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[klassicBeauty]

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I have 154 credits at 3.16 gpa...and thought I would do a DIY post-bacc and take some upper-level science classes at my state university as was suggested here.

My dilemma is that I had planned on re-applying med in Summer 2011 but I do not know if I could raise my gpa to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters being that my 1st degree is in Bio; its not that many upper levels that I can take that I havent already.

I am DEFINITELY applying and open to D.O. med schools but still wanted to bring somethig to the table that shows a demonstration of strong academic performance that I had not shown previously so wanted to have a 3.4 at minimum.

I also am frustrated financially as I do not have any dependents but do have financial obligations and so I worry about that also. And Im already running low on Fin Aid..so im btw a rock and a hard place!

Really my questions are ---I got sidetracked---
1) With 154 credits and a bio degree...and 3.16 gpa...is it possible to get it to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters..or 5--semesters? If so at how many hours/semester?

2)Is it more beneficial/cost-less to re-take classes these next 2 or 3 semesters apply to DO med school and state med schools?

3) Or do I forget the Sum 2011 app, give myself 2yrs of solid upper-levels and apply Sum 2012 for Fall 2013?

4) Or do I do 1yr post bacc-1yr SMP(very expensive)?

5) Or do I forego any more post-bacc and raise MCAT to be competitive for SMP with a linkage?

6) Or do I do a 2yr post-bacc, and a 1yr-SMP(very expensive)?


---*I havent mentioned MCAT bc by the time I apply it will have expired--well still be there but they discount ones older than 3yrs...and bc I know I have to study my socks off for it so I know that already...lol

**Plus, I dont want to seem overly concerned with my age but I am 24 and cant afford financially to keep not being employed, Im just not in a position where I can keep foregoing not being employed so that may be why I seem a bit rushed but Im not bc I know the dangers of putting out a non-competitive app as I did before in 07-08!

***I have wrote in SDN before in the "re-app" forum back in 2009' but Im in conflict with what SDN suggest and what my pre-health advisor suggest..so need some clarification!

So any and all help will help! Thanks in advance!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is SDN, remember? If you haven't won a Nobel prize or treated AIDS patient in Somalia while publishing your latest article on hepatocyte protein pathway, you can forget about getting accepted into a US medical school.

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO GET REJECTED

 

[TyrKinase]

I'm going to break the mold here and do what folks did on the first few pages of the thread: list their academic misgivings, what they did to make up for it and what the outcome ended up being.

Short version:
Undergrad @ Univ of Califonia school: <2.6 sGPA, <3.1 cGPA (Social Science major + took most pre-reqs)
Post-bacc @ SFSU: ~3.5 sGPA, cGPA (all upper division science courses)
MCAT: 28Q, 32O -- ExamKrackers >>> Kaplan. Save your money.
Drexel IMS: 3.2GPA -- Earned myself one interview and one waitlist.
Tulane ACP: >medical school average in Gross Anatomy and Histology

Attending: Tulane School of Medicine, Class of 2014

Amount of make-up work after graduating college: 4 years

Long version:
I decided somewhere in my junior year of college that I seriously wanted to pursue medicine. It had been one of those things I had considered for a long time, but I decided to finally enroll in all the courses I'd need in order to apply. The problem was my study skills for my non-science courses didn't really translate into doing well in general chemistry, physics and organic chemistry but for whatever reason I just kept going. Bad idea.

After graduating, I decided to retake organic chemistry and tack on a bunch of upper division coursework. I did this without calculating just how many units it would take to raise my GPA from the depths to which it had sunk, which was probably a good thing because having a number of units at a 4.0GPA would have driven me to do other things.

Realizing I wasn't getting anywhere, I went to Drexel. I ended up getting an interview at a new MD school and a subsequent waitlist. As March rolled around and I realized my odds were slim elsewhere, I decided to apply for Tulane's Anatomy Certification Program seeing as the second year at Drexel (MMS) was more expensive and promised less.

I started at Tulane in August 2009 and recently received my acceptance to the medical school for the following fall.

Advice AKA "What I would have done differently":
1. Retake pre-requisite courses, get As, and apply to osteopathic schools.

Seriously, that's the only thing. I could have saved ~2 years and a bunch of debt if I had educated myself about the options right out of college. That being said, it's been an interesting journey and I couldn't be happier to be in New Orleans for the next four years.

 

[agnodice]

I am DEFINITELY applying and open to D.O. med schools but still wanted to bring somethig to the table that shows a demonstration of strong academic performance that I had not shown previously so wanted to have a 3.6 at minimum.


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you're applying to DO schools, why don't you just repeat the courses you did poorly in since they don't average them like MD schools. If I wanted to go the DO route, I'd probably re do a couple courses and boost my extracurriculars. Beyond that, I know a lot of DO schools also have post bac programs that aren't as expensive as the MD ones. If you're trying to get into an MD school, then obviously repeating courses won't help that much.

 

[shater]

hello, im international dentist with gpa 2.4 wanted to know is an international dentist graduated outside usa with a gpa of 2.4 can i join any program of upper sicence division courses to raise my 2.4 gpa before i apply to dental school in usa? or can anyone tell me what is the best way i can do in my situation to raise my gpa ? would value helping me pretty well,thx so much to all here

 

[DLove86]

I don't know if you really read the post drumfreek, but the post specifically says graduate science coursework and that it needs to be done in a graduate program. You first need to get into a M.S or MBS program to complete these requirements so an informal post bacc like you were suggesting won't be even viewed under this light at all. What you need to do is go retake all of your bad grades at an informal post bacc and see if you can get into a graduate program/SMP before applying through this route.

although this news is new and fantastic, I am reserved for one reason: is biomedical engineering a valid program for these application routes?

I chose BME for a few reasons and stuck with it for my masters (helps out in residency selection later on for surgery) but now I may not even be able to get into medical school because of it.

So, how strict is science related in pertaining to graduate programs. Thanks!

