Reapplication post-SMP

[Notaparamagician]

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Hey everyone, I'm looking for some input from more knowledgeable applicants on the state of my application. I'm graduating from an SMP in a few months with around a 3.9-3.97 GPA given my final course grade. I've been building a list of local schools that will more likely recognize my SMP, but I'm having some difficulty determining which MCAT/GPA range I should be shooting for. Some background first.

I basically flunked out of undergrad in 2014, choosing not to return given a semester of F's following an ankle fracture, with a good downward trend in the preceding year. This is my biggest problem (obviously). I returned to school a semester later and spent the next 2 years at a no name 4 year while performing 300+ hrs of research and accumulating 750ish hours as an ER scribe. I also spent a little bit of time tutoring ~20 hrs or so. I graduated summa cum laude with a GPA of 3.7ish. This rounds out my entire uGPA to an even 2.92.

I took the MCAT in Aug 2017, 517 95th percentile, while working as an EMT. I have over 2500 hrs as an EMT in very medically underserved communities, giving me over 3000 hrs clinical experience counting my time as a scribe which was not hands on but very patient interactive. I have about 100 hrs volunteering in a clinical setting, completed in 2011, with some more to come (I'm currently in the background check process with a local hospital).

TLDR; Given my stats 2.92 uGPA, 3.9ish gradGPA, 3000+ clinical hrs, 300+ hrs wet bench research, 517 (95th) MCAT, ~100 hrs clinical volunteering, what schools and MCAT/GPA ranges should I be applying to? I've heard on other forums that adcoms consider gradGPA by averaging it with the uGPA, which would give me around a 3.45. I don't know if this is true, and if it is, whether I should be aiming for this GPA range, or higher ranges given my SMP GPA and my large upward trend.

Any constructive criticism welcome. Thanks.

 

[docmcstuffins3]

First off great job on the come back! My only concern is I think some places screen out any undergrad GPA less than 3.0 despite your great performance on your SMP and awesome MCAT. If you could just take a few undergrad upper level courses to get you to a 3.0 I think you could get some interviews. But according to the aamc data with your Ucurrent gpa and mcat acceptance rate is only 33%. With an average of the 2 GPAs 66% acceptance (but I dont know which MD schools do this)

 

[JSReed]

First off great job on the come back! My only concern is I think some places screen out any undergrad GPA less than 3.0 despite your great performance on your SMP and awesome MCAT. If you could just take a few undergrad upper level courses to get you to a 3.0 I think you could get some interviews. But according to the aamc data with your Ucurrent gpa and mcat acceptance rate is only 33%. With an average of the 2 GPAs 66% acceptance (but I dont know which MD schools do this)

Agreed. From my experience, ugpa and grad gpa are utilized differently (with more weight on ugpa--for reasons I'm not convinced of). How deep are you units-wise? Might be worthwhile to take a few classes to get over 3.0.

 

[Notaparamagician]

Unfortunately, over 6 years of undergrad left me with 208 credits. To bring my uGPA up to a 3.0, I would have to take a full semester of 4 credit classes and get straight A's. While this is achievable, it is less than ideal as I am just finishing a 1 year SMP with grad loans and am not entirely in the position to put off apps for another year just to take another semester (potentially year) of undergrad classes.

 

[MusicalMed]

I was in a very similar situation to you. My uGPA was just a little over 3.0, with my gGPA ~3.9. Also did pretty well on the MCAT, but that was back in the days before the 500-something scores. I will say, I had to knock multiple times to get in, however, I eventually did get accepted into an allopathic med school.

Of course, I am merely an n=1, however, I had several classmates in my SMP that were successfully accepted into both allopathic/osteopathic programs. Does your SMP have a "feeder" medical school linked to it? One where many post-SMP grads get accepted? That may be a good place to start.

 

[Notaparamagician]

My program is associated with a medical school which guarantees and interview given performance in said program. However, if what the others are saying is true, I feel like I might get filtered out from any school I apply to.

 

[Notaparamagician]

First off great job on the come back! My only concern is I think some places screen out any undergrad GPA less than 3.0 despite your great performance on your SMP and awesome MCAT. If you could just take a few undergrad upper level courses to get you to a 3.0 I think you could get some interviews. But according to the aamc data with your Ucurrent gpa and mcat acceptance rate is only 33%. With an average of the 2 GPAs 66% acceptance (but I dont know which MD schools do this)

Sorry, I didn't realize I have to reply directly in these forums.
Unfortunately, over 6 years of undergrad left me with 208 credits. To bring my uGPA up to a 3.0, I would have to take a full semester of 4 credit classes and get straight A's. While this is achievable, it is less than ideal as I am just finishing a 1 year SMP with grad loans and am not entirely in the position to put off apps for another year just to take another semester (potentially year) of undergrad classes.

 

[Notaparamagician]

Agreed. From my experience, ugpa and grad gpa are utilized differently (with more weight on ugpa--for reasons I'm not convinced of). How deep are you units-wise? Might be worthwhile to take a few classes to get over 3.0.

Sorry, I am unfamiliar with SDN, and did not realized I had to post a reply directly.

Unfortunately, over 6 years of undergrad left me with 208 credits. To bring my uGPA up to a 3.0, I would have to take a full semester of 4 credit classes and get straight A's. While this is achievable, it is less than ideal as I am just finishing a 1 year SMP with grad loans and am not entirely in the position to put off apps for another year just to take another semester (potentially year) of undergrad classes.