Really low gpa need advice.

[jhman21]

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[HappyHobPod]

Hello,

I'm new to this site and would like to know what I should do. I'm in a really weird situation and would like some insight. My Sgpa is extremely low due to my first 2.5 years in undergrad. I retook Chem 1/Calc 1 a total of 4 times. Failed introduction level classes such as Statistics/biology classes.

Age-24
College- nyu
Cgpa- 2.9
Sgpa- around 2.6 (partied like crazy/ typical fraternity boy - 2.0 freshman/sophomore year/half of junior year).
If i take out calc 1/chem 1/human biology and stats my sgpa jumps up to 3.43 and cgpa jumps up to 3.55.

MCAT- 26( 10V,8P,8B) / New mcat practice scores around (503-507)
200 hours volunteering at the hospital.
50 hours volunteering at the homeless shelter.
20 hours shadowing podiatrist.

Pre-Req Grades
Chem 1 ( F,F,C-, B+)
Calc 1 (C-,C-,D,A)
Calc 2 (A)
Stats (F)
Human Biology- (D,C+)
Bio 1/2- (B,B+)
Chem 2- (A-)
Physics 1/2- (B+,B)
Orgo 1/2 (B+,B)
Genetics (A-)
Biochem (B+)
Anatomy/Physiology (A)

Courses that are pending
Microbio/ Immunology- Expected grade : (B+,B+)

I was looking into NYPOM January class, Barry and Scholl.
Should I even apply this year or am i wasting my time and money applying to podiatric school ?

Thank You.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you may have a particularly tough time receiving an interview this year. Probably the biggest issue is that you may be auto rejected due to your lower GPA. Pod Schools don't have grade forgiveness, so you will essentially receive a dilution of the highest score you've made in the classes you have retaken for as many times as you've taken it. Most of your science courses tell a different story away from your math classes, chem 1, and human biology, so I'm not sure how that would play out for you. You should certainly strive for A's in your remaining classes. And you will likely need to have a great MCAT score to offset your lower GPA. Your MCAT score you can improve on in a relatively short amount of time, so shoot for as high as you can as I don't think you could afford to make anything less than in the range of practice scores you've been hitting. To boost your GPA even further you would need to enroll in a masters program or some post bac., but that's time and money. All in all, in your current state I don't think you would have much luck. You should wait to apply, and apply early, in a later cycle. How much of your GPA that you can salvage will depend on how much time and money you are willing to dedicate to just that. Best of luck!

 

[dr.phoot]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you may have a particularly tough time receiving an interview this year. Probably the biggest issue is that you may be auto rejected due to your lower GPA. Pod Schools don't have grade forgiveness, so you will essentially receive a dilution of the highest score you've made in the classes you have retaken for as many times as you've taken it. Most of your science courses tell a different story away from your math classes, chem 1, and human biology, so I'm not sure how that would play out for you. You should certainly strive for A's in your remaining classes. And you will likely need to have a great MCAT score to offset your lower GPA. Your MCAT score you can improve on in a relatively short amount of time, so shoot for as high as you can as I don't think you could afford to make anything less than in the range of practice scores you've been hitting. To boost your GPA even further you would need to enroll in a masters program or some post bac., but that's time and money. All in all, in your current state I don't think you would have much luck. You should wait to apply, and apply early, in a later cycle. How much of your GPA that you can salvage will depend on how much time and money you are willing to dedicate to just that. Best of luck!

Hey, Justin:

I'm in a similar situation as the original poster and was actually going to make a similar thread. I have a multiple repeated courses without getting As on the repeats.

You mentioned being auto-rejected. How does that play out for someone who is repairing their GPA since there's no grade replacement? I graduated, but my grades couldn't even get me into a master's program; I'm in the process of repeating some coursework before applying for a master's in chemistry.

Your post suggests there certainly is hope despite the hole the OP and I find ourselves in. I am actually looking to apply for 2018 Fall semester, so I'm not really in a rush.

Anyway, so a masters program will prevent the auto-rejection? My undergrad GPA was below a 2.5 (both cum and science).

