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Did you repeat the other courses, or only Calc? What's your BCPM GPA? How recent are those grades?
Honestly, I think it would be extremely difficult to get into an allopathic school with that GPA, even if it came from C's (which presumably you have a bunch of) rather than D's and F's.
Schools do not usually interview 5 applicants to accept 1, and in any case they do not need to interview non-competitive applicants.
My advice would be to consider DO schools (because retakes will replace all those poor grades) or maybe an SMP postbac.
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njbmd
You have a couple of options to make yourself competitive. First, you can re-take these courses (the one's that you haven't retaken if any) and apply to osteopathic medical schools or apply to a post bacc program with linkage. One advantage of applying osteopathic and linkage post bacc is that your retake grades will be "substituted" for your previous grades. The next and most compelling advantage is that you will become a physician, after acceptance and be able to practice medicine in any specialty that you are competitive for post graduation.
Your next option is to take the MCAT, do your best, and apply for a credential-enhancing Special Masters Program. The advantage here is that if you do very, very well, you can make yourself competitive for either osteopathic or allopathic medical schools. The disadvantage is that you have to perform well in an atmosphere of very competitive classmates in very expensive programs. This is not to say that those folks are "cut-throat" but to say that just about everyone around you will be as dedicated to high performance as you will be and you have to do well. Doing poorly in one of these programs can end your quest for becoming a physician.
With a uGPA under 3.0 (essentially below 3.5), you are going to face an uphill battle getting into allopathic medical school in this country. There are anecdotal experiences of folks getting in with lower uGPAs but take a look at the AAMC statistics for matriculants and see that as your uGPA gets close to 3.0, your chances of acceptance are pretty low.
If I were in your position, I would definitely go for the osteopathic option with retakes in the coursework that you previously did poorly in. This option does two things for you. First, with the retakes, you solidify your knowledge base for the Medical College Admissions Test (which you need) and second, you achieve your dream of getting into medical school and the practice of medicine because you make yourself competitive in terms of uGPA much faster. If to become a practicing physician is your dream, you don't care about the initials behind your name and you work toward making yourself the most knowledgeable and competent physician that you can be.
The downside is that you will hear all sorts of comments as to being inferior because you become an osteopathic physician. As a practicing physician/surgeon, I can tell you that my osteopathic colleagues are not in any way inferior or less satisfied with their practices than my allopathic colleagues.
Another downside is that osteopathic medical schools tend to be private which means that overall, they can be more expensive than attending a state-supported public allopathic medical school. Not all osteopathic medical schools are private but a significant majority are. Also, it isn't like state-supported public allopathic are not raising tuition and are hugely less expensive either but be prepared for "sticker shock" with any medical education these days.
You have a bit of "damage-control" to do but it's not fatal.
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Gonna be an uphill battle my friend. AMCAS averages the grades, so having an F is always going to be a huge drag on your GPA. Multiple F's and D's might make it impossible to go to an allopathic school with out doing a lot of post bac work. AACOMAS on the other hand takes only your best (or most recent...can't remember) and uses that to calculate GPA. You can still be successful if you do extremely well on your re-takes and don't mind going to an osteopathic school.
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If you dont retake those classes, then yes that many Ds and Fs is going to leave very little hope for your medical career in the US. You need to retake them. If you apply to DO schools, they will not factor in the D/F if you do better. They will still be able to see them, but they wont count towards your GPA. Thats probably your best bet.
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It's not the F, it's the overall GPA. No one can predict whether you will get in or not, but you sure can do a lot to succeed. If you take another 74 units and do very well (almost 4.0), your GPA can rise to around 3.3. Your BCPM can rise even more. On top of that, if you do well on MCAT, maybe around 35 or more and have a significant upward trend, good explanation for your failures and demonstration that they don't represent you anymore, and good ECs, AND you apply to about 40 schools, you should be able to get in somewhere without an SMP. Some schools like UWash place a lot of emphasis on upward trends. Other schools really value if you have unique experiences or research. This is hard, but doable.
If you are URM, then your problems are even less because the average accepted GPA for some URMs goes as low as 3.3-3.4. Getting into med school seems to be game. You have to learn the rules (get MSAR, talk to adcoms, read admission requirements of at least 20 schools) and play the game. Just like during standardized tests, it's not only how good your are, but more importantly how you are able to use your knowledge to your advantage. If your application gets automatically screened out, then you can't even start the game. Your priority is to have someone even look at your papers, and for that many schools seem to have a GPA cut-off of 3.0, but it's not for sure since some people with lower stats get in. You just may need a very high MCAT with low GPA to pass through the screens. This will be a good question to ask the schools where you are trying to apply.
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Deleted member 237747
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I think you need to be realistic. A overall GPA of 2.7 and receiving predominantly D's and F's as a Junior means that after 3 years you still haven't figured out how to do well in college. Even if you were to get a 4.0 throughout Junior and Senior year, you would most likely end up with a 3.3 at the very maximum, and that is being optimistic.
It seems like you claim to be pursuing your dream, yet you are not putting very much effort into achieving it. My advice is to shoot for osteopathic school, study like hell for MCATs, and try to bring up your GPA as much as possible. However, if you find that you continue to do poorly in your coursework and your MCAT score is low, I think it would be best to look for other career options. You're definitely walking on a thin line right now, and it would be in your best interest to have an alternative plan ready.
Edit: I misread your first post. Did you receive most of those D's and F's during your Junior year or previously?
It seems like you claim to be pursuing your dream, yet you are not putting very much effort into achieving it. My advice is to shoot for osteopathic school, study like hell for MCATs, and try to bring up your GPA as much as possible. However, if you find that you continue to do poorly in your coursework and your MCAT score is low, I think it would be best to look for other career options. You're definitely walking on a thin line right now, and it would be in your best interest to have an alternative plan ready.
Edit: I misread your first post. Did you receive most of those D's and F's during your Junior year or previously?
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I have no idea what you are trying to communicate here...is english a second language for you?
The F is a problem, but your low cumulative GPA is the REAL problem - of course the F contributed to that, but your grades frankly suck without the F being factored in...
I totally agree. The problem is not the F, the concern is your low GPA. You will have to get all As in the rest of your collegiate career and you might also need a post bac to fix this mess that you have caused. However, I did not understand if the low GPA is from a single semester or it is the overall GPA? If it is a single semester you have more chances to recover faster, but if it is the result of your two years of college definetely you have a lot of work to do. Anyway, the best option that you have is to get As. Try to make schedules that you can handle to get As. Take 4 classes to see if you can get straight As. Good luck though!!!
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