Should I do an SMP? 3.48 GPA, 514 MCAT, some red flags

[deleted1119681]

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[Goro]

I graduated from state school with a 3.66 GPA, but the AAMC application would count that as a 3.48 because I had 2 grade forgivenesses (which I know don't count for med school) and B+'s were weighed more at my school than the AAMC application.

3.48 GPA, 3.40 sGPA. My GPA would be significantly higher, but I had one (literally only one) bad semester because I had a lot going on in my personal life. I got a D and an F in the same semester.

I have 155 credits of mostly upper level bios and chems. Major: Biology, Minor: Chemistry

Red Flags: light course loads, lots of summer classes. 4W's. One bad semester (F--> C+ in calc2, and D-->W-->A in Molecular Neurobiology) Previous MCAT was 498 (I took this test without studying as a diagnostic type thing. I wasn't pre-med until my senior year of college, so I was unaware how stupid that was.)

ECs: 6 months of clinical volunteering in college. ~300 hours of pharmacy technician. 0 shadowing hours (I'm setting this up right now and hope to get ~75). 0 nonclinical volunteering (my dad runs a soup kitchen that I'm going to volunteer in this winter). ~800 hours of Patient transport. Just starting a job now as a patient care technician (which I will be work for pretty much until I start medical school, should be at least 1000 hours). 0 Research (if my pateint care tech jobs starts to not be so great after a while, I may switch to a research position.)


Is an SMP right for me? Or should I just apply? Thank you all in advance for any advice you can give; I really appreciate it.

State of residence?

Any rising GPA trend?

You're fine for DO right now, but MD might require the SMP/DIY post-bac, pending answers to the above two questions.

 

[Goro]

South Carolina. MUSC has pretty favorable acceptance rates (~30%), and that is the toughest one to get into in SC. It's also my dream school. No real trend at all. After than the bad semester (in my 3rd year), I had 7A's 1B+ and 1B (also one of my W's)

Chances for MD will be best with the SC schools. You're decently above thier 10th %iles.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Thank you so much for the advice; I really appreciate it. MUSC has a SMP that's ~1 year long. If you were in my shoes, would you do it? Or would you just apply and hope to get in.

My fear is that if I don't do it, and apply to MD but don't get any acceptance after 2 cycles; what if it turns out I did need an SMP? I would hate to live with that regret, and I'm just debating if "better safe than sorry" applies here.

Does the SMP feed students who do well into the medical school?

 

[MyOdyssey]

Not necessarily. It's not linked, but they posted their students' stats and like 90% of students who complete end up in an MD program.

How many drop out or are flunked out and so aren't included in the published statistics?

 

[MyOdyssey]

None, it's all included. There are only 25 seats, and they follow each student for I think 3 years to see who gets into med school. So it will say they get in, but it may be like 3 years later or something like that.

Good stuff. Can you afford the SMP?

Will your MCAT be expired by the time you apply for medical school - assuming you spend a year in the SMP?

MCAT scores are typically good for 2-3 years from date of test to date of matriculating in medical school.

 

[jhmmd]

I graduated from state school with a 3.66 GPA, but the AAMC application would count that as a 3.48 because I had 2 grade forgivenesses (which I know don't count for med school) and B+'s were weighed more at my school than the AAMC application.

3.48 GPA, 3.40 sGPA. My GPA would be significantly higher, but I had one (literally only one) bad semester because I had a lot going on in my personal life. I got a D and an F in the same semester.

I have 155 credits of mostly upper level bios and chems. Major: Biology, Minor: Chemistry

Red Flags: light course loads, lots of summer classes. 4W's. One bad semester (F--> C+ in calc2, and D-->W-->A in Molecular Neurobiology) Previous MCAT was 498 (I took this test without studying as a diagnostic type thing. I wasn't pre-med until my senior year of college, so I was unaware how stupid that was.)

ECs: 6 months of clinical volunteering in college. ~300 hours of pharmacy technician. 0 shadowing hours (I'm setting this up right now and hope to get ~75). 0 nonclinical volunteering (my dad runs a soup kitchen that I'm going to volunteer in this winter). ~800 hours of Patient transport. Just starting a job now as a patient care technician (which I will be work for pretty much until I start medical school, should be at least 1000 hours). 0 Research (if my pateint care tech jobs starts to not be so great after a while, I may switch to a research position.)


