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sub 3.0 GPA advice
- Thread starter Hyein
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I think the typical advice for someone in your position is to go the SMP route, preferably one with a strong linkage to a medical school (e.g., guaranteed admission or interview). You are extremely unlikely to have success at MD or DO programs without an SMP given your current <3.0 GPA - in other words, I don't think your first option is a very good one, and I think your third option is even worse.
Medical schools typically don't have advertised GPA/MCAT cutoffs which makes sense if you think about it from their perspective - they earn $60-$200 for every secondary that is returned, even if your application goes straight in the trash after they receive your money. However, if you look at the stats of accepted students in the MSAR, you'll easily see that the de facto cutoff at all medical schools is well above 3.0.
You'll occasionally read about someone on here with a slightly sub-3.0 getting accepted into a relatively uncompetitive state MD or newer DO school after a strong upward trend, but those are really rare cases. I don't think it's a good idea to bank on that route. An excellent showing in an SMP along with a high MCAT score will demonstrate your academic remediation to medical schools. It sounds like a lot of time has elapsed between your poor grades and your current excellent grades. This will help you, too.
You will still need to plan on applying broadly, but that's pretty standard advice for most applicants, SMP or not.
Regarding your ECs: I believe scribing is one of the rare cases in which you don't need extra shadowing. You effectively shadow physicians all day long, so you know what their job entails. I would still recommend trying to shadow a primary care physician for a few hours, if you can. How many hours volunteering do you have from undergrad? If it's at least 150 or so, you're probably OK to not have more recent community service.
Medical schools typically don't have advertised GPA/MCAT cutoffs which makes sense if you think about it from their perspective - they earn $60-$200 for every secondary that is returned, even if your application goes straight in the trash after they receive your money. However, if you look at the stats of accepted students in the MSAR, you'll easily see that the de facto cutoff at all medical schools is well above 3.0.
You'll occasionally read about someone on here with a slightly sub-3.0 getting accepted into a relatively uncompetitive state MD or newer DO school after a strong upward trend, but those are really rare cases. I don't think it's a good idea to bank on that route. An excellent showing in an SMP along with a high MCAT score will demonstrate your academic remediation to medical schools. It sounds like a lot of time has elapsed between your poor grades and your current excellent grades. This will help you, too.
You will still need to plan on applying broadly, but that's pretty standard advice for most applicants, SMP or not.
Regarding your ECs: I believe scribing is one of the rare cases in which you don't need extra shadowing. You effectively shadow physicians all day long, so you know what their job entails. I would still recommend trying to shadow a primary care physician for a few hours, if you can. How many hours volunteering do you have from undergrad? If it's at least 150 or so, you're probably OK to not have more recent community service.
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Personally, I don't really see much of a difference between a 2.8X and a 3.0. IMO, anything under 3.2 is really too low for any medical school without evidence of serious reinvention. Unlike your previous advisors, I don't think there's anything particularly magic about that 3.0 number - it's not going to open any doors for anyone.
Unless you're trying to attend an SMP that has a 3.0 GPA cutoff, I would just save the money/time and try to get into an SMP with linkage as soon as possible. However, you might consider speaking to someone at an SMP program about your GPA situation and see what they have to say.
How's your sGPA at present?
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SMP 3.0 GPA cutoffs can be overcome by graduate admission committee exception. If you have a good DIY post-bacc GPA and a good MCAT they will usually help you out. That's what happened to me.
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I see - thanks for clarifying.
I think @elaerna could make a strong case for being exempted from any GPA cutoff given their strong upward trend.
So, @elaerna, there's a few ways you can look at this. You can continue to try to take classes and get your GPA up as high as possible, then roll the dice with MD/DO admissions. You might have some luck, especially with a strong MCAT. But if I were in your shoes, despite the associated risks, I would still strongly consider an SMP (and only one with a strong linkage to a medical school) for a few reasons:
1. You have already put in a very good academic showing in your postbac classes despite working very long hours. This bodes very well for your success in a high-pressure SMP environment.
2. Time - it's the more direct route to your goal, and you're not wasting time/money on random science classes that you're only taking for GPA repair purposes
Have you considered taking the MCAT soon? It sounds like you've already completed your MCAT related coursework. After this semester is over, why not take a few months to intensively study for the MCAT and see how you do on practice tests? If you do well, register for the exam and at least get that hurdle out of the way. Your score could inform whether you stick with DIY postbac/GPA repair route or try for an SMP.
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It sounds like you're in pretty good shape in terms of non-clinical volunteering. Your current scribing job should provide you more than enough clinical experience for a medical school application.
Thinking about your situation more, I think it makes sense to take the MCAT before you make any decisions about further schooling. Your score will inform your next steps. For example, if you get a 99th percentile score, maybe it would make sense to give an MD/DO application cycle a shot without further postbac classes/SMP. If you get a good but not stellar score, perhaps an SMP would be the best option. And if your score isn't what you want it to be, you can plan for a retake without having to worry about classwork.
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I recommend reading Goro's re-invention thread, if you haven't already.
Having been in the same situation, with a much worse GPA, I recommend at least taking the MCAT first and seeing where that leads you.
A high MCAT with a strong performance in a SMP with linkage is probably your best shot.
Having been in the same situation, with a much worse GPA, I recommend at least taking the MCAT first and seeing where that leads you.
A high MCAT with a strong performance in a SMP with linkage is probably your best shot.
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Yes, you email the SMP admissions and you give them a rundown of what you’ve stated for us here (sub-3.0 GPA, loads of post-bacc credits and stronger post-bacc performance) and ask for an exception.
I would also recommend the SMP over doing more post-bacc credits. I had a very similar academic path and was successful after approaching the situation this way (e.g. asking for an exception, finishing the SMP, and applying to med school).
I’m in the same exact boat as you. What I would recommend is to keep taking undergraduate classes until you hit that 3.0 mark.
My grades from community college are awful, but once I transferred to University of California I was able to get a 3.8 (graduating this Friday Cum Laude). Even tho I have 2 years of solid grades in upper division science classes, I still have a sub 3.0 science gpa from the damage that was done in community college. This is why I’m going to take a year’s worth of extra classes at the local university. The goal is to show extended success, not to boost your gpa as highly as possible. 1 - 1.5 years of success is fantastic, but it’s not enough to persuade medical schools that you have successfully reinvented yourself as an applicant. I know SMPs are attractive to a lot of people but if you mess up you’re DONE. My advice to you would be to take those 30 additional units and get straight As. You have great clinical experience but make sure to get some volunteering in. Also, if you can shadow a couple of physicians it will help. This would be my advice to you.
My grades from community college are awful, but once I transferred to University of California I was able to get a 3.8 (graduating this Friday Cum Laude). Even tho I have 2 years of solid grades in upper division science classes, I still have a sub 3.0 science gpa from the damage that was done in community college. This is why I’m going to take a year’s worth of extra classes at the local university. The goal is to show extended success, not to boost your gpa as highly as possible. 1 - 1.5 years of success is fantastic, but it’s not enough to persuade medical schools that you have successfully reinvented yourself as an applicant. I know SMPs are attractive to a lot of people but if you mess up you’re DONE. My advice to you would be to take those 30 additional units and get straight As. You have great clinical experience but make sure to get some volunteering in. Also, if you can shadow a couple of physicians it will help. This would be my advice to you.
