Hey everyone! There is something that has been bothering me that I can't seem to get a concrete answer on, so I figured I'd throw a thread in here. Currently, I am a rising senior in college and want to do a postbac after I graduate in order to better demonstrate my academic capability for medical school applications. My gpa right now is a 2.6. However, those all seem to be competitive within themselves, and I just don't think my stats will get me in, especially seeing as how many of them have 3.0 cutoffs. (Are these cutoff's hard-line?) I have made the changes in my life in order to be successful in school, and should be able to get that up to a 2.8 by the time I apply next winter. Besides the grades, I feel that the rest of my application will be pretty competitive. I have a 40R MCAT, tons of clinical experience and volunteer hours, and my letters of recommendation should be good. So, in short, I feel like an oxymoron. I'm just lost about what to do, and where to apply. Thanks for the help!
Terrible GPA, Where to Apply??
- Thread starter rmj324
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if you are going to become a senior, just ace the rest of your classes and apply to a variety of smps next spring and med school in the summer. With a high mcat such as yours and a upward trend in gpa, you are prob more competitive than you think.
The gpa minimums vary from school to school as well as how strictly they enforce it.
Good luck
The gpa minimums vary from school to school as well as how strictly they enforce it.
Good luck
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Wow, that MCAT score is amazing. The GPA stinks but if you bring it up I'm sure some SMP could take you.
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I would not recommend doing a post-bacc. A couple years of post-bacc classes are not going to pull up your gpa enough to make a difference for med school applications.
You probably have a really good chance of acceptance at an SMP program, given your amazing MCATs. I think an SMP would be a much better choice. While a post-bacc just attempts to improve your undergrad gpa by taking more classes, an SMP gives a direct evaluation of how you can handle a medical school course-load.
Either way, I would not recommend applying to medical school before you have completed the SMP/Post-bacc. Despite your awesome MCAT, I think it's a long shot to get in with a GPA like that and no solid evidence that you can do better.
You probably have a really good chance of acceptance at an SMP program, given your amazing MCATs. I think an SMP would be a much better choice. While a post-bacc just attempts to improve your undergrad gpa by taking more classes, an SMP gives a direct evaluation of how you can handle a medical school course-load.
Either way, I would not recommend applying to medical school before you have completed the SMP/Post-bacc. Despite your awesome MCAT, I think it's a long shot to get in with a GPA like that and no solid evidence that you can do better.
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I want to clarify something.... While I don't think you have a very good chance at med school acceptance with your current stats, I DO think you have a really good chance if you do do an SMP and do well. With a 3.7+ in an SMP and a 40R MCAT.... I'd be surprised if you didnt get in. Best of Luck!
Hey Guys,
I am just hoping to get some advice and feedback in regards to what I should do. I'm a Bio Sci major at UCI with a Cum. 2.547 GPA and Bio Science GPA of 2.794. I'm currently finishing up my Junior Year with about 186 units in my belt and Have one more year to go. The low GPA can be attributed to recovering from two surgeries over the course of my first 2 years and I'm just fighting the uphill battle to get back to where I trying to be for Post Bacc programs. I have been in surgical research for 3 years and cancer research for 2. Published 2 papers and am currently working on my third. Is there anything besides trying to raise my GPA senior year that I should do to better my chances for post bacc and if so WHICH POST BACC should i apply?
I know it's a long read and I really will appreciate all the inputs and feedbacks I can get.
Thanks guys.
I am just hoping to get some advice and feedback in regards to what I should do. I'm a Bio Sci major at UCI with a Cum. 2.547 GPA and Bio Science GPA of 2.794. I'm currently finishing up my Junior Year with about 186 units in my belt and Have one more year to go. The low GPA can be attributed to recovering from two surgeries over the course of my first 2 years and I'm just fighting the uphill battle to get back to where I trying to be for Post Bacc programs. I have been in surgical research for 3 years and cancer research for 2. Published 2 papers and am currently working on my third. Is there anything besides trying to raise my GPA senior year that I should do to better my chances for post bacc and if so WHICH POST BACC should i apply?
I know it's a long read and I really will appreciate all the inputs and feedbacks I can get.
Thanks guys.
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get a good MCAT score
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Everyone is forgetting that a lot of SMPs have a GPA cutoff of 3.0. Doing a post-bacc is really your first real goal, then SMP and finally applying to Med School.
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I'm at the Tufts SMP right now. They technically have a cutoff GPA of ~2.8, but I know a few students who had less than that. I think a 40R MCAT would get you a lot of forgiveness if your GPA is less than 3.0. SMP programs are designed for students who have low GPAs, but otherwise strong applications.
I think the best option is to apply to SMP programs AND post-bacc programs, and see where you get in. The application process for these programs are pretty simple and you could easily apply to both.
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there can be quite a bit of forgiveness if you have a good trend. 1-2 years of straight As taking full-time upperdiv science coursework can really improve your app. recent coursework is counted more heavily.
and your GPA is quite salvagable. a quick/dirty calculation:
(2.6 x 3 + 4.0 x 1) / 4 = 2.95 GPA if you get straight A's
after 1 year of postbacc:
(2.6 x 3 +4.0 x 2) / 5 = 3.16
The important thing here is to not let your MCAT expire. A lot of schools will only take the MCAT 3 years from the date of expected matriculation. That means you can only apply with MCAT scores that are 2 years old. You do not want to retake a 40.
If you took the MCAT within the past year, I would suggest doing as well as you can your senior year raising your GPA as high as possible--then applying to a post-bacc and applying the year after that. This is the low risk option (SMPs are high risk).
If you took the MCAT over a year ago, then the advice would stay the same except you apply next year to medical schools and also apply to SMPs. This is the high risk option, but your MCAT will expire if you wait too long.
and your GPA is quite salvagable. a quick/dirty calculation:
(2.6 x 3 + 4.0 x 1) / 4 = 2.95 GPA if you get straight A's
after 1 year of postbacc:
(2.6 x 3 +4.0 x 2) / 5 = 3.16
The important thing here is to not let your MCAT expire. A lot of schools will only take the MCAT 3 years from the date of expected matriculation. That means you can only apply with MCAT scores that are 2 years old. You do not want to retake a 40.
If you took the MCAT within the past year, I would suggest doing as well as you can your senior year raising your GPA as high as possible--then applying to a post-bacc and applying the year after that. This is the low risk option (SMPs are high risk).
If you took the MCAT over a year ago, then the advice would stay the same except you apply next year to medical schools and also apply to SMPs. This is the high risk option, but your MCAT will expire if you wait too long.
