Non-trad: 3.02 uGPA, 3.36 sGPA, 4.0 grad GPA, 515 MCAT; ORM (white, male)

[yankeefan15]

I have a looong history. First 3 years of college I failed due to depression. Fixed that, learned how to study and went on to do 5 more years of undergrad in order to repair my GPAs. I earned two bachelors degrees (Biology and Biomedical Engineering) as well as a masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. I am also in the Air National Guard as a pilot. Stats:

uGPA: 3.02
sGPA: 3.36
post-bacc GPA: 3.85 (over 160 credits)
grad GPA: 4.0

GPA broken down by year:
Freshman: 1.72 (28 credits)
Sophomore: 1.77 (33 credits)
Junior: 1.16 (36 credits)
Senior: 2.94 (32 credits)
Post-bacc (years 5, 6, 7, 8): 3.85 (166 credits)
Grad: 4.0 (30 credits)

UG Schools: First bachelors is from a small college, second bachelors and masters is from a T20 institution
MCAT: 515
Race/sex: White male
State: CT

Volunteering:
Clinical:
~500 hours volunteering for a VA hospital (actually interacting with patients)
-200 hours volunteering at major hospital in CT (not really interacting with patients but they were certainly around)

Non-clinical:
~500 hours volunteering for habitat for humanity and wounded warrior project
~50 hours volunteering for a National Suicide Prevention Hotline

Clinical:
-The clinical hours listed above (~500 for the VA hospital)
-1000 hours working as an EMT

Shadowing:
-150 hours shadowing an anesthesiologist, neurosurgeon, gastroenterologist, dermatologist, and GP (the GP is a DO)

Research:
-500 hours conducting research with a professor throughout my past 3 years (nothing special, no publications yet)

EC:
-Private Pilot
-Pilot in the Air National Guard
-1 year D2 athlete
-military parachutist
-speak 2 languages fluently (english and Hebrew)
-Freemason
-I work for local veterans organization

I did everything I could to reinvent myself. I make no excuses for my poor academic performance, only to show, from that point on, that I am academically capable of medical school. I'm applying only to MD and DO schools in the northeast/NY because of my commitment to the air national guard. What are my chances? What schools (in the northeast/NY) should I apply to? Is an SMP/post-bacc program necessary? Thank you all in advance.

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[M&L]

Wait .... i don’t get it . If you gPA by year are 1.72, 1.77, 1.16 and 2.94, how is uGPA 3.02?

 

[yankeefan15]

Wait .... i don’t get it . If you gPA by year are 1.72, 1.77, 1.16 and 2.94, how is uGPA 3.02?

After those first 4 years, I continued undergrad. My post-bacc GPA was a 3.85 over 166 credits. I just kept taking classes and getting As until I got my GPA above 3.0. I'm not sure if I should've said "uGPA" or "cGPA" but in short, taking all 8 years of undergrad into account, my GPA is a 3.02

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Was the sub 3.0 GPA from biology or engineering as your degree? I'm going to guess it's from biology since you got a master's in biomedical engineering and there's no way I could think you could have gotten into a master's program with a sub-3.0 GPA (as you had described years 1-4). So in your most recent bachelor's degree and master's course of study, what upper-level biomedical non-engineering classes did you take, and what were their grades (only for undergrad years 7-8+)?

 

[yankeefan15]

Was the sub 3.0 GPA from biology or engineering as your degree? I'm going to guess it's from biology since you got a master's in biomedical engineering and there's no way I could think you could have gotten into a master's program with a sub-3.0 GPA (as you had described years 1-4). So in your most recent bachelor's degree and master's course of study, what upper-level biomedical non-engineering classes did you take, and what were their grades (only for undergrad years 7-8+)?

Originally (during those first 3 years) I was a Math/Mechanical Engineering student. After those first 3 years I transferred to a different school (years 4, 5, 6) and got a biology degree. I then "transferred" to another school and got a biomedical engineering degree and biomedical engineering masters degree (years 7, 8)

All the terrible grades were from being a Math/MechE major at the first institution. Years 4, 5, and 6 were when I did biology. Years 7 and 8 were for the biomedical engineering bachelors and masters.

