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This post is intended for all individuals who will be, or are currently in the process of, applying to a SMP. I am writing this with my sincere empathy towards your situation and I hope this will come to you at the right time and elicit the right type of motivational response (if any).
Like many of you, I was also one of those undergrad pre-meds that had a very low GPA and often felt there was absolutely no hope for me. If you scroll back in the threads a few years you may have even seen some of my desperate attempts at milking as much information as I could from fellow SDNers. However, now that I am reaching the final months of my SMP and have this delightful new perspective of 3 acceptances to US allo schools, I felt it my duty to report back to this forum and enlighten those who may feel their hopes and dreams are being shattered by the hateful and blatantly rude advice which is handed out by alleged "veterans" of this forum.
So here is my advice.
# 1 rule: YOU ARE NOT AN EPIC FAILURE AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO SPEND THE NEXT 5 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE BRINGING YOUR GPA TO A POINT WHERE YOU ARE WORTHY OF EVEN BEING **** ON BY A COMMITTEE. all that advice on here about how it takes FOREVER to raise your gpa is complete bull****. you don't need an overall number all the time. I had over 250 credits and my gpa was almost impossible to move. However, I took ~60 credits of hard core upper division science for a few quarters in a row and aced every single one. This trend was enough for my SMP committee to realize I was a "bi-polar" student and may have some potential. Your job is just to get them to believe in your potential. Its not to play number games. These are people you are dealing with, not machines. Don't forget that.
Rule # 2:
If you are like 99% of ppl who apply to SMPs and have a very low undergraduate GPA, do your very best to pull it up as high as possible BEFORE applying to the SMP. If you have already been accepted, it is still early and you can still take more undergraduate classes to boost your gpa a tad bit more before taking the plunge into the SMP schedule.
Now onto what it takes to even get into a SMP. I am willing to bet you that if you feel like you have even the slightest chance of getting into one of these master's programs, your gpa is around the 2.7+ range. Well, fear not. My GPA going in was a lovely 2.5 overall- science even lower.
Rule # 3: ACE YOUR MCAT. Do whatever the hell you have to do to get a 35+ on that thing. Even if you have to take a year off just to study, do it. its worth it. Case and point.
Rule # 4: NEVER, EVER, EVER , EVER give up (unless you just get sick of trying and find other better options)
If there is any advice out there that is of any benefit, it is to never give up. You WILL make it if you make some crucial changes. Figure out why your grades sucked and fix your study habits. That's what I did (trust me I had some really messed up ideas of what it means to study). Not only is that important for you to raise your undergrad gpa more, but it will be a huge help during the SMP. If I had not acquired the study skills needed to handle graduate level course work, the SMP would have been a major failure for me. A lot of students think that "if I could just get into a SMP, I would be golden." This may/may not be the case. Just because you make it in, doesn't mean you will break a 3.6+ gpa (which you absolutely need to show that you have changed as a student). I truly believe that after what I have experienced, anyone can make it in this field who has the passion and drive. I told myself a couple years ago that I was never going to give up because no matter how hard I thought about other options, everything felt like dirt in comparison to being a physician. If you fall into that category, please take my advice and keep pushing. If you are strong enough to withstand the embarrassment and humiliation that comes with not performing at the level you know you could perform at, you are definitely strong enough to make it. Your undergraduate grades are NOT a measure of your intelligence and they mean nothing.
Rule # 5: It is not a competition. No matter how many times it may feel like it is.
Its all a game. Just play the game and don't compete with anyone because that will get you nowhere. You getting into medical school will happen on your own merit and not because you one "uped" anyone or asked a better question than someone during lecture or even brown nosed a little bit more than the other guy at the table. It is all about your merit. You can argue that there are a lot of individuals who get ahead because of networking but trust me, at the end of the day, the people who change this world do it on their own accord. I always told myself that I want to be the MD that not only changes lives but also feels connected to science during the processes. You know, the types that go on to discover big things and maybe even get acknowledged for it. Strive to be your best and you will be.
Ok I am going to stop boring all of you. I know there are going to be plenty of grumpy ppl on here who will comment that I just got lucky or that I need to stop giving people false hope and be more "realistic." Let me tell you something, being realistic never got me anywhere in my life. Every-time I have dreamt big, something good has come for me. I am just trying to pass that message along.
