The **NEW & IMPROVED** official low gpa thread...

[LawNonTrad]

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Thanks DrMidLife!

This is exactly the type of response I wanted to see, focusing on stuff that I can control and improve on with a lot of work; the poor undergrad GPA, for instance. I'll work my butt off starting in May to get that on the upswing. I also have control over my MCAT score to some extent-obviously every premed has a personal cap on their score that no amount of study can overcome, but I intend on reaching my cap if at all possible. I've been doing MCAT verbal passages from a couple of AAMC tests as well as some other providers and I'm consistently scoring 12+ on them, with my avg being around 13. I feel that I'm starting with a solid base to get an MCAT score because I don't really have to worry about verbal in my opinion. Now I can hopefully focus on getting the science sections to 11 each, and ideally at least one of them (probably physical, because I always did slightly better in math/physics than in biology) to 12.

I have always excelled in science and math. It's true that I haven't taken any of the pre-reqs since high school (and I've never taken orgo), but I'm a left-brainer. The university also offers excellent free tutoring in all of the pre-req subjects and I intend to avail myself of these wonderful opportunities if the need arises.

Hypothetically, if I end up with a 4.0 or near it in the prereqs, and a ~3.41 cum/~3.85 science, do you think I'll have to do an SMP? If I rock the prereq courses, then combined with my last three-four semesters of undergrad, there would be a strong upward trend there. I would have averaged a 3.75 gpa over the last 75 credits or so in undergraduate courses.

Is there an MCAT score that can save me? The MCAT score you offer as necessary for my acceptance somewhere may be so high that I'll need to do an SMP, which, I'll re-iterate, I have no problem with doing. My GPA and MCAT should make me a competitive applicant to those at that point. I'm not exactly a young pup for medical school admissions purposes, but if it's something that I want to do, I'll make sacrifices.

Thank you very much.

 

[drizzt3117]

All I'm saying is that that's the concern I'd have if I read your app. As DrMidlife noted, the below average stats would be another concern. It's possible that I'm alone in sharing these concerns, which is possible but i think it bears thinking about. The first step though will definitely be making yourself a competitive candidate on paper.

 

[DrMidlife]

Thanks DrMidLife!

This is exactly the type of response I wanted to see, focusing on stuff that I can control and improve on with a lot of work; the poor undergrad GPA, for instance. I'll work my butt off starting in May to get that on the upswing. I also have control over my MCAT score to some extent-obviously every premed has a personal cap on their score that no amount of study can overcome, but I intend on reaching my cap if at all possible. I've been doing MCAT verbal passages from a couple of AAMC tests as well as some other providers and I'm consistently scoring 12+ on them, with my avg being around 13. I feel that I'm starting with a solid base to get an MCAT score because I don't really have to worry about verbal in my opinion. Now I can hopefully focus on getting the science sections to 11 each, and ideally at least one of them (probably physical, because I always did slightly better in math/physics than in biology) to 12.

I have always excelled in science and math. It's true that I haven't taken any of the pre-reqs since high school (and I've never taken orgo), but I'm a left-brainer. The university also offers excellent free tutoring in all of the pre-req subjects and I intend to avail myself of these wonderful opportunities if the need arises.

Hypothetically, if I end up with a 4.0 or near it in the prereqs, and a ~3.41 cum/~3.85 science, do you think I'll have to do an SMP? If I rock the prereq courses, then combined with my last three-four semesters of undergrad, there would be a strong upward trend there. I would have averaged a 3.75 gpa over the last 75 credits or so in undergraduate courses.

Is there an MCAT score that can save me? The MCAT score you offer as necessary for my acceptance somewhere may be so high that I'll need to do an SMP, which, I'll re-iterate, I have no problem with doing. My GPA and MCAT should make me a competitive applicant to those at that point. I'm not exactly a young pup for medical school admissions purposes, but if it's something that I want to do, I'll make sacrifices.

Thank you very much.

Just put together the strongest app you can - numbers, ECs, LORs, essays. Apply early, apply broadly, and you'll know by about October if you want a backup plan, which is good timing for SMP apps. An SMP app is your MD app plus a letter of intent, typically. If you watch this forum come July/August, you'll see all the "somebody's getting my spot" posts from folks sitting on SMP acceptances who get MD/DO acceptances at the last minute.

