SMP help?

[fire4keep]

Hey guys, I recently graduated from undergrad, and I am looking to pursue an SMP. I graduated with a 2.87c, 2.9s gpa, and a 39 (15 ,10 ,14) MCAT score. I've been on a strong upward trend up until my last semester of senior year where I had a semester gpa of 1.7. I unfortunately made the mistake of taking the mcat during the spring and studied for it like nothing else, basically neglecting my classes completely. I did horrendously in some upper level bio courses which might look dismal to medical schools (physiology, and immunology).

My original plan was to finish strong with a 4.0 gpa senior year and a 39 mcat to show how much I've grown from my crappy first 2 years of undergrad, but now, I'm pretty much screwed. I had planned on applying to MD schools this upcoming cycle, but I don't think that's possible anymore, so I recently found out about SMPs at schools and was ecstatic about it cause it seems like a perfect fit for my situation. I'm taking a year off to work in a payed internship lab as I had originally planned but I'm confused about the SMP process. I was reading the official SMP guide that was stickied on these forums and I'm confused about the timeline. Do different schools have different deadlines as to when the applications are due? Are some schools rolling? Should I be in the process of preparing my application to submit by this fall for the next cycle or do applications open in January of 2015 as I've read in some posts on here?

Thanks!!

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[The Helpful Aye Aye]

Hey guys, I recently graduated from undergrad, and I am looking to pursue an SMP. I graduated with a 2.87c, 2.9s gpa, and a 39 (15 ,10 ,14) MCAT score. I've been on a strong upward trend up until my last semester of senior year where I had a semester gpa of 1.7. I unfortunately made the mistake of taking the mcat during the spring and studied for it like nothing else, basically neglecting my classes completely. I did horrendously in some upper level bio courses which might look dismal to medical schools (physiology, and immunology).

My original plan was to finish strong with a 4.0 gpa senior year and a 39 mcat to show how much I've grown from my crappy first 2 years of undergrad, but now, I'm pretty much screwed. I had planned on applying to MD schools this upcoming cycle, but I don't think that's possible anymore, so I recently found out about SMPs at schools and was ecstatic about it cause it seems like a perfect fit for my situation. I'm taking a year off to work in a payed internship lab as I had originally planned but I'm confused about the SMP process. I was reading the official SMP guide that was stickied on these forums and I'm confused about the timeline. Do different schools have different deadlines as to when the applications are due? Are some schools rolling? Should I be in the process of preparing my application to submit by this fall for the next cycle or do applications open in January of 2015 as I've read in some posts on here?

Thanks!!

Why would you not take it over summer? Did your advisors lay out this plan for you? How many credits is your sGPA, what was it before that last semester?

 

[Hailstorm]

You should be extremely wary of letting your MCAT expire, ideally your gap year would be after your SMP year, not before.

 

[DrMidlife]

Even with that 39, and being in a hurry to protect it, I'm against doing an SMP with a sub-3.0 over four years of undergrad. Another year of undergrad is the next thing to do: full time, mostly hard science, and get as close to 4.0 as you can get. This will get your undergrad GPA's up over 3.0. You'll still be a very low GPA candidate, but unless you're in California or NY you'll get interviews. If you're in a very competitive state, then you'll need to be ready to do more than one more year of undergrad. It's too late to postpone graduation, presumably, but that would have been a good idea.

You'll get interrogated on that 1.7/39 forever. Not good. Be humble.

Best of luck to you.

 

[fire4keep]

@notajock2day - I had been pushing it off for so long that I just had to take it. I was fed up of waiting for the right time. Sure it was pretty stupid in the end because it screwed me over in the end.

@Hailstorm - It was part of my plan to take a gap year after my undergrad so that I could apply for medical school. Is it too late for me to apply to SMP this next cycle though?

@DrMidlife - When is SMP a good option? Who fits the proper criteria for these programs? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty new to these cause I thought that I'd never have to consider them. It was kind of a do well the last semester and apply this upcoming cycle. I didn't think of a plan B when I should have covered all my bases.

Thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

@DrMidlife - When is SMP a good option? Who fits the proper criteria for these programs? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty new to these cause I thought that I'd never have to consider them. It was kind of a do well the last semester and apply this upcoming cycle. I didn't think of a plan B when I should have covered all my bases

An SMP is what you do when there's nothing else you can do about your undergrad GPA (such as: you only have 4 years of undergrad...year 5 will move your GPA). It's what you do after you have multiple strong years in undergrad. It's what you do when more undergrad wouldn't do you any more good (such as someone who has finished 2+ years of 3.7+ in mostly hard science, but the GPA literally won't budge anymore because they have 6+ years of undergrad).

Public service announcement:
1. SMPs are not a solution to a low MCAT.
2. SMPs are not a solution if you are not sure you want to go to med school.
3. SMPs are a very dumb way to learn how to study.
4. SMPs are very expensive, risky, and do not come with a guarantee, ever, not even at Temple/Tulane ACP/RFU.
5. Programs not hosted at a med school are not SMPs.
6. Very few SMPs offer a guaranteed interview or any other "linkage" agreement. If you heard SMP X has linkage or a great record, be skeptical, because programs change a lot.
7. Taking on $50k in additional student debt to avoid paying student loans during a gap year just means you're bad at math.
8. There are thousands of colleges that offer one year terminal masters programs. Not special.

Best of luck to you.

 

[fire4keep]

An SMP is what you do when there's nothing else you can do about your undergrad GPA (such as: you only have 4 years of undergrad, because year 5 will move your GPA). It's what you do after you have multiple strong years in undergrad. It's what you do when more undergrad wouldn't do you any more good (such as someone who has finished 2+ years of 3.7+ in mostly hard science, but you literally can't raise your GPA anymore).

Public service announcement:
1. SMPs are not a solution to a low MCAT.
2. SMPs are not a solution if you are not sure you want to go to med school.
3. SMPs are a very dumb way to learn how to study.
4. SMPs are very expensive, risky, and do not come with a guarantee, ever, not even at Temple/Tulane ACP/RFU.
5. Programs not hosted at a med school are not SMPs.
6. Very few SMPs offer a guaranteed interview or any other "linkage" agreement. If you heard SMP X has linkage or a great record, be skeptical, because programs change a lot.
7. Taking on $50k in additional student debt to avoid paying student loans during a gap year just means you're bad at math.
8. There are thousands of colleges that offer one year terminal masters programs. Not special.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm planning on retaking immunology and physiology this summer. I'll talk to my adviser regarding taking more credits in the fall to improve my gpa.

Thank you DrMidlife!

 

[smpbound]

Hey guys, I recently graduated from undergrad, and I am looking to pursue an SMP. I graduated with a 2.87c, 2.9s gpa, and a 39 (15 ,10 ,14) MCAT score. I've been on a strong upward trend up until my last semester of senior year where I had a semester gpa of 1.7. I unfortunately made the mistake of taking the mcat during the spring and studied for it like nothing else, basically neglecting my classes completely. I did horrendously in some upper level bio courses which might look dismal to medical schools (physiology, and immunology).

My original plan was to finish strong with a 4.0 gpa senior year and a 39 mcat to show how much I've grown from my crappy first 2 years of undergrad, but now, I'm pretty much screwed. I had planned on applying to MD schools this upcoming cycle, but I don't think that's possible anymore, so I recently found out about SMPs at schools and was ecstatic about it cause it seems like a perfect fit for my situation. I'm taking a year off to work in a payed internship lab as I had originally planned but I'm confused about the SMP process. I was reading the official SMP guide that was stickied on these forums and I'm confused about the timeline. Do different schools have different deadlines as to when the applications are due? Are some schools rolling? Should I be in the process of preparing my application to submit by this fall for the next cycle or do applications open in January of 2015 as I've read in some posts on here?

Thanks!!

A 39? you're not a doctor, you're an astronaut. Med school might be a bit beneath your talents, no?