to redeem them, but that's risky business. you need to show more of a sense of focus and consistency regarding school work, that you're not just a one-hit wonder with some test.

g'luck on the MCAT scores, btw.

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

You can count on a 33 all you want, but getting it is a different story. Lets wait unti you get your MCAT before we start giving you any advice. As it stands, you'll need to do a postbac.

 

[patzan]

Are there any circumstances under which people on SDN would unanimously say, "No, you don't have a shot"?
Typical OP: I have a 2.5 GPA, I got a 22 on the MCAT, but really didn't have any significant ECs. I want to go to Harvard. Do I have a shot?
Typical SDNer: Never lose hope! You will get in to Harvard if you try hard enough!

 

[IndyZX]

if you got mostly C's, it wont really matter if you got a 33 on the mcat. id assume your bcmp is around a 2.5 or so, and if that is the case, you have some major post-bacc work to do.

the truth: its going to be a very hard couple of years if you want to go to a US med school

 

[jlee9531]

Are there any circumstances under which people on SDN would unanimously say, "No, you don't have a shot"?
Typical OP: I have a 2.5 GPA, I got a 22 on the MCAT, but really didn't have any significant ECs. I want to go to Harvard. Do I have a shot?
Typical SDNer: Never lose hope! You will get in to Harvard if you try hard enough!

no most people on SDN will tell you that you have absolutely no shot at all for harvard.

 

[jlee9531]

mostly Cs on your BCPM.....
a C at my school is a 2.3 so assuming your science gpa is around a 2.3 and even with a 33+ on the mcat (which i am still not sure how you can predict this) your chances of getting into an allopathic medical school is pretty bad. You should prepare yourself for a post-bacc program, and even getting a masters as well...excelling in both of these.

i also assume you don't have any significant ECs/research as well...or maybe you might have mentioned that in your original post to have us better assess your situation. If this is correct...you should do some.

 

[RaniC]

i was really sick my freshman year, and was told to withdraw that semester, but my advisor told me that it would really hurt my transcript, so i should just take my finals....which screwed me over. and then each successive semester i had surgery, and by mostly C's i mean like 4 out of 14 science classes.

still bad huh? yea i think i might just try for a MPH first and then apply to med school, still not sure.

 

[RaniC]

oh and i think i'll get a 33, cause on kaplan practice tests i was scoring between 36-38 on the last 6 tests i took. they say it gives you a good idea, i hope so!

 

[RaniC]

I worked in a lab throughout undergrad and my last 2 years in high school, so i have 6 years lab experience and 2 papers, if that makes any difference.

 

[jlee9531]

i was really sick my freshman year, and was told to withdraw that semester, but my advisor told me that it would really hurt my transcript, so i should just take my finals....which screwed me over. and then each successive semester i had surgery, and by mostly C's i mean like 4 out of 14 science classes.

still bad huh? yea i think i might just try for a MPH first and then apply to med school, still not sure.

sometimes advisors dont know what they are talking about.
i think you should do a post-bacc to get that ugrad gpa up, and then do an MPH.

wow nice research experience. maybe some more well rounded activities as well?

 

[RaniC]

so i finally figured out that EC means extra curricular...right?

i didn't really do much, i've been volunteering at a hospital for the past 2 years, but i kind of wasted the first few months by just watching surgeries, now i am interacting w/ patients more, but i'm switching to the radiology department soon.

i'm going abroad this winter to work at a clinic, i was supposed to go last winter, but due to health reasons that trip was cancelled. its definate for this winter though.

apart from that i pretty much didin't do anything else. i spent most of my time as an undergrad either in the lab (which was pretty much all the time), studying for classes or in the hospital. pretty sucky 3 years!

if i did well on my mcats, then i think i'll apply, but if i dont, then i dont see the point of wasting all the time and money for a hopeless cause. based on what everybody has said though, i think my chances are pretty slim, my gpa has improved each successive semester, but its still hard to get over a major slip up. i guess all i can do now is wait for my scores.

