I would apply earlier without the grades. (we're referring to clases you will take in the summer/fall? or ones you are currently finishing up now..?) you can often send grade updates to schools as well. It may give you an additional reason to send communications to a school, which then you can also convey your general interest in a program.
Hm. I haven't replied in this fashion before, but here goes nothing.
Doctors will often tell their patients that they have to lose weight. That is a very vague, and often unhelpful for many because they know that they have to lose weight, but don't know exactly "how to go about it."
So, when I mean by getting all of your things together, i mean:
1) Consider when you get your mcat (late may) if you feel like you're in a position to apply. I would say, probably above 33-34, I think you could give it a run.
2) Are your LoRs in? Where in the process are they? "I think I know who i want to ask," "I've already asked and confirmed that they will write it," and "They already wrote them" are VERY different things. Your deadline should be around early july, given that you'll be finishing secondaries then. Make sure you give your writers enough time, and BUFFER time just in case something wrong happens. Make sure you have 2 sci/1 nonsci. Good to have LoRs from a physician/charge nurse as well.
3) How is the rest of your AMCAS? Personal Statement? activities? Do you know what you're planning to write for all of them? And I think the application will be released soon, so check into that. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT underestimate the personal statement. Its one of the longest things to finish, and you'll find yourself revising it a ton if you haven't started already. If you haven't, start NOW.
4) Transcripts. You've had experiences at more than one school. GET YOUR TRANSCRIPTS in EARLY. Having more than one transcript makes your amcas verification much more complex and potentially delaying in terms of time.
5) Establish managable goals/checkpoints throughout the process. When do you expect to have all of these done? Just telling yourself JUNE 10th or something as the final deadline is probably NOT what I would recommend. PS, LoRs, Activities, Transcripts, etc. Each of these will take some time.
6) Secondaries. After you submit, start looking at the schools you've applied. See past secondaries, and see which schools will give you secondaries pretty much right off the bat. Start getting ready to write for those. On sdn, it's advised to get these things turned aroundin 2 weeks max. I've done longer, but when you have a red flag gpa (myself included), it's probably not worth slacking around with. I imagine you will be applying broadly, otherwise I think applying is foolish. For people who aren't the high gpa/mcat candidates, usually you gotta apply broadly and see who might decide to take a chance with you. I applied to 30 schools, you can choose to apply less or more than that. But remember, 30 schools=30+ secondary essays as a minimum. So GET READY FOR THAT.
So as you can see, there's a LOT to plan out for. And I'm guessing I've missed stuff too. But if you can plan out a reasonable timeline for everything, and you're good at executing it, there's a decent shot for you to give this a go. Yes, your GPA is a bit low, but if you're saying the truth in that you're rocking your classes now that are science, and upper div, and your professors are science profs who can back you up with your academic scientific potential, then run with it.
There's a lot to plan for such that once you get one thing, it's just only a tip of the iceberg. Some people in past years were burnt out after submitting their AMCAS. LOL. Dude, that's only the beginning! They died during secondaries. lol. Don't do that. Because honestly, its a BOATLOAD of cash to apply-make sure it counts.
If you want, PM me with your mcat result in a few weeks and we can chat about if this is reasonable post-mcat.
