Should I plan for high MCAT or SMP?

[ethereal_fae]

Hello all! I am currently studying for the MCAT and planning to apply to medical school next cycle but I'm starting to have second thoughts... my GPA is really low and I don't know if a high MCAT (assuming I achieve a high score ofc) will be enough to make my app competitive or if I should start looking into SMPs. I don't think a post-bacc will work for me because I am a nontraditional student and I have almost 300 credits so there's really no salvaging my undergraduate GPA at this point. I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice! Some info about me:

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: cGPA 3.25 sGPA 3.4
2. State of residence: OR w/ ties to MI
3. Ethnicity: Latina (Colombian so not URM but immigrant and from a rural area)
4. Undergraduate institution or category: public state school
5. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): 4000+ hours paid employment in urgent care (combination of patient contact and clerical duties), 2000+ hours paid employment as a HUC in an ICU (combination of patient contact and clerical duties), 250 hours volunteering in free clinic for low income patients, scheduled to start hospital volunteering this summer
6. Research experience and productivity: 3000 hours in NIH funded research fellowship for underrepresented students in STEM, about 2000 other hours in two other labs and one independent project, 7 poster presentations at national and regional conferences, 1 oral presentation, 1 first author publication in low impact journal. All research was either clinical or public health and all focused on health equity
7. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: about 30 hours in trauma, anesthesiology, general surgery, and critical care. Still trying to get primary care shadowing
8. Non-clinical volunteering: 300 hours volunteering for non-profit (lgbtq+ advocacy), 150 hours volunteering at local YWCA, about 50 hours so far volunteering at soup kitchen
9. Other extracurricular activities: participated in three different mentorship programs (one where I mentored high schoolers interested in STEM, two where I mentor younger pre-health students from underrepresented backgrounds), founded a undergraduate advisory committee at my university (current president), active member in three leadership committees at my university, AMWA internship, helped launch harm reduction mobile clinic
10. Anything else not listed you think might be important: immigrant from rural town, grew up low SES and went to extremely underfunded schools that taught very outdated curriculum so I feel like I'm pretty disadvantaged. I have 8 years of paid employment in various customer service jobs

My experience in college so far has been very very rocky. Not to make excuses but I wasn't really set up well for college and when I first attempted to attend at age 19 I ended up being dismissed from the program due to poor academic performance. It wasn't in STEM but regardless I have almost a full year of Fs. My second attempt has also been rocky, and my term by term GPA is very up-down-up-down. I've really struggled to find my footing and navigate this journey but I finally feel like I'm doing okay. However, my GPA is obviously low and I can't do too much repair at this point. So as I enter my senior year should I be focusing on crushing the MCAT or should I start researching SMPs?

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[DarkBluMage]

Hello all! I am currently studying for the MCAT and planning to apply to medical school next cycle but I'm starting to have second thoughts... my GPA is really low and I don't know if a high MCAT (assuming I achieve a high score ofc) will be enough to make my app competitive or if I should start looking into SMPs. I don't think a post-bacc will work for me because I am a nontraditional student and I have almost 300 credits so there's really no salvaging my undergraduate GPA at this point. I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice! Some info about me:

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: cGPA 3.25 sGPA 3.4
2. State of residence: OR w/ ties to MI
3. Ethnicity: Latina (Colombian so not URM but immigrant and from a rural area)
4. Undergraduate institution or category: public state school
5. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): 4000+ hours paid employment in urgent care (combination of patient contact and clerical duties), 2000+ hours paid employment as a HUC in an ICU (combination of patient contact and clerical duties), 250 hours volunteering in free clinic for low income patients, scheduled to start hospital volunteering this summer
6. Research experience and productivity: 3000 hours in NIH funded research fellowship for underrepresented students in STEM, about 2000 other hours in two other labs and one independent project, 7 poster presentations at national and regional conferences, 1 oral presentation, 1 first author publication in low impact journal. All research was either clinical or public health and all focused on health equity
7. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: about 30 hours in trauma, anesthesiology, general surgery, and critical care. Still trying to get primary care shadowing
8. Non-clinical volunteering: 300 hours volunteering for non-profit (lgbtq+ advocacy), 150 hours volunteering at local YWCA, about 50 hours so far volunteering at soup kitchen
9. Other extracurricular activities: participated in three different mentorship programs (one where I mentored high schoolers interested in STEM, two where I mentor younger pre-health students from underrepresented backgrounds), founded a undergraduate advisory committee at my university (current president), active member in three leadership committees at my university, AMWA internship, helped launch harm reduction mobile clinic
10. Anything else not listed you think might be important: immigrant from rural town, grew up low SES and went to extremely underfunded schools that taught very outdated curriculum so I feel like I'm pretty disadvantaged. I have 8 years of paid employment in various customer service jobs

My experience in college so far has been very very rocky. Not to make excuses but I wasn't really set up well for college and when I first attempted to attend at age 19 I ended up being dismissed from the program due to poor academic performance. It wasn't in STEM but regardless I have almost a full year of Fs. My second attempt has also been rocky, and my term by term GPA is very up-down-up-down. I've really struggled to find my footing and navigate this journey but I finally feel like I'm doing okay. However, my GPA is obviously low and I can't do too much repair at this point. So as I enter my senior year should I be focusing on crushing the MCAT or should I start researching SMPs?

Gpa and MCAT aren’t the only important things about an application. Strive for a high MCAT to offset the GPA and make sure you do your research on schools you’re interested in and apply to schools that you’re a good mission fit for that accepts students with your range of stats. Don’t just apply randomly.

