Should I do a postbacc/smp?

[forestbunny]

Hi everyone! Hope y’all are having a good day. I am having some trouble figuring out what I should do, I’d really appreciate your time and help!

I'm not a US citizen or PR, I'm a Canadian but did my undergrad in the states, so I'm not really considering Canadian med schools.

I’m a graduating senior and I’ve been thinking about taking a gap year or two to boost up my extracurricular activity since I didn’t have any throughout my 4 years of college. I was struggling with anxiety and depression very badly during the first two years of my college, had a hardship withdrawal and ended up with a 3.0 gpa at the end of second year. I got back on my foot in my third year and started doing well in my classes, and got into physiology major the second quarter of junior, and started taking upper division bio classes. I’ve been looking for researches and clinical hours but there was COVID and I haven’t had any luck getting a research position... I took my intro bio, gen chem with labs, and physics in my first two years but had horrible grades. I took ochem last summer but without lab and I got a pretty decent grade. I raised my gpa to a 3.35 now by having 3.6+ every quarter but I know this is way too far enough from applying to med schools, especially for an international applicant. But during my senior year, i did pretty well in most of the upper division bio classes. Now that I’m about to graduate, I’ve been looking at a few programs like: MS Tulane, MS human nutrition columbia, postbacc programs at tufts, meredith, cal state east bay, george sqaure, etc.

From previous posts and comments I have received, I'm aware of the importance of MCAT score in this, so I think I have to aim for a high score to at least have some chances.

I have pretty much all the prereq done except that I didnt take labs for ochem and physics. There is a community college in my city that offers a post bacc program which is fairly cheap and flexible, but I'm not sure if taking classes at a cc might not look as good as doing a post bacc somewhere else? Should I apply to a program to keep boosting my gpa and get some extracurricular activities done or what do you think it's the best for me to do?

Thank you for your time to look at my post I really really appreciate it!!!

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[RDtoDR]

I know you wrote this awhile ago, but I wanted to respond. 3.3 is a decent GPA for your position. I believe you even have a shot at DO with a 3.3 with the rest of your app being strong. What does your science gpa look like? I’m assuming given you mention having terrible grades initially, it might be lower. That’s the one you will want to focus on getting up to 3.0 if not already. You also have an upward trend. I’m not sure how your international student status would affect any of that.

If I were in your position, I would definitely not do an SMP. SMP might be appropriate if you had a really low undergrad GPA or bombed your post bacc(although if you bombed a post bacc, I would question pursuing an SMP) edited to add or had a low MCAT. Adcom Goro always says SMPs are high risk, high reward. I’d stick with a post bacc like the one you described. If you haven’t already retaken the prerequisites you did badly in, do that so you have a strong grasp of the concepts and this will also help with your MCAT. Take a gap year to beef up ECs and volunteer work. Edited to add, I missed that you had done most of the prereqs, you may not even need a full structured post bacc unless you need to retake prereqs. If no retakes, I would definitely do a DIY post bacc with some upper level classes along with your needed prereqs. If you can do at 4 year institution, that is better, but my understanding is CC is still acceptable. I am doing my post bacc classes through CC as I am primary earner for my family and couldn’t afford the cost of the night science program at my university.

Lastly, if you plan to return to Canada to practice, consider going abroad to study perhaps via a program like Atlantic Bridge or Ozztrek. These are well-known reputable programs. I believe Canada tends to be more accepting of IMGs which I assume comes from the fact that they don’t have near enough medical education institutions to supply enough physicians for the country. If you want to practice in the US, then you are better off applying to the US.

 

[forestbunny]

I know you wrote this awhile ago, but I wanted to respond. 3.3 is a decent GPA for your position. I believe you even have a shot at DO with a 3.3 with the rest of your app being strong. What does your science gpa look like? I’m assuming given you mention having terrible grades initially, it might be lower. That’s the one you will want to focus on getting up to 3.0 if not already. You also have an upward trend. I’m not sure how your international student status would affect any of that.

If I were in your position, I would definitely not do an SMP. SMP might be appropriate if you had a really low undergrad GPA or bombed your post bacc(although if you bombed a post bacc, I would question pursuing an SMP) edited to add or had a low MCAT. Adcom Goro always says SMPs are high risk, high reward. I’d stick with a post bacc like the one you described. If you haven’t already retaken the prerequisites you did badly in, do that so you have a strong grasp of the concepts and this will also help with your MCAT. Take a gap year to beef up ECs and volunteer work. Edited to add, I missed that you had done most of the prereqs, you may not even need a full structured post bacc unless you need to retake prereqs. If no retakes, I would definitely do a DIY post bacc with some upper level classes along with your needed prereqs. If you can do at 4 year institution, that is better, but my understanding is CC is still acceptable. I am doing my post bacc classes through CC as I am primary earner for my family and couldn’t afford the cost of the night science program at my university.

Lastly, if you plan to return to Canada to practice, consider going abroad to study perhaps via a program like Atlantic Bridge or Ozztrek. These are well-known reputable programs. I believe Canada tends to be more accepting of IMGs which I assume comes from the fact that they don’t have near enough medical education institutions to supply enough physicians for the country. If you want to practice in the US, then you are better off applying to the US.

Thank you for your response I really appreciate it!
I actually hired an admission consultant and am in the process of applying to multiple post-baccs. At the same time I'm doing as much volunteers as I can. I'm not considering DO or return to Canada, so I guess my next year is pretty critical.

 

[RDtoDR]

Thank you for your response I really appreciate it!
I actually hired an admission consultant and am in the process of applying to multiple post-baccs. At the same time I'm doing as much volunteers as I can. I'm not considering DO or return to Canada, so I guess my next year is pretty critical.

Can I ask why you don't want to consider DO? I was a bit iffy at certain points in my journey, but truly, DO is an excellent pathway to becoming a doctor, particularly if you plan to stay in the states. Goro is an adcom on here for a DO program and TheBoneDoctah is also an ortho DO I believe. I am fairly certain there are others. Maybe read up a bit more on it if you haven't already. If you have, forgive me, I just still see so many that have not given DO a fair shot in their minds and it really could be the best way for some of us with lower stats to achieve our goals =). Good luck with whatever you choose.