SMP vs. UG vs. CC.

[amakhosidlo]

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After looking over my transcripts/EC's, I've come to the conclusion that I don't currently have a shot at getting into a US allo or Osteo school.
Overall: 3.35
Science: 3.05
STRONG upward trend in 400 level science junior/senior year, but that won't make up for my solid B-'s in virtually all pre-reqs, with a C in Calc 🙁
(FYI 3 pre-reqs per quarter Frosh year? not a good idea...)
I won't go into details, but there were mental health/separation issues, etc. which have since been resolved. Now I'm back on track, but far behind the curve

So I'm contemplating my options trying to figure out which strategy/route would best for me in terms of increasing the strength of my app.

The options I've come up with are:

A. Graduate with my Lib. Arts degree, and persue an SMP
B. Stay a year, improve my science GPA by doubling in Microbiology
C. Graduate and take my pre-reqs over at a CC or another 4-yr (Either Central Washington U, Western Washington U, or Cal State Northridge)

I have taken all my pre-reqs, so I'm not sure if a SMP is appropriate, on the other hand I'm almost positive I could do exceedingly well in them if I retook a few. What do people think?


Any Advice, particularly from the adcom members, would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[Perrotfish]

First, to clarify, an SMP is for people who have already completed to pre-reqs, but don't have an application that can currently get them into medical school. Generally SMPs allow these premeds to take a semester/year of classes with medical students, and prove by their performance there that they belong in medial school. Generally these programs are aimed at people with high MCATs and a low GPA. Your GPA is a little high for such an expensive option, but you could definitely consider it.

Second, you might be competitive for DO, especially if you shadow a few and get a strong DO letter of recommendation.

Finally advice: take the freaking MCAT. What you do next probably depends on your MCAT score. High: go to DO school. Not Bad: maybe an SMP, or more course work. Bad: 4 year school (the current one or a different one) to get your GPA up and another MCAT course to get your score up.

Also one last warning: SMPs tend to be very important to ADCOMs, so if you do badly it can pretty much sink an otherwise borderline application. If you go with the SMP be careful.

 

[167649]

After looking over my transcripts/EC's, I've come to the conclusion that I don't currently have a shot at getting into a US allo or Osteo school.
Overall: 3.35
Science: 3.05
STRONG upward trend in 400 level science junior/senior year, but that won't make up for my solid B-'s in virtually all pre-reqs, with a C in Calc 🙁
(FYI 3 pre-reqs per quarter Frosh year? not a good idea...)
I won't go into details, but there were mental health/separation issues, etc. which have since been resolved. Now I'm back on track, but far behind the curve

So I'm contemplating my options trying to figure out which strategy/route would best for me in terms of increasing the strength of my app.

The options I've come up with are:

A. Graduate with my Lib. Arts degree, and persue an SMP
B. Stay a year, improve my science GPA by doubling in Microbiology
C. Graduate and take my pre-reqs over at a CC or another 4-yr (Either Central Washington U, Western Washington U, or Cal State Northridge)

I have taken all my pre-reqs, so I'm not sure if a SMP is appropriate, on the other hand I'm almost positive I could do exceedingly well in them if I retook a few. What do people think?

Any Advice, particularly from the adcom members, would be sincerely appreciated.

Without an MCAT, it is impossible to evaluate your standing with US schools. For sure though, you will need a good score to offset it. Should you score well, make sure to apply early, broadly, and include osteopathic schools.

As perrotfish said, an SMP is not a golden ticket to medical school. In a way it can be a gamble. If you really feel you can do a lot better and your uGPA misrepresents you, and you are sure you will do will with it, than go. But if you do poorly in the SMP it can actually hurt you.

 

[gman33]

Science GPA is much too low to be competitive at MD school, regardless of MCAT. If you are interested in DO, take the MCAT and apply. If you only want MD, start by taking another year of upper level science courses. Get the science GPA as high as you can, take the MCAT and then apply. If you don't get in on the first shot, then look into a SMP.

 

[Gold 5]

Science GPA is much too low to be competitive at MD school, regardless of MCAT. If you are interested in DO, take the MCAT and apply. If you only want MD, start by taking another year of upper level science courses. Get the science GPA as high as you can, take the MCAT and then apply. If you don't get in on the first shot, then look into a SMP.

I agree with the advice given above but if you get a 27+ on the MCAT and you are going for DO, retake a few of the core pre req's. This would be the only thing holding you back.

 

[njbmd]

First of all, go to the AMCAS website and look at the various SMPs. Some are for grade enhancement/credential enhancement and some are for people who have not taken the pre-med coursework. You have taken pre-med coursework and thus you would not be eligible for a SMP for people who have not taken those courses. Some like Georgetown's are for credential enhancement and would work for you but you likely need to take the MCAT to be considered for admission into the credential-enhancement type SMPs. You need to look as some of these programs and see if any are a good match for you.

Second, your uGPA is below average and no MCAT score is going to offset that particular fact. Still, you do have the option of taking some postbacc courses (formal or informal) that will raise your uGPA provided you do extremely well. The biggest problem is that this process will be very long and tedious because you have a huge number of hours and uGPAs rise very slowly in that situation. Even if you choose to do the SMP or postbacc route, you need to do extremely well period. You can't afford any mediocre grades in anything should you elect one of these pathways.

In addition, you still have to take the MCAT and that is no small or easy task. You have one shot to do well on this very important test. A mediocre score will tank you quite rapidly.

Finally, do some more investigation and figure out what you can realistically do both financially and academically. In any event, you need to thoroughly prepare and take the MCAT and that needs to be on your list too. You know that you have a uphill road but it not an impossible task if you are prepared to dig in and do well.