questions about a few things

[josebiwasabi]

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hi everyone,

i am wondering what my chances at podiatry school would be. i'm currently a senior at USC (university of southern california), and will be taking a year off to make a little bit of money, study for the MCAT, and shadow a podiatrist or two before i hopefully enroll in podiatry school.

unfortunately, my stats are pretty low.

cGPA: 3.066
sGPA: 2.800

i am currently taking genetics and 1st semester physics where i am currently getting a B in both (hopefully it will go up after the final) and i am also taking 4 science classes next semester (human anatomy, biochemistry, cell biology, and 2nd semester physics). my cGPA should go up to 3.1xx after this semester.

i have not taken the MCATs yet, but assuming my cGPA is around a 3.1 and my sGPA is around 2.9 to 3.0, what score would i need to get on my MCATs to balance them out and become a competitive applicant?

finally, do pod schools take into account the prestige of the school? USC is obviously not a super top-tier school, but our SAT averages are higher than UCLA and Berkeley and 90% of our students were in the 10% of their graduating classes, etc.

thanks!

 

[handoverfist77]

Get above a 20, and I'm willing to bet you will get in somewhere. Good luck 👍

 

[air bud]

sorry to say this, but based on your past, I can't imagine next semester doing much to improve your overall grade point. Taking those 4 classes would make for an incredibly hard schedule. While Biochem would be a useful class, consider taking it after you apply. You will still get the knowledge that will be useful, and you will give yourself a better chance of excelling at the necessary classes you need for the MCAT. 3 science classes is hard enough. thats my opinion.

EDIT: just re-read your post. I understand you need science credits to try and boost your GPA, but even two classes this semester and then one in the summer might be better. Cell Bio is un-necessary at this point. If you still want 3, choose Biochem over Cell.

 

[josebiwasabi]

it isn't that i'm taking these science classes to boost my gpa (although that would be nice if it happened). i'm double majoring in east asian languages and culture and biology. i need to take 1 more upper div class (cell bio), biochem and physics are major requirements, and i think i would benefit from taking human anatomy. i chose cell bio because it is one of the few upper divs that had no lab requirement, and i aminterested in it. the other ones without labs are environmental biology stuff.

oh and i recalculated my current grades in genetics and physics and i'm currently getting B+'s in both 🙂

thanks for the comments though!

 

[Shireiqiang]

Handoverfist77 is right, get above a 20 and you should be able to get in somewhere. If you can get around a 25 you will have more options. Don't let that gpa slip any lower. Good luck on the MCAT!

 

[Lemon Tea]

Most schools currently have their MCAT average around 22-23... so if u can get a score above that, your chances are pretty good. Just make sure to shadow more podiatrists! Good luck!!

 

[mildoc2016]

you will likely get in to one of the schools whom have their class capped higher such as ocpm/nycmp/barry.

your gpa in undergrad is ok but not stellar, but depending on how hard you apply yourself- i personally know those whom have similar stats when compared to yours and they are doing fine.

i have also met students whom\ had 4.0 gpas and failed out.

shoot for at leats a 22, but the higher your score the better off in admissions you will be

 

[ckjets]

i have also met students whom\ had 4.0 gpas and failed out.

No you have not

 

[mildoc2016]

No you have not

fyi do you really know ALL of the people that I know? No offense but you are still listed as pre podiatry while i am much farther along in podiatry school.

if you are in podiatry school, then you should know there are more than just academic reasons for failing out.

 

[air bud]

then you should clarify that you have known 4.0 students (previously) whom have failed out due to non-academic reasons. I highly doubt a 4.0 student has trouble with the material in pod school, regardless of grade inflation that may occur in undergrad. I would venture to guess the a majority of people that drop out of pod school are due to non-academic reasons.

 

[Sig Savant]

Who cares if he met someone with a 4.0 that failed. Find some other trivial garbage to start useless fights about.

air bud, people fail out all of the time due to academics. Just because you are not in danger of failing does not mean that others aren't struggling.

