SMP

[GlenCheckMe]

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I'm currently a senior in undergrad. I have a 1.87 uGPA, 2.65 sGPA. Yes its terrible. After switching out of engineering (it killed my gpa) i switched into biology and want to seriously pursue medical school. I'm staying in school for one more year to finish my bio degree.

I know that this gpa is terrible and I have no chance for grad school, but after reading some pages I hear Special Masters Program is a viable option and it gives you a 'clean slate'

Plan: to raise my gpa as high as I can and take the MCATs after graduation
I also have a research opportunity lined up this summer and have been talking with a doctor to publish a paper together ( he has a history of publishing research papers with undergrad students). I want to apply for SMP right after graduation.

I just want to know is there still a chance for me to get into a MD school. I realize my chances are slim, but I could use some advice

 

[doktorcardinal]

I'm sorry to break the bad news but almost all SMPs have GPA requirement of 3.0 and the remaining 2.75... You will have to take years and years of ugrad classes to raise it up to at least that much

 

[DrMidlife]

Special Masters Program is a viable option and it gives you a 'clean slate'

Laughably untrue. You can't fix four years of broken with one year of good, and med schools will always (ALWAYS) look at your undergrad record and MCAT before they consider SMP/grad/other. You can't fix your damage with more undergrad because math.

Except in Texas, maybe. So move to Texas, get a job, wait a few years until you're eligible for their academic fresh start, diligently and honestly search your soul for whether you are actually capable of getting lots of A's in hard classes, FIX YOUR PROBLEMS, then start undergrad over.

Preferably pick a career that is less ridiculous for you to get into. (<== tough love.)

Best of luck to you.

 

[GlenCheckMe]

Jesus, is there any other option I can possibly take? Whether it's postbacc classes or taking more classes in another university...

 

[deleted248403]

Jesus, is there any other option I can possibly take? Whether it's postbacc classes or taking more classes in another university...

No.

 

[doktorcardinal]

Yeah... Just realized even if you take 4 additional years of similar course load getting everything straight 4.0, you still won't meet that 3.0 requirement. Looks like you are out of lucky buddy, hope you find something else that suits your interests 🙁

 

[GypsyHummus]

Laughably untrue. You can't fix four years of broken with one year of good, and med schools will always (ALWAYS) look at your undergrad record and MCAT before they consider SMP/grad/other. You can't fix your damage with more undergrad because math.

Except in Texas, maybe. So move to Texas, get a job, wait a few years until you're eligible for their academic fresh start, diligently and honestly search your soul for whether you are actually capable of getting lots of A's in hard classes, FIX YOUR PROBLEMS, then start undergrad over.

Preferably pick a career that is less ridiculous for you to get into. (<== tough love.)

Best of luck to you.

What about guaranteed acceptance programs?

 

[NobleGas14]

Get that GPA as close to a 3.0 possible and do very well on the MCAT. Then try applying to an SMP with some form of linkage to give yourself a chance.

Unfortunately, US-MD acceptance seems to be a slim chance now. There are still DO and Caribbean options

Hang in there

 

[doktorcardinal]

What about guaranteed acceptance programs?

Guaranteed acceptance programs are almost as hard to get into the medical school itself.

 

[DrMidlife]

Public service announcement about Carib and other for-profit schools: they'll be delighted to take you with bad stats, but just for 2-3 years. The low-GPA US student who has access to unlimited federal student loans is their target market. You'll accumulate around $200k in student loans while not doing well in pre-clinical years, then the school will dismiss you without letting you sully their reputations with a bad Step 1 score.

Oh and US MD and US DO schools dismiss students for the same reason, just less often.

Fun fact about undergrad performance: it predicts med school performance. If your 4 years in undergrad aren't "med school quality" then you have to produce a comparable performance as a counterexample. You don't get to set the terms of GPA redemption - it takes a lot of incredibly hard work, and more than anything else, you have to not quit.

Best of luck to you.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Public service announcement about Carib and other for-profit schools: they'll be delighted to take you with bad stats, but just for 2-3 years. The low-GPA US student who has access to unlimited federal student loans is their target market. You'll accumulate around $200k in student loans while not doing well in pre-clinical years, then the school will dismiss you without letting you sully their reputations with a bad Step 1 score.

Oh and US MD and US DO schools dismiss students for the same reason, just less often.

Fun fact about undergrad performance: it predicts med school performance. If your 4 years in undergrad aren't "med school quality" then you have to produce a comparable performance as a counterexample. You don't get to set the terms of GPA redemption - it takes a lot of incredibly hard work, and more than anything else, you have to not quit.

Best of luck to you.

In addressing the Carib schools: what if your goal was to just pass and get a residency somewhere in any field, be it internal med or family med? How tough is it to just pass the boards and pre clinical?

I understand at that point someone should just go for a DO school if they just wanna pass, retake grades and an MCAT score as DO schools are a bit more forgiving (not at the rate of Carib) but how tough would it be to do the scenario above?

 

[deleted248403]

In addressing the Carib schools: what if your goal was to just pass and get a residency somewhere in any field, be it internal med or family med? How tough is it to just pass the boards and pre clinical?

I understand at that point someone should just go for a DO school if they just wanna pass, retake grades and an MCAT score as DO schools are a bit more forgiving (not at the rate of Carib) but how tough would it be to do the scenario above?

Top Carib schools have about a 20% drop out rate prior to taking Step 1...

 

[DrMidlife]

In addressing the Carib schools: what if your goal was to just pass and get a residency somewhere in any field, be it internal med or family med? How tough is it to just pass the boards and pre clinical?

Really effing hard at a US MD school, so in the Carib? Really effing hard plus more expensive, farther from home, hurricanes and outages, much less likely to get a residency, etc.

The Carib doesn't magically fix anything that was broken in undergrad. If you can't produce a few years of mostly A's in hard classes, and you can't do well on the MCAT, med school will END you. And it's not like the Carib schools don't care about your stats. They just care about your money more.

The suckage of preclinical years in any med school should be enough to scare you to not be in a hurry to get in, but if it's not, start paying attention to NRMP stats.

BTW, "just pass and get a residency somewhere" describes vast hordes of US MD students.