Postbacc or SMP

[incomparablefumbling]

Hi everyone! I'm in my last year of college and I'm having second-doubts about pursuing a postbacc over an SMP. In the first three years of college, I mistakenly prioritized friendships and other responsibilities and my GPA took a rather hard hit. However, in this past quarter I worked harder, achieved better grades, and I am confident I have the study skills necessary to continue the upward trend. At the moment my cGPA is ~ 3.0 (a little over) and my sGPA ~ 2.7. My major is Neuroscience and have completed all of the pre-med class requirements except O-Chem (currently taking it right now).

For context my ECCS:
Research: 260+ hrs ; 1 published paper
Shadowing: 90 hrs;
Nonclinical Volunteering: 624 hrs
Clinical Experience: ~1000 hrs
Raised ~$3k for service-related org & served as social chair for cultural org in my sophomore year. Now I am co-president of another org.

I've spoken to my pre-med academic advisor but she didn't really help me determine why pursuing a postbacc is better than an SMP. I've also read through Goro's pre-med reinvention handbook which was very helpful! I hate having anxiety over this so any advice would be very much appreciated.

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[candbgirl]

You might need both. But you should do a post bacc and get your sGPA up to a 3.2+ first. Your chances of getting auto screened are high with a 2.7 sGPA. So fix that first. Good luck.

 

[ablanco]

n=1, 2.7 sGPA but performed really well in an SMP and have had a handful of positive responses after applying broadly (with a lot of immediate R's as well). Also had an avg MCAT prior to the SMP so didn't have to plan that as well. Some who were successful in my program did do some diy-postbacc before and have had promising results.

Edit: Did some reflecting. SMP was very difficult, I had to learn how to study all over again trying to keep up with all the information. Consider the high cost and risk associated with going into one after only having had 1 quarter of positive trend. The postbacc may give you a chance to prove to programs and yourself that you can take on the med school load.

 

[deleted982921]

SMP survivor here - would not recommend until you're able to have a year of consistently high undergrad grades and a strong MCAT performance.

Is there a chance you could add a second science major or degree at your current school? I added a second Chemistry bachelor's to my Neuroscience one and it only took me that extra 5th year because I filed for graduation concurrently so some credits double counted. I benefitted from staying at the same institution in the same routines prior to the SMP, plus being enrolled in a formal academic program through the Chem department gave me access to useful and relevant upper division coursework and a research opportunity

Just a thought!