 

[RaniC]

BCMP GPA?? sorry i'm new to this. my science gpa is a 3.02, my overall so far is 3.45, this semester's grades haven't been factored in yet, but i'm expecting it to go up because i aced 2 of my finals (p.chem and bacterial genetics, wooohoooo!!!!!), so that's 2 more A's into science, not like it makes much of a difference, but i can still hope.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Classic example of putting a lot of time into EC's and not into GPA. Remember, without the GPA and the MCAT, your EC's wont even be seen.

 

[Spitting Camel]

BCMP GPA?? sorry i'm new to this. my science gpa is a 3.02, my overall so far is 3.45, this semester's grades haven't been factored in yet, but i'm expecting it to go up because i aced 2 of my finals (p.chem and bacterial genetics, wooohoooo!!!!!), so that's 2 more A's into science, not like it makes much of a difference, but i can still hope.

I think you are a tool. You've been preparing for med school and you are pretending not to know what MAJOR parts of an application are? Whatever. "I think I'll get a 33 because I've been getting 36-38 on my last 6 practice exams. Oh, my overall GPA is 3.45, not 3.02. Oh, I have 6 years of lab experience and 2 papers. Will that help???????????? Oh, I have psychological problems."

Get help.

Edit: "Oh, I have 4 out of 14 grades that are C's. Oh, I have 2 years clinical experience." Oh, PLEASE! Once again, get help!

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!!!

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

u literally made me LOL when i read " dont feed the trolls" 👍

I think you are a tool. You've been preparing for med school and you are pretending not to know what MAJOR parts of an application are? Whatever. "I think I'll get a 33 because I've been getting 36-38 on my last 6 practice exams. Oh, my overall GPA is 3.45, not 3.02. Oh, I have 6 years of lab experience and 2 papers. Will that help???????????? Oh, I have psychological problems."

Get help.

Edit: "Oh, I have 4 out of 14 grades that are C's. Oh, I have 2 years clinical experience." Oh, PLEASE! Once again, get help!

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!!!

 

[RaniC]

look i dunno what ure talking about, but basically i'm bummed cause i never got a C before my spring semester as a freshman, and i have always been told that if you have ANY c's, ure shot at med school is gone. so yea, 4 c's are BAD! i mean my advisor told me that i would never get into medical school with the C's, and if the majority of the other grades are B's, that can't help too much either. so i was just looking for some help, i guess i didnt put all the info out there cause i wasn't sure what was relavent and yea, i still dont know what the hell bcmp or whatever stands for. i'm the first person in my family and friends circle to apply to medical school in america so i'm totally lost. i was just looking for some advice.

 

[Mr. Obsessive]

Dude, change your screen name and start over. If you want to see how a real troll operates take a look at some of Squat 'n' Squeeze's posts. If your the real deal try not to sound like such a jacka$$. Realistically, you must know there is no way your getting into an American medical school with that kind of GPA.

 

[Lux Aeterna]

Although 4 C's in science classes isn't gonna help you any, you aren't out of the running. I had 3 C's in science classes and a 33 MCAT and did relatively well in the process. PM me if you want more details or help. If you do get a high MCAT score, I think it'd be worth it to apply, especially if you did score high 30s like your practices.

Lux

P.S. My advisor said the same thing about C's before I applied (no one gets in with Cs!! 🙄 ) , so just take every piece of advice you get with caution.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

To the OP: The counselor that told you that withdrawing from a semester is better than receiving Cs, Ds, Fs, etc. is a ****ing idiot. If you withdraw from a semester...you don't receive any grades for that term...which means your GPA cannot be affected for better/worse...so that neither helps you nor hurts you for med school admissions. I've been saying this for years...college counselors/advisors are dumb pieces of ****. People withdraw for a VARIETY of reasons...which include an unexpected family emergency in a term, extenuating circumstances (getting sick), just tired of school and decided to withdraw from school and get a job, decide to travel the world for a year and return to school the following academic year, etc.

Getting that withdrawal your freshman year would've been MUCH better than getting poor grades and hurting that GPA. You should go back and punch the counselor in the face.

 

[lesstalkmorock]

wtf?

i can't believe i lost 5 minutes of my life reading this thread.

and i'll never have it back. 🙁

 

[Spitting Camel]

You should go back and punch the counselor in the face.