 

[serene88]

Here's my story. Started out at a community college in '06. Went there for 3 semesters then transferred with a 2.4 gpa to a four year school and have been here for 3 semesters off and on. I took a couple of semesters off to deal with some personal issues and to work but my grades since transferring have been horrible, especially since I started working 30 hours while in school. I've just recently decided on medical school, and I haven't started any science courses yet. I only have 27 credits earned and 53 attempted credits. My intended major is sociology but I don't know if I should stay in school for the next four years to complete the prereqs and try to bring up my gpa, or get my degree first and then go for a post bacc. Advice?

 

[DrMidlife]

Here's my story. Started out at a community college in '06. Went there for 3 semesters then transferred with a 2.4 gpa to a four year school and have been here for 3 semesters off and on. I took a couple of semesters off to deal with some personal issues and to work but my grades since transferring have been horrible, especially since I started working 30 hours while in school. I've just recently decided on medical school, and I haven't started any science courses yet. I only have 27 credits earned and 53 attempted credits. My intended major is sociology but I don't know if I should stay in school for the next four years to complete the prereqs and try to bring up my gpa, or get my degree first and then go for a post bacc. Advice?

Think GPA first, order of coursework 2nd. Major in whatever you're interested in - you can finish the prereqs as a minor or as electives or as an extra year or as a postbac, doesn't matter. Doing prereqs before you graduate is considerably cheaper and more straightforward.

You have enough coursework left to improve your GPA significantly, but do the math: what number of additional credits gets you to a 3.5 cumulative overall? If that's an unreasonable amount of time, then you need to look at doing postbac GPA repair and/or an SMP.

Assume that having a 3.7 or better in science is possible and crucial. That and your MCAT score are still under your control.

Best of luck to you.

 

[jslo85]

although this news is new and fantastic, I am reserved for one reason: is biomedical engineering a valid program for these application routes?

I chose BME for a few reasons and stuck with it for my masters (helps out in residency selection later on for surgery) but now I may not even be able to get into medical school because of it.

So, how strict is science related in pertaining to graduate programs. Thanks!

I don't know. I'd contact the admissions office to get an actual honest answer. Anything I would say would be purely guesswork based off of what they say for your path. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have to depend on the curriculum? I'm not sure how medical science heavy your masters would include, since they left it sort of vague I would assume anything really is possible, but to be safe I would say they are expecting something more along the lines of graduate to medical school level science like Toxicology, Infectious Diseases, Histology, Gross and Developmental Anatomy etc. I would definitely check with them since I wouldn't be surprised at all if what I said above was wrong. To my very limited knowledge, I have always thought of BME as mainly focused in medical imaging, systems physiology, biomechanics etc as opposed to the medical sciences.

Please come back and update us if you do end up calling.

 

[Yips]

I'm going to break the mold here and do what folks did on the first few pages of the thread: list their academic misgivings, what they did to make up for it and what the outcome ended up being.

Short version:
Undergrad @ Univ of Califonia school: <2.6 sGPA, <3.1 cGPA (Social Science major + took most pre-reqs)
Post-bacc @ SFSU: ~3.5 sGPA, cGPA (all upper division science courses)
MCAT: 28Q, 32O -- ExamKrackers >>> Kaplan. Save your money.
Drexel IMS: 3.2GPA -- Earned myself one interview and one waitlist.
Tulane ACP: >medical school average in Gross Anatomy and Histology

Attending: Tulane School of Medicine, Class of 2014

Amount of make-up work after graduating college: 4 years

Long version:
I decided somewhere in my junior year of college that I seriously wanted to pursue medicine. It had been one of those things I had considered for a long time, but I decided to finally enroll in all the courses I'd need in order to apply. The problem was my study skills for my non-science courses didn't really translate into doing well in general chemistry, physics and organic chemistry but for whatever reason I just kept going. Bad idea.

After graduating, I decided to retake organic chemistry and tack on a bunch of upper division coursework. I did this without calculating just how many units it would take to raise my GPA from the depths to which it had sunk, which was probably a good thing because having a number of units at a 4.0GPA would have driven me to do other things.

Realizing I wasn't getting anywhere, I went to Drexel. I ended up getting an interview at a new MD school and a subsequent waitlist. As March rolled around and I realized my odds were slim elsewhere, I decided to apply for Tulane's Anatomy Certification Program seeing as the second year at Drexel (MMS) was more expensive and promised less.

I started at Tulane in August 2009 and recently received my acceptance to the medical school for the following fall.

Advice AKA "What I would have done differently":
1. Retake pre-requisite courses, get As, and apply to osteopathic schools.

Seriously, that's the only thing. I could have saved ~2 years and a bunch of debt if I had educated myself about the options right out of college. That being said, it's been an interesting journey and I couldn't be happier to be in New Orleans for the next four years.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Was your undergraduate cGPA still under 3.0 on your AMCAS application?

 

[shater]

hello, im international dentist with gpa 2.4 wanted to know as an international dentist graduated outside usa with a gpa of 2.4 can i join any program to upper sicence division courses to raise my 2.4 gpa before i apply to dental school in usa? or can anyone tell me what is the best way i can do in my situation to raise my gpa ?in other words what r the ways for international dentist to raise my gpa in usa ? would value helping me pretty well,thx so much to all here...hope somone really advice me bec feel im lost in that .

 

[YoungGregory]

.

 

[NorthCityExpat]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a while and trying to find advice for someone in my situation but I've become so frustrated that I finally decided to post.

I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2003 with a BA in French literature but I took the pre-reqs "just in case." It turned out to be a big mistake.My cGPA was 3.3 but my BCPM was around 2.5 for allopathic schools, not sure about Osteo because I just found out that math isn't counted. I took all of the prereqs except for Ochem, which I withdrew from in the second quarter.

I taught for a couple of years after graduation, then moved to China where I taught English for the last 4.5 years. While I loved working with my students, I just wasn't satisfied that I was really contributing something and decided that I had to try for med school. I think if I can adjust my study habits I can handle the load, but I can't figure out the best approach. I've spoken to a couple of Adcoms at my state school and one recommended not retaking physics(B-, C,B) but retaking GenChem (B,B+,C) and then doing a Biomed masters. The other said do a postbac with linkage (which I'm ineligible for) or retake everything, get some upper level bio and do a Biomed masters. NOVA said do upper level bio and/or Biomed masters.