 

[Lucky98]

Hi there,

I started off with a 3.8 gpa but because of some personal issues I now have a 2.9 gpa and a 21 MCAT. I know I have the potential to do well but the last two years have been really rough. I've applied to SIU MEDPREP and got an interview and am wondering where else with my stats can I apply as a URM? Money is tight in my family and I don't want to waste $ on applications that I wouldnt qualify for. I live in Illinois so I'm interested in Rosalind but I'm not sure if my stats will be sufficient? I've heard of Midwestern having some sort of program as well if anyone knows about it? Any help/advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

Hi there,

I started off with a 3.8 gpa but because of some personal issues I now have a 2.9 gpa and a 21 MCAT. I know I have the potential to do well but the last two years have been really rough. I've applied to SIU MEDPREP and got an interview and am wondering where else with my stats can I apply as a URM? Money is tight in my family and I don't want to waste $ on applications that I wouldnt qualify for. I live in Illinois so I'm interested in Rosalind but I'm not sure if my stats will be sufficient? I've heard of Midwestern having some sort of program as well if anyone knows about it? Any help/advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Take a look in here, category 5: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640302

 

[LawNonTrad]

Take a look in here, category 5: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=640302

My apologies if I'm incorrect, but might the previous poster, Lucky98, not even need a postbac? He/she mentioned that he/she is a URM. Depending on which group Lucky belongs to, he might stand about a 35% chance of acceptance right now. If they targeted low/mid tier MD schools might they have a shot of getting in next cycle, assuming they apply early and get good LORs and have good ECs?

For example, here are the AAMC stats for African-American applicants/matriculants from 2005-2007:

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table25-b-mcatgpagridblack.pdf

 

[deleted248403]

Lucky89 definitely needs a post bac and retake of the MCAT.

Lawnontrad - i see the data you highlight but a 30.6% (where did u get 35% from?) chance isnt really good odds at all. Also, those numbers don't take into account IS versus OOS. For example, one of the LSU med school has really low numbers compared to other allopathic but it only accepts instate residents. So it drags the overall numbers down.

Even if one is a URM, 21 is 10pts below the avg accepted student for the MCAT and a 2.9 is 0.75 below the average successful med school applicant. There is a limit to which being a URM will help you.

 

[DrMidlife]

My apologies if I'm incorrect, but might the previous poster, Lucky98, not even need a postbac? He/she mentioned that he/she is a URM. Depending on which group Lucky belongs to, he might stand about a 35% chance of acceptance right now. If they targeted low/mid tier MD schools might they have a shot of getting in next cycle, assuming they apply early and get good LORs and have good ECs?

For example, here are the AAMC stats for African-American applicants/matriculants from 2005-2007:

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table25-b-mcatgpagridblack.pdf

With a 2.9 and a 21, med schools are going to recommend a postbac. And if they don't, they're not setting up Lucky98 to succeed. Getting in isn't the only issue here.

 

[Lucky98]

Thanks everyone for all your advice! I know my stats are terrible but this is what I really want to do so I don't want to give up. I am definitely re-taking the MCAT as well as doing a post-bacc. I am planning to do well in a post-bacc program but I wasn't planning on doing a SMP after. Should I? DrMidlife, thank you so much for the link 🙂

 

[deleted248403]

Yes you should plan on doing an SMP.

Calculate howmuch you can raise your GPA by doing a yr of 4.0 work. I doubt you'll get much higher than say 3.05-3.1.

That would still not be competitive for allopathic but you could get into an SMP which would further improve your chances

 

[YoungGregory]

5-10-15-20, doesn't matter how long ago it was, those grades are included and they matter a great deal. Cumulative GPA is the most important number on an app.

With a 2.78 the app won't make it to a human reviewer. Get it up over 3.0 and the app might see eyeballs - which will be looking for a STELLAR app that puts you ahead of the other 5000-10,000 apps at that school. This goes for DO as well as MD.


Agreed. LifeFixer, you'll need to be very clear and committed about how much you want to go to med school. It's going to take multiple years, boatloads of money, lost opportunities, and yes, no guarantee. You could do everything right from here forward and have nothing to show for it on the other side but a lot more undergrad/SMP student debt.

If you want to do it, here's a roadmap:
1. Figure out a financial plan for how you're going to survive before and during med school with additional undergrad debt.
2. Start volunteering and doing community service now, and keep doing it consistently. Forever.
3. Do more undergrad, including lots of upper div science. Don't stop until your cumulative overall and science GPAs are over 3.0, preferably higher. Consider doing a 2nd bachelors in order to get financial aid and registration priority.
4. Start working on faculty recommenders as soon as you can, and nurture these relationships. A strong first step for this is to have a draft of your personal statement in hand when you approach each professor.
5. Put a great deal of time, and a fair bit of money, into MCAT prep. A great MCAT score does not fix your GPA, but it adds to your academic credibility. Note that an average MCAT is 32 for MD, about 29 for DO. Don't plan on trying it and then retaking it - prep right and take it once. Re-prep is incredibly ineffective, expensive and doesn't typically buy more points.
6. With improved undergrad GPA and great MCAT score in hand, assume you'll then need to do an SMP. Do a good SMP. That means you're in med school classes with med students, graded against the med student curve, supported in your efforts to get into med school. Also note that SMP applications want your MCAT score for admissions, so timing of the test is important - I'd say the January test is the latest for a good SMP.
7. Don't take any advice as gospel, particularly from premed advisers, but listen hard to criticism. Most people are full of crap and good advice is VERY hard to come by. Including on SDN.

