special circumstance???

[Destnd2BMD]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi everybody. I have a question for anyone who wants to give feedback. I have searched the boards for a while and haven't found anyone with quite the same situation as me. First off I graduated with a BS in Biology overall GPA ~2.8 BCPM ~2.5 (Bad i know). BUT...I went to college at 15 after skipping 10-12 grades. I know this is not an excuse but I was just wondering how it will affect adcoms (neg/pos). I am now 21 and a lot more focused and about to do a Biochem degree at northern kentucky which i will complete in only 2 semesters since i have like 150 hours. I'm taking MCAT in Jan(shooting for 30+) and I am applying to cincinncati's SMP in the spring. I'm thinking about applying to Med school next year and if it doesn't work out have the SMP. I just don't know competitive a ~3.0 30 MCAT(hopefully) is even with a "special circumstance". And for the record I am actually a Texas resident but my fiance's job is there so...I just wanted to see what you guys thought. By the way I am an African American URM. Don't know how much that helps but just thought I'd mention. Thanks in advance everyone.🙂

 

[TheRealMD]

1) How do you go to college at 15?
2) Being a URM is not a free-pass (MSAR stats show that plenty of URMs still get rejected)
3) Other's here on SDN will chime in on your grades.

 

[Destnd2BMD]

1) How do you go to college at 15?
2) Being a URM is not a free-pass (MSAR stats show that plenty of URMs still get rejected)
3) Other's here on SDN will chime in on your grades.

1) It was a special program at an all women's college in VA (mary baldwin college)call program for the exceptionally gifted.
2) I definitely understand being URM is not a free pass. I was just trying to tell everything about me to paint a picture. I really didn't think it made any difference at all until I started reading these boards.
3) I know my grades aren't stellar nor are they even ok in my opinion. But I am trying to rectify the situation a little with a 4.0 biochem 2nd bachelor's and hopefully an SMP. Oh and I'm also volunteering, shadowing and doing research. All this while I have a family too. So i'm really busting my butt right now.

 

[Destnd2BMD]

And I read your mdapplicants actually last night and I was like wow. You are a prime example of why I'm asking this. There are people who are young in college and have gotten good grades so the young thing is not special to me. The thing that I always think about is if high school would've made a difference and of course today I think yeah. But hindsight 20/20 ya know.

 

[Destnd2BMD]

bump

 

[notdeadyet]

It's really impossible to guess your chances until you take the MCAT. Many shoot for 30 and don't hit it.

A few thoughts:

1. Being a URM and being a Texas resident are good things. Keep your Texas residency no matter what you do.
2. Do well in your 2nd BA. It's going to be critical that you get as close to 4.0 as possible.
3. An SMP will give you a graduate GPA. Taken so soon after undergrad, I've heard mixed things with how much impact it will have to compensate for a low undergrad GPA. See #2.
4. Be very careful about how you treat your going to college so young. Many folks in education (including medical education, I would assume) are very much against the idea of folks going to college so early. It will obviously come up, but be careful not to use it as an excuse. No one forced you.

Best of luck in the process...

 

[Destnd2BMD]

Thanks a lot. I'm just hoping adcoms will see my dedication. I've had a few bumps in the road but now I'm focused. In addition to a full load of classes i'm volunteering for red cross, shadowing and i have 2 daughters. Starting aug. i'll be doing chem research in addition to 18 hours and red cross (plus wedding planning boy do i wish that counted for something🙂.Anyone else wanna chime in your responses are more than welcome. (by the way i've seem the term trolling on here but i dont know what it is exactly. hope i'm not doing it right now 🙂

 

[Thayer]

Thanks a lot. I'm just hoping adcoms will see my dedication. I've had a few bumps in the road but now I'm focused. In addition to a full load of classes i'm volunteering for red cross, shadowing and i have 2 daughters. Starting aug. i'll be doing chem research in addition to 18 hours and red cross (plus wedding planning boy do i wish that counted for something🙂.Anyone else wanna chime in your responses are more than welcome. (by the way i've seem the term trolling on here but i dont know what it is exactly. hope i'm not doing it right now 🙂

I think you can get accepted into med school. It may not be this year and you may have to do an SMP, but I think you at one point can make it into med school and excel. I wasn't as focused in college either and I didn't do well at all. 3.1 overall gpa and 2.9 BCPM. I thought my dreams of med school were over and then I did an SMP, studied harder than I had ever studied before and did well. I also spent a summer locked in a Kaplan center studying for the MCAT and did well on that too.
When I applied, in my PS and my interviews I made of point of emphasizing that that was who I was then and how far I'd come since then. People make mistakes. For some individuals, it takes some time for them to get their act together. It sounds like in your case you tried to take on so much at such a young age. But you're more mature now with more life experience and it sounds like you're willing to work hard. In my opinion, there are adcoms out there who respect that and understand that it takes some individuals a little longer to develop into promising applicants.

All I can say is that one med school was willing to overlook my past academic struggle and accepted me, so I know it's possible. And I think you're doing all the right things. Do well in your biochem program, aim as high as you can on your MCAT, if you don't get in, do an SMP and I believe you can get in. Oh, and as earlier posters have mentioned, your URM status will help you. In the application process, you should use any advantage you have and there's nothing wrong with that. But it will only get you so far, it's up to you to do the rest. I wish you the best.

Oh and a troll is someone who deliberately makes an inflammatory post to make people angry, offend someone, or to incite an argument over a polarizing topic. You're not trolling so don't worry about it.

 

[silas2642]

With that gpa, you're in pretty bad shape, but it is definitely not impossible for you to matriculate into medical school. However, I would definitely say that it is important for everything to go well for you from here on in (i.e. mcat, post-bac, smp, apply early, etc). For right now, I would think about holding off on the mcat unless you're really nailing those practice tests-- and I mean really nailing them (30+ on at least a couple of them). If anything goes wrong on the test date, like you get sick or you think you didn't do well, then void the exam. You cannot afford to have a bad mcat score on your record as well as a poor undergraduate gpa; that will be the nail in your coffin and you can kiss a medical degree in the US goodbye.

Is your gpa going to be over 3.0 by the time you finish this second degree? If not, then you might have to take some more classes to boost it up, and you may want to take the smp. Also, consider talking to some admissions staff at some schools you are interested in and asking their advice on how to boost your application. A lot of schools have a minimum gpa of 3.0 before they will even consider you.

Have you considered the DO route? Your chances of allopathic school, even with a good mcat score are somewhat slim, and with a family, you may not want to consider the Caribbean route. Anyhow, good luck with your journey and keep us posted with your progress.

 

[Law2Doc]

It's really impossible to guess your chances until you take the MCAT. Many shoot for 30 and don't hit it.

A few thoughts:

1. Being a URM and being a Texas resident are good things. Keep your Texas residency no matter what you do.
2. Do well in your 2nd BA. It's going to be critical that you get as close to 4.0 as possible.
3. An SMP will give you a graduate GPA. Taken so soon after undergrad, I've heard mixed things with how much impact it will have to compensate for a low undergrad GPA. See #2.
4. Be very careful about how you treat your going to college so young. Many folks in education (including medical education, I would assume) are very much against the idea of folks going to college so early. It will obviously come up, but be careful not to use it as an excuse. No one forced you.

Best of luck in the process...

Agree with this (especially about the don't anticipate a good MCAT before you take it, part). It probably pays for you to do the SMP rather than attempt med school directly because you will have a few question marks in your unconventional app and such programs are designed specifically to give adcoms better comfort that you are ready for the rigors of med school.