SMP or not to SMP ?

[krazydesi]

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Hey guys,

What you think I shoudl do regarding my situation. I am not sure what to do and have laid out all my stats below.

cGPA: 3.48
sGPA: 3.23
MCAT: 36P
13BS,12 PS,11 V

Extracurricular:
-Penn State Dance Team (won best dance team in the nation)
-Hospital Volunteering (~150 hours)
-Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre med honor society HONORS member
-BMB Society Vice President
-Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) VP for Finance
-MGC VP for Standards
Community Service/Volunteering:
-Went to Nicaragua for 3 weeks on a medical mission trip
-Volunteer at many blood drives
-Raised $6000 myself for Kids with Cancer
-Shadowed 3 doctors about 10 hours each. Will get more shadowing in

I am an engineering student (Industrial Eng) so my gpa is not the best but I am basically top 10% of my class with it. Surprising.

I know I haven't done as well as I could have but that is also because my freshmen and sophomore year I had a lot of family issues where I had to go home every weekend to figure it out.

I am debating if I should apply with my scores to medical school (broadly definitely and thinking at least 20 schools) or if I should apply to medical school and SMP Programs

I would like not to attend SMP programs because of the money issue as they can get expensive and such and my parents will not be financing anything past undergrad for me.


I mean if SMP will greatly help me for medical school interviews then I will galdly apply.

The other thing was I was looking into Carribbean. What do you guys think of that? I would not like to be primary care, rather would in the end like to speciliaze. Thank you

 

[krazydesi]

oh yes I also have one and half year of research.

I am not worried about my recommendations as I know they will all be very very strong.. even the committee one.

 

[camaras2480]

I am debating if I should apply with my scores to medical school (broadly definitely and thinking at least 20 schools) or if I should apply to medical school and SMP Programs

Yes. Apply through the 'low' tier, and I think you will be interviewed, and maybe even land an acceptance.

[QUOTE I would like not to attend SMP programs because of the money issue as they can get expensive and such and my parents will not be financing anything past undergrad for me.

I mean if SMP will greatly help me for medical school interviews then I will galdly apply. [/QUOTE]

If you want to have a good shot across the 'mid' tier, you will need an SMP. An excellent SMP (3.75+) would also give you a chance at interview in the 'top' tier.

The other thing was I was looking into Carribbean. What do you guys think of that? I would not like to be primary care, rather would in the end like to speciliaze. Thank you

Yeah, no. Go DO before Caribbean, 100 times. There is just too many hurdles going down the Caribbean route, including high attrition rate, [very] low residency matching, and even potential issues with licensing.

 

[krazydesi]

anyone else have any other opinions on what I should do ?


I was looking into SMP programs and it seems that the University of Cin. Might be the best because of cost.

I was thinking either SMP or get a job as an engineer for a year


I really want that job experience but ultimately my goal is medical school.

I also wanted to ask about Carribbean schools. I have a friend that goes to a carribbean school Antigua and he said that its the same as US med schools. He said that its not as bad as peoplpe say and as long as you do well in hte USMLEs you usually get your residency program you want.

Just wanted to know how true this is. thanks

 

[camaras2480]

anyone else have any other opinions on what I should do ?


I was looking into SMP programs and it seems that the University of Cin. Might be the best because of cost.

I was thinking either SMP or get a job as an engineer for a year


I really want that job experience but ultimately my goal is medical school.

Eng job experience won't help your application at all. A strong SMP, however, would be very helpful.

I also wanted to ask about Carribbean schools. I have a friend that goes to a carribbean school Antigua and he said that its the same as US med schools. He said that its not as bad as peoplpe say and as long as you do well in hte USMLEs you usually get your residency program you want.

Just wanted to know how true this is. thanks

I know you already have my opinion on this. It is not very true. But I'll let others support or contradict me.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

it's not the same and you know it..

 

[krazydesi]

yea just had a long talk with few close people. It seems I will apply for Univ. of Cin SMP program along with some others. Next year though. Hopefully that will help me out. Obviously ill work my butt off for it. Thanks everyone

Also is it advisable to to wait till the end of my SMP to apply to medical school or should I take my chacnes apply broadly the summer before I start SMP.

 

[camaras2480]

yea just had a long talk with few close people. It seems I will apply for Univ. of Cin SMP program along with some others. Next year though. Hopefully that will help me out. Obviously ill work my butt off for it. Thanks everyone

Also is it advisable to to wait till the end of my SMP to apply to medical school or should I take my chacnes apply broadly the summer before I start SMP.

