hey,
i am in my junior year and I recently found out i am on academic probation. i have no idea what my science gpa is but my cumulative one is 2.2 as of now. I think after this semester it will go even more down. i have no excuse for it other than the fact that i have been on vacation for the past 7 years of my life and havent studied one bit in school.
i am planning to write the MCATs this summer. in august and I am going to take the kaplan prep course. i have two months to study for it too. i wonder if i get can get a 36, if any college in US will actually even consider me.
not that i can pull out a 36 from up my sleeve but lets say i could if the lighten struck me on the head or something.
will they even consider it or is this a totally lost cause?
A cumulative GPA of 2.2 in your junior year implies having nearly a C average in every course you took for 3 years. To be honest, I think given this situation, and even with a good MCAT score, you will probably have a hard time for Caribbean med schools too. However to be even more honest, here are the forces that are working against you at this time, and beyond:
(1) Most schools weigh the MCAT and undergrad GPA equally. Undergrad GPA is a good indicator of how well you do in med school classes, while MCAT is a good indicator of how well you will do on your board exams. There may be SOME bias for the MCAT at a few schools, but it is unlikely that any MCAT score can overcome a 2.2 GPA. A "passing" grade at UC Davis School of Medicine is a 75% or higher. Med school classes are obviously harder than undergrad classes, and you take more of them too, so a 2.2 GPA doesn't bode well for you in that aspect.
(2) Some schools screen GPA/MCAT. Most notably the med schools under the University of California do that. Their GPA cut-off is probably a 3.0-3.2. If you don't meet the cut-off, you don't get a secondary, and hence no interview, or any chance of admission. UCSF specifically states on their website that they tend to not even give a secondary to anyone with less than a 3.2. You usually have to meet both the GPA and MCAT cut-offs, not one or the other. There is SOME forgiveness. However it must be associated with recent, and extraordinary evidence. A student with a undergrad GPA of 2.8 (upward trend of 4.0), who had grad GPAof 3.97 in their PhD program, MCAT of 37, with great LORs, EC's, and PS was able to petition for a secondary at a UC med school. They ended up getting into med school. Clearly the proved they can do it over a long period of time. Doesn't work for everyone though. I may try the same thing and not get in at the same school.
(3) Your current GPA will make it very hard to get into any official post-bacc program, let alone an SMP. Graduate school is out of the question for two reasons (a) most grad programs require at least a 3.0 GPA, (b) graduate level courses won't boost your undergrad GPA anyway. So you will probably have to find some school that is willing to overlook the 2.2 GPA, or you will have to take classes through open campus which is rather challenging and expensive at times.
(4) Most obvious would be how difficult it is to get a high MCAT score regardless of your GPA. I have know people who had a 3.8 GPA in molecular biology who can only pull a 30 on the MCAT. Still a great score, but statistically speaking, with a 2.2 GPA, and 2 months to study for the MCAT, its unlikely you will get a good score. Kaplan or any other prep course should be used as GUIDELINES, not a way to guarantee a high score. Have you even taken a practice exam yet (
www.e-mcat.com)? There are the extreme few that are strong standardized test takers, and do well despite their GPA. But see point #1 about MCAT vs. GPA.
(5) As stated, a 2.2 GPA implies a good number of C's or worse. Some schools require 2 letters of recommendation from science professors. Regardless, its always good to have a few letters showing that you can do well in rigorous science courses. If the professor likes you and knows you well, they wouldn't mind writing you a letter, however the question is can they write you a STRONG letter even if you had a C in the class?
(6) In the end, you are competing against the next-best applicant. The average student that gets into a US med school has an undergrad GPA of 3.4-3.5, and an MCAT score of 28-30. They volunteered in the clinical setting, and done community service. About 70-80% of them have research experience. All have strong letters of recommendations. However you will also be competing against those that have some insane stats. Now I have to point out here that when I say the average student, I actually mean the "median" student. MSAR uses the median because it implies a skewed distribution (e.g., there are more people with higher GPA's, MCAT scores, etc than those with lower ones). So its not appropriate to think that there are as many ultra-high scores as there are ultra-low scores. The reason for this nonparametric relationship is because schools screen for high scores to some extent.
You have one mountain to climb my friend. Its certainly not impossible since I've seen worse. However there's a lot to do, and right now I wouldn't place my bets on you just yet. I would focus more on getting out of academic probation and start getting 4.0's. Because, anything less than a 4.0 GPA every semester/quarter isn't going to help you. You might want to consider DO programs, but that means retaking and doing well in courses that you did poorly in. They replace the old grade with the new one unlike MD schools which count all retakes in addition to the original. I'd probably focus on your undergrad courses for now and worry about the MCAT later. As mshheaddoc said, you're going to have to do post-bacc to get your undergrad GPA up to a respectable level. This will show an upward trend and may prevent you from being screened out at some schools. At the very least it can then serve as a stepping stone so you can get into an SMP (min GPA of ~2.7-3.0 GPA), or an official post-bacc program. Remember, people have overcome illness, death, warzones (my friend over in Iraq for example), and other life altering changes to get into med school....you don't have any of those hurdles in the way, you just need to figure out how to start getting 4.0's. Good luck!
