Still Possible to get into Med School?

[Krisss17]

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I am currently going for Pre-Dent or Pre-Optometry and now I'm stuck in a dilemma because I really want to go for Medical School.

You guys would probably know this better than I do since you are Pre-Med students. I know that I have a chance for Pre-Dent or Pre-Optometry but as far as my GPA goes, to get into medical school, I'm a little weary. My cum GPA is currently 3.045 with 73 semester hours. My science GPA is 2.9+ but I know this might not be enough for medical school. I have a C+ in Anatomy and Physiology Lab I, C in General Chemistry II, C+ in Physics I, C in Physics II, and D+ in Organic Chemistry I. I must retake Organic Chemistry I. But I was afraid that these grades here, were not going to get me into medical school and that I will be doomed.

I really love medicine from what I did or saw from my shadowing and rotations. It moved me and motivated me because I saw people who were sick and needed assistance and just seeing the look on their face after they have been treated makes you know that you did something good in your life for people. And I want to do good.

- Does anybody out there know anyone who's gotten into medical school with a few C's and or retaken a class with a D+ or lower? And if so, what was their GPA and MCAT. I want and need the hope.😎

Ouch! Even with a stellar MCAT, I don't think that it will be easy at all. I definitely think that you really need to be realistic...when you were taking those science classes, did you blow them off or did you really have a problem with the course matter? The reason I ask is that if you blew it off, and you decide to really be serious and take a more proactive route and get really good grades, your chances will increase...if the material was really had for you, it is not going to be any easier for you in med school. DO schools which are a little more lenient with GPAs and have more grade forgiveness, would probably still want to see over a 3.0 GPA, assuming you have a competitive MCAT.

 

[p9142]

there's nothing wrong going into the DO route. I don't know why people bash on DO's or other fields of practice
😀very funny

I don't know why people on here love bashing on other people who are simply asking a question. You guys are future doctors and are supposed to help people but instead you give them a hard time. What are you going to do when you actually work with a patient that has a problem? Tell them bluntly that they will not make it past life? Come on now.

We weren't bashing you. I was simply making a joke about how people love to come into the pre-allo forum and ask what their chances are. Once they find out they have almost no chance for allo, they suddenly fall in love with the osteopathic philosophy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with DO, and for all practical purposed DO=MD. If I were in your shoes I would go DO in a heartbeat.

 

[RSX JDM Integra]

We weren't bashing you. I was simply making a joke about how people love to come into the pre-allo forum and ask what their chances are. Once they find out they have almost no chance for allo, they suddenly fall in love with the osteopathic philosophy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with DO, and for all practical purposed DO=MD. If I were in your shoes I would go DO in a heartbeat.

I appreciate your concerns and suggestions. But I think I'm going to still try to get to what I really want to do. I don't want to settle for an alternative.

But DO is still good. Especially since there is a school locally for me. (Nova)

However, my GPA is 3.0 and I still have 50+ credits to take to improve it so I believe there's still a chance. It's not a 3.0 flat. It's almost a 3.1 so there's room to improve to 3.4-3.5

 

[RSX JDM Integra]

Hod do you have a shot at Dental School with that GPA??

The most prestigious Dental schools want a 3.5-3.6 GPA yes I know.

There are others that I have researched that have a lower expectation and the MEAN GPA of applicants that applied to certain schools were 3.2 with DAT scores around 17-18. So there's always hope. Doesn't mean if you mess up that you're hopeless. I guess I'm really geared to pursuing my goals even if people say its not looking too good at the moment. The more negativity I get the harder I work to improve, so I guess those comments that were negative will help me improve my grades.

 

[Anjlprincezz]

Perfectly possible to get into a Med School. I know a guy with a couple of Fs on his transcript in Stanford Med and yes he is Latino.

Your transcript is going to give you a huge uphill battle. You need at least a 3.5 to be competitive (and that's a 3.5 Science GPA and 3.5 overall). You can probably calculate how many As you need to get your GPA up to this level. So you would need As from now on. Also you would need to rock the MCAT (aim for a 33 or so, as you also want to try and show the schools that they're very smart and serious and that earlier GPAs were due to whatever) and have all the other standard pre-reqs.

