Odd application, chances?

[LehighTrails]

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I have an odd application, i wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts.

Im 31 y/o, graduated college in 2006. My undergrad gpa was 3.4 and my sci. Gpa was 3.25 (Being a physics major didnt help). I did a smp and did fine except for one course. Old MCAT was a 36, im sure i can still match that on the new test.

Now here is the odd part. I had a pretty serious chronic Physical illness all through undergrad and the smp. There is no question the illness adversly affected my grades. It is now, however, resolved. In the interium i graduated valedictorian of my "elite" law shool, was first in the state on the bar, and have had a good legal job for three years.

Despite this, im still interested in medicine.

Im currently shadowing some friends who are surgical residents and studying to take the august mcat for this application cycle, any thoughts? Is this foolish? Should i try getting in touch with ad coms directly to talk with someone before submitting the app? Thanks for any help.

 

[WedgeDawg]

What was your SMP gpa?

Assuming you do 518+ on the new MCAT, 3.8+ SMP, and have done shadowing, clinical work, volunteering, and perhaps some research, I think you will be totally fine. You have an interesting life story and seemed to have thrived post-college.

 

[LehighTrails]

The SMP was based on the medical school curve. A "B" was equvilant to all but a med school HP (top 10% of med. school class). So my SMP gpa was around a 3.3. Hoever, the bad class was neurophysiology where i got a C, but during a particularly debilitating bout of illness.

 

[amapples]

The SMP was based on the medical school curve. A "B" was equvilant to all but a med school HP (top 10% of med. school class). So my SMP gpa was around a 3.3. Hoever, the bad class was neurophysiology where i got a C, but during a particularly debilitating bout of illness.

Which SMP was it? From what I heard, downward trends might hurt.

 

[Inventor of Post-Its]

You want to apply for this application cycle? Regardless of your background and circumstances, you simply won't have a complete application in time to give you a fair shot. An August MCAT means your scores won't be released until September, and other students will be going on interviews by then.

 

[LehighTrails]

That is why i was wonder about contacting an ad com directly. Also i could submit my app with my old mcat and indicate the new one is on the way, no?

 

[GrapesofRath]

You're not even close to ready to apply to medical school yet.

You have to be able to convince ADCOMs what has changed to make you so passionate about medicine after you did an SMP and took the MCAT yet still switched over to law and worked for a number of years? Some simple shadowing won't come close to convincing anyone.

Any successful med school application EC wise needs two things 1) clinical exposure(far more than simple shadowing) 2) A volunteering commitment that demonstrates altruism. Without both these things, on top of your less than stellar GPA, your app won't go where you want it to.

Look, you can try and come up with whatever excuses you want, a 3.3 SMP GPA is a 3.3. That's not good enough. Fortunately for you it was a long time ago. But unless your interest is in applying to just DO school you will need to do some kind of post-bacc. Excelling at law school is all well and good but med schools uses these two things to determine success in medical school which is all that matters 1) undergrad GPA, particularly in science classes 2) MCAT. You need to improve the first one and gain the EC's mentioned above before you can start to talk about applying to medical school.

Also let's see you get a 36 caliber MCAT score again on this new test which is far different and when you haven't opened a science textbook in years before we just chalk it up as a done deal.

Like I said above, the path to a DO school will be far easier than an MD one. IF you had a 36 MCAT and excelled at law school you have what it takes to do well in a post-bac and a strong performance over say several semesters will really put you in solid shape. You just need to make it happen and take it one step at a time. Don't try to skip steps and rush things.

 

[LehighTrails]

georgetown. As i noted, you had to score equivilant to the top 10% of the med school class to do better than 3.0 in most of the classes.

 

[GrapesofRath]

georgetown. As i noted, you had to score equivilant to the top 10% of the med school class to do better than 3.0 in most of the classes.

Georgetown is a very well known program that tons of people do every year of data. What constitutes as success there is based on many years. It's pretty well established that doing well there and doing well enough for MD purposes is (3.7+) (at the very least 3.6). 3.3 isn't good enough for MD purposes, simple.

 

[Inventor of Post-Its]

That is why i was wonder about contacting an ad com directly. Also i could submit my app with my old mcat and indicate the new one is on the way, no?

How old is your old MCAT? If you took it within the last 2-3 years, it might still be valid for this application cycle and you don't have to take the new one. If it's older than that, it's invalid. Schools won't note it at all. And I doubt you can get special treatment by contacting an adcom directly.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Now that I see the 3.3 SMP, I'm more inclined to agree with @GrapesofRath. In a lot of my undergrad science classes (particularly the med school pre-reqs), you had to be in the top 10-20% to get above a B as well (perhaps slightly different because we were undergrads and not medical students, but I did go to a very competitive undergrad). I don't think a 3.3 SMP GPA is going to cut it, regardless of the requirements to get above a B.

 

[LehighTrails]

Thanks for the insight 🙂

 

[Goro]

Here are two problems:
A) you underperformed in a SMP when you should have aced the program, not made B's.
B), The wise choice with your illness would have been to take a LOA and not bull your way through when you weren't at your best. Adcoms want student swho make good choices.

Therefore, I can't recommend applying to med school. You'd get rejected from our program. SMPs are like auditions for med school, and, sadly, you flubbed your lines.

The SMP was based on the medical school curve. A "B" was equvilant to all but a med school HP (top 10% of med. school class). So my SMP gpa was around a 3.3. Hoever, the bad class was neurophysiology where i got a C, but during a particularly debilitating bout of illness.

 

[northernlights15]

Here are two problems:
A) you underperformed in a SMP when you should have aced the program, not made B's.
B), The wise choice with your illness would have been to take a LOA and not bull your way through when you weren't at your best. Adcoms want student swho make good choices.

Therefore, I can't recommend applying to med school. You'd get rejected from our program. SMPs are like auditions for med school, and, sadly, you flubbed your lines.

Do you think he's screwed at every DO school? I've spoken to someone on here who had a ~3.3 SMP performance and a really strong MCAT (35) who got into DO and MD school! Their undergraduate GPA was rather weak as well. Do you think it's a n=1 type case or it's still possible to redeem oneself after poor or mediocre performance in an SMP?

 

[Goro]

Probably not. Newest schools would yield best chances.

Do you think he's screwed at every DO school? I've spoken to someone on here who had a ~3.3 SMP performance and a really strong MCAT (35) who got into DO and MD school! Their undergraduate GPA was rather weak as well. Do you think it's a n=1 type case or it's still possible to redeem oneself after poor or mediocre performance in an SMP?