Please give me your advice/opinion

[phillips101]

I'm currently a graduating senior at a competitive "top-tier" university. So far, my stats are:
cGPA: 3.54
sGPA: ~3.2
When I graduate, hoping to raise my sGPA by a tiny bit (probably not past 3.3), and my cGPA will either be 3.5 or 3.6 depending on my progress

So far I haven't taken the MCAT.

EC's: volunteered at nursing home for 1 summer,
-research for ~1 year, published paper (not first author),
- and in-home volunteer with MS chronic diseased patient for ~2 years (I go to her house once a week to help out)
-was in a service frat and served as secretary for a 2 semesters (ended up quitting it when I felt the "volunteering" was mere busy work)

I know my number and EC's are nothing stellar, and they are average, or even below average. I'm going to take 1-2 years off before applying, and in that time, I plan on working as a CNA, shadow a DO & MD, and do some miscellaneous volunteering here or there as time allows.

I guess the good thing about my stats is that I have a significant upward trend. Basically, the break down by college years is roughly:
1st- 3.1
2nd- 3.5
3rd- 3.8
4th: last semester, I got a 3.9
I have 3 C's on my transcript: physics I (but I got an A- in physics II), orgo II (retook with an A), and chem II.

I know a lot of people blame their poor GPA on the school, family/personal situations blah blah blah. Honestly, for me, it was simply poor study habits. So I don't plan on trying to justify my sGPA in my essays other than emphasizing my upward trend. Basically, in my 1st & 2nd year (when I took all of my prereqs except Phys II), I was still unsure about a career in medicine, partially reflected in my prereq GPA.

I don't plan on going to post-bacc or take more classes to up my sGPA. Also, I plan on applying both DO and MD.

1) How much do you think that upward trend will help
2) How much do you think my sGPA and C's will hurt
3) Do you think I'll be competitive for allo if I can get a 30+ on my MCAT along with the EC's I plan on doing.

Thanks for looking! I know my stats aren't as interesting as some others here.

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[Mobius1985]

1. The upward trend will help. It also helps that your cGPA is currently just below the mean for accepted allopathic students and above for osteopathic.

2. For allopathic schools, the BCPM GPA will hurt you, especially if you don't do great on the MCAT. The only C I'd have a concern about is the unredeemed one in Chem II. For osteopathic schools, you may need to worry about the C in Physics I also. Check on that forum for their input. (They have a "What are my Chances?" thread)

3. I think you'll need a 32 on the MCAT to be reasonably competitive for allopathic schools if your GPA stays the same. A 30+ would cover the osteopathic schools well (for some a 25+ is sufficient.)

For all med schools you need the usual extracurriculars, and my comments assume the rest of your application is optimal. I think you are smart to take your time and do things right.

 

[phillips101]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping the A- in physics II could kind of offset the C in Physics I. Obviously though, it would've been better if I had aced both