Suggestions?!

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thinkpositive1

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I am going to be a senior in college. I have done research since my freshmen year but I don't have any publications. And I am planning to take my MCAT in Sept, but my GPA is not that great. Overall 3.1 and science 2.9. I haven't done any hospital volunteering in college yet, but I did volunteering with my college club to help out at a disadvantage neighborhood. I have leadership positions in 4 student org on campus. I have done 2 weeks of shadowing with multiple doctors (none of which were very long). I have recently decided to be pre-med and apply for med school after I graduate from college, so that means I'll have a gap-year before I go to med school. Do you have any suggestions for what I should do during my last year of college and gap-year? And what do you think my chances are for getting into med school? Any suggestions for me overall would be very helpful. Thank you so much!

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Look into SMPs or some sort of grad school work. That should help boost your GPA some.
 
Look into SMPs or some sort of grad school work. That should help boost your GPA some.

Thanks Praefectus!

So do med school look at grad school work? I heard some people told me that it might not be that helpful since grad school is all p/np. Is it true? and any suggestions for any extra curricular that I should add to boost my chances for med school? thanks a whole bunch! :)
 
There are post-bacc programs designed specifically for people like you. Most people who enroll in these programs have low GPAs and the courses you will take are graded normally A,B,C, D, etc. Basically you can take whatever you want, whether if be an entry level bio class or graduate level Immunology class. If you do a post-bacc program during your gap year your GPA during that year will show up individually on your AMCAS application and also raise (not much but some) your overall undergrad GPA since post-bacc work is considered undergrad even if you're taking graduate level courses. If you can rock a 4.0 during your gap year it will look really good. The advising/clinical opportunities you get through these programs can also be really helpful. I did a Post-bacc program at Washington University in St. Louis and was amazed how they were able to place many students with GPAs in around 3.0 in medical school. The advising staff at this program actually travels around the country to different medical schools to get their name out.

You really just need to rock the MCAT and get nothing but As and A-s in every class you take from here out. BTW, the level of difficulty in postbacc programs is usually lower than undergrad so getting As in night classes and working full time doing research or as a medical scribe is very doable.
 
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