Postbac or SMP?

[_Jericho_]

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Hello all, I find myself in a not too unusual predicament. I want to go to med school but my science GPA poses an obstacle, its only a 3.35 🙁 and overall is 3.6. My premed advisor tells me that I need to raise it with either a postbac or an SMP before applying. Basically my advisors say with grades like mine it ani't gonna happen. Either one will take me a year to do but the SMP is more expensive. I'm wondering which would be better for me. Is a postbac enough or do I need to finish a SMP like the ones at GT and BU? Also, I've been out of school for about a year now. In undergrad I majored in Bio and Philo; wasn't sure what I really wanted but after working at a hospital for a year decided that medicine is a good fit for me. Reading these threads I see many people in similar situations where their GPA's are preventing them from getting into med schol. I'm hoping some of my fellow SDNers out there can lend a helping hand and offer some advice. Much thanks and appreciation! 😍

 

[daeojkim]

Hi,

I don't think that you would need to do post bac. If you can crack 30 in MCAT, I would apply for SMP programs. That is the best way to show adcom that you can handle medical school classes.

With your science GPA, you will have a tough time getting into allopathic med school, but depeding on your MCAT score, you do have a descent chance at DO schools.

Either way, I would concentrate on MCAT for now. Once you have the score then you can decide to either retake MCAT or apply to SMP / med schools.

 

[relentless11]

I would personally prefer to do an SMP. IMO, it has the same (or better) effect as a post-bacc when combined with a good MCAT score. If you do get into an SMP, then ones GPA was proven to be acceptable by their standards.

The only thing that I may recommend is to ask the schools that you want to get into about what they prefer given your GPA. As the person above me stated, the MCAT will be important, but doing well in future challenging science classes, whether they be upper div undergrad or med school level will be required.