I went to my advisor today and she told me that my GPA is low (2.89 which is pretty bad for a pre-med student) and that I won't be able to get accepted to med school if I do not get a Master Degree before applying to Med school. Or else I would not be a competitive candidate for Med School. Is she giving out good advice or is that just a way of saying "give up your dream of becoming a doctor" and just go get a master degree? I felt like It would be a waste of my time just to go to school for another two years and get a master degree in Biology. I was thinking of changing my major to Pre-occupational Therapy but I do not have a passion for it. I really do not know what to do. If someone out there who is wise and is a good decision maker. Please help and give me some advice.
Should I get a master degree before applying to medical school?
- Thread starter thuy009
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Smp.
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There are programs called SMPs (Special Masters Programs) that are pretty much designed for students in your situation. Universities with medical schools host them, and they essentially consist of med school caliber classes where you can earn a master's. If you do well (you'd have to pretty much rock it with a 3.9 or better with a uGPA of 2.89), then SMPs are a good way to show schools that you can handle the academic challenge in med school.
While you are still in undergrad, do your best to show an upward trend in your science classes instead of worrying too much about what your major is. Some schools weigh junior and senior GPAs more heavily, and most schools place a strong value on an upward trend. With high senior grades, you could easily argue that you had trouble adjusting to college but showed that you could adapt effectively to the academic rigor that med schools would expect.
Hope that helps. Good luck to you 🙂
While you are still in undergrad, do your best to show an upward trend in your science classes instead of worrying too much about what your major is. Some schools weigh junior and senior GPAs more heavily, and most schools place a strong value on an upward trend. With high senior grades, you could easily argue that you had trouble adjusting to college but showed that you could adapt effectively to the academic rigor that med schools would expect.
Hope that helps. Good luck to you 🙂
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SMPs are literally a last chance. If you screw up, it's all over. DO schools have a grade forgiveness policy, where your grades are completely replaced in the AACOMAS application. Retaking your worst classes is probably a cheaper, faster, and safer bet than an SMP. I believe you need to have taken the MCAT as well for an SMP.
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Doing an SMP will not guarantee admission to med school, and I believe that you should at least have a 3.0 if you're planning on doing an SMP program. Re-take critical courses that you did poorly in (C- or worse) and try and get your GPA back up to a 3 before you do an SMP. And not that even if you do an SMP, MD is probably out and you'll need a good MCAT score for DO programs.