Your target MCAT should not be a 22/23. I've said it before, and I'll post it every time I can in the prepod forums. What if I told you some schools offer up to $30,000 scholarships for people with good MCAT scores? Your target score should be 45. Realistically, shoot for 30. That extra studying can earn you a lot of money.

 

[sorham]

"Your target MCAT should not be a 22/23. I've said it before, and I'll post it every time I can in the prepod forums. What if I told you some schools offer up to $30,000 scholarships for people with good MCAT scores? Your target score should be 45. Realistically, shoot for 30. That extra studying can earn you a lot of money."

I agree I hate that people shoot so low, I wish the average would get up to high twenties, it is so easy to get a 20-21 on the MCAT, you can do that without studying at all, just pay attention in undergrad. Study a little and high twenties or low thirties is definitely doable! I wish this became the norm for Podiatry. No offense to anyone but if you can't get at least mid twenties with lots of diligent study then how are you going to pass boards?

 

[air bud]

Who cares if he met someone with a 4.0 that failed. Find some other trivial garbage to start useless fights about.

air bud, people fail out all of the time due to academics. Just because you are not in danger of failing does not mean that others aren't struggling.

Your target MCAT should not be a 22/23. I've said it before, and I'll post it every time I can in the prepod forums. What if I told you some schools offer up to $30,000 scholarships for people with good MCAT scores? Your target score should be 45. Realistically, shoot for 30. That extra studying can earn you a lot of money.

academic and non-academic failure is not black and white, i understand. I would think that many of the people that are "academically" failing are having problems at home, whether with the move, the added responsibility, a spouse....and these influence a students studies. All I am saying is that a student that is focused, attends and studies is not likely to fail out due to not being able to grasp the material. not trying to be confrontational.

 

[josebiwasabi]

sorry for bumping my old thread!

here's an update on my situation:

i graduated! my cGPA and sGPA are about the same as they are in the OP and i'm currently working full time while studying at night for the september 11th MCAT. i took the AAMC 3 (the easiest one, i know lol) as a pre-test prior to any studying and i got a 26 (8b8p10v).

i'm using the examkrackers study material and on their end-of-chapter exams i've been averaging scaled scores of 10-12 for the b/p sections and around 9-10 for the v. hopefully with more studying i'll get to the point where i can get consistent double digits on my practice exams.

i know people tend to score slightly lower on the real thing, but it would be nice to hit the 30 mark. if by some chance i were to hit 30 i know i'd have a good shot at acceptance to most places, but would it make me eligible for any scholarships, considering my lower than average gpa? is there a website that has the average merit scholarship recipient stats for each school?

thanks!

 

[josebiwasabi]

so i just got my MCAT results back...

10b8v9p for a 27Q. i know my MCAT is competitive but does my low GPA prevent me from being a competitive applicant? i really am not sure... 🙁

do i have any chance at schools like scholl or dmu?

thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[dyk343]

so i just got my MCAT results back...

10b8v9p for a 27Q. i know my MCAT is competitive but does my low GPA prevent me from being a competitive applicant? i really am not sure... 🙁

do i have any chance at schools like scholl or dmu?

thanks in advance for any feedback!

I think you have a pretty good shot at DMU or Scholl. Good luck.

 

[dtrack22]

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[dtrack22]

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[dyk343]

I just remember visiting other programs where people would say how much better it was than DMU or AZPOD or Scholl (prob my top 3 in terms of consistently accepting and producing strong student), when clearly the only thing that was "cool" was that you were near LA or San Fran or NYC. The schools were dumps, the students weren't as motivated and people still thought the program was better.

What did you think was so dumpy about the west coast schools? I thought some of the East coast schools were way "dumpier" I didnt interview at Ohio but I hear its the "nicest"

AND I 100% concur with the N Chicago comment.

Disclaimer: I dont want to come off as saying the West Coast schools are greater than the East coast schools. I just liked the west and midwest schools (minus Ohio as I did not interview there) the best as a personal preference. East coast schools just seemed really old. Which doesnt mean they are bad schools. In fact attending an older school with a large alumni can have its benefits.

 

[dtrack22]

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