Can anyone recommend a plan/timeline that would cover me for both allopathic and osteopathic schools?

I am extremely thankful for this website. It has been very encouraging to find others like me!

 

[Howisbabbyformd]

Hey guys. I'm still an undergrad but I have kind of a different story. At the moment I have 68 hours with a GPA of 2.16. This is my fourth year in school, but I had to take my sophomore year off because my father had an debilitating stroke and I had to take care of him because my mother had to work. He was also diagnosed with colon cancer during my sophomore year and passed earlier this year in January. This has been a hard couple of years in my life and it showed on my grade sheet.

But last semester I had a GPA of 3.79 and this semester I have all A's at my midterm. With approximately 60 hours left, how high do you guys think my GPA could get? From the looks of it because of my year off and not going to school over summer I might graduate in my 6th year. How much of an Issue do you guys think this will be?

By my calculations, you'll be at a 3.04 if you can complete your remaining 60 hours at 3.85 after this semester. This calculation is also assuming that you're taking 14 credits this semester and that you finish the semester with a 3.79 like you said you have at the midterm. However, if you complete those 60 hours at 4.0, your GPA jumps to 3.10. Again, since I don't know your number of credit hours you're taking this semester and currently earning a 3.79 on, these calculations will be slightly different if you're taking more or fewer than 14.

 

[DrMidlife]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a while and trying to find advice for someone in my situation but I've become so frustrated that I finally decided to post.

I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2003 with a BA in French literature but I took the pre-reqs "just in case." It turned out to be a big mistake.My cGPA was 3.3 but my BCPM was around 2.5 for allopathic schools, not sure about Osteo because I just found out that math isn't counted. I took all of the prereqs except for Ochem, which I withdrew from in the second quarter.

I taught for a couple of years after graduation, then moved to China where I taught English for the last 4.5 years. While I loved working with my students, I just wasn't satisfied that I was really contributing something and decided that I had to try for med school. I think if I can adjust my study habits I can handle the load, but I can't figure out the best approach. I've spoken to a couple of Adcoms at my state school and one recommended not retaking physics(B-, C,B) but retaking GenChem (B,B+,C) and then doing a Biomed masters. The other said do a postbac with linkage (which I'm ineligible for) or retake everything, get some upper level bio and do a Biomed masters. NOVA said do upper level bio and/or Biomed masters.

Can anyone recommend a plan/timeline that would cover me for both allopathic and osteopathic schools?

I am extremely thankful for this website. It has been very encouraging to find others like me!

Look into Texas' academic fresh start for 2013 as one option. TX residents can wipe out their records if they graduated 10+ years ago. This means starting over, and you can't start taking classes in the interim if you try this route. It's risky, and it's only good inside TX borders, but it's the only clean slate.

Otherwise, generally I advise folks with a sub-3.0 to take additional undergrad until they're over 3.0, kill the MCAT (seriously, kill it, like 35+) and then do an SMP.

In your shoes, it's just your science GPA that needs to improve in the short term, which might be fairly straightforward - you could potentially double your science courses, or better, in one year of full time study. Which also improves your cumulative overall.

With a year of fulltime undergrad science your GPAs could be 3.2 - 3.4 (caveat emptor, do the math!). This with a solid MCAT would make it worthwhile to apply DO and MD (at your state schools). You could use your app year to work and see how it goes, or you could spend your app year in an SMP to speed things up.

Assuming you're not pursuing TX fresh start, I recommend two first steps:
1. Take a fairly difficult science class (at night, at a CC, whatever). If you can get an A, then give yourself "permission" to go full time.
2. Take an MCAT practice test (www.e-mcat.com) and see how you do. If your verbal score is less than 10, then you can assume you need to dedicate a boatload of time on MCAT prep to get 30+. If your verbal score is 10 or greater, then that's a great sign that 30+ isn't an unreasonable goal. Knowing your baseline as you get started helps you prioritize.

Best of luck to you.

 

[helix]

I have an undergrad GPA of 2.7 and my Science GPA is about that much. Graduated in 2004. Planning to take the MCAT now. I should do post-bacc right? I don't think I can do MCAT and post-bacc all at the same time. Maybe I will take the classes after taking the MCAT.

What say?

 

[jslo85]

I have an undergrad GPA of 2.7 and my Science GPA is about that much. Graduated in 2004. Planning to take the MCAT now. I should do post-bacc right? I don't think I can do MCAT and post-bacc all at the same time. Maybe I will take the classes after taking the MCAT.

What say?

Well plan out your schedule and keep a timeline of important dates in your mind.

Things to ask yourself:
1. Are you aiming for allopathic or osteopathic school?
2. Since you graduated in 2004, I'm assuming you're 27-28 years old. Are finances/moving a problem?
3. How much time are you committing to this? Full time? Balancing a job? Family responsibilities?
4. Are you looking for an informal post bacc to SMP route? A formal post-bacc?
5. Will you need an MCAT program or will a book + self study suffice?

Dates to know:
1. Spring quarter is rolling around for most schools
2. Each school varies but if rolling admissions, apply as early as possible.

Your cGPA/sGPA is currently a 2.7. If you are aiming osteopathic route, go enroll at a local university and start retaking the classes you had trouble in while mixing in some upper level science courses (histology, toxicology, microbiology, etc) in during the end. If you wish to enroll in a formal program for this, I would recommend UT Texas or any other Academic Enhancing Track (AET) program like those at SFSU. This can also be done at your local university if you are ambivalent about paying extra or relocating.

Aim to do as well as you can on the MCAT. I would say if you can dedicate 3 months of solid studying (6 hours a day min) including taking practice tests, you should perform well. I recommend the ExamKracker series if you do not wish to pay for a class like Princeton Review or Kaplan. You will need a comprehensive review of all the sciences required if you haven't been in school for so long.

