Number of credits needed in a DIY post-bacc for transcript repair?

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What is the ideal number of credits to have in a DIY post-bacc before applying? Is 27-30 credits at 4.0 in upper-division bio courses enough? The rest of my app is pretty solid. sGPA overall would be 3.2 upon applying, despite the stark upward trend.

I would be willing to wait another year and take an addition 18-21 credits (if I can continue on this path, sGPA would be about 3.3), but if 27-30 is sufficient, I'd love to apply this next cycle. I plan on applying to DO and MD, would be happy with either, but want to set myself up to have a solid chance at MD. State is unfortunately CA.

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What is the ideal number of credits to have in a DIY post-bacc before applying? Is 27-30 credits at 4.0 in upper-division bio courses enough? The rest of my app is pretty solid. sGPA overall would be 3.2 upon applying, despite the stark upward trend.

I would be willing to wait another year and take an addition 18-21 credits (if I can continue on this path, sGPA would be about 3.3), but if 27-30 is sufficient, I'd love to apply this next cycle. I plan on applying to DO and MD, would be happy with either, but want to set myself up to have a solid chance at MD. State is unfortunately CA.

Does your current 3.2 sGPA encompass all your medical school prerequisites?

Have you received less than a C in any prerequisite course?
 
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Yes and no

Thanks. I have a couple more clarifying questions: where does your cGPA and sGPA stand today? Did you have an upward trend in undergrad?

I assume you haven't yet taken the MCAT, correct?
 
Thanks. I have a couple more clarifying questions: where does your cGPA and sGPA stand today? Did you have an upward trend in undergrad?

I assume you haven't yet taken the MCAT, correct?

Thanks for putting some time into this.

Currently both cGPA and sGPA are 3.1 after 12 credits of 4.0 post bacc courses, seems to continue at .1 increase for every 18 credits I take (probably the max I can take per year while working). Undergrad has no discernible trend, except 1st year was worst, but pretty consistent 3.0. Took the MCAT in college for a 514, but it has since expired. UG is a top school known for grade deflation if that helps at all.

ECs are pretty strong in research, community service, and leadership, and I’m adding more clinical exposure as well.
 
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Thanks for putting some time into this.

Currently both cGPA and sGPA are 3.1 after 12 credits of 4.0 post bacc courses, seems to continue at .1 increase for every 18 credits I take (probably the max I can take per year while working). Undergrad has no discernible trend, except 1st year was worst, but pretty consistent 3.0. Took the MCAT in college for a 514, but it has since expired. UG is a top school known for grade deflation if that helps at all.

ECs are pretty strong in research, community service, and leadership, and I’m adding more clinical exposure as well.

Sounds like your prospects for the MCAT are really good! You should be OK for DO with a little GPA repair and another solid MCAT performance. This is going to be your best shot, and I encourage you to really give the DO route some thought.

Your low 3.0 - 3.2 GPA, even after a year or two of 4.0 post bac work, might close a lot of MD doors for you. Hailing from California doesn't help (I'm assuming you're ORM?) You'd have to check the MSAR to see where your repaired GPA is within the range of accepted applicants' GPAs. There may be some newer programs where your stats are OK. If you are dead set on trying for MD, look into SMPs, especially those with linkages (e.g., a guaranteed seat or interview if a certain performance threshold is met). The problem with SMPs is that they are really expensive and very difficult. You'd have to be sure that you can excel in them, or else you might permanently tank your chances for MD and DO.

It seems like you definitely have the aptitude for the material, now you just need to find a way to demonstrate to medical schools that you have the study habits to excel in their programs. Good luck.
 
Sounds like your prospects for the MCAT are really good! You should be OK for DO with a little GPA repair and another solid MCAT performance. This is going to be your best shot, and I encourage you to really give the DO route some thought.

