Newbie!

[groundsquirrel]

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So being a newbie on here I will apologize now if this question has been asked before. I'm sitting here calculating up my GPA's, CRAP, my head hurts now. Overall GPA is a 3.1 but my science GPA is 3.5, DO I HAVE A CHANCE IN FROZEN HELL of getting into a DO program? I have not taken the MCAT yet, but Im just sick to my stomach. A couple of poor grades back 20 years ago are killing my overall GPA.

Anyone got any advice or comments on schools that might be a good fit or what else if anything I need to do? I'm all ears.

Thank you to anyone that is willing to listen. I greatly appreciate it and I'm here to learn as much as I can.

My Respect,

Scott

 

[theseeker4]

So being a newbie on here I will apologize now if this question has been asked before. I'm sitting here calculating up my GPA's, CRAP, my head hurts now. Overall GPA is a 3.1 but my science GPA is 3.5, DO I HAVE A CHANCE IN FROZEN HELL of getting into a DO program? I have not taken the MCAT yet, but Im just sick to my stomach. A couple of poor grades back 20 years ago are killing my overall GPA.

Anyone got any advice or comments on schools that might be a good fit or what else if anything I need to do? I'm all ears.

Thank you to anyone that is willing to listen. I greatly appreciate it and I'm here to learn as much as I can.

My Respect,

Scott

Yes, a good MCAT will make DO schools look at you considering your sGPA is a lot higher than your cGPA. However, even better..............

......If you have a couple Fs on your transcript from 20 years ago, retake those classes (or the equivalent at a different school), get As, and watch your GPA soar as far as DO schools are concerned. DO schools have grade replacement (unlike MD schools) so you can very quickly improve your GPA.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

First of all, welcome to the nontrad forum. You certainly can get into a good DO school, even though it might take a little more work for you than it will for a student still in college. Plenty of us worked to overcome past GPAs worse than yours is. Read the Nontrad Success Stories thread if you want some inspiration.

When did you do your prerequisite classes? If you took them more than 10 years ago you'll probably need to retake them, especially if you got bad grades in any of them. If you're reasonably current with those classes and you've got them all completed, your best bet will be to spend a semester retaking your bad grades. If you just have a few bad grades that are killing your GPA, a little effort retaking them will go a long way. If you're willing to go back to school full time, you would probably be able to do enough retakes in the coming spring semester that you would find yourself an excellent candidate for DO schools. As it is now, a 3.1 cGPA is borderline. You could probably get away with it if you end up with a 30+ MCAT, but you can't count on getting that until you've taken the test and gotten your score back.

 

[groundsquirrel]

Thanks! Yes the bad class was a F in Biology 20 years ago. I re-took that earlier this year and got a A in the class. All my science classes are within the last year and a half. But a couple of D's on some general ed crap from 20 years ago is what is killing my overall GPA. What kind of MCAT score would I need?

My stats as of date

Overall GPA: 3.1
sGPA: 3.5
43 years of age
B.S. In business/leadership mgmt
8-years in the U.S. Marines

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Well, that's not so bad. You've done pretty well recently, so you should be able to convince adcoms that your recent coursework is a better indicator of your future performance in med school than your cGPA is. Your military experience will also help boost your application. If you can get about a 30 or higher on the MCAT, I'd say you're in good shape. If you tend not to do well on tests, or if you want to be absolutely sure you get accepted this cycle, go ahead and do a semester's worth of retakes. I think your next move should be to take one of AAMC's practice MCATs and see how you do on it. The first one is free. It's easier than the real thing, but it should give you a rough idea of how well you can expect to do on the real test. Try to take the practice test under realistic conditions, timed, all at once and in a computer lab at college, not at home. If you end up with a pretty good score, then forget the retakes and concentrate on studying for the MCAT. If you don't end up with a good score, study hard for the MCAT and do those retakes. You'll end up getting into med school one way or another.

 

[groundsquirrel]

After taking the practice test what study books do you recommend? Crap a 30? Lord help me please. 30 sounds high but hey I'm willing to try.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Well, if a 30 was easy to get, everyone would have one. It isn't an unrealistic goal, though. If you're disciplined enough to put in the hours of studying and you understand the science material from the classes you took, you'll probably get there. Actually your goal should be higher. I don't know if you're set on going to a DO school, but MD will not be out of the question for you with a 35 or so MCAT. I wouldn't count on getting a score that good, but it is something to strive for. You'll probably be taking the test some time this spring, so you've got lots of time to prepare.

I don't have any specific recommendations on MCAT study materials. Before I took the MCAT I was kind of broke, so I used some Kaplan ebooks I got for free and whatever I could read at Barnes and Noble. Ended up with a 32. I'm sure others here will have some recommendations, and there's lots of good advice on the MCAT forum.

