Need some advice on my options (long post inc)

[Morpheses]

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Hello, been a long time lurker on these forums, and I need some cold hard advice on what my next step should be for an SMP with an MD goal in mind. I'm open to DO as well, but I need to do more research on that before I ask about it.

Here are my stats:

Cgpa: 3.06
Sgpa: 3.14

MCAT: 5/22 - 504 (it's close to a 28 or 29)
2 publications
over 100 hrs volunteers work

Okay, so I graduated in the spring of 2014, and decided to take a gap year. During did research and studied for the MCAT. I unfortunately took it pretty late in May of this year and was unable to apply to any SMPs or regular masters programs in time. I have wasted a whole year and I feel like I haven't accomplished much during this gap year.

With this in mind, I am planning on applying to the next cycle of SMPs for the 2016-2017 year with the hopes of getting into a medical school for the 2017-2018 cycle. I know some people might not agree with this idea as you should apply after your SMP has finished for the best chance of success, but I do not want to waste time as I already feel so behind based on my poor decisions previously.

In order to accomplish this, I want to get my gpa in an upward trend. I think it's possible by completing this coming fall of undergraduate classes. Or should I apply after I complete the grade redemption for the whole year? I know that it will require me to get As in all of my classes, but I believe that I can do it.

On another note should I retake the MCAT? I think many would agree that I need to retake it, or is the score good enough for SMPs (will do more research on this topic later)? I know my score was low, but I believe I can score higher the next time. I think the consensus will agree that I should retake it especially if I don't get into any linked SMPs when I apply.

I know the road ahead is a long and tedious one, but I am prepared to get my life back on track.

I appreciate all critical feedback as I need it in order to figure out what to do next (that's you DrMidlife).

 

[umgoblue2008]

1) MD or DO? DO you can realistically grade replace and apply next year
2) Retake MCATs, if your GPA is low you need a high MCAT score (IMO)

info on me: 2.8 uGPA, 510 (~31-32) MCAT, i am attending a masters at LMU-DCOM, where if you get a 3.0 fall GPA you get an interview in January for entry into their SOM the next fall.

 

[Morpheses]

1) MD or DO? DO you can realistically grade replace and apply next year
2) Retake MCATs, if your GPA is low you need a high MCAT score (IMO)

info on me: 2.8 uGPA, 510 (~31-32) MCAT, i am attending a masters at LMU-DCOM, where if you get a 3.0 fall GPA you get an interview in January for entry into their SOM the next fall.

If I got a much higher MCAT, would that potentially negate my lower ugpa (i know it won't affect it much), allowing me to get into a linked-like program such as the ones at UToledo, or Cincinnati? My plan is to apply to SMPs like the ones I just mentioned.

 

[DrMidlife]

You're kidding yourself that "being in a hurry" is a legitimate reason to apply before you have a legitimate chance to get accepted. if you're in a hurry do a DO SMP like umgoblue suggests. otherwise build a compelling MD app before you apply MD. or you'll be wasting piles of money and effort and not getting accepted. you might need multiple app cycles after you're done with an MD SMP.

your MD SMP app has to get submitted before you have a chance to improve your GPA more than a trivial amount this fall/winter. the MD SMPs that will take you with your stats will not do any magic for you.

also one year in an SMP is not enough to counter 4 years of sub-3.0 work. if you actually pull a 3.7+ this next year in hard undergrad science classes then go ahead and try for MD (after killing your SMP). if you don't pull a 3.7+ in lots of hard science classes this next year, with everything on the line, then you're barking up the wrong tree. med school, MD or DO, is so much harder than pulling a 3.7+ in undergrad. i'm not saying this to discourage you, but to save you from totally unnecessary misery in the best years of your life.

as for whether you should retake the MCAT, that's a stone you can still turn, as you consider whether you're leaving any stones unturned in your rather severe low GPA recovery.

best of luck to you.

 

[DrMidlife]

btw breaking 3.0 just spares you from some auto-cutoffs. once eyeballs look at your coursework and grades, line by line, while they're plowing through a nearly infinite pile of apps, 3.0 doesn't accomplish much. which is why i keep saying people still have to produce a med-school-worthy academic effort, after tanking in undergrad, in order to give the reviewer as many reasons as possible to keep you in the pile when all the reviewer wants is a smaller pile.

 

[Morpheses]

btw breaking 3.0 just spares you from some auto-cutoffs. once eyeballs look at your coursework and grades, line by line, while they're plowing through a nearly infinite pile of apps, 3.0 doesn't accomplish much. which is why i keep saying people still have to produce a med-school-worthy academic effort, after tanking in undergrad, in order to give the reviewer as many reasons as possible to keep you in the pile when all the reviewer wants is a smaller pile.

Thanks for the response DrMidlife. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

I have a few questions that have popped up after reading your posts.

1) Should I take this upcoming years worth of classes at the same college I went to for undergrad or does it not matter where I do informal post-bacc? I live in the same city as my undergrad, but the credits/hour are more expensive than the public college (not as rigorous) nearby. From what I've read before, it doesn't matter as long as it isn't a community college. Is that true?

2) As far as my timeline goes, suppose I do a year of informal postbacc this coming school year, can I still apply to SMPs even though my whole year of grade redemption isn't over yet (like if I apply before my spring semester finishes). Can I send my spring semester gpa to them while I apply so that they aren't only getting one semester of improvement?

This is collection of more general questions for students in my scenario and their end-game:

What's stopping me from getting into a medical school when I apply after my SMP completes? Obviously the 1 year of gpa redemption doesn't negate my 4 years of sub-par performance in undergrad and the SMP gpa (supposing it's 3.7+) is still only 1 year of course work (great if it's actual med school classes). How do students in my situation get into medical schools even with accomplishing all of these goals? It almost seems impossible for my situation. Do they apply to programs that have linkages? The sub par undergrad gpa seems like a tether always holding me back.