Is an SMP right for me? Or should I just apply? Thank you all in advance for any advice you can give; I really appreciate it.

I would say apply broadly to D.O. schools.
Good luck 🙂

 

[MyOdyssey]

Thanks for the advice! That's definitely something I'm considering as well. Really regret not doing better in undergrad haha!

Won't DO programs be substantially more expensive than your state MD program(s)?

 

[Melchizedek]

Thank you so much for the advice; I really appreciate it. MUSC has a SMP that's ~1 year long. If you were in my shoes, would you do it? Or would you just apply and hope to get in.

My fear is that if I don't do it, and apply to MD but don't get any acceptance after 2 cycles; what if it turns out I did need an SMP? I would hate to live with that regret, and I'm just debating if "better safe than sorry" applies here.

SMP's should be the last resort before carribean option.

Just glancing through MUSC's offered powerpoint and website, it looks like the SMP is 80-90% the same curriculum of their M1 year.
You have to do WELL. As close to 4.0 as possible, to show them that you can handle it if you matriculate and have to take on the full curriculum. This cuts both ways though, if you do meh or fail, then you won't give them confidence in your ability to do well in the M1 year.

Correct me if I'm wrong but @Goro said that you might have a chance at MUSC as is, and in their SMP slides they even mention how heavily biased they are for in-state residents. I wouldn't recommend an SMP without at least applying there once as well as other broad MD and DO schools. Maybe even apply simultaneously if you're super worried about taking more than 1 gap year (which is not the end of the world).

 

[M&L]

if you do those extra hours in volunteering and what you said and retake a decent MCAT, i say you dont need SMP for DO and SC state school. Its not as bad as you think!!!! you should be ok!!!

advice (i know you didnt ask for it, but ill give it anyway 🙂 ) - when you talk about the bad semesters in the application (in the "what else do you want us to know" section, NOT in the main essay), - MAKE SURE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. By that i mean, - " i had some personal problems (blah blah blah be specific), which made me unfocused for a semester, and hindered my studying. Now i know that was wrong, i got my **** together, and learnt how to compartmentalize better and learnt stress relieving skills and fixed it. Ultimately i am grateful for this experience, because, even though it messed up my GPA, i know i will have a lot of difficulties and challenges in my life, and now i know how to cope with them better". something like that. Because the biggest problem with tough semesters is that often they sounds like a bunch of excuses when you put it on paper (and you might have very good reasons! They just come out bad). So putting something like this down, and explaining that you take responsibility for what happened, and that you learnt from it, will help your case.

 

[candbgirl]

Do you really think you can do well in a SMP? It seems as though you have carried light course loads , withdrawn from a few classes and still didn’t excel. A SMP is a tryout for med school. It’s like a back door in. If you can’t get a 3.7+ GPA following the required SMP program (not a “light” load) you are better off doing what @Melchizedek suggested. Try applying with what you have now. If you do poorly in a SMP it’s really game over for med school. Work on your ECs between now andJune when you apply , get the shadowing and nonclinical volunteering done and don’t worry about research . You can easily apply without research. Good luck.

 

[Melchizedek]

Do you really think you can do well in a SMP? It seems as though you have carried light course loads , withdrawn from a few classes and still didn’t excel. A SMP is a tryout for med school. It’s like a back door in. If you can’t get a 3.7+ GPA following the required SMP program (not a “light” load) you are better off doing what @Melchizedek suggested. Try applying with what you have now. If you do poorly in a SMP it’s really game over for med school. Work on your ECs between now andJune when you apply , get the shadowing and nonclinical volunteering done and don’t worry about research . You can easily apply without research. Good luck.

I'll put this here for anyone else reading through for SMP advice.


SMP's to a degree are about showing good study skills, and consistent effort. Treat them as the last-ditch effort they are, 7-5 study days, throw in some weekends before the exams. The other portion is learning how to learn the information. Spaced repetition in multiple formats, understanding how to digest complex concepts into key points. I'd say figuring this stuff out early is the key to learning and doing well. Trust me, it really helps when you get into med school and M1 is a breeze 😉