Need advising badly!

[remmu]

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Hello!

I am 23 years old living in NJ, I have yet to take the MCAT and I decided on medical school around a year after graduation. I graduated with a B.S. in biology in 2024 with a 3.1 cGPA and a 2.9 sGPA-which is really low. Truth be told, I was super unfocused and had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I also dealt some turbulent situations at home and worked as a PT Aide starting the summer after junior year and continued till a year after my graduation. I then wondered if perhaps healthcare was for me and got a job at an ophthalmologist clinic where I worked as an Opthalmic technician for around a year. It is here where I learned how much I enjoy healthcare and more particularly, why I would like to practice medicine. Due to the nature of the clinic we did so many different things from refractions to assisting with procedures to scribing and everything in betweeen. We worked with underserved communities which provided me a view of healthcare I never imagined.

I transitioned to working part time and retook Physics 2 which I had done badly in at a nearby cc and earned an A from a D at my previous insitiution.

I eventually quit my job as I needed less hours to help out at home and needed to take a summer course Intro to Biochem asynch at a nearby 4 year in which I also earned an A. It was also around this time that I began volunteering for an organization helping to tutor underserved communities. I also started working at the Home Depot to support myself and assist my parent. They gave me less days than my previous job which helped tremendously and helped free me to gain time to help at home.

I am now taking a Theory of Optics course at a nearby CC to help bring my cGPA to around a 3.2 and my sGPA to just 3.0 to help avoid being screened out. I am still continuing to volunteer and work and am preparing for the MCAT which I intend on taking next year.

I have roughly around 2.5k clinical hours across my experiences and am building up my non-clinical volunteering, i also have shadowed an allergist for 15 hours and plan on shadowing a DO physician. ill have around 9-post bacc science credits at 3 different institutions. Sadly no research as I didn't even realize med schools required it until roughly last year when I became acquainted with the "premed process".

I would love to go MD>DO and to stay close to home but I don't mind, I just want to be a physician at the end of the day.

My plan for spring was just to quit nearly everything besides my volunteering and just focus solely on the MCAT. I was considering adding another course in the spring but am now wondering if it would be more beneficial to just no-life the MCAT.

I keep looking at holes in my apps and seeing things online which make me doubt if I should even apply. I know realistically I should wait to decide until I get my MCAT score whether to apply or sit-out this cycle.

I was kind of thinking along the lines of: 515+-->full send
>515---> retake if I have the ability to/if the score is really low, if its just shy of that then maybe an additional gap year.

But that aside, what else can i add or should i add? am i going the right way? I'm turning 24 soon and I am fully willing to take another gap year but would preferably like to avoid it. I just don't want to be a reapplicant.

Any and all advice would be appreciated, your patience is appreciated.

@Goro @Faha @Mr.Smile12 and whoever else.

 

[Goro]

I can't sugar coat this, aceing three classes to get a 3.2 GPA will still be lethal for MD schools, but might get some interest from DO schools.

Don't go scoring MCAT exams you haven't taken yet. See ho you do with practice ones first.

If you're really hoping for MD, you're going to need a full year or two in a DIY post-bac, or an SMP.

What were your year by year GPAs?

 

[remmu]

Freshman: 3.36 cGPA
Sophomore: 3.01 cGPA
Junior: 3.1 cGPA
Senior: 3.1 cGPA

Some follow up questions:
-I would be perfectly happy with going to a nearby DO school, which is why I was wondering-what MCAT "threshold" theoretically would you say gives me the go ahead to apply vs. reconsider, or do you agree with mine? You're right and I have not taken it yet but I just want to have some sort of plan for when the time comes.

-Due to my family's circumstances I cannot afford an SMP, I remember from your reinvention guide you tell us to aim for 30 credits for MD and 20-ish for DO (I think). After this class, I will be at nine post-bacc credits. I may take a winter non-science course as I may not be able to get a LOR for my undergraduate institution but I was also going to consider taking another science course in the spring. I kind of felt that my efforts would be more fruitful in abandoning taking that class and instead fully concentrating my efforts on the MCAT which I intend to take in March (I have already started preparing), while also just keeping up my service. If I am aiming to apply this upcoming cycle (MCAT dependent) do you think taking that spring course would make a big enough difference where it would make sense to take that while preparing for the MCAT vs. fully investing myself in the MCAT without the class? Are 12-13 (maybe 15-16 if I take a winter non-science course) postbacc credits that much more valuable than just 9?

-Lastly, is there anything from my EC's which I am lacking and would be lethal for me?

My apologies for the long-winded nature of my posts, I don't often have the chance to ask for guidance.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Freshman: 3.36 cGPA
Sophomore: 3.01 cGPA
Junior: 3.1 cGPA
Senior: 3.1 cGPA

Some follow up questions:
-I would be perfectly happy with going to a nearby DO school, which is why I was wondering-what MCAT "threshold" theoretically would you say gives me the go ahead to apply vs. reconsider, or do you agree with mine? You're right and I have not taken it yet but I just want to have some sort of plan for when the time comes.

-Due to my family's circumstances I cannot afford an SMP, I remember from your reinvention guide you tell us to aim for 30 credits for MD and 20-ish for DO (I think). After this class, I will be at nine post-bacc credits. I may take a winter non-science course as I may not be able to get a LOR for my undergraduate institution but I was also going to consider taking another science course in the spring. I kind of felt that my efforts would be more fruitful in abandoning taking that class and instead fully concentrating my efforts on the MCAT which I intend to take in March (I have already started preparing), while also just keeping up my service. If I am aiming to apply this upcoming cycle (MCAT dependent) do you think taking that spring course would make a big enough difference where it would make sense to take that while preparing for the MCAT vs. fully investing myself in the MCAT without the class? Are 12-13 (maybe 15-16 if I take a winter non-science course) postbacc credits that much more valuable than just 9?

-Lastly, is there anything from my EC's which I am lacking and would be lethal for me?

My apologies for the long-winded nature of my posts, I don't often have the chance to ask for guidance.

You have a bachelor's in biology, and your GPA is high enough that an SMP is likely the only way you get into medical school regardless of how many other courses you take as a postbac non-degree applicant. You likely ran out of all available upper-level undergraduate coursework, and repeating classes will have little effect.

Given this framework, how much do you really want to invest in yourself to go to medical school? If you cannot afford an SMP, you need to look into another career direction (and perhaps return to take the SMP when you are able to do so). Otherwise, your shortcut will turn into a 10-year effort of treading water.

 

[Faha]

Concentrate on doing well on the MCAT. As long as your MCAT score is above 500, you should receive interviews at some DO schools if you apply broadly and include all the newer schools. Post your score here when available.

 

[remmu]

Will do!