 

[jhman21]

I was told by the admission counselor to do one of the three things.
1). SMP
2). Retake classes to boost sgpa
3). Post-bac

Gpa= unacceptable for all pod schools.
Mcat= competitive for all pod schools.

Most likely will just apply to D.O schools with the intent of getting into an orthopedic residency.


Thank You for the help.

 

[CardsFan92]

SMP/Post-bac is your best bet for some serious GPA repair. Do well, and you should get interviews.

 

[Podman16]

Hey, Justin:

I'm in a similar situation as the original poster and was actually going to make a similar thread. I have a multiple repeated courses without getting As on the repeats.

You mentioned being auto-rejected. How does that play out for someone who is repairing their GPA since there's no grade replacement? I graduated, but my grades couldn't even get me into a master's program; I'm in the process of repeating some coursework before applying for a master's in chemistry.

Your post suggests there certainly is hope despite the hole the OP and I find ourselves in. I am actually looking to apply for 2018 Fall semester, so I'm not really in a rush.

Anyway, so a masters program will prevent the auto-rejection? My undergrad GPA was below a 2.5 (both cum and science).

With a GPA below 2.5 I think that you might need to ask yourself if a career in medicine is right for you. Medical school is going to be a few steps up from undergrad and the level of commitment will be much higher than it was in undergrad. I realize that there are circumstances out of some students control, but continually repeating undergrad courses and not succeeding might be a big warning sign. I could be completely wrong but that's my opinion

 

[HappyHobPod]

Hey, Justin:

I'm in a similar situation as the original poster and was actually going to make a similar thread. I have a multiple repeated courses without getting As on the repeats.

You mentioned being auto-rejected. How does that play out for someone who is repairing their GPA since there's no grade replacement? I graduated, but my grades couldn't even get me into a master's program; I'm in the process of repeating some coursework before applying for a master's in chemistry.

Your post suggests there certainly is hope despite the hole the OP and I find ourselves in. I am actually looking to apply for 2018 Fall semester, so I'm not really in a rush.

Anyway, so a masters program will prevent the auto-rejection? My undergrad GPA was below a 2.5 (both cum and science).

So I am mainly speaking from the trends I have seen on this forum since I have started using it and from information given by other users. I'll start by saying that the average cGPA and sGPA for recent years of accepted student is roughly 3.3 and 3.2 respectively, and rising. There's cushion for acceptance/interview invites if you don't meet the average GPA score but you have an average-above average MCAT score. The auto rejection cutoff for GPA does not seem to be consistent between schools since some individuals have been auto rejected at some schools and then accepted at others, so your best bet for finding out what that cutoff line is would be by contacting each school individually. However, unless you have extenuating circumstances, I can guarantee you that under a 2.5 would be well under that line unfortunately. The silver lining is in what you can do to repair it and to maybe show that you are much more serious/capable than you were in your undergrad, which would be like some of these other guys have said is through SMP or post bac.

 

[Weirdy]

I was told by the admission counselor to do one of the three things.
1). SMP
2). Retake classes to boost sgpa
3). Post-bac

Gpa= unacceptable for all pod schools.
Mcat= competitive for all pod schools.

Most likely will just apply to D.O schools with the intent of getting into an orthopedic residency.


Thank You for the help.

Hey bud, your admission counselor is pretty dead on in terms of things you can do to bump that GPA. I've heard the same exact thing from an admission's counselor to one of the D.O. schools here in Texas actually. Retake courses at community college level and ace them, do a post-bac and finish with 3.7+ gpa, or do a master's.

Applying to D.O. schools will be another animal. Even without grade replacement, the lower grades will be a big red mark on your transcript when you apply.

If you can, retake the mcat and go for that 510 combined. A 26 might be able to get you into some D.O. schools but from what I've seen from school websites its usually 28-30 on the old one. Someone correct me if this is outdated or wrong. Offsetting a low gpa with a high mcat to show them you can kill standardized exams really helps your case.

I fully support your decision to apply D.O. if pod is just going to auto reject based on GPA. But it won't get any easier going the D.O. route. Just be aware of that when you apply. Its going to be hard either way. A lot of people here will put it more bluntly but we're all just trying to help you.