Definitely take classes after the MCAT. Right now you have time, whether this is a good thing or bad. You could still meet the deadline to submit an application for UT Dallas/SFSU (I believe) as they do not require any standardized test for admission for the Fall and prepare/take the MCAT in the months between now and then. Or you can take the MCAT and apply for fall enrollment at a local university to retake poor grades and some upper div classes and look to apply for SMP programs (if your GPA/MCAT is appropriate) at the start of January.

 

[helix]

Thank you for your guidance jslo85!
I will be working till the time I start med school. But I am willing to quit my IT job in order to do post-bacc.
Thats another thing I'm worried about. I have done my undergrad in Biochem but I do not have any other experience in the medical field (some sort of volunteer work). And then my work exp. is in IT :S

So if I take MCAT, say before August, and do post-bacc in Fall which term of med school will I be able to apply for? I have a couple of D's and a couple of C's to clear, and then I do some extras like you suggested (histology, toxicology, microbiology, etc) so if I take classes in Spring also then where do I stand for med school application?
How about doing classes now and taking MCAT next April?

Also, I just want to have good grades (GPA+MCAT) to get into med school, so I don't think I want to do an SMP program.

 

[jslo85]

Thank you for your guidance jslo85!
I will be working till the time I start med school. But I am willing to quit my IT job in order to do post-bacc.
Thats another thing I'm worried about. I have done my undergrad in Biochem but I do not have any other experience in the medical field (some sort of volunteer work). And then my work exp. is in IT :S

So if I take MCAT, say before August, and do post-bacc in Fall which term of med school will I be able to apply for? I have a couple of D's and a couple of C's to clear, and then I do some extras like you suggested (histology, toxicology, microbiology, etc) so if I take classes in Spring also then where do I stand for med school application?
How about doing classes now and taking MCAT next April?

Also, I just want to have good grades (GPA+MCAT) to get into med school, so I don't think I want to do an SMP program.

Well. I don't really know what to say other than I don't think that is really that realistic outside of the osteopathic route, only because they accept repeated grades as the final grade.

With a 2.7, even if you raise that by .5 to a 3.2, your GPA is well below the average for the medical school matriculant. Outside of an outstanding MCAT as in 35+ and an early application, I don't really see you realistically getting into allopathic medical school after a year's worth of informal post-bacc.

Then since you have been out of schol for that long and you have no clinical experience, you need 1-2 LOR from a science faculty and a LOR from a physician. I would probably obtain one from your current employer as well. Understand that you are competing for spots against applicants who have 100-150+ hours of volunteering over 2 years, over 40 hours of shadowing, ER experience, EMT-B certification, lab research, publications, mercy corp, etc. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but if you don't have something outstanding to make yourself stand out (GPA/MCAT/CV/LOLR) it's highly unrealistic to expect you can apply straight afterward into medical school.

Taking the MCAT next april and starting classes now is fine, you just need your score before June begins if you want your application in as early as possible. That would be you take the April 2011 MCAT, you will recieve your score in May 2011, and you will apply in June 2011 for the Fall 2012 class. I wish you luck but I hope you will reconsider your decision on SMPs. I believe that a program like that is what you need.

 

[DrMidlife]

Agree w/jslo.

Also, I just want to have good grades (GPA+MCAT) to get into med school, so I don't think I want to do an SMP program.

It's not mathematically possible for you to have a good GPA, not in under about 5 years. Do the math on this, you'll see. For MD schools, if you spend 4 more years and get a 4.0, you'll still only have a cumulative of about 3.3. Still not competitive.

It's a common mistake to assume that after years and years of 2.7 work that you can wake up one morning and get straight A's. You're competing with vast hordes of squeaky clean premeds for those A's.

You can find out what shape you're in for the MCAT by taking a free practice test at any time at www.e-mcat.com. Your verbal score is the best indicator of what's possible after doing hard prep work, because verbal really doesn't budge.

So if you can reconsider the SMP path, you'll see that it speeds things up considerably for you. True whether you go MD or DO.

Best of luck to you.

 

[NorthCityExpat]

DrMidlife: Thank you so much! You're like the patron saint of non-trads!

 

[helix]

Okay I did more research on SMP. I think thats the way to go...but I'm not sure if I'd get accepted in any schools for SMP with my GPA. Doing post-bacc and then SMP seems like a long shot...

 

[FutureDoctorMD]

hey guys, im a noob here so go easy on me lol.

im sure you guys are sick of these new people registering and asking questions but please bear with me. Im so glad i found this thread, there are so many tips and so much advice (congrats to everyone btw)

anyways here is my situation...currently third year at private semester based university.

began biochem major, switched to english but shortly thereafter, to history (graduating as history)

my overall GPA right now is around a 2.0 cumm with science GPA not any higher. I took most of my premed classes early in my years but not all (did poorly)

so this semester i took the change and really decided to pursue med school. I am aiming for good grades this semester (straight As hopefully as my midterms and everything look good so far). I am aiming on graduating with about a 2.5 cumm GPA in 2011.

so my question is what should i do then? should i retake my premed courses informally at my uni or do a formal postbaccc program? I recently started researching into them but there are so many different types and it gets confusing at times. ive been looking them up on the amac site. should i maybe just take more undergrad premed and science courses to get my GPA higher then apply to a masters program?

i am interested in MD schools btw.

 

[DrMidlife]

Okay I did more research on SMP. I think thats the way to go...but I'm not sure if I'd get accepted in any schools for SMP with my GPA. Doing post-bacc and then SMP seems like a long shot...

In what sense? Trying to go to med school with a 2.7 is a long shot, yes. Doing more undergrad to get your GPA up over 3.0...still a long shot, but better. Doing a (good) SMP on top of a 3.0, and doing well, gets you into med school. There are no guarantees at any point in a GPA comeback.

 

[DrMidlife]

hey guys, im a noob here so go easy on me lol.

Are you URM? What state are you in? Are you really sure you don't want to go DO?

Listen, a 2.5 is a full point below competitive range. And it's hella competitive: 60% of applicants get rejected every year. MD and DO. A lot of schools, MD and DO, have automatic cutoffs at 3.0.

You could easily burn another 3-4 years doing a GPA comeback to get into med school. While your buds are making salaries and having a life, you'll be accumulating debt and studying for years, before you start med school.