Best of luck to you.

Great info.


Could someone explain to me all this talk i see on the main board about SAT scores? What post-bac programs take a look at your SAT scores?

 

[DrMidlife]

Great info.


Could someone explain to me all this talk i see on the main board about SAT scores? What post-bac programs take a look at your SAT scores?

The famous, formal, structured postbacs like Goucher and Bryn Mawr want SAT scores, because the prereqs aren't done yet, so there's no MCAT yet, but they want to see your structured test capability.

 

[deleted248403]

Most of the post-bac programs look at SAT scores. Not only the super fancy ones want them (UPenn wanted mine and its not in the same league as BM/Goucher/Scripps)

SMPs tend to focus more on GRE/MCAT

 

[thebigcheese]

Stats
California UC, Biochem and Mol. Bio major.
cGPA: 3.51
sGPA: 3.52
MCAT: 14B 12V 14P

ECs:
-1 year working as a Pharm Clerk
-300 hours of clinical volunteering, rotating through various departments: MED SURG, ICU, ER, Main OR. Within the last 1.5 year
-Virology Research for 1.5 year, one poster, one presentation.
-Awarded for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.
-Molecular Biology Lab TA for 1 semester.
-Peer-tutoring for a Molecular Biology lecture for 1 quarter ( as a peertutor, i had to prepare review materials, outlines, held review sessions for 100+ students, held office hours)
-Member of a pre-health club on campus for 1.5 year, got involved in many community projects: soup kitchen etc., helped with the health clinic in Mexico a few times a year...
-Relatively fluent in Spanish.

Peculiarity
-Recent Immigrant (came to the States 6 years ago)
-A crazy upward trend within the last 2 years
-GPA breakdown: 2.56 3.36 3.07 3.88 4.0
graduated with 275 credits, 167 of which was taken year 4 and 5 (all upper division BIO classes) 20-24 units per quarter (last 2 years)

LOR's
5 total:
2 sci, 1 non sci, 1 from volunteer director, 1 from research supervisor

I am applying to schools this coming cycle and feeling extremely discouraged and nervous as you can see my GPA is below average for most of the US schools. I am considering the SMP path since it would give me something to do during the gap year and improve my app in case that i need to reapply next year. I really do not want to do a post bacc as my GPA has gotten to the point that it would take me another 2 years to bump it up to 3.6.

I am thinking about applying to the following programs: Georgetown, UC and EMVS. What are my chances for these programs and what are some other programs that you guys would recommend? I want to apply to programs that have good linkage and preferably allow residency establishment. Location is not a problem for me as i really want to get out of CA and explore other places.

Are my EC's good enough? What i listed above is all that i have up to this point and i know that i wont have much time during the SMP year to work on my ECs. Generally as a SMP graduate, are my EC's sufficient to make my MD application competitive? Do they need to be recent?

Tulane is an ideal program for me as their SOM accepts 98% of their SMPers but too bad i dont have a waitlist letter. I have been working so hard for the last 2 years bringing up my GPA, studying for the MCAT and getting all the necessary EC's yet I am feeling extremely depressed as June 1st approaches.

Please give my some advices and inputs! Thank you so much!

 

[drizzt3117]

You shouldn't be posting in the low GPA thread with 3.5/40. You know perfectly well that you'll be fine applying for all but the most competitive schools and you shouldn't even be thinking about a SMP. You're just going to make people annoyed by this sort of neurotic BS.

Stats
California UC, Biochem and Mol. Bio major.
cGPA: 3.51
sGPA: 3.52
MCAT: 14B 12V 14P

ECs:
-1 year working as a Pharm Clerk
-300 hours of clinical volunteering, rotating through various departments: MED SURG, ICU, ER, Main OR. Within the last 1.5 year
-Virology Research for 1.5 year, one poster, one presentation.
-Awarded for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.
-Molecular Biology Lab TA for 1 semester.
-Peer-tutoring for a Molecular Biology lecture for 1 quarter ( as a peertutor, i had to prepare review materials, outlines, held review sessions for 100+ students, held office hours)
-Member of a pre-health club on campus for 1.5 year, got involved in many community projects: soup kitchen etc., helped with the health clinic in Mexico a few times a year...
-Relatively fluent in Spanish.

Peculiarity
-Recent Immigrant (came to the States 6 years ago)
-A crazy upward trend within the last 2 years
-GPA breakdown: 2.56 3.36 3.07 3.88 4.0
graduated with 275 credits, 167 of which was taken year 4 and 5 (all upper division BIO classes) 20-24 units per quarter (last 2 years)

LOR's
5 total:
2 sci, 1 non sci, 1 from volunteer director, 1 from research supervisor

I am applying to schools this coming cycle and feeling extremely discouraged and nervous as you can see my GPA is below average for most of the US schools. I am considering the SMP path since it would give me something to do during the gap year and improve my app in case that i need to reapply next year. I really do not want to do a post bacc as my GPA has gotten to the point that it would take me another 2 years to bump it up to 3.6.

