Past Mistakes

[lettiv]

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When I started college I was a biology and German major but I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to be when I graduated. Consequently, by the end of my sophomore year I had a 2.7 GPA and a 2.2 SciGPA. I studied abroad my junior year where I spend many amazing hours volunteering/interning at a pediatric heart hospital. I decided that I wanted to pursue medicine and in the past year since I’ve been back I’ve been working on my GPA and retaking 2 semesters of chemistry. I now have a 3.5 GPA and a 3.3 SciGPA. I’m now in my fifth year and I expect to bring those numbers up a bit more. I’ve done research and continue to volunteer at the local hospital as well as other assorted extracurricular stuff. Even though I did alright on my MCAT (34) and have not received anything below an A- since I returned home, how will the admissions committee view my past GPA flaws and how will that affect my chances of getting accepted when I apply next summer?

Thanks for any replies.

 

[silas2642]

You're fine. Actually, I'm kind of in your position and right now I'm interviewing. No one really cares what you did x number of years ago as long as you brought your gpa up and did well on the mcats. You have done both of those things. If you're really concerned about this, address it in you ps, but you're probably golden.

 

[91Bravo]

Your GPA shows a positive trend and you did great on your MCAT. Providing your application doesn't get automatically declined due to some arbitrary GPA cut-off a school uses, you are competitive. I imagine there will be a number of schools which will give your application the attention it deserves. Just knock 'em dead on the personal statement and do well in the interviews.

Good luck.

 

[Duchess]

Lettiv,

I wouldn't be too concerned. You showed an improvement, not a decline. Not everyone knows exactly what they want to do with their lives from day one in college. I think that they'll understand a couple of rough years, especially since you've made up for it so well (congrats to you on that, by the way!). If anything, they'll ask you about that in interview. Best of luck to you!

 

[Pyroclast]

Lettiv, I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't do so well my first few years either as an undergrad, then improved my GPA and did well on the MCAT and got in. Incidentally, I majored in Biology and German too, though I don't think that helped. But I had several admissions committee members tell me that turning around your grades is one of the big things they look for in an applicant whose GPA is a little lower than average. With your MCAT score I think you're fine.