If you successfully graduate with a 2.5, you'll need 4 more years of undergrad, at a 4.0, to increase your cumulative undergrad GPA to 3.0. I personally think of 3.0 as the bare minimum in trying for MD school through an SMP. MD schools don't forgive the old grade when you retake a course, btw.

In theory, with a sub-3.0 GPA, and 2-3 years of 3.7+ full time coursework, and a very high MCAT, you can get into a good SMP, and with 3.7-ish effort in the SMP, you can get into an MD school.

If you are excited about piling up those maybes, go for it. Best advice I've seen for a GPA comeback: if there's anything you'd be happy doing instead of medicine, for the love of all that's holy, do the other thing.

Best of luck to you.

 

[FutureDoctorMD]

Are you URM? What state are you in? Are you really sure you don't want to go DO?

Listen, a 2.5 is a full point below competitive range. And it's hella competitive: 60% of applicants get rejected every year. MD and DO. A lot of schools, MD and DO, have automatic cutoffs at 3.0.

You could easily burn another 3-4 years doing a GPA comeback to get into med school. While your buds are making salaries and having a life, you'll be accumulating debt and studying for years, before you start med school.

If you successfully graduate with a 2.5, you'll need 4 more years of undergrad, at a 4.0, to increase your cumulative undergrad GPA to 3.0. I personally think of 3.0 as the bare minimum in trying for MD school through an SMP. MD schools don't forgive the old grade when you retake a course, btw.

In theory, with a sub-3.0 GPA, and 2-3 years of 3.7+ full time coursework, and a very high MCAT, you can get into a good SMP, and with 3.7-ish effort in the SMP, you can get into an MD school.

If you are excited about piling up those maybes, go for it. Best advice I've seen for a GPA comeback: if there's anything you'd be happy doing instead of medicine, for the love of all that's holy, do the other thing.

Best of luck to you.

thanks for the advice! i am not URM. I am CA resident.

Im not too familiar with DO schools but I guess it may be a better option from what Ive seen here. How would my odds change if I pursue DO, and what track will i need to take to get there? thanks!

 

[jslo85]

thanks for the advice! i am not URM. I am CA resident.

Im not too familiar with DO schools but I guess it may be a better option from what Ive seen here. How would my odds change if I pursue DO, and what track will i need to take to get there? thanks!

Osteopathic medicine today is almost identical to allopathic medicine with the exception that they can utilize osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) to treat certain conditions if they choose to. You can read up on the tenets/philosophy on your own time. Though in general, osteopathic physicians tend to go into primary care, this actually depends largely on the school you decide to attend and your own academic merit in medical school.

The difference that I believe Dr. Midlife is referring to is that osteopathic schools and their centralized application service AACOMAS allows retaken grades to be counted as the final.

Example: You had a D in General Physics at your undergraduate college. You enroll at your local univeristy and retake the same class (maybe different course # but must be same equivalent) and you get an A. You must list the class in your undergraduate coursework but the D will be replaced with an A in the cGPA and sGPA.

This is a quicker "solution" to boosting your GPA rather than the other suggested alternative above which would be taking a couple years of upper division sciences to try to boost your 2.7 GPA.

If you can get your GPA above a 3.0, you can apply to SMPs and provided you do well 3.7+ you will have a much better shot at recieving acceptances at osteopathic schools rather than allopathic schools as the average of the entering DO student is lower in both GPA and MCAT than their allopathic counterpart. Another thing you can consider is DO SMPs are not as "recognized" as the usual names you see tossed around here (Gtown, BU, Tufts, etc) but they are generally much smaller and have a very strong linkage back into their own medical school, often without even a glide year.

 

[markps]

--

 

[FutureDoctorMD]

Osteopathic medicine today is almost identical to allopathic medicine with the exception that they can utilize osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) to treat certain conditions if they choose to. You can read up on the tenets/philosophy on your own time. Though in general, osteopathic physicians tend to go into primary care, this actually depends largely on the school you decide to attend and your own academic merit in medical school.

The difference that I believe Dr. Midlife is referring to is that osteopathic schools and their centralized application service AACOMAS allows retaken grades to be counted as the final.

Example: You had a D in General Physics at your undergraduate college. You enroll at your local univeristy and retake the same class (maybe different course # but must be same equivalent) and you get an A. You must list the class in your undergraduate coursework but the D will be replaced with an A in the cGPA and sGPA.

This is a quicker "solution" to boosting your GPA rather than the other suggested alternative above which would be taking a couple years of upper division sciences to try to boost your 2.7 GPA.

If you can get your GPA above a 3.0, you can apply to SMPs and provided you do well 3.7+ you will have a much better shot at recieving acceptances at osteopathic schools rather than allopathic schools as the average of the entering DO student is lower in both GPA and MCAT than their allopathic counterpart. Another thing you can consider is DO SMPs are not as "recognized" as the usual names you see tossed around here (Gtown, BU, Tufts, etc) but they are generally much smaller and have a very strong linkage back into their own medical school, often without even a glide year.

Ok thanks this helps a lot.

In this case it might actually be good for me with the retaking grade situation.

If i retake most of my prereq, and get As in them all, I may even be able to raise my GPA to over a 3.0, maybe around a 3.3. With a 3.3 and a high MCAT etc maybe could i apply to DO school without doing a SMP?

 

[DrMidlife]

With a 3.3 and a high MCAT etc maybe could i apply to DO school without doing a SMP?

Yep.

 

[jslo85]

Ok thanks this helps a lot.

In this case it might actually be good for me with the retaking grade situation.

If i retake most of my prereq, and get As in them all, I may even be able to raise my GPA to over a 3.0, maybe around a 3.3. With a 3.3 and a high MCAT etc maybe could i apply to DO school without doing a SMP?

Yes theoretically you could. To make the chances that you would recieve an interview more realistic, I would add in at least 3-4 upper division courses to show that you have not only rebuilt your basic foundation but can handle "harder" classes as well.

