postbacc grades?

[MD831]

Hi guys,

I graduated last May and took this year off while I applied to medical schools. I ended up getting three interviews--2 of which I still have yet to hear from (WLed at the other). However, given my low GPA, I wanted to look at some contingency plans in case I was not accepted this cycle.

My application overall is generally pretty strong from my letters to my extracurriculars. With a low GPA, the most logical remedy would be to take classes over the summer/coming year or to enter into a 1-year post bacc program. However, since application season begins in a few months, those grades would not be available until much later.

How does that work? There seem to be so many programs that are designed specifically for students who want to raise their GPA. Do these students apply before they've started the program?

I've been sending application updates and staying on top of my contacts with the school... I feel like my application would not be all that different if I reapplied...

Anyhow, if anyone has some insight, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!


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For reference:
Non-URM
science GPA: 3.24
nonscience GPA: 2.99
MCAT: 36Q

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[gman33]

Congrats on the great MCAT, but that overall gpa is going to kill you at most schools. It's also the hardest thing to fix. Doing postbacc work, you'd need to do a whole other degree at 4.0, just to get it to 3.5.

So what do you do?
Another year of upper level ug courses would help.
The other option is a SMP.

This wouldn't help you at all for this cycle since you haven't done any of it yet. You could look into programs that have linkage. If you qualify, that would save you having another gap year.

If money isn't that big an issue, you could try reapplying to med schools this year as you do additional course work. I wouldn't expect any different results until you bring up the gpa. If you are thinking about DO schools, they might be more forgiving given the nice MCAT. You could also just retake a few low grades, and for DO schools, they will only count the new grades. You could maybe even do that over the summer and have that be reflected on a DO app for next cycle.

 

[pietachok]

Well the first thing I'd say is you want to do something quick even if it is expensive, and you want to try to use that MCAT score, b/c if you retake the MCAT, you risk decreasing your score.

One possibility is just to enroll in a 1-year masters program. You can often apply after the deadline, since you have to pay the tuition, many aren't full. Don't tell them you're planning to go to med school necessarily, and they might take you. Tell them you want to do a PhD but felt you needed to boost your credentials w/ a masters first.

Look at something like what MSSM has (Med Prep I think it is called), it is not a traditional Post-bacc program. If you did your pre-med requirements already you can't really do the standard postbacc's.

 

[MD831]

Thanks guys!

So just to clarify... if I enroll in a one year master's in biomedical sciences program or take spring/summer quarter classes (basically anything to bring up the GPA for 2009-10), will I have a better shot for entering medical school in 2010?

Right now my options are
(1) go abroad for medical school Aug 2009
or
(2) hang in there and reapply in May 2009 for the entering class of 2010.

I'm okay with taking another year off, but don't want to take another two... so I'm wondering what my best options would be in order to successfully reapply in the coming cycle.

I really appreciate the feedback!

 

[gman33]

Since you haven't done anything yet to improve your app, I don't think you are ready to reapply. You could do it anyway, but I wouldn't expect different results. Maybe DO schools will give you a better shot, if you apply to a bunch of them.

You could do the carib, but just make sure you know what you are in for. You may save 2 years now, but it may make it harder to get where you want in the long run.

The quickest way to boost you app, is to retake any real low grades and apply to DO schools. Another option is to find a SMP with linkage. You may not qualify for that based on your previous grades.

 

[MD831]

Hmm... well here's the thing... I haven't done done absolutely nothing... What I meant was that I provided all of what I have done in updates to schools, so it's not technically "new" when I reapply in May...

I guess I feel like whatever I do extracurricularly may not be enough to make up for the GPA. So... I guess I'm asking
- whether I absolutely need to bring my GPA up to be competitive
and
- for those 1 year programs designed for people who want to bring up their GPA... how is it that applicants from these programs are successful if the grades aren't available until December or January when the application cycle is near-finished? do these people commonly take 2 years so that those grades are available for AMCAS?


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Just to give you a better idea... here's some of the updates I sent out after my secondaries:
- volunteer work/shadowing abroad
- EMT certified/working as an EMT
- 4 publications accepted to peer-review journals
- 1 abstract accepted to international conference


Sorry if I'm misunderstanding anything... this is a problem I've been deliberating for awhile and I just want to make sure I explore all options before I make any decisions... although I'm hoping at least one of my three interviews results in an acceptance ! thanks!

Thanks again!

 

[MD831]

also... rereading your reply gman... what did you mean by programs with linkage?

 

[talbo]

those are some nice updates esp. the pubs. The linkage he refers to, I think means that the SMPs have relationships with medical schools that doing well in the SMP guarantees and interview at those school or bonus points or something. Good luck!

 

[dohgrl76]

I'm also really curious about how an SMP helps if there are no actual grades yet by the time the application is sent in. Does that mean taking 2 years off is necessary? Or maybe just send in the first semester grades in December and hope for the best? I will likely have to reapply, and I am debating between continuing my current research job that I hate, or investing in an SMP at Loyola or Rosalind Franklin. I have already taken one year off though, and I really don't want to have to take off another. Thanks for the help!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

from what I've seen, schools in general do a fast pass-through on amcas primaries, and the applicant either makes the academic cut, or he/she does not.

Any program you're in that does not provide grades by the July or so amcas primary submission timeframe, in general, wouldn't matter -- the school would have already made a decision.

I recall that the Loyola program guarantees an interview with the med school provided you do the SMP and meet certain other requirements -- the requirement that I found strange was that (a year ago) the 2 most recent MCAT scores had to be above a 28 to qualify for the guaranteed med school interview.. um, my first one was below that which is why I needed to reapply to med schools and took the second MCAT, which was far enough above that threshold to not matter (i.e. competitive applicant without SMP).. why would an applicant take a 3rd MCAT? Unless the SMP is just looking for high MCAT/low GPA candidates maybe?