I am thinking about applying to the following programs: Georgetown, UC and EMVS. What are my chances for these programs and what are some other programs that you guys would recommend? I want to apply to programs that have good linkage and preferably allow residency establishment. Location is not a problem for me as i really want to get out of CA and explore other places.

Are my EC's good enough? What i listed above is all that i have up to this point and i know that i wont have much time during the SMP year to work on my ECs. Generally as a SMP graduate, are my EC's sufficient to make my MD application competitive? Do they need to be recent?

Tulane is an ideal program for me as their SOM accepts 98% of their SMPers but too bad i dont have a waitlist letter. I have been working so hard for the last 2 years bringing up my GPA, studying for the MCAT and getting all the necessary EC's yet I am feeling extremely depressed as June 1st approaches.

Please give my some advices and inputs! Thank you so much!

 

[DrMidlife]

Stats
California UC, Biochem and Mol. Bio major.
cGPA: 3.51
sGPA: 3.52
MCAT: 14B 12V 14P
I am applying to schools this coming cycle and feeling extremely discouraged and nervous as you can see my GPA is below average for most of the US schools.

OK let's review. What's an average? Kind of like a middle. As in, half of med students get in with GPAs under the average. You're barely below the average. Holy crap take a deep breath and unclench.

I am considering the SMP path since it would give me something to do during the gap year and improve my app in case that i need to reapply next year. I really do not want to do a post bacc as my GPA has gotten to the point that it would take me another 2 years to bump it up to 3.6.

Please don't go nuts for an SMP. Spending the money for an SMP means you'll have 5 years of med school debt instead of 4 - you'll be paying OOS tuition for that SMP. You don't get a better chance at the UCs until after completion of an SMP, so that's not a good reason.

Stop freaking out. Apply to med school and give it all you've got - early, broadly, professionally. You'll know by October during your app year if you aren't doing well. That's when to apply to SMPs.

But it doesn't matter. If you can't get in with your app, it's not about your GPA. It's about your LORs or your personality. And an SMP can't help you with that.

I am thinking about applying to the following programs: Georgetown, UC and EMVS. What are my chances for these programs and what are some other programs that you guys would recommend? I want to apply to programs that have good linkage and preferably allow residency establishment. Location is not a problem for me as i really want to get out of CA and explore other places.

If you get into a UC, go to a UC or you're being financially irresponsible. Move away for residency. Travel on breaks. Med school doesn't give you time to explore anyway.

The only SMP that sets you up for instate residency is Cincinnati.

Are my EC's good enough? What i listed above is all that i have up to this point and i know that i wont have much time during the SMP year to work on my ECs. Generally as a SMP graduate, are my EC's sufficient to make my MD application competitive? Do they need to be recent?

Christ almighty you're fine. And no you don't look fat. Go have some fun.

Tulane is an ideal program for me as their SOM accepts 98% of their SMPers but too bad i dont have a waitlist letter. I have been working so hard for the last 2 years bringing up my GPA, studying for the MCAT and getting all the necessary EC's yet I am feeling extremely depressed as June 1st approaches.

You don't know what "extremely depressed" means. Go get an interesting job and save up your pennies. Applying is expensive.

If you must do something to buff your app, hire a consultant like MedEdits or Judy Colwell to help you out. Do mock interviews. Start reading the health pages on major newspapers every day. Find out who you are other than a premed.

Best of luck to you.

 

[thebigcheese]

Thank you for your harsh but rather helpful advice. I am sorry if my neuroticism bothered you but i really cant help it hearing horror stories from fellow californians who have stats higher than mine getting nowhere. Now that i have some perspectives, i guess there's nothing left to do but apply and hope for the best. Thanks again!

 

[Haplo]

Thank you for your harsh but rather helpful advice. I am sorry if my neuroticism bothered you but i really cant help it hearing horror stories from fellow californians who have stats higher than mine getting nowhere. Now that i have some perspectives, i guess there's nothing left to do but apply and hope for the best. Thanks again!

It's because they apply to 5 schools, those being UCSF, Stanford, harvard, Washington U of StL, and UCLA as safety.

 

[iamxp]

Just curious, someone with a 3.44 - should they look into SMPs like Georgetown or is it a waste of time/money? Thanks.

 

[deleted248403]

iamxp - depends on the rest of their app. If they have a good MCAT and good ECs then they have a shot at MD, a small one tho.

3.44 is 0.2 below the avg GPA of an accepted MD candidate therefore the person would need to make up for this deficit somehow.