There are some other things to note I think I should add in applying to osteopathic school. Extracurriculars are a rather large part of the application. D.O schools often look "holistically" at your application and will consider many other facets besides simply GPA and MCAT even though these are the primary concerns. I'd recommend shadowing 1-2 osteopathic physicians and seeing if you can obtain LORs from them. I would also begin involving yourself in as many other clinical activities as well to give yourself a broad base to not only learn about healthcare but some concrete evidence during interviews of why medicine is right for you. Again, I will probably get responses that contradict this, but in my experience, osteopathic school places more emphasis on E.C.s than allopathic schools. Regardless if you believe this to be true, get started on your clinical experiences now and keep in mind that you need LOR from your science faculty when retaking classes.

Though retaking classes and boosting GPA is valid in your situation, I wouldn't rule out the idea of involving yourself in a formal AET program or an SMP. It will look more favorably to Adcoms than simply taking upper division classes at your local univeristy as they are often taught by basic sciences faculty at the medical school.

 

[helix]

In what sense? Trying to go to med school with a 2.7 is a long shot, yes. Doing more undergrad to get your GPA up over 3.0...still a long shot, but better. Doing a (good) SMP on top of a 3.0, and doing well, gets you into med school. There are no guarantees at any point in a GPA comeback.

I am 27 and I'll be in school forever. But like you said in another post about doing the "other thing"...I really want to do This so I'll have to go through the process. Theres no easy way out.

 

[klassicBeauty]

I have 154 credits at 3.16 gpa...and thought I would do a DIY post-bacc and take some upper-level science classes at my state university as was suggested here.

My dilemma is that I had planned on re-applying med in Summer 2011 but I do not know if I could raise my gpa to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters being that my 1st degree is in Bio; its not that many upper levels that I can take that I havent already.

I am DEFINITELY applying and open to D.O. med schools but still wanted to bring somethig to the table that shows a demonstration of strong academic performance that I had not shown previously so wanted to have a 3.4 at minimum.

I also am frustrated financially as I do not have any dependents but do have financial obligations and so I worry about that also. And Im already running low on Fin Aid..so im btw a rock and a hard place!

Really my questions are ---I got sidetracked---
1) With 154 credits and a bio degree...and 3.16 gpa...is it possible to get it to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters..or 5--semesters? If so at how many hours/semester?

2)Is it more beneficial/cost-less to re-take classes these next 2 or 3 semesters apply to DO med school and state med schools?

3) Or do I forget the Sum 2011 app, give myself 2yrs of solid upper-levels and apply Sum 2012 for Fall 2013?

4) Or do I do 1yr post bacc-1yr SMP(very expensive)?

5) Or do I forego any more post-bacc and raise MCAT to be competitive for SMP with a linkage?

6) Or do I do a 2yr post-bacc, and a 1yr-SMP(very expensive)?


---*I havent mentioned MCAT bc by the time I apply it will have expired--well still be there but they discount ones older than 3yrs...and bc I know I have to study my socks off for it so I know that already...lol

**Plus, I dont want to seem overly concerned with my age but I am 24 and cant afford financially to keep not being employed, Im just not in a position where I can keep foregoing not being employed so that may be why I seem a bit rushed but Im not bc I know the dangers of putting out a non-competitive app as I did before in 07-08!

***I have wrote in SDN before in the "re-app" forum back in 2009' but Im in conflict with what SDN suggest and what my pre-health advisor suggest..so need some clarification!

So any and all help will help! Thanks in advance!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is SDN, remember? If you haven't won a Nobel prize or treated AIDS patient in Somalia while publishing your latest article on hepatocyte protein pathway, you can forget about getting accepted into a US medical school.

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO GET REJECTED

 

[jslo85]

I have 154 credits at 3.16 gpa...and thought I would do a DIY post-bacc and take some upper-level science classes at my state university as was suggested here.

My dilemma is that I had planned on re-applying med in Summer 2011 but I do not know if I could raise my gpa to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters being that my 1st degree is in Bio; its not that many upper levels that I can take that I havent already.

I am DEFINITELY applying and open to D.O. med schools but still wanted to bring somethig to the table that shows a demonstration of strong academic performance that I had not shown previously so wanted to have a 3.4 at minimum.

I also am frustrated financially as I do not have any dependents but do have financial obligations and so I worry about that also. And Im already running low on Fin Aid..so im btw a rock and a hard place!

Really my questions are ---I got sidetracked---
1) With 154 credits and a bio degree...and 3.16 gpa...is it possible to get it to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters..or 5--semesters? If so at how many hours/semester?

2)Is it more beneficial/cost-less to re-take classes these next 2 or 3 semesters apply to DO med school and state med schools?

3) Or do I forget the Sum 2011 app, give myself 2yrs of solid upper-levels and apply Sum 2012 for Fall 2013?

4) Or do I do 1yr post bacc-1yr SMP(very expensive)?

5) Or do I forego any more post-bacc and raise MCAT to be competitive for SMP with a linkage?

6) Or do I do a 2yr post-bacc, and a 1yr-SMP(very expensive)?


---*I havent mentioned MCAT bc by the time I apply it will have expired--well still be there but they discount ones older than 3yrs...and bc I know I have to study my socks off for it so I know that already...lol

**Plus, I dont want to seem overly concerned with my age but I am 24 and cant afford financially to keep not being employed, Im just not in a position where I can keep foregoing not being employed so that may be why I seem a bit rushed but Im not bc I know the dangers of putting out a non-competitive app as I did before in 07-08!

***I have wrote in SDN before in the "re-app" forum back in 2009' but Im in conflict with what SDN suggest and what my pre-health advisor suggest..so need some clarification!

So any and all help will help! Thanks in advance!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is SDN, remember? If you haven't won a Nobel prize or treated AIDS patient in Somalia while publishing your latest article on hepatocyte protein pathway, you can forget about getting accepted into a US medical school.

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO GET REJECTED

If financial concerns are really that much of an issue for you, I would go enroll at a local university part time and retake 2 classes each quarter for your poor grades. This will most likely allow you to keep a part time job so you will at least have some income coming in. Aim for taking the MCAT around March of 2011 if you want to start applying in June of 2011.