 

[bobtheweazel]

AZPod, DMU, and CSPM definitely autoscreen for GPA. Kent, NYCPM, Western, and Temple definitely do not autoscreen for GPA and will at least review the entire application before rejecting or interviewing students. Not sure about Barry and Scholl.

The autocutoffs are around 2.70 or 2.75 depending on the school.

I had emailed all of the schools about this at the beginning of the cycle. Barry and Scholl never responded.

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[JDunc]

I would not go into a masters program unless you are serious about a few things:

1) Doing well in the masters program
2) Serious about continuing education beyond the masters program

I am a graduate student pursuing a M.S. and PhD. Graduate school may not have the work load that a pod student or MD/DO student has but it definitely is a step up from undergraduate course work. Here is my work load for Fall 2016:

Cell Biology MWF 10:00-10:50 and M 6:00-6:50
Research Design and Analysis MWF 1:00-1:50
Advanced Molecular Techniques of Model Organisms MW 2:00-3:50
Biology Seminar MW 4:00-4:50

I will be a Graduate Research Assistant in Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 so I will also have:

TR Research 8:00-5:00
Saturday Research 8:00-12:00

You could get into a M.A. Non-Thesis track instead of the M.S. Thesis track that I am in. A masters will do 1 of 2 things for you:

1) Do well and get into Pod school or a MD/DO program
2) Do poorly and you will not get in

Note: If you do an M.S. Thesis track then you could potentially get an assistantship. I have a 100% tuition waiver and an annual stipend.


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[JDunc]

So I am mainly speaking from the trends I have seen on this forum since I have started using it and from information given by other users. I'll start by saying that the average cGPA and sGPA for recent years of accepted student is roughly 3.3 and 3.2 respectively, and rising. There's cushion for acceptance/interview invites if you don't meet the average GPA score but you have an average-above average MCAT score. The auto rejection cutoff for GPA does not seem to be consistent between schools since some individuals have been auto rejected at some schools and then accepted at others, so your best bet for finding out what that cutoff line is would be by contacting each school individually. However, unless you have extenuating circumstances, I can guarantee you that under a 2.5 would be well under that line unfortunately. The silver lining is in what you can do to repair it and to maybe show that you are much more serious/capable than you were in your undergrad, which would be like some of these other guys have said is through SMP or post bac.

Correct me if I am wrong but don't a lot of SMP and Post bac programs require a certain GPA as well?


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[ERDOC555]

Most likely will just apply to D.O schools with the intent of getting into an orthopedic residency.

Do not do that for those reasons!

If you are okay with primary care or non-competitive specialties, then definitely go D.O.

The odds of matching ortho in D.O. especially post merger are almost zero. If you won't be happy in other fields besides ortho you will hate yourself after Med School.

 

[HappyHobPod]

Correct me if I am wrong but don't a lot of SMP and Post bac programs require a certain GPA as well?


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I'm sure that is the case! However, I can't tell you which one's do or what their standards are. I'm sure if these individuals do a little digging then they will be able to find if and how they can begin the steps towards repairing their GPA's. There's certainly more options in this scenario than there are Podiatry schools.

 

[dr.phoot]

Thanks again to everyone who posted. I appreciate the suggestions. I'll continue on with the pursuit of the masters in chemistry with the intention of applying to pod school.

If it doesn't work out, I know I tried my best; I wouldn't mind using the masters in Chem to land a job in environmental protection for the government.

Pod first though. I'll cross the other bridges as when I get there.

 

[TheFootDoc]

I was told by the admission counselor to do one of the three things.
1). SMP
2). Retake classes to boost sgpa
3). Post-bac

Gpa= unacceptable for all pod schools.
Mcat= competitive for all pod schools.

Most likely will just apply to D.O schools with the intent of getting into an orthopedic residency.


Thank You for the help.

only if it were that easy...

 

[jhman21]

Just received my cgpa/sgpa
cgpa= 3.14 sgpa 2.83 (upward trend) mcat 26(10V,8P.8B).
200 hours volunteering at the hospital.
50 hours volunteering at the homeless shelter.
20 hours shadowing podiatrist.

Chances for NYPOM jan class.

Thanks