 

[groundsquirrel]

I think Im pretty comfortable with the science stuff. I had only looked at DO programs because I figured my 3.1 and my 3.5 sGPA would only work for a DO program. Wasn't real sure where the cutoffs were for the MD Schools.

 

[exitonly29]

I think Im pretty comfortable with the science stuff. I had only looked at DO programs because I figured my 3.1 and my 3.5 sGPA would only work for a DO program. Wasn't real sure where the cutoffs were for the MD Schools.

What state are you from? Some MD programs I know really value life experience

 

[mspeedwagon]

For clarification is that 3.1 not counting the F or does it include the two averaged. I'm trying to figure out if that is a MD GPA or a DO GPA since you said you were interested in DO and a 3.1 is borderline as is.

I think with a score somewhere between 27 and 32, you'll have a shot at DO schools.

If you can bring your GPA up to 3.3 and score in the 32 range you'll have a shot at your state MD and low tiers (of course, this is assuming your state MD is not a University of California school).

32 is hard to achieve, but I learned the hard way that you really need to make sure you study right. Thought, I'd be sitting pretty with a good MCAT score by now, but I'm re-studying for it (I didn't take it after I burned out and my score started to fall). Good luck!

Thanks! Yes the bad class was a F in Biology 20 years ago. I re-took that earlier this year and got a A in the class. All my science classes are within the last year and a half. But a couple of D's on some general ed crap from 20 years ago is what is killing my overall GPA. What kind of MCAT score would I need?

My stats as of date

Overall GPA: 3.1
sGPA: 3.5
43 years of age
B.S. In business/leadership mgmt
8-years in the U.S. Marines

 

[groundsquirrel]

Im from Kansas. We have KU Medical School here, and Univ. Of Missouri Medical School along with a DO program in Kansas City.

The 3.1 overall GPA is including that F which was a Bio class and a couple of other general ed classes that were D's from 20 years ago. I have since re-taken the BIO class and got an A. I still have (3) science pre-reqs to finish and Im retaking one of the general ed classes as we speak.

 

[Goro]

I'd say you have a very decent chance for getting into a DO program.

So being a newbie on here I will apologize now if this question has been asked before. I'm sitting here calculating up my GPA's, CRAP, my head hurts now. Overall GPA is a 3.1 but my science GPA is 3.5, DO I HAVE A CHANCE IN FROZEN HELL of getting into a DO program? I have not taken the MCAT yet, but Im just sick to my stomach. A couple of poor grades back 20 years ago are killing my overall GPA.

Anyone got any advice or comments on schools that might be a good fit or what else if anything I need to do? I'm all ears.

Thank you to anyone that is willing to listen. I greatly appreciate it and I'm here to learn as much as I can.

My Respect,

Scott

 

[groundsquirrel]

well coming from a Professor I take that as some encouragement. I know Chip & Sawbones says the MCAT needs to be around a 30 to really nail it. I have not taken the MCAT yet, be honest Im a little scared to.

I know my grades probably only apply to a few certain DO Programs, any idea which ones might be a good bet? My GPA is probably to low for a MD school? What would it need to be to have a decent chance?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

You will probably end up applying to somewhere around 10-20 DO schools. Depending on how your MCAT turns out you will be reasonably competitive at just about all of them. Rather than worry about which ones you think will accept you, try to find which schools you'd like to go to. Do you want an urban or rural setting? Any favorite areas of the country? There's an excellent thread on the pre-osteopathic forum in which current DO students give reviews of their schools. When you've made a rough list and you've taken the MCAT, post a new thread here and we'll give you an estimate of your chances for them, and whether you should be applying to additional schools that are more or less competitive.

Don't be too scared of the MCAT. It tests on the material you've already learned in class. Therefore, if you can get good grades in your prereqs, you can do well on the MCAT too. Getting a good score will take plenty of work in studying, but it's nothing you can't handle. It's also quite possible you'd get in with a score less than 30, but why try to find out? When acceptance season comes around you will want to be sitting on multiple acceptances so you can be the one to decide where you're going for med school.

Don't put any effort into getting into an MD school right now. If you brought your GPA up to a 3.4 or so and combined it with a good MCAT you might have a pretty good chance, but that kind of GPA improvement would take 1-2 years of full time classes at a perfect 4.0. There's no grade replacement for MD, so the law of diminishing returns kicks in fast. The more credits you have, the slower your GPA will rise. It isn't worth the time or effort. Every year you would spend trying to boost your GPA would be one less year you'd be able to work as a doctor and earn a doctor's salary. A good enough MCAT, say 35 or so, will be enough to make some MD schools overlook your cGPA, but you can't plan on getting an MCAT that high. If you do end up with a really high score then by all means apply to MD schools, but for now, plan on DO.

 

[groundsquirrel]

Roger that, thank you for the input. Makes sense!