A 3.42 and a 30 probably doesn't cut it - you might get some bites, but you'd need a dose of luck

 

[shater]

hello, would like anyone help as im international dentist graduated with a gpa of 2.4 and want to know do i have any chance to get in to dental school and would like to know is there any program i can join to raise my gpa or what kind of master i can do with that gpa to improve my chances? one last thing will if i took the AEGD will that improve my chances when i apply to dental schools? i value all ppl help in here .thx in adv

 

[shater]

hello, would like anyone help as im international dentist graduated with a gpa of 2.4 and want to know do i have any chance to get in to dental school and would like to know is there any program i can join to raise my gpa or what kind of master i can do with that gpa to improve my chances? one last thing will if i took the AEGD will that improve my chances when i apply to dental schools? i value all ppl help in here .thx in adv

 

[deleted248403]

Shater - not sure if you just wrote this in a hurry but your sentence structure could do with some work. It sounds like english might be a 2nd language for you but either way you are going to have to improve your writing if you plan on applying to dental school or masters programs in the US.

A 2.4 GPA is going to be hard to recover from and i'm not sure what the dental school policies are for accepting students who already have completed an international dental school already.

You won't get accepted into any dental schools/master programs with a 2.4 and you are going to have to spend several years doing more undergraduate coursework to improve your competitiveness.

 

[ucsfstudents]

I wish everyone well. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can'd do it. Stay focused and go after what you want. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people. Your GPA is only one piece of what makes you you!

 

[shater]

Shater - not sure if you just wrote this in a hurry but your sentence structure could do with some work. It sounds like english might be a 2nd language for you but either way you are going to have to improve your writing if you plan on applying to dental school or masters programs in the US.

A 2.4 GPA is going to be hard to recover from and i'm not sure what the dental school policies are for accepting students who already have completed an international dental school already.

You won't get accepted into any dental schools/master programs with a 2.4 and you are going to have to spend several years doing more undergraduate coursework to improve your competitiveness.

thx robflanker for ur fast replaybut i actually would like to mention me what kind of undergraduate course work i can do there in usa and what is the names of programs . value ur help pretty well and if there is links to those programs and what other ways i can do . how about informal postbac programs ? what u think about those.

 

[deleted248403]

thx robflanker for ur fast replaybut i actually would like to mention me

Uh what?

what kind of undergraduate course work i can do there in usa and what is the names of programsvalue ur help pretty well and if there is links to those programs and what other ways i can do . how about informal postbac programs ? what u think about those.

Are you in the US already or abroad? if abroad, you'll prob need to think about doing a 2nd bachelors so you can get an education visa and come here. In terms of the names of programs, wherever you want to live and wherever you can get in. Depends who will sponsor/allow you to apply for an educational visa.

 

[shater]

Uh what?

Are you in the US already or abroad? if abroad, you'll prob need to think about doing a 2nd bachelors so you can get an education visa and come here. In terms of the names of programs, wherever you want to live and wherever you can get in. Depends who will sponsor/allow you to apply for an educational visa.

actually yes im abroad so u mean i get a visa to do a 2nd bac in usa?sorry for my many questions but value much ur help man but a 2nd bach how many years will that gonna take me in usa and how i can apply to a 2nd bac program ?

 

[deleted248403]

Yes you can't come to the US (as far as I know) without a visa or green card regardless of your reasons to come here.

You should talk to the American embassy in whichever country you are in to figure out what the process is.

A 2nd bachelors will take you 2-4 years depending on how much credit and other things they award you. Depends on the school.

You apply to a 2nd bachelors by applying to the respective school.

 

[shater]

Yes you can't come to the US (as far as I know) without a visa or green card regardless of your reasons to come here.

You should talk to the American embassy in whichever country you are in to figure out what the process is.

A 2nd bachelors will take you 2-4 years depending on how much credit and other things they award you. Depends on the school.

You apply to a 2nd bachelors by applying to the respective school.

i see ....is a 2nd bac of dentistry is like getting do all my dental school i did abroad all over again ? or is it like an addional program i apply to through dental schools in usa to join for the purpose to raise my gpa and what is the differance between informal postbac and 2nd bac? is there no faster way than a 4 years 2nd bac ? . thx4 ur time man

 

[deleted248403]

i see ....is a 2nd bac of dentistry is like getting do all my dental school i did abroad all over again ? or is it like an addional program i apply to through dental schools in usa to join for the purpose to raise my gpa. thx4 ur time man

No, your foreign dental stuff will have no positive bearing on your academic work here in the US and may preclude you from entering dental school here (i must admit i don't know the dental policies as well as the medicine ones).

It is not applied through the dental schools and is completely separate.

You would be applying to an undergraduate institute in the US for a bachelor's degree.

The difference between an informal post bac and a 2nd bac is that you wont be allowed to come to the US for an informal post bac I dont think. I doubt the US would let you come here and just take random classes without working towards a specific goal hence the need for a 2nd bac.