Your low 3.0 - 3.2 GPA, even after a year or two of 4.0 post bac work, might close a lot of MD doors for you. Hailing from California doesn't help (I'm assuming you're ORM?) You'd have to check the MSAR to see where your repaired GPA is within the range of accepted applicants' GPAs. There may be some newer programs where your stats are OK. If you are dead set on trying for MD, look into SMPs, especially those with linkages (e.g., a guaranteed seat or interview if a certain performance threshold is met). The problem with SMPs is that they are really expensive and very difficult. You'd have to be sure that you can excel in them, or else you might permanently tank your chances for MD and DO.

It seems like you definitely have the aptitude for the material, now you just need to find a way to demonstrate to medical schools that you have the study habits to excel in their programs. Good luck.

Thanks for the encouragement! I am definitely interested in DO, but when I apply I want to have at least a shot at some MD schools. I actually visited a DO school and observed their OMM course, and found it very cool. I'm betting white male qualifies as ORM, so yes. My main issue with college was a lack of motivation, I struggled especially with classes where the grades relied heavily on weekly assignments like lab reports or coding assignments. I feel like I have a good narrative around that, as I feel I really matured after spending time in the Army, and have some classwork to prove that.

I found a few MD schools where I fall above the 10th percentile for their GPA, two that I have a locality connection to (Chicago) which may play in my favor, especially with a good MCAT. I'm hoping to punch above my weight by excelling on the MCAT and maybe turning some heads. If I do another year of post-bacc I start to fall into the 10th GPA percentile of a whole bunch more schools, including UC-Davis, while has an in-state lean and somewhat of a NoCal bias. I'm just not sure if it is worth it to spend a whole other year (and more money) just to continue to demonstrate something I feel I have already demonstrated, which is a change in academic attitude.

One question you may or may not be able to answer - is it common to apply to SMP programs while also applying to MD/DO schools? It might make sense as a fall back in case I strike out.
 
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Thanks for the encouragement! I am definitely interested in DO, but when I apply I want to have at least a shot at some MD schools. I actually visited a DO school and observed their OMM course, and found it very cool. I'm betting white male qualifies as ORM, so yes. My main issue with college was a lack of motivation, I struggled especially with classes where the grades relied heavily on weekly assignments like lab reports or coding assignments. I feel like I have a good narrative around that, as I feel I really matured after spending time in the Army, and have some classwork to prove that.

I found a few MD schools where I fall above the 10th percentile for their GPA, two that I have a locality connection to (Chicago) which may play in my favor, especially with a good MCAT. I'm hoping to punch above my weight by excelling on the MCAT and maybe turning some heads. If I do another year of post-bacc I start to fall into the 10th GPA percentile of a whole bunch more schools, including UC-Davis, while has an in-state lean and somewhat of a NoCal bias. I'm just not sure if it is worth it to spend a whole other year (and more money) just to continue to demonstrate something I feel I have already demonstrated, which is a change in academic attitude.

One question you may or may not be able to answer - is it common to apply to SMP programs while also applying to MD/DO schools? It might make sense as a fall back in case I strike out.

Well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot of promise for a successful reinvention. The military experience will be a big boost to your application.

I’m not really able to address some of the finer points of your situation from here, but perhaps @Goro could weigh in on how many years of post bac GPA are advised and your SMP question.

Here’s his guide for how to turn a subpar application around: Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention
 
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Well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot of promise for a successful reinvention. The military experience will be a big boost to your application.

I’m not really able to address some of the finer points of your situation from here, but perhaps @Goro could weigh in on how many years of post bac GPA are advised and your SMP question.

Here’s his guide for how to turn a subpar application around: Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

Thanks. I've actually already taken a look at @Goro's guide, and it has a lot of great points. I just saw mention of 1-2 years of post-bacc, and wasn't sure how to interpret that since I will have 1.5 years of post-bacc, but its only 3 classes per semester since I'm taking them at night after work. So I guess that's my overall question, whether I need to do another year to really show reinvention, or whether I can apply this upcoming cycle.

Thanks for the advice @StayWandering
 
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