Post-Bacc GPA, what should I be shooting for ?

[UMP]

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Well, I'm half way through my semester in my informal post-bacc work, and it's a bit harder then I thought. I don't know how attainable that 4.0 that I was already banking on in calculating my future GPA is. I'm trying to improve my app because I had bad grades in undergrad, so I need to do well. What do you think the minimum respectable GPA for this "second-chance" scenerio is ? 3.5, 3.8 ?

 

[utdallasguy2006]

UMP:

I'm sure someone more qualified than me can make a remark on this, but I am in a similar situation as yourself. My undergrad gpa was a 2.6, and I'm doing informal post-bacc right now. My premed advisor here, said that for all undergrads with a GPA less than 3.0, he recommended mininum 60 hours of post bacc work, at a 3.8 or higher. I'm at a 3.84, thru 34 post bacc hours, so I'm hoping after this semester, I can keep it up. It won't be an easy task, because in addition to MCAT, I'm taking 10 hours (Organic II, and 2 neuroscience classes which are bitches). So I'd say shoot for 4.0, but if you're really looking for a lower limit, I wouldn't drop below 3.8; but then again, I have no idea what your previous undergrad GPA was, etc.

 

[sidewalkman]

Yeah, 3.8 sounds about right. I would put 3.7 as an absolute lowest limit.

 

[UMP]

Ok, thanks for the tip. I guess I needed that lower bound to not freak out completely when I'm trending A-/B+ in one of my classes.
I'm in a similair boat at a 2.77

UTDallasguy:
I'm assuming you are retaking some of your classes, how did you decide which ones to retake ? I have a couple C's in Orgo I and II and was thinking of retaking them before the MCAT's. I also have a C+ in Bio I, but I'm taking Bio II right now and that's where my A-/B+ might be coming in.

 

[iapplehead]

ok... so this is one of the questions that i had bothering me... if i have taken most prereqs but need to finish up and have to retake a couple of courses along with more upperlevel science courses, could i do these at my own university since i don't need a "formal" program? or is it better to go to a brand new university for post- bac work?

 

[junebuguf]

For those of you who are lower than a 3.0 cumulative, you really should be aiming for a 4.0. I did about 62 hours of undergrad post-bacc with a 3.95, or thereabouts (two A-'s). And I still did not feel comfortable to submit an amcas last year. I am now in an SMP and still aiming for a 4.0, which will probably get me in somewhere, but only by the skin of my teeth. There are a lot of stories of people with horrendous gpas (<3.0) who only did undergrad post-bacc (with 3.8+) and didnt get in. Not to scare you, but you really need to push yourself. Singing_Devil did two years of post-bacc at Duke with a 4.0 and didnt get in anywhere on his first try. And he had a 37 MCAT. That may be an odd experience, but it happens a lot to low gpa applicants. Dont allow yourself to think a 3.8 is ok, so thats all you need to work towards. You should always be pushing for a 4.0

 

[utdallasguy2006]

Junebug:

No, I know that a 4.0 every semester is the goal; I have 2 A-'s that are contributing to that GPA, so I just have to eliminate those from now on.


UMP:

I had C's in both Orgo I and II, so I retook those, and since I was a bio major already at my undergrad institution, the post bacc courses that I'm taking here at UT-Dallas are from the neuroscience department; they are new classes, which are upper division solely, so they are the best type for me to take and ace, to show I can handle the load.


Of course, I can't afford an SMP, so if the post bacc/new MCAT score doesn't get me into any domestic MD/DO schools, I'll go the Caribbean route most likely.

 

[chaeymaey]

UTD guy, are the neuro classes really that bad? I was thinking of taking some neuro classes at UTD, but I don't really know that much about them. I'm have a psych minor - my only exposure to neuro.

 

[utdallasguy2006]

They are challenging, in the sense that the material presented is pretty voluminous. I've had only 2 of their classes so far, and I thought the classes had quite a bit of material, and tested harder than I would have expected for UTD. I'm enrolled in 2 neuroscience classes right now (neuroanatomy, and sensory neurophys); neuroanatomy is taught by a visiting professor who is god awful...I had hoped to get the guy who normally taught the course, but he's busy doing research this semester I suppose. Overall, I've heard the neuroscience curriculum here is pretty challenging, and supposedly the Texas med schools are aware of this fact; hence, I want to ace all these classes to show them I can handle the load. If I didn't have the MCAT to deal with, then I think I would be able to get A's in both classes fine, but because of the schedule, I'll have to put in quite a bit of studying, even though I'm only taking 10 hours this semester.