If financial reasons were not a concern, I'd tell you to enroll into an AET program like UT Dallas which will allow you to retake a few of your pre-reqs that you did terrible in while allowing easy access to alot of well structured upper division courses taught by solid faculty. You could even apply to an SMP, somewhat midway into the cycle right now but you won't know until you try. There are many SMPs that are expensive like you know but there are a few that are more affordable as well especially if you're looking into osteopathic medicine. Go do some research.

 

[DrMidlife]

I have 154 credits at 3.16 gpa....I do not know if I could raise my gpa to 3.4 in 2-3 semesters being that my 1st degree is in Bio; its not that many upper levels that I can take that I havent already.

First, your degree is a separate issue from your GPA.
- If you've run out of upper level classes to take, then change schools.
- - Find a school that offers micro, immuno, neuro, physio etc.
- If you're focusing on DO, then retake classes anywhere you want.
- - Those retakes count as "new" grades for MD, anyway.

Second, take a deep breath and make friends with doing some math. That's all a GPA is. You can do math to see how much more coursework you need to hit a certain GPA. I'll give you a hint: you can hit 3.4 after doing somewhere between 40 and 80 more credits.

Third, consider what a really good MCAT score and an SMP would do for you instead of doing more undergrad. If you can get over 30 on the MCAT (by whatever means necessary), you can probably get into a good SMP. And from there you can get into an MD school. If you can't get over 30, then focus on SMPs at DO schools.

Fourth, it's okay to take a break and work for a while. Make some money, prep for the MCAT, get ready to go back to school and do better.

Best of luck to you.

 

[TyrKinase]

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Was your undergraduate cGPA still under 3.0 on your AMCAS application?

I'm glad you enjoyed my tale of woe. After completing my post-bacc (all upper division undergraduate classes), my cGPA was around 3.25. Not stellar by any means, but better than a 3.0 and better than my sGPA.

 

[dmndangel]

Hi everyone. So due to my mounting anxiety I decided to stop reading dozens upon dozens of posts and write one of my own. I'm going to talk to an advisor later this week and plan on contacting some med schools in my area next week about my situation but I figured it would be a good idea to get a variety of opinions.

Stats: (figured I would throw them all out there so you guys could get a good picture)

-Senior at an Ivy
- taken most of the prereqs (need physics)
- did awful my freshman year and in most of the prereqs (simply was not prepared for the challenges I would face and had some seriously debilitating anxiety)
- failed a class, a few c's and 2 d's
- upward trend beginning sophomore year, A's in all upper level science courses, dean's list these last 3 semesters and hopefully this one as well
- looks like I will be graduating with a 3.4cgpa and about a 2.8sgpa
- pretty standard EC's: volunteering here and abroad, shadowing, a few leadership positions, research in a human development lab since freshman year (now completing honors thesis)
- oh and URM

I'm going to do a postbac next year to help boost my gpa and plan on taking the mcat at the end of the postbac next year (already got into American and waiting for replies from Hunter, Harvard, and UPenn).

My question is, do I need to be doing more? Assuming I do well in the postbac and get above a 30 on the mcat, will this be enough to get schools to look at me? Should I do an SMP after the postbac? I dont really want to but should I retake my prereqs? My ideal situation is that one more year proving that I can do well in the sciences and a good mcat score will get me in for fall 2012, but now I'm worried that maybe that isnt realistic.

Any and all advise would be MUCH appreciated!!!

 

[DrMidlife]

Hi everyone. So due to my mounting anxiety I decided to stop reading dozens upon dozens of posts and write one of my own. I'm going to talk to an advisor later this week and plan on contacting some med schools in my area next week about my situation but I figured it would be a good idea to get a variety of opinions.

Stats: (figured I would throw them all out there so you guys could get a good picture)

-Senior at an Ivy
- taken most of the prereqs (need physics)
- did awful my freshman year and in most of the prereqs (simply was not prepared for the challenges I would face and had some seriously debilitating anxiety)
- failed a class, a few c's and 2 d's
- upward trend beginning sophomore year, A's in all upper level science courses, dean's list these last 3 semesters and hopefully this one as well
- looks like I will be graduating with a 3.4cgpa and about a 2.8sgpa
- pretty standard EC's: volunteering here and abroad, shadowing, a few leadership positions, research in a human development lab since freshman year (now completing honors thesis)
- oh and URM

I'm going to do a postbac next year to help boost my gpa and plan on taking the mcat at the end of the postbac next year (already got into American and waiting for replies from Hunter, Harvard, and UPenn).

My question is, do I need to be doing more? Assuming I do well in the postbac and get above a 30 on the mcat, will this be enough to get schools to look at me? Should I do an SMP after the postbac? I dont really want to but should I retake my prereqs? My ideal situation is that one more year proving that I can do well in the sciences and a good mcat score will get me in for fall 2012, but now I'm worried that maybe that isnt realistic.

Any and all advise would be MUCH appreciated!!!

There are structured postbacs for URMs, more than anything look at these to save money. But hurry, deadlines are upon us.

Chicago area med schools - Post Baccalaureate Program Chicago, IL
Creighton - Premedical Post-Bac Program Omaha, NE
Drexel DPMS - Drexel Pathway to Medical School (DPMS) Philadelphia, PA
Georgetown GEMS - Georgetown Experimental Medical Studies (GEMS) Program Washington, DC
Hampton - Medical Science Program Hampton, VA
Indiana - Master of Science in Medical Science Program Indianapolis, IN
Ohio State U - MEDPATH - Postbaccalaureate Program Columbus, OH
Oklahoma State U (OSUCOM) - Bridge Program Tulsa, OK
Southern Illinois U - Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program Carbondale, IL
U of California Davis - Postbaccalaureate Program (Consortium) Sacramento, CA
U of California Irvine - Postbaccalaureate Program (Consortium) Irvine, CA
U of California Los Angeles (Drew) - Postbaccalaureate Program (Consortium) Los Angeles, CA
U of California Los Angeles (Geffen) - Reapplication Program (Consortium) Los Angeles, CA
U of California Riverside - Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program (Consortium) Riverside, CA
U of California San Diego - Postbaccalaureate Program (Consortium) San Diego, CA
U of California San Francisco - Post Baccalaureate Program (Consortium) San Francisco, CA
U of Connecticut - Minority Post-Baccalaureate Program B Farmington, CT
Wake Forest - Post Baccalaureate Premedical Program Winston-Salem, NC

 

[dmndangel]

Thanks for the speedy response DrMidlife. I guess my main question is whether I need to be doing more, or if a postbac (preferably 1 year) will be enough to give me a chance.

