PreMed206!
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- Sep 5, 2020
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Hello, I am currently a first-semester senior in undergrad (City University of New York) and am debating whether I should do an SMP program or a post-bacc program, or even delay graduation for a semester or two, and I wondered if the people on here would be able to help me.
Major: English: Literature (I know, weird lol)
My GPA by the time I graduate will be at a max of 3.45 and a minimum of a 3.3 (ATM it's a 3.34); My sGPA is pretty low (barely 3.0, maybe 3.17 if I get As in my remaining science courses) because of me originally being a computer science major and me getting a C in a 4 credit CS course. In two accompanying math courses, I got an F the first time, and a B- the second, then a C in another math course.
However, The pre-med courses I have taken were fairly good:
CHEM 1: A
CHEM 1 LAB: A-
PHYSICS 1: B (took a Credit (PASS) option, B does not show on my transcript, idk why I did that).
BIO 1: A-
BIO 1 LAB: A
CHEM 2: B+
CHEM 2 LAB: A-
PHYSICS 2: A
BIO 2: A
BIO 2 LAB: A
ORGO CHEM 1 & 2: TBH
BIO CHEM: TBH
STATS: A
PSYCH: B-
SOCIOLOGY: B+ (took as a High School senior through a college program, counted as transfer credit on my official transcript)
Overall, My main issues stemmed from my first few semesters of undergrad being something you would see out of a daytime drama. The first semester, my father passed away after being in the hospital for 4 months of touch and go, the second semester, my aunt died, the third my family became engaged in a lawsuit (family squabbles, nothing illegal) that forced me out of some of my classes resulting in my GPA for the first 3 semesters really dragging everything down (1.8, 2.6, 3.1). I should also mention that up until the end of last May; I was in a very abusive work relationship with my boss as she would belittle me and manipulate me to working 70+ a week and would threaten to fire me if I said I couldn't (I couldn't quit at the time, my family needed the money). Sorry if this is too personal. I just wanted to elaborate on why my GPA wasn't as high as it could be.
However, in my fourth and fifth semesters, I have done pretty well, with my overall GPA showing a big increase, 3.7 and 3.74 respectively. I recently took my MCAT, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really all that great: 509.
Additionally, because of COVID and NYC hospitals not accepting volunteers or shadowing, I have been forced to do eshadowing (online shadowing), which I have about 65 hours of (no idea how med schools will view that).
I have non-clinical volunteer hours, about 200, from volunteering as a teaching assistant with one of my old teachers from high school.
Overall, I am just confused on which would be better for me too. On the one hand, my cGPA would be fairly easy to bring to a 3.5 if I just chose to postpone graduation for a semester or 2 (without the need to do a post-bacc program). However, I am having a bit of trouble because of my sGPA, which would take a fairly long time because of those CS-based classes. Because of that, I was leaning more towards doing an SMP (I 100% know that they are risky if I don't really get a GPA of 3.7+). I am also studying to try and bring my MCAT up to a 515+.
Also, if anyone wants to know which SMP I was looking at if it helps answer my question, my top choices are Georgetown, Tulane, Tufts, Duke, George Washington University, and New York Medical College.
I am by no means a lazy or dumb student; those first three semesters were just awful and put me in a horrible mental state. If you guys could help me and tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes, that would be super helpful.
P.S.
My main concern about SMPs is that people on threads say that they aren't nearly as effective as they used to be even if you apply to that school's med school, i.e., Tufts SMP to Tufts SOM, Georgetown to Georgetown, etc. and that for the Post Bacc (by the time I graduate with my Lit degree and Pre-Med requirements) I'll have 140 credits so it would take a very long time to bring that science GPA up (from what I am being told). sGPA and Clinical/Volunteer hours are by far my BIGGEST concern.
Major: English: Literature (I know, weird lol)
My GPA by the time I graduate will be at a max of 3.45 and a minimum of a 3.3 (ATM it's a 3.34); My sGPA is pretty low (barely 3.0, maybe 3.17 if I get As in my remaining science courses) because of me originally being a computer science major and me getting a C in a 4 credit CS course. In two accompanying math courses, I got an F the first time, and a B- the second, then a C in another math course.
However, The pre-med courses I have taken were fairly good:
CHEM 1: A
CHEM 1 LAB: A-
PHYSICS 1: B (took a Credit (PASS) option, B does not show on my transcript, idk why I did that).
BIO 1: A-
BIO 1 LAB: A
CHEM 2: B+
CHEM 2 LAB: A-
PHYSICS 2: A
BIO 2: A
BIO 2 LAB: A
ORGO CHEM 1 & 2: TBH
BIO CHEM: TBH
STATS: A
PSYCH: B-
SOCIOLOGY: B+ (took as a High School senior through a college program, counted as transfer credit on my official transcript)
Overall, My main issues stemmed from my first few semesters of undergrad being something you would see out of a daytime drama. The first semester, my father passed away after being in the hospital for 4 months of touch and go, the second semester, my aunt died, the third my family became engaged in a lawsuit (family squabbles, nothing illegal) that forced me out of some of my classes resulting in my GPA for the first 3 semesters really dragging everything down (1.8, 2.6, 3.1). I should also mention that up until the end of last May; I was in a very abusive work relationship with my boss as she would belittle me and manipulate me to working 70+ a week and would threaten to fire me if I said I couldn't (I couldn't quit at the time, my family needed the money). Sorry if this is too personal. I just wanted to elaborate on why my GPA wasn't as high as it could be.
However, in my fourth and fifth semesters, I have done pretty well, with my overall GPA showing a big increase, 3.7 and 3.74 respectively. I recently took my MCAT, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really all that great: 509.
Additionally, because of COVID and NYC hospitals not accepting volunteers or shadowing, I have been forced to do eshadowing (online shadowing), which I have about 65 hours of (no idea how med schools will view that).
I have non-clinical volunteer hours, about 200, from volunteering as a teaching assistant with one of my old teachers from high school.
Overall, I am just confused on which would be better for me too. On the one hand, my cGPA would be fairly easy to bring to a 3.5 if I just chose to postpone graduation for a semester or 2 (without the need to do a post-bacc program). However, I am having a bit of trouble because of my sGPA, which would take a fairly long time because of those CS-based classes. Because of that, I was leaning more towards doing an SMP (I 100% know that they are risky if I don't really get a GPA of 3.7+). I am also studying to try and bring my MCAT up to a 515+.
Also, if anyone wants to know which SMP I was looking at if it helps answer my question, my top choices are Georgetown, Tulane, Tufts, Duke, George Washington University, and New York Medical College.
I am by no means a lazy or dumb student; those first three semesters were just awful and put me in a horrible mental state. If you guys could help me and tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes, that would be super helpful.
P.S.
My main concern about SMPs is that people on threads say that they aren't nearly as effective as they used to be even if you apply to that school's med school, i.e., Tufts SMP to Tufts SOM, Georgetown to Georgetown, etc. and that for the Post Bacc (by the time I graduate with my Lit degree and Pre-Med requirements) I'll have 140 credits so it would take a very long time to bring that science GPA up (from what I am being told). sGPA and Clinical/Volunteer hours are by far my BIGGEST concern.
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