Last but not least, smile and hold your head up. YOU CAN DO THIS. I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!
with love,
tley1115
Like many of you, I was also one of those undergrad pre-meds that had a very low GPA and often felt there was absolutely no hope for me. If you scroll back in the threads a few years you may have even seen some of my desperate attempts at milking as much information as I could from fellow SDNers. However, now that I am reaching the final months of my SMP and have this delightful new perspective of 3 acceptances to US allo schools, I felt it my duty to report back to this forum and enlighten those who may feel their hopes and dreams are being shattered by the hateful and blatantly rude advice which is handed out by alleged "veterans" of this forum.
So here is my advice.
# 1 rule: YOU ARE NOT AN EPIC FAILURE AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO SPEND THE NEXT 5 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE BRINGING YOUR GPA TO A POINT WHERE YOU ARE WORTHY OF EVEN BEING **** ON BY A COMMITTEE. all that advice on here about how it takes FOREVER to raise your gpa is complete bull****. you don't need an overall number all the time. I had over 250 credits and my gpa was almost impossible to move. However, I took ~60 credits of hard core upper division science for a few quarters in a row and aced every single one. This trend was enough for my SMP committee to realize I was a "bi-polar" student and may have some potential. Your job is just to get them to believe in your potential. Its not to play number games. These are people you are dealing with, not machines. Don't forget that.
Rule # 2:
If you are like 99% of ppl who apply to SMPs and have a very low undergraduate GPA, do your very best to pull it up as high as possible BEFORE applying to the SMP. If you have already been accepted, it is still early and you can still take more undergraduate classes to boost your gpa a tad bit more before taking the plunge into the SMP schedule.
Now onto what it takes to even get into a SMP. I am willing to bet you that if you feel like you have even the slightest chance of getting into one of these master's programs, your gpa is around the 2.7+ range. Well, fear not. My GPA going in was a lovely 2.5 overall- science even lower.
Rule # 3: ACE YOUR MCAT. Do whatever the hell you have to do to get a 35+ on that thing. Even if you have to take a year off just to study, do it. its worth it. Case and point.
Rule # 4: NEVER, EVER, EVER , EVER give up (unless you just get sick of trying and find other better options)
If there is any advice out there that is of any benefit, it is to never give up. You WILL make it if you make some crucial changes. Figure out why your grades sucked and fix your study habits. That's what I did (trust me I had some really messed up ideas of what it means to study). Not only is that important for you to raise your undergrad gpa more, but it will be a huge help during the SMP. If I had not acquired the study skills needed to handle graduate level course work, the SMP would have been a major failure for me. A lot of students think that "if I could just get into a SMP, I would be golden." This may/may not be the case. Just because you make it in, doesn't mean you will break a 3.6+ gpa (which you absolutely need to show that you have changed as a student). I truly believe that after what I have experienced, anyone can make it in this field who has the passion and drive. I told myself a couple years ago that I was never going to give up because no matter how hard I thought about other options, everything felt like dirt in comparison to being a physician. If you fall into that category, please take my advice and keep pushing. If you are strong enough to withstand the embarrassment and humiliation that comes with not performing at the level you know you could perform at, you are definitely strong enough to make it. Your undergraduate grades are NOT a measure of your intelligence and they mean nothing.
Rule # 5: It is not a competition. No matter how many times it may feel like it is.
Its all a game. Just play the game and don't compete with anyone because that will get you nowhere. You getting into medical school will happen on your own merit and not because you one "uped" anyone or asked a better question than someone during lecture or even brown nosed a little bit more than the other guy at the table. It is all about your merit. You can argue that there are a lot of individuals who get ahead because of networking but trust me, at the end of the day, the people who change this world do it on their own accord. I always told myself that I want to be the MD that not only changes lives but also feels connected to science during the processes. You know, the types that go on to discover big things and maybe even get acknowledged for it. Strive to be your best and you will be.
Ok I am going to stop boring all of you. I know there are going to be plenty of grumpy ppl on here who will comment that I just got lucky or that I need to stop giving people false hope and be more "realistic." Let me tell you something, being realistic never got me anywhere in my life. Every-time I have dreamt big, something good has come for me. I am just trying to pass that message along.
Last but not least, smile and hold your head up. YOU CAN DO THIS. I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!
with love,
tley1115
good thing I got that math degree 