 

[chilly_md]

Read Goro’s guide to reinvention;

Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention (updated for 2021)

EDIT: Post in WAMC forum for recommended school lists. This thread isn't for that. So you want to be a doctor, but your GPA is terrible. Is that the end? Rule #1: Take a deep breath, and stop fussing. The sky is not falling. But you are going to need to reinvent yourself. This will take...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Your cumulative GPA does not have to change significantly to show you are a different student. An SMP might be better considering your GPA has still wavered but you must do well in it. It might be wise to do some post bacc courses in upper division science before spending money and betting everything on an SMP.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

516+ for MD
505+ for DO

 

[ethereal_fae]

Gpa and MCAT aren’t the only important things about an application. Strive for a high MCAT to offset the GPA and make sure you do your research on schools you’re interested in and apply to schools that you’re a good mission fit for that accepts students with your range of stats. Don’t just apply randomly.

For sure I'm just worried about my app not even being looked at due to my GPA, or that adcoms will worry that I can't handle the vigor of medical school. I definitely plan to be very selective with the schools I apply to, and am aiming for MD/MPH or DO/MPH. I have a strong interest in primary care, rural care, and latino health so I want to find schools with similar missions. Thank you!

 

[Faha]

As long as your MCAT is 500 or higher you could receive interviews at some DO schools. 505 or higher and you are competitive for the most DO schools

 

[ethereal_fae]

Read Goro’s guide to reinvention;

Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention (updated for 2021)

EDIT: Post in WAMC forum for recommended school lists. This thread isn't for that. So you want to be a doctor, but your GPA is terrible. Is that the end? Rule #1: Take a deep breath, and stop fussing. The sky is not falling. But you are going to need to reinvent yourself. This will take...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Your cumulative GPA does not have to change significantly to show you are a different student. An SMP might be better considering your GPA has still wavered but you must do well in it. It might be wise to do some post bacc courses in upper division science before spending money and betting everything on an SMP.

Thank you for the guide. I've thought about a post bacc I just know it won't improve my cumulative GPA much. But if I have two years of a strong upward trend in upper division science classes (my senior year + 1 year post bacc) would that be sufficient in your opinion?

 

[ethereal_fae]

As long as your MCAT is 500 or higher you could receive interviews at some DO schools. 505 or higher and you are competitive for the most DO schools

I plan to apply to both MD and DO schools so this is helpful thank you!

 

[DarkBluMage]

For sure I'm just worried about my app not even being looked at due to my GPA, or that adcoms will worry that I can't handle the vigor of medical school. I definitely plan to be very selective with the schools I apply to, and am aiming for MD/MPH or DO/MPH. I have a strong interest in primary care, rural care, and latino health so I want to find schools with similar missions. Thank you!

Many schools state that a sGPA of 3.5 is competitive. I wouldn’t go so far as to say your app won’t even be looked at if you use discernment in where you apply but you need to strive for a high MCAT. Don’t lose hope when you haven’t even taken it yet.

 

[chilly_md]

Thank you for the guide. I've thought about a post bacc I just know it won't improve my cumulative GPA much. But if I have two years of a strong upward trend in upper division science classes (my senior year + 1 year post bacc) would that be sufficient in your opinion?

What are your year by year GPA’s?

 

[ethereal_fae]

What are your year by year GPA’s?

Incredibly unstable

Y1: 4.0
Y2: 3.9
Y3: 1.0 (eek)
- 5 years pass -
Y1: 3.04
Y2: 3.7
Y3: 2.5
Y4: 3.1

My trend is basically a roller coaster. The last two years have been especially difficult due to unforeseen health complications (I suddenly developed an autoimmune disease which took a long time to be diagnosed) and other personal challenges. So I definitely want to put some distance between those years and my application. I'm doing two majors right now so I still have one year left to go and am obviously going to do my best to achieve 3.8+ for my final year.

 

[ethereal_fae]

Many schools state that a sGPA of 3.5 is competitive. I wouldn’t go so far as to say your app won’t even be looked at if you use discernment in where you apply but you need to strive for a high MCAT. Don’t lose hope when you haven’t even taken it yet.

Thank you I'm definitely going to make sure not to take the MCAT until I am confident that I can achieve a high score. I appreciate it!

 

[chilly_md]

Incredibly unstable

Y1: 4.0
Y2: 3.9
Y3: 1.0 (eek)
- 5 years pass -
Y1: 3.04
Y2: 3.7
Y3: 2.5
Y4: 3.1

My trend is basically a roller coaster. The last two years have been especially difficult due to unforeseen health complications (I suddenly developed an autoimmune disease which took a long time to be diagnosed) and other personal challenges. So I definitely want to put some distance between those years and my application. I'm doing two majors right now so I still have one year left to go and am obviously going to do my best to achieve 3.8+ for my final year.

You would need an SMP or post-bacc regardless of the MCAT score. As per Goro’s post, see if you can retroactivity withdraw from courses.

 

[ethereal_fae]

You would need an SMP or post-bacc regardless of the MCAT score. As per Goro’s post, see if you can retroactivity withdraw from courses.

Thank you that is helpful advice! I will start researching programs and making a plan then. I did try to see if I could retroactively withdraw from the courses I failed at the first college but too much time had passed and they wouldn't consider it. EDIT: I started researching SMPs and I see there are some specifically designed for disadvantaged/underrepresented students. I'm leaning towards perhaps applying for one of those.

 

[chilly_md]

If they have a linkage, that would great. I think Drexel has one such program.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think you need to figure out whether a postbac will help you (your GPA is high enough to warrant a lower cost postbac that could cater to UiM students) or if you have run out of undergrad courses so you are left with the SMP option.

Are you involved in any networking among Latinx prehealth/premed students like MiMentor?