submitting early vs. taking more grad classes

[bradwilkins]

I was wondering if anyone could give me a little advice on my situation. I am currently in the application process for the fall of 2003. I am also enrolled in a graduate program in microbiology. The sole puropse of my starting grad school was to supplement my lack-luster undergrad GPA. So far I have a 3.16 GPA in grad school but it's only in a few classes. I'm worried that even though my grades are a bit better it won't have very much of an impact because it's only a few hours.

Here's the dilemma..................I have already recieved a few secondaries. Should I wait till the end of the semester to submit my secondary, to show them my extra grades, or should I go ahead and submit and risk an early rejection?????? I was always told the earlier your application is complete the better. But I know it would also be more advantageous for me to have more good grades from grad school under my belt.

I'm confused........WHAT SHOULD I DO????????????????????

Any advice will be welcome.

Brad Wilkins

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[agent]

wow.. well as far as I hear its worth a shot..

what are your mcat scores, got any good ec's?

taking a few more classes isnt going to do much with that gpa unless you plan to take like 5 more classes and get all A's

 

[bradwilkins]

I got a 24 MCAT (6VR, 8PS, and 10BS)

I also have pretty good EC's I volunteered at hospitals (ER and pain management), worked at a hospital (surgical services), gone to summer enrichment programs, shdowed doc's, was junior class president, student campus activities coordinator, and belonged to several academic and non-academic organizations.

 

[lola]

i know this is not what you want to hear, but if i were you i'd stop the application process, retake the mcat in april, work on that gpa, and reapply next year. you will be a much stronger candidate then. it is really hard to get in with a weak mcat and gpa. i don't know what your undergrad gpa is exactly, but you said it was the reason you're in a master's program now. seriously, get your butt moving and improve the grad school gpa. you need to show them you are up to the challenge of med school.

 

[SMW]

I second lola's opinion. You won't get in with that MCAT unless there's something amazing about your app that you're not revealing.

 

[DW]

yeah, lola has a point. as far as i can tell, you can be subpar in one or the other (high gpa lowmcat or low gpa high mcat) but not both at the same time, unless you've got something extraorindary working for you. just work hard through a couple semesters of grad school, pull up your mcat scores as much as you can (mainly try to get that verbal up >8), and then you'll be in a better position. its an expensive process, so apply when you think your application is strongest.

good luck

 

[SolidGold]

I thought I would throw in my opinion too and agree with the above two posts. Unless you are a URM or have something amazing on your application, it might be best to hold off and save the money and time.

 

[bradwilkins]

I am a URM.....................but I don't like to rely on that

 

[lola]

why did you apply if you didn't want to fall back on your urm status? if you get in with those numbers, it will most likely be due to being a urm (unless there is something else AMAZING you haven't told us). ok, that sounds a little harsh, but i don't understand people sometimes.

if you plan to continue applying, it's a tough call whether or not to wait on the secondaries. in almost any other circumstance i'd say send them in now, but i'm not so sure in this case. when do your grades come out? are you certain you will get better grades? you sort of put yourself in a bad situation by applying, but i'm sure you don't need me telling you that. if your grades don't come out until the end of december or january, i wouldn't wait if i were you.

also, if english is not your first language that might help a weak verbal score, and adcoms might be more likely to overlook it.