This are my biology classes for years 4, 5, and 6:

Concepts in Biology: A
Genetics: A
Invertebrate Zoology: A
Human Anatomy: A
Microbiology: A
Ecology: A
Molecular and Cellular Biology: A-
Organic Evolution: A-
BioChem: A

For years 7 and 8 all the courses were Biomedical Engineering or some other type of engineering. The one bio class during that time was "physiological control systems" and I got an A.

 

[Goro]

Many thanks for your service!

I suggest:
I recommend:

Columbia (maybe)
Dartmouth
BU
Duke
Pitt
Mayo
Mt Sinai
Keck
UCSF
EVMS
U Miami
Hofstra
Emory
Jefferson
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
Your state school
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter
NYU.LI
East TN/Quillen
Any DO program. I can't recommend Nova, Wm Carey, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CUHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. UIW refuses to post their Boards scores, which is fishy.

 

[Deecee2DO]

This is what we call re-invention folks. Bravo OP bravo. Youll net several MD and DO acceptances. Oh and thank you for your service

 

[yankeefan15]

Many thanks for your service!

I suggest:
I recommend:

Columbia (maybe)
Dartmouth
BU
Duke
Pitt
Mayo
Mt Sinai
Keck
UCSF
EVMS
U Miami
Hofstra
Emory
Jefferson
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
Your state school
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter
NYU.LI
East TN/Quillen
Any DO program. I can't recommend Nova, Wm Carey, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CUHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. UIW refuses to post their Boards scores, which is fishy.

Thanks Goro! I'm under the impression that you're the SDN "wiz" and I really appreciate you giving me advice. I'm gonna cut down that list a little to schools within 2 states of me, but even so that'll be a decently healthy list. Thanks again!

 

[M&L]

Thanks Goro! I'm under the impression that you're the SDN "wiz" and I really appreciate you giving me advice. I'm gonna cut down that list a little to schools within 2 states of me, but even so that'll be a decently healthy list. Thanks again!

Goro, LizzyM and gyngyn are pretty much Gods here (no offense to anyone who are religious). They are real life experts in this , so their advice is golden . I followed the list they suggested for me , and got 6 interviews (5 attended), 4 acceptances and 1 WL. They can be trusted .

 

[yankeefan15]

This is what we call re-invention folks. Bravo OP bravo. Youll net several MD and DO acceptances. Oh and thank you for your service

Thank you so much! Your encouraging words made my day. It can get gloomy when you're a re-inventor. I plan on making a post when (not if) I get into med school to explain how I did it, but it was pretty much Goro's advice for re-invention. I fixed my mental health (made sure I was 100% in the right mind set), forced myself to study and complete every assignment on time no matter how late I stayed up, and just worked hard. Once I proved to myself that I could do it, I really stopped worrying about getting good grades and it started to come easier once I was more relaxed. I see you're a current med student so, hopefully, I'll get the pleasure of working along side you (or work under you) one day.

 

[yankeefan15]

Goro, LizzyM and gyngyn are pretty much Gods here (no offense to anyone who are religious). They are real life experts in this , so their advice is golden . I followed the list they suggested for me , and got 6 interviews (5 attended), 4 acceptances and 1 WL. They can be trusted .

That's the "vibe" im getting. My attitude on here is when I see the banner "Faculty" under someone's name, I shut up and start listening.

 

[M&L]

That's the "vibe" im getting. My attitude on here is when I see the banner "Faculty" under someone's name, I shut up and start listening.

You will go far in life !!! That’s the best attitude

 

[Deecee2DO]

Goro, LizzyM and gyngyn are pretty much Gods here (no offense to anyone who are religious). They are real life experts in this , so their advice is golden . I followed the list they suggested for me , and got 6 interviews (5 attended), 4 acceptances and 1 WL. They can be trusted .

Yeah yeah @Goro 's okay lmao just kidding hi goro!! Goro's premed advice is where its at. Take notes people

 

[Goro]

Yeah yeah @Goro 's okay lmao just kidding hi goro!! Goro's premed advice is where its at. Take notes people

every now and then I justify my existence