And if you re-read what i wrote about the 2nd bach - you'll see i wrote it could take 2-4 yrs depending on your courseload and whether or not they give you any transfer credit. Each school is different

The purpose is to raise your GPA as it is too low for an SMP or a true post-bac.

 

[shater]

No, your foreign dental stuff will have no positive bearing on your academic work here in the US and may preclude you from entering dental school here (i must admit i don't know the dental policies as well as the medicine ones).

It is not applied through the dental schools and is completely separate.

You would be applying to an undergraduate institute in the US for a bachelor's degree.

The difference between an informal post bac and a 2nd bac is that you wont be allowed to come to the US for an informal post bac I dont think. I doubt the US would let you come here and just take random classes without working towards a specific goal hence the need for a 2nd bac.

And if you re-read what i wrote about the 2nd bach - you'll see i wrote it could take 2-4 yrs depending on your courseload and whether or not they give you any transfer credit. Each school is different

The purpose is to raise your GPA as it is too low for an SMP or a true post-bac.

i see so the best is to get into undergraduate courses for a 2nd dental bac degree in usa and then i can apply to dental schools .

 

[deleted248403]

i see so the best is to get into undergraduate courses for a 2nd dental bac degree in usa and then i can apply to dental schools .

No it wouldnt be a dental bac degree. We don't have those in the US. You could do anything you wanted, but probably science is best.
Something like biology, chemistry, psychology, neuroscience, etc.

But yes, then you'd apply to US dental schools but you should try and figure out if you will be even allowed to attend US dental schools based on you having a foreign dental degree

 

[shater]

No it wouldnt be a dental bac degree. We don't have those in the US. You could do anything you wanted, but probably science is best.
Something like biology, chemistry, psychology, neuroscience, etc.

But yes, then you'd apply to US dental schools but you should try and figure out if you will be even allowed to attend US dental schools based on you having a foreign dental degree

actually i guess after taking those undergraduate science courses which i took them already in my forgein dental school will then apply to the international dentist program i guess. will those undergraduate science courses be considered as new gpa or will be combined with my old gpa

 

[cdnwpg]

iamxp - depends on the rest of their app. If they have a good MCAT and good ECs then they have a shot at MD, a small one tho.

3.44 is 0.2 below the avg GPA of an accepted MD candidate therefore the person would need to make up for this deficit somehow.

A 3.42 and a 30 probably doesn't cut it - you might get some bites, but you'd need a dose of luck

Are you referring to an applicant with or without a successful SMP?

 

[deleted248403]

actually i guess after taking those undergraduet science courses which i took them already in my foregin dental school will then apply to the international dentist program i guess. will those undergradue science course be considered as new gpa or will be combined with my old gpa

What international dentist program? Shater i suggest you go do some reading on the policies of foreign dental grads and figure out whats going on. My guess is that your foreign dental work means little to nothing here, other than the grades.

cdnwpg - without an SMP for allopathic acceptance.

 

[shater]

What international dentist program? Shater i suggest you go do some reading on the policies of foreign dental grads and figure out whats going on. My guess is that your foreign dental work means little to nothing here, other than the grades.

cdnwpg - without an SMP for allopathic acceptance.

ids it is for foregin wanted get a dds . i also found informal post bac program for international dentist.the main coufusion is that if a one wanted get undergraduate science courses to raise gpa i should apply to what kind of universities in usa to take such courses.

 

[deleted248403]

Shater - your english is far better than any of my foregin languages, but you'll really need to work on it if you plan on applying to US dental schools. Following your written english is really difficult at times.

What is this informal postbac you've found for an international dentist grad.

You would be applying to any 4-yr university in the United States that would accept you and act as sponsor for an education-visa. You need to talk your local US embassy to see if you are eligible and what you need to do so before you find a program in the US

 

[shater]

Shater - your english is far better than any of my foregin languages, but you'll really need to work on it if you plan on applying to US dental schools. Following your written english is really difficult at times.

What is this informal postbac you've found for an international dentist grad.

You would be applying to any 4-yr university in the United States that would accept you and act as sponsor for an education-visa. You need to talk your local US embassy to see if you are eligible and what you need to do before you a program in the US

i see... actually will check things out and will see .thx man 4 ur valuable advice

 

[iamxp]

Are you referring to an applicant with or without a successful SMP?

Think robflanker was referring to an applicant without an SMP.

 

[deleted248403]

Think robflanker was referring to an applicant without an SMP.

Yup and in terms of allopathic acceptance. A 3.44 and a 30 will get you into DO most of the time

 

[pez1]

Hey everyone,
I have an AA degree gpa of 3.7, ugrad gpa of 3.268 for economics major and management minor from UCI in 2008. After deciding that slaving away in a cubicle wasnt for me, I currently am in the post-bac program at CSUF and will finish spring 2011. I have a 4.0 gpa right now and I don't see it straying too far from that in the future.

