Taking A New Approach

[metoo]

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Dear SDN,

I know I've come to you seeking advice several times. Because I've gotten amazing help I'm here again. Thank you in advance for your time and help and sorry for the long post.

You may recall that in my last post I was going to try to attend a SMP to help better my chances at being accepted into a DO program. I was accepted to Mississippi College and currently waiting to hear from the University of South Florida. If I get into USF I will go there, but at this point I don't think I'm getting in. I've been complete for 2 months and still know word. I was rejected at KCUMB, LMU-DCOM, and LECOM (all SMP/Post-Bacc.). I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather retake undergraduate classes than go to Mississippi College.

Currently I have a sGPA of 2.96 and a cGPA of 3.11. My MCAT is a 22 (retake is a must). I have 3 C's and 1 B- that I will be retaking. The C's are in both Ochem. 1 and 2 along with Physics 2. The B- is in Genetics. If I get A's in these courses my new sGPA will be a 3.42. I assume my cGPA will increase to a 3.5 (too much to calculate). I was going to take both Ochems and Genetics online at UNE and Physics 2 online at BYU. Do you think this will be okay? Is there a point when medical schools look at your application and say, "You have too many retakes" even though I've done much better the next time around? Does anyone have experience with UNE's online classes?

On a side note: If I take a class that is a combined lecture + lab = 4 credits can I use that to replace a lecture that was 3 credits and a lab that was 1 credit? The latter 2 classes were taken separately. Will AACOMAS allow this?

Thanks again,

metoo

 

[Gurby]

So... Right now, I think doing an SMP would be a big mistake. An SMP is supposed to show you can handle the rigor and intensity of medical school. It seems from your track record that you can barely handle undergrad. I imagine that if you did an SMP, you'd do poorly in it, and that would kill any chance you may have had.

Here's what I think your plan should be:

1) Figure out what's going wrong with your academics: why are you getting B's and C's?
2) Fix the problem
3) Retake some courses, take some new courses, get at least 1-2 semesters of A's
4) Retake the MCAT, get the equivalent of a 28+
5) Keep up with EC's, volunteering, shadowing, so long as it doesn't affect your grades and MCAT studying
6) At this point you're probably good for DO schools - maybe apply to DO and SMP at the same time and see what happens.

Retaking courses online seems not ideal. I feel like taking them at a state school would be a lot better.

 

[metoo]

So... Right now, I think doing an SMP would be a big mistake. An SMP is supposed to show you can handle the rigor and intensity of medical school. It seems from your track record that you can barely handle undergrad. I imagine that if you did an SMP, you'd do poorly in it, and that would kill any chance you may have had.

Here's what I think your plan should be:

1) Figure out what's going wrong with your academics: why are you getting B's and C's?
2) Fix the problem
3) Retake some courses, take some new courses, get at least 1-2 semesters of A's
4) Retake the MCAT, get the equivalent of a 28+
5) Keep up with EC's, volunteering, shadowing, so long as it doesn't affect your grades and MCAT studying
6) At this point you're probably good for DO schools - maybe apply to DO and SMP at the same time and see what happens.

Retaking courses online seems not ideal. I feel like taking them at a state school would be a lot better.

Thank you for your reply, very good advice.

 

[ZedsDed]

You need to fix your academic problems and produce at least a year of 3.7+ grades before you even look at an SMP.