Post-bac: how much will med schools care about undergrad grades?

[badsweater]

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Hi all.

I'm a post bac student with a BA in Journalism (and a minor in Arabic) from a non-prestigious state school. My undergrad GPA was 3.48 (NONE of which were science classes). I took two years off to work and travel before discovering my strong interest in medical school.

I went back to the same state school and took the science requirements for med school and earned a 3.98 GPA. This, combined with undergrad gives me a 3.67 cGPA and a 3.98 sGPA

I would LOVE it if med schools would only look at my post-bac (science) GPA, but I know that's not realistic.

How heavily are they going to weigh my grades in the journalism courses? What sort of schools should I be shooting for (assuming a 520 MCAT, a year of research with no pubs, solid letters, unique extracurriculars and early application)?

I'd love to be a contender at some of the upper level schools, but my cGPA is kind of low for that.

Thank you all!

 

[esob]

Without an MCAT, impossible to say, but you are in good shape for your state MD schools with a 510+ MCAT. Even with a 520+ MCAT, it is unrealistic to expect any love from top tier schools, the field is just too competitive. At those schools, even with a 4.0 and a 520 MCAT you would need something exceptional about your application to stand out. The good news is, almost no one cares where you went to medical school (especially patients).

 

[Goro]

Hi all.

I'm a post bac student with a BA in Journalism (and a minor in Arabic) from a non-prestigious state school. My undergrad GPA was 3.48 (NONE of which were science classes). I took two years off to work and travel before discovering my strong interest in medical school.

I went back to the same state school and took the science requirements for med school and earned a 3.98 GPA. This, combined with undergrad gives me a 3.67 cGPA and a 3.98 sGPA

I would LOVE it if med schools would only look at my post-bac (science) GPA, but I know that's not realistic.

How heavily are they going to weigh my grades in the journalism courses? What sort of schools should I be shooting for (assuming a 520 MCAT, a year of research with no pubs, solid letters, unique extracurriculars and early application)?

I'd love to be a contender at some of the upper level schools, but my cGPA is kind of low for that.

Thank you all!

It depends upon the school. There are MD schools (and all DO) that value reinvention. And please do not focus on single metrics.

 

[badsweater]

It depends upon the school. There are MD schools (and all DO) that value reinvention. And please do not focus on single metrics.

Thank you. Could you tell me which MD schools value reinvention more than others?

 

[esob]

Thank you. Could you tell me which MD schools value reinvention more than others?

Check Goro's other posts for those schools that specifically reward reinvention, though, applying broadly is your best best. N=1, but I applied to almost every MD school on the "reinvention" list with 158 hrs of straight A's (overall GPA ~ 3.6) and an 80th percentile MCAT and got zero invites from the AMCAS schools, so reinvention is no guarantee of success. Thankfully, Texas > all other states and I ended up with several acceptances here 😀

 

[badsweater]

Thank you!! Had a bit of a tough time finding it though! For the benefit of any lurkers who are having trouble finding a "reinvention" school list, here is one Goro posted on 4/28/19.

Columbia
Duke
BU
Case
UCSF
Vandy
Pitt
Dartmouth
EVMS
Albany
Netter
Drexel
Tulane
Wayne State
Miami
Creighton
SLU
Wake
GWU
Gtown
Emory
Hofstra
Sinai
Any DO school

 

[MTnon-trad]

You have a better undergrad GPA than I did, My undergrad was in Political Science with only a 3.15 cGPA. I completed a post-bacc and got a 4.0 which gave me a 3.3 cGPA and 3.71 sGPA for the AMCAS application. I also had a high MCAT which I think helped me during this last cycle I had multiple acceptances including MD and DO schools. I applied broadly and would definitely suggest the same, most schools seemed to focus on my post-bacc and only a few asked about why my grades were low as an undergrad. Focus on doing as well as you can on the MCAT and don't be afraid to talk about your unique experiences and what makes you different on your applications.