I would wait til the end of SMP classes. Otherwise, you don't get to reap the benefits of (presumably) doing well in a full year of hard science courses.

Good luck!

 

[airca12]

cGPA: 3.48
sGPA: 3.23
MCAT: 36P
13BS,12 PS,11 V

Extracurricular:
-Penn State Dance Team (won best dance team in the nation)
-Hospital Volunteering (~150 hours)
-Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre med honor society HONORS member
-BMB Society Vice President
-Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) VP for Finance
-MGC VP for Standards
Community Service/Volunteering:
-Went to Nicaragua for 3 weeks on a medical mission trip
-Volunteer at many blood drives
-Raised $6000 myself for Kids with Cancer
-Shadowed 3 doctors about 10 hours each. Will get more shadowing in

Are you still an undergraduate student right now?

I'm in this school of thought: if you have decent/ok numbers you should at least apply to medical school and get rejected before considering the SMP route. At least try to get in. Why do the SMP if you don't have to?

Also, another thing to consider is taking an extra year of undergrad classes to get your cGPA above 3.5 and boost your sGPA as much as you can. A 36 MCAT is a very good score. I don't see why you can't land an acceptance without doing an SMP.

What am I missing here??

 

[camaras2480]

What am I missing here??

The science GPA.

I do like the idea of giving this application cycle a whirl. The candidate has decided to apply SMP next year, and I think this is in agreement with our views.

 

[jj6vcb]

Even if you use only the sGPA in this chart:

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt.htm

OP has a 52% chance of acceptance. Better with cGPA. Why consider not applying?

 

[DaTruMD]

You should just apply and see what happens. I think you have a chance as long as you have a strong PS and rock the interview.

 

[krazydesi]

I want to Thank everyone for their input. Yea you guys really lifted me lately I was depressed. I thought even after doing SMP (saying I do really well) I wouldn't get in. I have been hearing a lot of stories about people with very high stats and they don't get in. But I have decided to take a year off (SMP or not) in order to mature myself and do some more things. Most likely I will apply to one or two SMPs with the cheapest tuition (I seem to really like the Univ. of Cinn. Program, cheap tuition and great program as I read on StudentDocnetwork)

I mean I would really not like to do SMP so I can do what I have been wanting to (GO abroad to south america or africa for like 2-3 months and volunteer, I did a 3 week session in Nicaragua and loved it).

But in order to be on the safe side I'd rather do the SMP just to be sure if I don't get in next year I can apply when my SMP is coming to an end

What do you guys all think.


I was actually thinking about graduating one semester late and doing a lot of sciences next spring (so that I can have the sGPA up before I apply) and then take my major classes one semester later to finish up and graduate


But I calculated and saw that I would need about 4 science classes to get upto around 3.3-3.35 sGPA is that a good number?

Oh also the Univ of Cinc (saying if I get in) the full tuition there is the same as the tuition I pay per semester at my current college

 

[camaras2480]

I want to Thank everyone for their input. Yea you guys really lifted me lately I was depressed. I thought even after doing SMP (saying I do really well) I wouldn't get in. I have been hearing a lot of stories about people with very high stats and they don't get in. But I have decided to take a year off (SMP or not) in order to mature myself and do some more things. Most likely I will apply to one or two SMPs with the cheapest tuition (I seem to really like the Univ. of Cinn. Program, cheap tuition and great program as I read on StudentDocnetwork)

I mean I would really not like to do SMP so I can do what I have been wanting to (GO abroad to south america or africa for like 2-3 months and volunteer, I did a 3 week session in Nicaragua and loved it).

But in order to be on the safe side I'd rather do the SMP just to be sure if I don't get in next year I can apply when my SMP is coming to an end

What do you guys all think.

Yes, SMP is a safer route than going abroad.

I was actually thinking about graduating one semester late and doing a lot of sciences next spring (so that I can have the sGPA up before I apply) and then take my major classes one semester later to finish up and graduate

Not a bad idea...

But I calculated and saw that I would need about 4 science classes to get upto around 3.3-3.35 sGPA is that a good number?

This is a big improvement from 3.2ish. Your cGPA should also rise to like 3.57 or something. Again, not as good a route as SMP, but better than nothing.

Oh also the Univ of Cinc (saying if I get in) the full tuition there is the same as the tuition I pay per semester at my current college

Cool.

 

[camaras2480]

KrazyDesi,

You really have no clue do you??

Gotta love posts that start with a bang! lolll