premed mph student

[iluvepi33]

Hello,

I am currently getting my Master's in Public Health at San Diego State...I'm thinking of applying to med school next year, but not sure if it is worth a shot. I got a B.S. from UC Santa Cruz in Health Sciences (Biology for pre-meds) but my undergrad GPA was only a 3.0. Does anyone know if having your M.P.H., and getting excellent grad school grades, can outweigh this? I don't know where to find resources for grad student premeds. I have not taken the MCAT yet but I have good extracurriculars and experience. I want to know if this is feasible before I put in the time and money to apply!

Thanks!

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[Analog]

Well, grad school marks are on a different scale, so although your undergrad GPA is still a little low, with a good MCAT score it is reasonable to say you could make it into a program (probably DO, the entrance requirements are a lower than MD schools). Having great marks in grad school i would assume would be useful in showing that you can handle yourself beyond undergrad. If you can do some kind of post-bac though to raise your undergrad gpa, that would help a LOT.

Just concentrate on that MCAT mark before worrying about applying.

EDIT- i'm actually unsure how DO schools factor in grad school grades. Better get clarification. Looking at your stats in general though I'd say aim for DO.

 

[Catalystik]

Allopathic med school admissions committees don't consider the grad school GPA. A 3.0 uGPA would not be competitive. If you can get a good MCAT score, you might be able to get into a special masters program, the only kind of masters that will compensate for a low undergrad GPA.

Osteopathic med schools do factor the grad school GPA into an overall application GPA, but I don't know that this means it helps you. Maybe someone on the Pre-osteopathic Forum could advise you on this. If you retake classes you did poorly in, the DO schools only look at the most recent grade in calculating your application GPA, so that would give you a option of fast GPA repair.

 

[J ROD]

Simply, you are going to have to raise your undergrad GPA and get a 33+ MCAT.