Because I was a non-science major I just started my clinical hours and by the time that I apply, I will have about 200 hrs of hospital volunteer work, shadowed an internist and derm, 100 hours of volunteering for the YMCA as a tutor and also currently have a job tutoring at the most disadvantaged high school in my area.

I just talked to my cousin (the dermatologist) who says I really have no chance of getting into an MD school because of my low gpa and because Asians have a particularly hard time getting accepted. She said I shouldn't waste my time trying to get into an MD school....needless to say I had to fight back a few tears.

Do I have a chance? Thanks for the help.

edit: My cumulative so far is 3.48.

 

[deleted248403]

So your med school GPA will be factored by all classes taken. So you should combine your associates degrees grades with your 4-yr university grades (or did u do that already?). Also you need to factor in your post bac gpa.

Basically, all non-graduate classes will make one GPA for you - so if you can recalculate and give us an idea it will allow us to give you better help

 

[Velocity]

Hey everyone,
I have an AA degree gpa of 3.7, ugrad gpa of 3.268 for economics major and management minor from UCI in 2008. After deciding that slaving away in a cubicle wasnt for me, I currently am in the post-bac program at CSUF and will finish spring 2011. I have a 4.0 gpa right now and I don't see it straying too far from that in the future.

Because I was a non-science major I just started my clinical hours and by the time that I apply, I will have about 200 hrs of hospital volunteer work, shadowed an internist and derm, 100 hours of volunteering for the YMCA as a tutor and also currently have a job tutoring at the most disadvantaged high school in my area.

I just talked to my cousin (the dermatologist) who says I really have no chance of getting into an MD school because of my low gpa and because Asians have a particularly hard time getting accepted. She said I shouldn't waste my time trying to get into an MD school....needless to say I had to fight back a few tears.

Do I have a chance? Thanks for the help.

edit: My cumulative so far is 3.48.

You're a non-traditional applicant and you've shown a strong, positive upward trend. If you do very well on the MCAT and everything else is good (essays, letters of rec, extracurriculars) I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get an acceptance to an allopathic program. People have made it in with less, people have been rejected with more. There are no guarantees with this process.

One thing I will suggest is that you not dismiss DO programs outright. I've applied to medical school once before, and didn't even consider DO programs. I've spent the next three years in a graduate program that I would have gladly traded for being in a DO program, in hindsight. Sure, DO's have the stigma of being considered a "second tier option" among some people, but when you're actually working it won't matter.

And what do you want to be a doctor for - the "MD" initials, or for the job itself? I'll admit, before being fully rejected I partly felt that the "MD" would be a perk. After I lost some time on my career development, I came to realize what really matters (or so I think, at this point in time). Which degree you get ultimately isn't that important, especially to people like us who can't afford to be picky about the process. Apply to MD programs, but don't neglect the DO's for superficial reasons.

 

[DrMidlife]

I just talked to my cousin (the dermatologist) who says I really have no chance of getting into an MD school because of my low gpa and because Asians have a particularly hard time getting accepted. She said I shouldn't waste my time trying to get into an MD school....needless to say I had to fight back a few tears.

Wow, harsh.

I got in a discussion on SDN a few years back over the anti-Asian bias issue. It really depends on how you look at it. In California, in particular, the percentage of Asians is something like 12% (whites: 42%). The percentage of total med school applicants who are Asian in CA is something like 40% (whites: 36%). Asians are accepted at the same rate as whites: if you take (matriculated)/(applied) you get pretty much the same number for Asians as you do for whites. You can do your own math from http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/start.htm. If you're able to use these numbers to prove an anti-Asian bias, as one of the participants in that past discussion did, you need quite an imagination.

If you look at it from the perspective of the percentage of Asian kids whose parents will be livid if they don't get into med school vs. the non-Asian kids whose parents will be livid, then I think you might have a case.

Honestly I don't think adcoms have time to think about race when they're comparing applicants. There's a boatload of info on a med school app. In other words, there's a ton of things they'll reject you for before they get to your race. 55% of applicants get rejected.

In your shoes, assuming you want to stay in California and preferably get into a UC, take a look at the SMP threads, particularly Georgetown. It's not going to come down to how Asian you are - it's going to come down to how hard you work from here on, imho. If you weren't in California, a 3.48 would be very salvageable - in California it'll just take longer.

My $.02.

 

[drizzt3117]

Wow, harsh.

I got in a discussion on SDN a few years back over the anti-Asian bias issue. It really depends on how you look at it. In California, in particular, the percentage of Asians is something like 12% (whites: 42%). The percentage of total med school applicants who are Asian in CA is something like 40% (whites: 36%). Asians are accepted at the same rate as whites: if you take (matriculated)/(applied) you get pretty much the same number for Asians as you do for whites. You can do your own math from http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/start.htm. If you're able to use these numbers to prove an anti-Asian bias, as one of the participants in that past discussion did, you need quite an imagination.

