- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 72,506
- Reaction score
- 115,414
The whole point of reinvention and doing the SMP is to make up for the cGPA, not to raise it. The SMP shows that that the you of now is not the you of then.In undergrad at Rutgers, I did Biomedical Engineering and got a 3.5 (cGPA and sGPA).
I did an SMP at Rutgers as well.
After my SMP, I did a second master's degree at Harvard in Bioethics.
When I was doing my Master's in Bioethics at Harvard, I cross-registered MD courses, so while I working on my thesis, I also did a bunch of MD courses to expand on my SMP courses.
Took Harvard MD courses in: Human Pathology, Neuroanatomy, Neuropathology, Molecular Medicine, Clinical Reasoning, Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Respiratory Pathophysiology
My overall Graduate GPA including SMP and Bioethics is a 3.8.
After my SMP, but before my masters at Harvard, I took my MCAT and got a 516.
I have qualified for the Air Force HPSP scholarship, so I will have Medical School paid for by military scholarship, so the expenses thankfully isn't a limiting factor for me.
200 Physician Shadowing Hours
250 Clinical Volunteering Hours
500 Additional Volunteering Hours
2200 Clinical Hours (Orthopedic Clinical Trials as a Biomedical Engineer)
Do you think my additional Master's at Harvard and the fact that I enrolled in MD courses at HMS will help make my overall Graduate Work and SMP appear more distinguished?
I'm just really nervous that despite all of this extra work, my Undergraduate GPA being a 3.5 is going to be a huge limiting factor. This is beyond just which medical schools should I apply to but, also a general question on whether I can overcome my GPA and I hope it isn't as limiting as I think it will be. Also, will having a full USAF scholarship in hand help since MD schools will know that I have full funding and will match into a residency to practice in the military?
I just feel like I did so well on my SMP and basically had all of my electives in my Master's as Harvard MD courses and I just don't know if that will mean anything at all with my undergraduate GPA. I feel a bit lost and just wanted your thoughts and perspectives. Thank you.
I recommend the following:
Dartmouth
BU
Duke
Pitt
Mayo
Mt Sinai
Keck (maybe)
UCSF
EVMS
U Miami
Hofstra
Emory
Jefferson
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
Your state schools
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter
NYU.LI
Any DO program. Include UNECOM if you’re from the NE, OSUCOM if you’re from the Plains states and PacNW if you’re from that region. I can't recommend Nova, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CUHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. UIW refuses to post their Boards scores, which is fishy.