Should I apply this year or wait?

[TTfutureMD]

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I graduated in 2007 with a 2.78 GPA. While in college I took some of the pre-med reqs, but not all. Fall of freshman year I took Bio: Organisms and got a C- because I bombed the final. I also took gen chem and got a C. The spring of freshman year I took gen chem 2 and got a C-. I took cell biology the summer after freshman year and got a B. The fall of my sophomore year I withdrew from orgo 1. I retook it again the the fall of my junior year and got a C+. Then I attempted to take orgo 2 the spring of my junior year and withdrew. My senior year I got a B in Human Physiology and a D+ in genetics. There are several factors that contributed to my low science gpa. I was not working more than 10 hours a week but I was going through a lot of personal issues.
After graduating, I took some time off to "let my brain catch up with my passion". I worked as a substitute teacher for a while and then went back to school, doing a postbac on my own as opposed to a formal program. The summer of 2008 I took a years worth of gen chem. Then the 2008-2009 school year I completed organic 1 and organic 2. The 2009-2010 school year I completed physics 1 and calculus fall semester and I am now taking physics 2. I have received an A in each of my courses as a post-baccalaureate student. I have no retaken any biology courses because a friend told me that I should not repeat any elective courses.

I am enrolled in an MCAT review course with Princeton Review beginning in two weeks. This course is supposed to prepare me for a June MCAT. I am wondering if I should take the MCAT and apply this year or if I should take the MCAT and apply to a formal post-bacc program, which will likely be expensive, to take advanced coursework to prove that I am capable to medical admissions committees. For the first time since the 1st grade, I am proud of my transcript and feel that it reflects where my true passion is. I just need some advice on where to go from here. Any pointers are appreciated.

 

[Black Surgeon]

I graduated in 2007 with a 2.78 GPA. While in college I took some of the pre-med reqs, but not all. Fall of freshman year I took Bio: Organisms and got a C- because I bombed the final. I also took gen chem and got a C. The spring of freshman year I took gen chem 2 and got a C-. I took cell biology the summer after freshman year and got a B. The fall of my sophomore year I withdrew from orgo 1. I retook it again the the fall of my junior year and got a C+. Then I attempted to take orgo 2 the spring of my junior year and withdrew. My senior year I got a B in Human Physiology and a D+ in genetics. There are several factors that contributed to my low science gpa. I was not working more than 10 hours a week but I was going through a lot of personal issues.
After graduating, I took some time off to "let my brain catch up with my passion". I worked as a substitute teacher for a while and then went back to school, doing a postbac on my own as opposed to a formal program. The summer of 2008 I took a years worth of gen chem. Then the 2008-2009 school year I completed organic 1 and organic 2. The 2009-2010 school year I completed physics 1 and calculus fall semester and I am now taking physics 2. I have received an A in each of my courses as a post-baccalaureate student. I have no retaken any biology courses because a friend told me that I should not repeat any elective courses.

I am enrolled in an MCAT review course with Princeton Review beginning in two weeks. This course is supposed to prepare me for a June MCAT. I am wondering if I should take the MCAT and apply this year or if I should take the MCAT and apply to a formal post-bacc program, which will likely be expensive, to take advanced coursework to prove that I am capable to medical admissions committees. For the first time since the 1st grade, I am proud of my transcript and feel that it reflects where my true passion is. I just need some advice on where to go from here. Any pointers are appreciated.

You should wait. Not to diminish your post-bacc achievement, but realize that those "post-bacc" courses were all repeats. Gettting As in repeat courses isn't that impressive. The best option for you would be to take the MCAT and apply instead to a formal post bacc program. Drexel, Uconn, OSU, Temple, Tulane, Georgetown (gems) are the few that come to mind, or Take a year of upper level biology courses on your own and get an A in all of those courses.


Although the final cumulative GPA matters, a low GPA can often be overshadowed by a strong and consistent performance in your most recent academic years. Thus, with your low GPA, your goal should be to illustrate at least another year of academic success in challenging upper level science intensive courses (non-repeats). To support my claim, I present the story of a poster who use to frequent the underrepresented minority forum here on SDN (I believe he is still a sporadic poster). He had a cumulative GPA around the 2.0s in his first two academic years, he turned it around to a 4.0 in his final two academic years and was able to end up with a 3.3 cumulative GPA. If I recall correctly, he was offered a full scholarship at a couple schools and ended up going to a top 20 Medical schools. Namely, UCSF (maybe he will read this post and join the discussion).

 

[mbm54]

I agree with BlackSurgeon, a formal post-bacc with upper level science classes would be good for you.