If you look at it from the perspective of the percentage of Asian kids whose parents will be livid if they don't get into med school vs. the non-Asian kids whose parents will be livid, then I think you might have a case.

Honestly I don't think adcoms have time to think about race when they're comparing applicants. There's a boatload of info on a med school app. In other words, there's a ton of things they'll reject you for before they get to your race. 55% of applicants get rejected.

In your shoes, assuming you want to stay in California and preferably get into a UC, take a look at the SMP threads, particularly Georgetown. It's not going to come down to how Asian you are - it's going to come down to how hard you work from here on, imho. If you weren't in California, a 3.48 would be very salvageable - in California it'll just take longer.

My $.02.

The question isn't what the % is, it's how qualified the applicants are. As far as whether adcoms take race into account, we absolutely do. Is it a big deal? Probably not unless you're URM but being Asian certainly won't help you.

 

[DrMidlife]

The question isn't what the % is, it's how qualified the applicants are. As far as whether adcoms take race into account, we absolutely do. Is it a big deal? Probably not unless you're URM but being Asian certainly won't help you.

Can you elaborate on the sense in which race is taken into account? The above could easily be construed as an adcom substantiating anti-Asian bias. Race is taken into account, being Asian certainly won't help...

 

[drizzt3117]

Can you elaborate on the sense in which race is taken into account? The above could easily be construed as an adcom substantiating anti-Asian bias. Race is taken into account, being Asian certainly won't help...

Putting together classes is about diversity. Schools will select interviewees and ppl they accept based on this principle. I think the effect of race on admissions has to do more with separating yourself from the rest of the crowd, except of course for URMs who in some cases are evaluated completely separately from other applicants.

 

[Lottie]

Thank you for all the help!

 

[FruityPineapple]

What else could I do to make myself more competitive? (Also I was curious, which GPA do the SMP's look at - cum gpa's factoring in retakes and canceling old grades? etc?)

My GPA was a little low my first few years (2.3), then I raised it to a 3.1 in the latter years. It is higher if you take cancel out classes that I've taken as a retake (3.4).

My science GPA isn't as high (2.9). I've been getting about 3.7-4.0's for the past two/three years, but it hasn't really raised my GPA too much. Sadly, most of my lower grades are in the intro science classes, and my higher grades are in the more difficult science classes.

I took the Mcat about 2.5 years ago, so it might be a little old for some schools (EVMS in general, not sure if it will affect my admissions?). I just took it to see if I should continue in the path of medicine, I did pretty well with little preparation though, so I decided to stick it out and study a little more (by that I mean start studying).

My plan is to do an SMP, but I don't think I'll be able to get into any of the ones of my choice.

My EC's are ok: 10+ years of clinical experience, 10+ years of various volunteering (things that I'm really passionate about, not just doing it for med school), 1 year of research (not much at the moment), 3 great LoR's. I can get more, but I was only limited to 3 by the form I used to apply. (I haven't applied to MD schools because I was told my science gpa would get me screened out).

Do you all think that my GPA is a little weak for SMP's - which do they look at? Cum GPA with retakes? I've only applied to EVMS so far, but they've waitlisted me - maybe mostly for my older Mcat score?

If it is because of that, I could try to push for an April 10th date, which would give me spring break to take it, I'm taking 16 units at the moment and doing research, but if they and other SMP's are overlooking me because of an old Mcat score, I might as well get a new one before the May deadlines.

I'm thinking that Drexel might be a good SMP choice because it seems like it might be a little easier and less competitive to get into than EVMS, Georgetown, UCinc, RFBMS etc.

I think an SMP would be a good choice for me now that I have study habits down... just wish I could get into one without a "glide year" - my science gpa is too low to apply co-currently because I will just be computer screened out due to the minimum gpa. So hopefully I can get into one with a high linkage.

Summary:
science gpa = 2.9 (3.2+ if you count retakes replacing old grades)
cum GPA = 3.4/5 (if you count retakes replacing old grades), otherwise 3.1
MCAT = 30 (10/10/10) (2.5 years old)

Thanks for any comments in advance.

 

[drizzt3117]

In what universe does higher mcat make you less competitive?

I would really appreciate some advice about my current situation:

My stats:
CGPA: 3.2
SGPA: 3.0
MCAT: 35R (14V 10P 11B)

EC's:
Free Clinic Volunteer (a lot of clinical exposure + some doctor shadowing)
Club dealing with poverty and healthcare (Some leadership positions)
Research 1 yr (didn't do anything important)
Animal Rescue Volunteer
Worked at family business

I am planning on applying to the following postbacs:
OSU Medpath, Wake Forest, Creighton, UCLA PREP, Other UC Postbacs

I looked at some of the average gpa and mcat posted for some of the programs and it looked like while my gpa was around the average, my mcat was significantly higher. Would this negatively affect my chances when applying to disadvantaged/minority Post Bacc programs?