sGPA 3.36, cGPA 3.64 Chances?

[hwilliam]

I have been seriously considering a postbacc program but I wanted advice on whether it was possible to get into any American MD school with just these stats:

-Political Science degree from UCLA and completed pre-med requirements

-sGPA: 3.36

-cGPA: 3.64

-MCAT: 32

-ECs:
1) Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Helped fix wells in order to bring clean water to rural village for first time in ten years. Worked daily with community health center.
2) Two years of stem cell research including one 2nd author publication
3) 200 hours of shadowing under cardiologist and general surgeon
4) Research assistant for US Senator. Helped research for the new health care legislation.

I would love to go to any US MD medical school but would like to avoid having to spend money on a postbacc. Can I get in or is a postbacc unavoidable?

Thanks!

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[Catalystik]

I have been seriously considering a postbacc program but I wanted advice on whether it was possible to get into any American MD school with just these stats:

-Political Science degree from UCLA and completed pre-med requirements

-sGPA: 3.36

-cGPA: 3.64

-MCAT: 32

-ECs:
1) Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Helped fix wells in order to bring clean water to rural village for first time in ten years. Worked daily with community health center.
2) Two years of stem cell research including one 2nd author publication
3) 200 hours of shadowing under cardiologist and general surgeon
4) Research assistant for US Senator. Helped research for the new health care legislation.

I would love to go to any US MD medical school but would like to avoid having to spend money on a postbacc. Can I get in or is a postbacc unavoidable?

Thanks!

Tell us more about your sGPA trend and the classes that brought it down.
What is your state of residence?
Any upper level Bio and biochem and grades earned?

 

[hwilliam]

Sorry for the late response. I am still in Africa with the Peace Corps.

My sGPA drops off my second year. My mother had a major heart attack and I spent a lot of time at home taking care of her. The classes that brought it down were physics and bio but this was mostly due to the fact that they were in that second year.

I am a California resident and have no upper division Bio or Biochem classes.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Catalystik]

What work do you do in the community health center? I'm specifically looking for patient interaction activities. Do you have any US-based healthcare facility experience other than the shadowing, ie did you help a little?

How did you do in Chem and OChem? What exactly were your Physics and Bio grades? Do you recall your GPAs in the last two years of college?

How old is the MCAT score, or is that a theoretical score?

 

[hwilliam]

can i pm you?

 

[Catalystik]

Sorry, but my PM box is closed.

 

[Mazdave]

Maybe instead of a formal postbacc you could just take a couple of upper level bio courses as a non-degree student at a local college (and obviously do well in them). Your sGPA is below average but not really all that low.

 

[hwilliam]

Sorry again for the late response.

In terms of patient interaction at my health center, every week I give a presentation to all the patients on methods by which to prevent malaria, typhoid and how not to get a certain type of flesh eating bacteria we have in the area. In addition, the chief of the medical center lets me "mock" diagnos, where someone will come in and I will measure their blood pressure, heart beat, palpate various areas and measure temperatures. I will then tell him what I think is wrong with the patient (75% of our patients have malaria so its easier than it sounds). Its a lot of fun and is actually one of the reasons I solidly decided to get back into the medicine gig.

In terms of my grades, all three of my O Chem grades are B+ and my Gen Chem are two B+ 's and a B. In Physics I have one A, one B+ and a B; Bio was one A and Two B+. My last two years of college my GPA was 3.96, but only two of these classes were science and the rest were poly sci.

I took that MCAT right before I left for the Peace Corps so its about two years old.

Thanks for your help Catalystik.

 

[flodhi1]

Sorry again for the late response.

In terms of patient interaction at my health center, every week I give a presentation to all the patients on methods by which to prevent malaria, typhoid and how not to get a certain type of flesh eating bacteria we have in the area. In addition, the chief of the medical center lets me "mock" diagnos, where someone will come in and I will measure their blood pressure, heart beat, palpate various areas and measure temperatures. I will then tell him what I think is wrong with the patient (75% of our patients have malaria so its easier than it sounds). Its a lot of fun and is actually one of the reasons I solidly decided to get back into the medicine gig.

In terms of my grades, all three of my O Chem grades are B+ and my Gen Chem are two B+ 's and a B. In Physics I have one A, one B+ and a B; Bio was one A and Two B+. My last two years of college my GPA was 3.96, but only two of these classes were science and the rest were poly sci.

I took that MCAT right before I left for the Peace Corps so its about two years old.

Thanks for your help Catalystik.

