Hi all,
I'm posting this here because this sub-forum seems more be my kind of crowd. So here goes:
I'm a pre-med neurobiology major, about to enter my fourth year. The short version of my story is that my grades have been up and down over the past few years, with only an upward trend appearing in the spring semester of my junior year. My current GPA is only around a 3.0, and will hopefully be around 3.2 or 3.3 depending on when I graduate.
I've assessed my options and have decided to either (1) graduate in winter of 2008 in order to complete my neurobiology major as well as a computer science certificate, or (2) graduate in spring of 2008 with just the neurobiology degree.
Option 1 will allow me more time to pull up my GPA (to a little above a 3.3 if all goes well) and more time to study for the MCAT. I would then apply to medical schools during that fall semester. If I don't get into any schools, I would apply to a post-bacc Special Masters Program in the following spring.
Option 2 will allow me to finish school earlier and therefore spend less of my parents' money. At that point I would have around a 3.2, with less time to prepare for the MCAT, so I would just apply directly to post-bacc programs during the spring semester.
My question is: do you guys think I have a chance of being admitted to one of the "lower-tier" US medical schools with a GPA around 3.3 and a high MCAT score (hopefully >35, but this of course is up in the air), assuming I have fairly solid extracurriculars/clinical experience? Which of the above 2 options would be better for me? The core difference is that one give me a shot at medical school before applying to post-bacc and one will get me into a post-bacc a year early.
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration, everyone.
I'm posting this here because this sub-forum seems more be my kind of crowd. So here goes:
I'm a pre-med neurobiology major, about to enter my fourth year. The short version of my story is that my grades have been up and down over the past few years, with only an upward trend appearing in the spring semester of my junior year. My current GPA is only around a 3.0, and will hopefully be around 3.2 or 3.3 depending on when I graduate.
I've assessed my options and have decided to either (1) graduate in winter of 2008 in order to complete my neurobiology major as well as a computer science certificate, or (2) graduate in spring of 2008 with just the neurobiology degree.
Option 1 will allow me more time to pull up my GPA (to a little above a 3.3 if all goes well) and more time to study for the MCAT. I would then apply to medical schools during that fall semester. If I don't get into any schools, I would apply to a post-bacc Special Masters Program in the following spring.
Option 2 will allow me to finish school earlier and therefore spend less of my parents' money. At that point I would have around a 3.2, with less time to prepare for the MCAT, so I would just apply directly to post-bacc programs during the spring semester.
My question is: do you guys think I have a chance of being admitted to one of the "lower-tier" US medical schools with a GPA around 3.3 and a high MCAT score (hopefully >35, but this of course is up in the air), assuming I have fairly solid extracurriculars/clinical experience? Which of the above 2 options would be better for me? The core difference is that one give me a shot at medical school before applying to post-bacc and one will get me into a post-bacc a year early.
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration, everyone.
