Strength of Application?

[Stirling]

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Hello,

Looking to apply when the next cycle opens in June.

cGPA is 3.1, hoping to bring it above 3.3 by June.
sGPA is 2.9, hoping to bring it to 3.0 by June as well.

OAT - AA: 370 SA: 350

I will have about 40+ hours of shadowing before I apply.

I started and led a club at my first school before transferring to my current school. I also did a volunteer trip in central america for a couple weeks shadowing MDs. I'm currently a member of my school's pre-optometry club. Extracurricular activity other than that mostly involves part-time work to support myself while in school. This past semester, I was a TA for a physiology lab.

I'll have four LOEs: two from science professors, one from the optometrist I'm shadowing, and one from my last employer.

I just earned my Bachelors in Science for Biology, so my classes I'm taking now are prereqs and retakes of failed courses.

I'm applying to OSU, Berkeley, SCCO, Pacific, Houston, and Incarnate Word.

What can I do with my application to make it stronger?

 

[evorage]

Bringing up your gpa will help a lot.

 

[dlralways]

SCCO is extremely competitive, so with a lower GPA, you'd want to have a really high OAT- starting at like 340 avg.

 

[poojerrr]

I had similar stats. OSU put my application on hold because they said I wasn't competitive enough and I have yet to hear back from Houston (I didn't apply to the other programs you had listed).

 

[Mik194]

SCCO looks at Overall GPA, Science GPA, and BioChemPhysics GPA over 3.0. If even one of them is below 3.0, they put your app on hold (basically a no).

 

[AcademicEyes]

Hi there,

Having strong letters of recommendation, a strong personal statement, and good experiences will strengthen your application. Your OAT score looks good, so that should help balance your GPA.

I can't speak to other schools, but Berkeley will give you a fair chance if other aspects of your application make you a strong candidate. If having to work to support yourself was a factor in your GPA, I would let them know. I made a mistake one summer by taking on a full-time job (40 hours/week in my hometown) and taking two upper-division classes at my university (which was in another city), and I ended up getting a D in one course. Not a great decision, but hindsight was 20/20. I contacted them to ask if there was anywhere I could put this information, and they allowed me to send them a letter. You have to own up to any mistakes, of course, but letting them know you are working on improving makes a difference. Hope this helped, PM me if you have any questions.