To the OP: punch yourself too

 

[TTSD]

To the OP: punch yourself too

On the off-chance that this person is not trolling, to the OP: Go back and read everything you just wrote and see how freakin inconsistent it was. Sheesh.

 

[i77ac]

Go bears!

😀 😀 😀

 

[Amy B]

i have recieved c's in most of my science classes, but A's in my non-science. my gpa is a 3.02, do i have any shot of getting into med school?

what schools do you think i have a shot at? 😕

also...i studied really hard for the mcats...i haven't gotten my scores back yet, but am expecting at least a 33.

People are coming down on you and this thread because of what you said in your first post and then how you clarified it in your subsequent posts. You shouldn't say you have C's in "most" of your science classes if you mean only 4. And when you said your GPA was 3.02, that is generally meant to mean your overall GPA and then your science GPA would ususally be lower since you said your non-science classes were A's. The way you wrote it is what makes it confusing. 4 out of 14 is not "most" of your science grades and that is why people are taking about you being a troll.

Also when you said "I am bummed because I had never gotten any C's before my spring semester as a freshman." You would have only had one semester before that, so were you referencing high school grades as well as your first semester? That was another weird way of talking about grades. Most people would have said, "I am bummed because I got some C's in my first year of college."

Oh, and I don't think most people put down what they did in high school on their EC section. It is usually reserved for things you did after high school. What kind of lab would let a junior in high school work in it? Was it on a college campus? I have never heard of a college lab taking in high schoolers.

BCMP is how your grades are broken down on your application. It stands for
B = Biology
C = Chemistry
M = Math
P = Physics

All classes that are in those groups will be used to figure out your BCMP or science grade on your AMCAS application.

 

[liverotcod]

AmyB, you are the single most patient poster on SDN. You have my respect.
🙂

 

[Amy B]

That's really kind of you to say. Thank you 😀 🙂

 

[thewzdoc]

Are there any circumstances under which people on SDN would unanimously say, "No, you don't have a shot"?
Typical OP: I have a 2.5 GPA, I got a 22 on the MCAT, but really didn't have any significant ECs. I want to go to Harvard. Do I have a shot?
Typical SDNer: Never lose hope! You will get in to Harvard if you try hard enough!

Most people on here want to believe that they ?have a shot? at med school and they are not prepared to tell themselves they don?t so they tell others they do. It?s all about introspection.

 

[thewzdoc]

AmyB, you are the single most patient poster on SDN. You have my respect.
🙂

She is great isn't she! 👍

I was going to point out that the OP stated "mostly" C's and then stated 4 C's....this is very different.(Amy beat me to it)

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Another vote for Amy here 🙂 👍

This thread in general gets the official Richie's thumb's down though 👎

C's don't equal the end of the world. Just get busy and nail that MCAT! 🙂


-Richie

 

[jennie 21]

OK, assuming you actually are legit here...

4 C's isn't ideal, but it isn't the absolute end of the world either. Particularly if most of them were due to illness/surgery your freshman year and you have an upward trend since then. A 3.02 science GPA is definitely low and will hurt you but the illness part might make it explainable to adcoms if you did better in subsequent years. I think if you do well on the MCAT (preferably 34-35+) you'll do OK at least at your state schools. The MCAT isn't a one-shot cure-all, though...I should know, I got a 38-40 on my MCAT with a 3.2 science GPA (3.6 non-science and 3.4 overall) and I got waitlisted everywhere I interviewed. Of course, I also chose to only apply to very competitive schools with the plan of re-applying the next year if I didn't get in, if I'd applied to my state school I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a problem. And it worked out for me in the end when I got in off a waitlist. So, if you don't want to risk re-applying then definitely apply to your state school and include some less competitive schools on your list as well. I don't think your situation is as bad as it initially seemed, and if you do well on your MCAT you'll get in somewhere. A few C's won't kill you if the rest of the application is strong, particularly if they were early in college and if you were ill when you got them. If your situation is the way you've explained it, you should do fine.

 

[skypilot]

You can have as many Cs as you want on your transcript. If you somehow manage to still have a 3.4 GPA and a MCAT above 30 you have an excellent shot at getting in somewhere.