Post Bac vs. Publications??

[surge26]

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Hi there! I'm a Biology and Women's and Gender and Sexuality Studies double major going into my senior year. My cGPA is a 2.91 as of right now and my sGPA is 2.51. I haven't been the best with my science courses but haven't ever gotten below a C in any class and will have a near 4.0 in my WGSS major. I've been working as a research assistant with the biomedical informatics department in collaboration with the pathology department for a year and plan to continue for another year. I also am doing research in a breast cancer lab and shadowing three surgical oncologists (all work with each other) and am also involved with the department of surgery at the local hospital overall. I also volunteer in the community outside of medicine. Additionally, my LORs will come from surgeons and other department chairs at a university hospital (would love to go there for med school too haha). I want to apply to MD but I am well aware that my numbers are not the best. I can get my cGPA to a 3.2 and my sGPA to a 2.7ish. I am also well aware that I need to do stellar on my MCAT to have a chance (planning to be around a 514 or higher). I was planning on taking a gap year to give myself time to study for the MCAT and in that time i'll be a tech in a pathology lab. My pre-med advisor told me that I should look into postbac and she also said its imperative to go out of state to do your postbac to show diversity; that it's a red flag when the student stays at their institution or near it. She also said I would have to do a two year postbac versus one so that when I apply to med school during my first year of postbac, I'll have grades to show. I spoke to two med students, one DO and one MD, and they both said that instead of wasting time and money on postbac, I should try to get myself on some publications over senior year and the gap year and that will improve my chances greatly. Since these are such converse directions, just looking for advice on what route to take to improve my chances. Also, is it indeed true that doing a postbac near or at your undergrad is a red flag? And lastly, how much would all A's for example in postbac even affect my gpa?

 

[kuzy]

At your current GPA, publications will not help. Especially if you don't make it past the auto-screens, which is 3.0 at most schools. I also don't think your advisor is correct in saying that you need to go out of state for your post-bac to show diversity. In fact, the whole point of doing a DIY post-bac is to be able to improve your academic history/GPA without having to uproot your life to go somewhere for an SMP or formal post-bac program. It doesn't do you any good to apply before your post-bac is complete either. As @Goro says in his reinventors thread, with such a low GPA you'll need to focus on demonstrating a track record of academic success for 1-2 years (3.5+ for DO, 3.7+ for MD) coupled with a solid MCAT score. Doing this at your home institution will be fine, and then you could also work in the lab on the side if you want to.

Keep in mind though that the schools you will be targeting won't care as much about research as you might think. The top 20s certainly do, but your app will likely focus on your state MD, lower tier MD, and DO schools who value patient contact hours and service much more than research. Just something to consider as you plan out the next couple years before your application, especially since it seems like you already have some pretty solid research experience. Good luck!

 

[surge26]

At your current GPA, publications will not help. Especially if you don't make it past the auto-screens, which is 3.0 at most schools. I also don't think your advisor is correct in saying that you need to go out of state for your post-bac to show diversity. In fact, the whole point of doing a DIY post-bac is to be able to improve your academic history/GPA without having to uproot your life to go somewhere for an SMP or formal post-bac program. It doesn't do you any good to apply before your post-bac is complete either. As @Goro says in his reinventors thread, with such a low GPA you'll need to focus on demonstrating a track record of academic success for 1-2 years (3.5+ for DO, 3.7+ for MD) coupled with a solid MCAT score. Doing this at your home institution will be fine, and then you could also work in the lab on the side if you want to.

Keep in mind though that the schools you will be targeting won't care as much about research as you might think. The top 20s certainly do, but your app will likely focus on your state MD, lower tier MD, and DO schools who value patient contact hours and service much more than research. Just something to consider as you plan out the next couple years before your application, especially since it seems like you already have some pretty solid research experience. Good luck!

So the 1-2 years you mentioned, would that include my senior year? I.e. could I get away with doing just one year of postbac? And if this was the case, I should apply the year after finishing the postbac?