Some Advice

[bmccle]

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I am a senior at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Even though I was top of my class in high school, I had a lot of personal circumstances happen during my college years, resulting in a 2.6 GPA. I started off with a little higher of a GPA, had a good amount of family members pass away during my Sophomore and Junior years, which really dropped it, and my GPA last semester was back up to a 3.0. This semester should also be better. My plan was always to attend medical school, but with this GPA, it now seems impossible.

I've been doing research on everything from DO schools, post-bac programs, and medical schools outside of the United States.

My plan is to take an MCAT class over the summer, take the MCAT, and re-take some of the classes I did poorly in at a college closer to home after I graduate from my actual university.

I would really appreciate some advice on what to do in the situation that I am in:

It is worth it to even apply to MD or DO schools with this GPA, regardless of what my MCAT scores ends up being? I am the first person in my family to even attend college, so money is an issue when applying to schools. If I would have any chance of getting in, what schools should I aim for?

If a post-bac is a better idea, what schools should I apply for? Most of the ones that I am seeing, I need a 3.0 GPA or better to get in.

What about schools outside of the United States? I have read a lot of negatives regarding schools in the Caribbean, for example, but wouldn't any medical school be better than no medical school at all? Are there not transfer options if I do well in the first few semesters? Why would people be attending these schools, and why would they be more and more popular, if none of them were getting residencies? There are actually fliers from my University regarding applying for these schools.


Any other advice would be very helpful.


B.

 

[StarFall]

Look up the Fee Assistance Program for financial aid in terms of applying to schools and registering for MCATs.

With a 2.6, you won't have a shot. GPA needs to be at least 3.0+ to be considered.. Don't worry about schools right now. Focus on re-taking some classes and getting that GPA above a 3.0. Then focus on studying for the MCATs. I take it you're a senior so you'll have to re-take and ace your classes and might have to take another semester or 2 for re-takes and/or more upper level sciences. This would be an informal postbacc which is much cheaper than formal postbaccs and master's programs.

My personal point of view is to not go to Caribbean or European medical schools but you'll have to research more into this. No one can choose that for you. My 2 cents.

I believe transferring medical schools is very hard and not a feasible option, so don't count on it. This includes US to another US, so going from International to US would be even harder, if it's even possible.

Again, I'm only pre-med, so take that into consideration.

 

[Goro]

100% agree. A 2.6 GPA is simply not competitive for an medical school.

Look up the Fee Assistance Program for financial aid in terms of applying to schools and registering for MCATs.

With a 2.6, you won't have a shot. GPA needs to be at least 3.0+ to be considered.. Don't worry about schools right now. Focus on re-taking some classes and getting that GPA above a 3.0. Then focus on studying for the MCATs. I take it you're a senior so you'll have to re-take and ace your classes and might have to take another semester or 2 for re-takes and/or more upper level sciences. This would be an informal postbacc which is much cheaper than formal postbaccs and master's programs.

My personal point of view is to not go to Caribbean or European medical schools but you'll have to research more into this. No one can choose that for you. My 2 cents.

I believe transferring medical schools is very hard and not a feasible option, so don't count on it. This includes US to another US, so going from International to US would be even harder, if it's even possible.

Again, I'm only pre-med, so take that into consideration.

 

[DoctorKrieger]

I am a senior at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Even though I was top of my class in high school, I had a lot of personal circumstances happen during my college years, resulting in a 2.6 GPA. I started off with a little higher of a GPA, had a good amount of family members pass away during my Sophomore and Junior years, which really dropped it, and my GPA last semester was back up to a 3.0. This semester should also be better. My plan was always to attend medical school, but with this GPA, it now seems impossible.

I've been doing research on everything from DO schools, post-bac programs, and medical schools outside of the United States.

My plan is to take an MCAT class over the summer, take the MCAT, and re-take some of the classes I did poorly in at a college closer to home after I graduate from my actual university.

I would really appreciate some advice on what to do in the situation that I am in:

It is worth it to even apply to MD or DO schools with this GPA, regardless of what my MCAT scores ends up being? I am the first person in my family to even attend college, so money is an issue when applying to schools. If I would have any chance of getting in, what schools should I aim for?

If a post-bac is a better idea, what schools should I apply for? Most of the ones that I am seeing, I need a 3.0 GPA or better to get in.

What about schools outside of the United States? I have read a lot of negatives regarding schools in the Caribbean, for example, but wouldn't any medical school be better than no medical school at all? Are there not transfer options if I do well in the first few semesters? Why would people be attending these schools, and why would they be more and more popular, if none of them were getting residencies? There are actually fliers from my University regarding applying for these schools.


Any other advice would be very helpful.


B.

MD schools are probably out of the question at this point. With grade replacement, DO is very possible but you'll need to retake classes after you graduate. Since you won't apply this upcoming cycle (if I understand correctly), this might not even cause a delay. But you must do well in your retakes and on the MCAT. If MSU-COM has an in-state bias, that helps too, assuming you're a Michigan resident. I wouldn't do an SMP, but a do-it-yourself postbacc instead...just enroll in the courses you did poorly in before. There's no reason to think about Caribbean at this point. Your 3.0 gpa might be fixed fairly quickly with retakes.