Your experience sounds excellent. I hope you're able to talk thoroughly about how it motivated you and gave you extensive clinical experience. The lack of science courses especially upper division is a little scary. You might have to take some upper division classes to prove yourself. As far as the MCAT it might be expiring at some schools soon so be careful of that.

 

[hwilliam]

Thanks flodhi 1, but it still goes back to my original question: do I have any chance of getting into any American MD school with just these stats?

 

[flodhi1]

Thanks flodhi 1, but it still goes back to my original question: do I have any chance of getting into any American MD school with just these stats?

Well yeah you do as long as you apply early and broadly. However, no one can give you a definitive answer because in my opinion the application process at times can be very subjective. An applicant could not have the expected numbers but an evaluator or a committee could like other things in the application enough to push through for an interview/acceptance. Therefore, if you desperately want to apply and don't want to spend more time on your application then it's worth it to go ahead and apply smartly.

 

[CydneyFoote]

A postbac is not essential, but it might help you get into a higher ranked school, if that's important to you. AND it would probably help you a lot in mastering your classes in medical school, because if you have no upper-level courses you'll probably find them especially challenging. You could get yourself in a bit of a vicious cycle because if you go to a lower-ranked med school you'll need to perform especially well there so you can get into a good residency. You'll need to be careful not to start off with a disadvantage that comes back to bite you later.

But I've worked with so many applicants who had even lower GPAs (and your MCAT score helps a lot in that regard) who got into very solid programs. The key is going to be using your AMCAS essay and secondaries to really hammer home your clinical exposure (which sounds like it goes beyond normal shadowing) and give them some really compelling reasons for why you would be a good candidate despite a weaker science foundation.

I say apply to a few programs and see what happens. Worst case, you end up having to do a postbac anyway, but at least you won't always be wondering if you should have just applied to med school in the first place. Good luck!

 

[hwilliam]

You around Catalystik? I was hoping to get some follow up help.

Thanks to the rest for your help!

 

[Catalystik]

Fire away.

 

[hwilliam]

what i meant was that i answered some of your previous questions and was wondering what you thought about my chances with the new information. Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

In terms of patient interaction at my health center, every week I give a presentation to all the patients on methods by which to prevent malaria, typhoid and how not to get a certain type of flesh eating bacteria we have in the area. In addition, the chief of the medical center lets me "mock" diagnos, where someone will come in and I will measure their blood pressure, heart beat, palpate various areas and measure temperatures. I will then tell him what I think is wrong with the patient (75% of our patients have malaria so its easier than it sounds). Its a lot of fun and is actually one of the reasons I solidly decided to get back into the medicine gig.

In terms of my grades, all three of my O Chem grades are B+ and my Gen Chem are two B+ 's and a B. In Physics I have one A, one B+ and a B; Bio was one A and Two B+. My last two years of college my GPA was 3.96, but only two of these classes were science and the rest were poly sci.

I took that MCAT right before I left for the Peace Corps so its about two years old.

Thanks for your help Catalystik.

It sounds like your international clinical experience is good. If your shadowng was in the US before you left, adcomms may feel it's sufficient exposure to American medicine. If it wasn't, you'll need some augmentation after you get home. Active work with (nonfamily) US patients would be nice to see, but you might be forgiven that due to Peace Corps involvement (as many adcomms have a soft spot for you guys/gals).

The more recent excellent academics are in your favor, but a lack of upper-level bio/biochem may cause some concern, along with the mediocre sGPA (at least by allopathic school standards). To the good: you have no terrible science grades.

Being from California will work against you, as they far too many excellent candidates for far too few med school seats. This will oblige you to apply widely outside the state.

To get to your original question, yes, it's possible for you to get an acceptance without a postbac (moreso if you planned to apply to DO schools, too). But since there are no guarantees, I suggest you consider taking additional coursework as a backup plan rather than waiting until you get in nowhere, and then applying to resume your academic work a year from now. If you have coursework in progress listed on the application, like Biochem, Physiology, Genetics, and/or Cell Bio (some of which are required or recommended by many schools), then adcomms will see that you got back on the academic horse. And sending in a report of your fall grades (presuming excellence) may go a long way toward reassuring schools that you have what it takes. If you are promptly accepted, you may consider such coursework to have been a waste, but it will serve you well in relieving some of the stress of first year med school by easing the number of classes you have to study for. If you are not accepted, your application will be far stronger in a year's time if you need to reapply. So, it will not be a useless regardless of how the cycle goes for you.