You might also want to consider applying more heavily for DO instead of MD programs. No offense to DO people, I think OOM is pretty cool and they got a good philosophy. But DO programs are also much less competitive than the standard MD program.

As long as you're aiming, aim for the 45

 

[aspiring med]

I agree with instatewaiter and doctajay

suck it up and realize that you need to get straight As in science courses here on out, and if you graduate with less than a 3.3 BCPM you might have to consider post-grad work (SMP or post-bacc).

apply after your senior year (plan for a year off during application cycle) if you really have strengthened your grades with straight A's since today, but know you might get rejected. Based on that application cycle, you can decided on whether to go the SMP route.

Even better, just assume you need the SMP, and do that during your year off for application cycle right after graduating college.

yes you do need to rock the MCAT...33 is bare minimum, I would aim for 36+. and APPLY EARLY (as in AMCAS by June of application year...not early as in apply for schools before you get your grades up)

i'm speaking from personal experience. I had great EC's, LORs, MCAT (well not great but above avg--34M) and am currently on 3 waitlists, planning to do SMP next year. Nothing totally makes up for low BCPM (mine was 3.1--and I had 1 C in 2 credit Orgo lab. B's everywhere else)

those exceptional cases of successful applicants with low BCPM's..encouraging, but not practical. you can't assume that you'll be that incredible applicant. Be practical.

good luck, if you focus you can definitely get your grades up and get into school!

if you're curious about what SMP is exactly, visit this link: http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/physiology/physios/courseinfo.htm

there are smp's at georgetown and other schools as well.

 

[QuakerPreMed]

The most prestigious Dental schools want a 3.5-3.6 GPA yes I know.

..what? Harvard dental enrollees have a mean GPA of 3.77.

Also, saying what the average applicant GPA was is completely meaningless. I'm sure the average APPLICANT GPA to MD schools is also ~0.3-0.5 lower than the accepted GPAs. The average applicant doesn't get in.

 

[stoppushingit]

okay, i think people here have touched upon many important points. they've given you sound advice.

however, take everything with a pinch of salt...this is sdn - not exactly where the average applicant hangs out.

i think you have work to do, that's pretty clear.
but, you need to take into consideration your undergrad institution (are you getting those grades cause everyone's just amazing?). also, the rest of your application is important (GPA is only one part of it, albeit very important)

are you a senior???

i got a C+ in organic chem and a C in a cell bio class, and my GPA (both cumulative and BCPM) was similar to yours my freshman/sophomore year. i WORKED LIKE A MADMAN my junior year and senior year (straight A's in graduate level courses and biochem, etc), did well on the MCAT, and i have a crapload of ECs all of which are unique and interesting (not just research/volunteering in a hospital...cause everyone will have that, i guarantee you)..............and i got where i wanted to be.

there's hope, just be prepared to do whatever it takes/bog down and work...

 

[coolcats]

I am kinda stuck right now. Im in my junior year and I've realized that i need to up my GPA im at a 3.18 right now, but this semester should hopefully be a 4.0, and then i have my senior yr classes which will also be all As. I was planning on applying this summer and then retaking the mcat again this summer. im shooting for the july mcat. How badly would this jeopardize my chances of getting an interview. Im from texas, where we have the TMDSAS and our own rolling admissions schedule. Any suggestions?

I have some really good LORs, and Extracurriculars

I guess there might be hope, but things kinda seem bleak right now.

my first mcat was a 27p, im shooting for a 35 this time around but from what i hear most people dont increase that much from their first test.

 

[bluesTank]

Who said I was getting straight C's? Getting into medical school doesn't mean you need to hail with all A's. And my GPA is a 3.0 so how is that straight C's? Straight C average would fall somewhere in the low 2 area. Sorry for being a gunner but how are you on the forums if you can't read?

I believe you began the negativity with this post. People are gonna get defensive when you say things like that, in any forum.