Rough start

[SplitBrain]

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Ok guys so here it is, During my first year of school I did extremely poor. Ending up with about a 2.0.

My second year I kicked it into gear and pulled out a 4.0. I decided during my third year to retake the classes I got c's in, this brought my Cumulative to around a 3.8-3.9, at least according to the college.

My question isn't really what are my chances, but when Im applying to med school will they see the 3.8 cum or will they average the gpa from all my classes, regardless of if I took them again?

I understand this isn't exactly a what are my chances thread (yet), and I apologize, but I first need to address this issue of GPA, and I figured this would be the best place to ask it.

By the way I live in florida and will eventually apply to all florida schools(as well as others) but specifically UF, FSU, and USF.

 

[Stratego]

AMCAS recalculates everything and will factor in all classes taken, including repeated classes. Rather than forgiving the first grade as your university did, both grades will be averaged in. This does not include Ws, which are on your AMCAS transcript, but do not effect your average. Neither do Pass/Fail grades which are also only listed.

So if you got all As the third and fourth year too, your GPA might be about a 3.5.

As a side note, AACOMAS, the DO application service, does include only the most recent grade.

 

[SplitBrain]

thanks stratego, I just figured out if I get a 4.0 for these next two years my cum will be about a 3.5, including all my c's from my first year.
so roughly
first year-2.0
2nd-3.8
3rd-4.0
4th-4.0

now if I do well on my MCAT and get plenty of E.Cs, which I'm doing, will I have a shot at M.D. schools, or is the first year just too low to be considered? I know this is easier said than done, and this is all hypothetical but I do not doubt my ability to do all the E.c necessary and do well on the mcat, but I do doubt my low gpa.

also, would spending another year in undergrad taking more science courses to bolster my gpa look bad?

 

[Stratego]

If you apply with a 3.5, which is a bit below the median for those accepted to allopathic (MD) med schools, a higher MCAT score will compensate for it, like a 32-33 (31 being the median). Many people have a bad first year, even worse than yours, while they figure things out, and they still get allo acceptances. ECs are important too, but your first priority is great grades. ECs can come later if you can't successfully do both. You would not be looked down on if you spend a fifth year in college to get your GPA and BCPM GPA higher, and in fact it would make your chances of success more likely.

 

[camaras2480]

If you apply with a 3.5, which is a bit below the median for those accepted to allopathic (MD) med schools, a higher MCAT score will compensate for it, like a 32-33 (31 being the median). Many people have a bad first year, even worse than yours, while they figure things out, and they still get allo acceptances. ECs are important too, but your first priority is great grades. ECs can come later if you can't successfully do both. You would not be looked down on if you spend a fifth year in college to get your GPA and BCPM GPA higher, and in fact it would make your chances of success more likely.

This is totally true. However OP, note that for the Florida schools (save maybe Miami) a 3.5/32 is more than enough to be a strong candidate (assuming you round out your app with the appropriate extracurriculars).

 

[SplitBrain]

Thanks a lot stratego, very informative and thorough. Brought my spirits up and helped encourage to keep going strong.