MD Non-traditional, high MCAT, low GPA

[Motz82]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum, although I've followed it for quite a while.

I just wanted to get your take on my chances to MD schools and which ones would be good to apply to (i.e., a reasonable school list.) I'll cut to the chase:

~3.2 cGPA/3.0 sGPA at a top20 institution
97th to 99th percentile MCAT
PhD degree in basic science degree (GPA is approx 3.9)
about a dozen publications (mid to high impact factor journals)
300-400 hours clinical volunteering and shadowing
leadership role at my university

From what I understand, graduate GPAs aren't really helpful. Any ideas of how to interpret this case? If I need to clarify any of this, just ask away! Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GrapesofRath]

These are amongst the hardest situations to give advice to.

The biggest questions here are
a) What was your recent grade trend the last few semesters of undergrad?
b) What state are you a resident of?

Fortunately if your sGPA is above 3.0 that will pass the screening at many schools. How they interpret your application after that is very difficult to speculate on. If you were to do an SMP and do well in one, your options and chances would go up considerably and you would go from unpredictable chances to rather strong ones. But without an SMP, your best bet is to apply with the smart list and hope someone is willing to bite on that juicy MCAT score and that plethora of publications. With a fairly well written application, someone just might.

 

[LostinLift]

These are amongst the hardest situations to give advice to.

The biggest questions here are
a) What was your recent grade trend the last few semesters of undergrad?
b) What state are you a resident of?

Fortunately if your sGPA is above 3.0 that will pass the screening at many schools. How they interpret your application after that is very difficult to speculate on. If you were to do an SMP and do well in one, your options and chances would go up considerably and you would go from unpredictable chances to rather strong ones. But without an SMP, your best bet is to apply with the smart list and hope someone is willing to bite on that juicy MCAT score and that plethora of publications. With a fairly well written application, someone just might.

I'm sorry did you notice he/she said they have PhD? You're suggesting an SMP after a PhD?

OP apply to as many University programs that care about research (many schools have departments that care if the whole school doesn't) as you can. You have a great shot, just don't apply to only top 20 schools. Feel free to throw in some reaches like Stanford, Columbia, etc, and some mid tier 2 research schools like Northwestern, but they shouldn't be the majority of your list.

Rochester (they care about reinvention)
Cornell
Case Western
UVA
Brown
Wake Forest
UMass
Tufts
VCU
Rush (very volunteer oriented but like research too)

Above are just a few ideas, try to research (haha) which schools care more about research via websites, recent publications, etc.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm sorry did you notice he/she said they have PhD? You're suggesting an SMP after a PhD?

OP apply to as many University programs that care about research (many schools have departments that care if the whole school doesn't) as you can. You have a great shot, just don't apply to only top 20 schools. Feel free to throw in some reaches like Stanford, Columbia, etc, and some mid tier 2 research schools like Northwestern, but they shouldn't be the majority of your list.

Rochester (they care about reinvention)
Cornell
Case Western
UVA
Brown
Wake Forest
UMass
Tufts
VCU
Rush (very volunteer oriented but like research too)

Above are just a few ideas, try to research (haha) which schools care more about research via websites, recent publications, etc.

A PhD is a great accomplishment, but does not reliably develop the skills necessary to do well in an MD program.
Additionally, we expect a PhD to have multiple publications. It is no longer gravy. PhD grades do not remediate a weak undergraduate performance.
If OP can show that he has overcome whatever caused his lack of undergraduate success, his odds will improve significantly.

 

[Motz82]

In case this might matter, I took almost all of the premed pre-reqs/weeder classes in two semesters almost a decade ago, which I realize was completely foolish. I finished college with a 4.0, however.

I agree, assessing the value of a PhD is tricky, but to give some context, most peers publish half as much and not in nearly as many high impact journals as I have. I don't expect adcoms to recognize this, but some might, I suppose