Post-bacc - reapplication advice

[Supadock]

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Hi guys,

I applied this cycle and I've had one interview. I am not sure I'll get in this year so I am trying to see what I can do to improve my application.

I am thinking of doing a post-bacc to up my gpa, but I can't find any here Wisconsin, do any of you know of any in WI?

Also, should I apply immediately next cycle if I can take the post-bacc starting early next year or wait? What's the usual reapplication timeline?

Thank you so much for your time.

 

[Catalystik]

You can take postbac classes at any college. You need not do a formal program, which tends to be more expensive.

Without knowing your current uGPA and MCAT, it's hard to say how many credits you'd need to take to be more competitive.

And what are your ECs as of now?

 

[Supadock]

My undergrad GPA is 3.54, BCPM 3.48, a lot of damage was done there when I failed a biochem class :3

My latest MCAT is a 34R

My ECs include multiple shadowing and healthcare related volunteering, being the captain of a varsity sports team and some other stuff.

I completed my secondaries in August, but my letters weren't sent in until september.
It's not looking too promising, I've only had one interview.

I really appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

[Catalystik]

How many terms of good grades do you have since the disaster grade in Biochem, and what is you year-by-year BCPM? How many months and total hours of clinical experience do you have? Any research? Any nonmedical community service?


Your uGPA isn't that bad, and your MCAT score (if balanced) is enough to compensate for it at less-selective schools. If your Biochem was 3rd year, then you have one good year after that, and maybe one more semester of good grades would be enough to establish an upward trend. If Biochem was your 4th year, establishing a downward trend, then that's not good.

Did you apply to a lot of safe schools? Having some more-selective schools on your list is fine, provided there are plenty of realistic "target" schools there, too.

 

[Supadock]

I did do a summer of research. Hours wise, a did a few months of each several times a week for about 2 hours, I know that's terribly vague but it's not like 100s like some other people on here.

I also tutored academics, coached sports, was involved in media (music, film) production during free time

The GPA trend is downward which sucks because I made a few terrible class choices my final year, but I did pass biochem.

My school list is pretty conservative with several higher ranked schools.

 

[Catalystik]

Can you start a do-it-youself postbac in January at a local school?

I failed a biochem class

I did pass biochem

You mean you failed Biochem and then retook and did better?

A summer of research shows you tried it. You might consider filling other holes in your Experiences list, starting now, so it is stronger, and so you can show you improved your application if you need to reapply. This is also good for update letters and interview conversations. The tutoring, coaching, athletics, hobbies/artistic endeavor, and shadowing look good.

 

[Supadock]

Yeah, I retook it and did better, but I didn't get an A.

I'll try to inquire about a do-it-yourself at my local colleges.

Do you think it's a good idea to enroll even though there's a chance I might still get in? I guess it'll make a good update. Could I just take a semester of courses you think?

Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[Catalystik]

Do you think it's a good idea to enroll even though there's a chance I might still get in? I guess it'll make a good update. Could I just take a semester of courses you think?

You'll have to balance your odds of an acceptance, vs none, vs waitlist and decide how much risk you want to take:

1)If you wait until June and don't have an improved application on a few levels, and get no acceptance, then there's no point in reapplying in June 2011.

2) If you are put on a waitlist, then communicating improvements in the application can make a difference for this cycle. If it doesn't get you off the waitlist, you are ready to reapply in June 2011 with an improved application.

3) If you engage in new coursework in January, and get off the waitlist early, due to perhaps update letters about ECs, the first year of med school will still be easier due to pre-exposure to coursework you'll be taking. So upper-level science classes won't be wasted, but they will have incurred expense. Less stress in the first year may well be worth it.

4) If you sign up for January classes and get an acceptance before classes begin, you can cancel the registration and get most of the money back (probably, but check out the policy).

5) As to whether one semester would be sufficient: what was your cGPA and BCPM for each of the last two semesters you spent in college. If either was low, then I suggest you consider taking more postbac classes next fall to more solidly establish that you can reliably produce great grades. These can be reported via update letter at he end of fall semester.

6) Does doing all this guarantee you'll get an acceptance somewhere? No, unfortunately you could go to all this work and have your application sabotaged by a bad LOR, Primary Statement that doesn't have the right tone, or a poor interview. It's for you to judge what level of effort is worthwhile toward a nonguaranteed future.

 

[DrDrummer]

If you apply again, definitely expand your school list. Just because a place has a lower rank is fairly meaningless if you're bright and are a hard worker. That might be easy for me to say, since I specifically avoided applying to "reach" schools since I thought that was a waste of money that wouldn't pay dividends, given that with a few exceptions, an MD is an MD is an MD, but having interviewed at a lot of places with lower quantative stats, I feel like many would be awesome places to get an education.