 

[prolixity29]

Hey everyone thansk for your responses. I'm shooting for a top-tier medical school in New York, Texas, or Cali and although my GPA is not not too low, it's in the lower 50% of accepted students for most of the schools I'm looking at, which include some Ivies, NYU, Mount Sinai, Baylor, UT Southwestern, UC's, and Stanford. Like dmnangel, I'm wondering if I should be doing more to make myself competitive at these places. Here's my story:

Graduated from an Ivy in 2007 with major in econ, minor in math
Cum AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.70
BCPM AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.55 (all math except for 1 neurosci class)
Non-BCPM AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.74

Most of the top-tier schools I'm looking at have a median cum. GPA of about 3.8, though they accept folks who have as low a GPA as 3.6. Also, my BCPM GPA is pretty low for these schools. My BCPM classes were comprised of linear algebra/single multivariate calculus, integral calculus, ordinary differential equations, probability theory, real analysis, and matrix theory. Plus 1 psychology course in sensory perception (which covered my natural science grad requirement). I'm not sure that that course should be counted....

After graduating, I worked for a government research office (economics/tax) for 1.5 years, then I interned for a Big Four accounting firm before deciding I wanted to go to med school. I've done a little shadowing of doctors at 2 different community clinics, and I've been volunteering in the ER since December. Next year, I'll be attending Hopkins post-bacc.

Here are my questions:
1) Will a low math undergrad GPA hurt me? Which of my math classes will figure into my GPA for the AMCAS app, given that I took way more than is necessary?
2) What extra BCPM courses should I take, if any, at Hopkins? (i.e. which of genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, etc. etc. would be most helpful?) Since I have limited time, I'll probably only take 1-2 of these.
3) Does a biology-oriented psychology course count towards BCPM GPA?
4) I have a W (withdraw) on my transcript. How is that counted in my AMCAS GPA?
5) Does attending an Ivy make a lower GPA more palatable for adcoms?
6) Any extra things I should do as a post-bacc if I want to be competitive at the top schools?

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts.

 

[DrMidlife]

Thanks for the speedy response DrMidlife. I guess my main question is whether I need to be doing more, or if a postbac (preferably 1 year) will be enough to give me a chance.

In my view, do work on the 2.8 in science, and put everything you've got into the MCAT. I think that the structured programs I listed may be better sources for mentoring and advising than others. Go get 'em.

 

[drizzt3117]

You'll be fine if you do well in the postbac and on the mcat.

Admissions in the top tiers are hard to predict. As far as your other questions go, your school pedigree matters as everything matters, but it may or may not make it more palatable, that depends on the reputation of your school. There's wide variation in rigor and grade inflation in the ivy league.

I applied with a similar cgpa from a top 5 school and top tier postbac, higher sgpa (~4.0) and high mcat, and interviewed/got into most of the top tier, so doing well in the pb and mcat will make you a strong candidate. Also, if you do well in the pb, your sgpa should rise.

Hey everyone thansk for your responses. I'm shooting for a top-tier medical school in New York, Texas, or Cali and although my GPA is not not too low, it's in the lower 50% of accepted students for most of the schools I'm looking at, which include some Ivies, NYU, Mount Sinai, Baylor, UT Southwestern, UC's, and Stanford. Like dmnangel, I'm wondering if I should be doing more to make myself competitive at these places. Here's my story:

Graduated from an Ivy in 2007 with major in econ, minor in math
Cum AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.70
BCPM AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.55 (all math except for 1 neurosci class)
Non-BCPM AMCAS Undergrad GPA: 3.74

Most of the top-tier schools I'm looking at have a median cum. GPA of about 3.8, though they accept folks who have as low a GPA as 3.6. Also, my BCPM GPA is pretty low for these schools. My BCPM classes were comprised of linear algebra/single multivariate calculus, integral calculus, ordinary differential equations, probability theory, real analysis, and matrix theory. Plus 1 psychology course in sensory perception (which covered my natural science grad requirement). I'm not sure that that course should be counted....

After graduating, I worked for a government research office (economics/tax) for 1.5 years, then I interned for a Big Four accounting firm before deciding I wanted to go to med school. I've done a little shadowing of doctors at 2 different community clinics, and I've been volunteering in the ER since December. Next year, I'll be attending Hopkins post-bacc.

Here are my questions:
1) Will a low math undergrad GPA hurt me? Which of my math classes will figure into my GPA for the AMCAS app, given that I took way more than is necessary?
2) What extra BCPM courses should I take, if any, at Hopkins? (i.e. which of genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, etc. etc. would be most helpful?) Since I have limited time, I'll probably only take 1-2 of these.
3) Does a biology-oriented psychology course count towards BCPM GPA?
4) I have a W (withdraw) on my transcript. How is that counted in my AMCAS GPA?
5) Does attending an Ivy make a lower GPA more palatable for adcoms?
6) Any extra things I should do as a post-bacc if I want to be competitive at the top schools?

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts.

 

[DrMidlife]

1) Will a low math undergrad GPA hurt me? Which of my math classes will figure into my GPA for the AMCAS app, given that I took way more than is necessary?

All of your math counts as BCPM. If you do well in the prereqs you won't have to worry about your science GPA, it'll rise. Focus on the prereqs.

2) What extra BCPM courses should I take, if any, at Hopkins? (i.e. which of genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, etc. etc. would be most helpful?) Since I have limited time, I'll probably only take 1-2 of these.

I'd vote biochem & genetics, but any upper div is going to be useful. Micro, immuno, etc.

3) Does a biology-oriented psychology course count towards BCPM GPA?

I don't think so: look for the AMCAS instructions on www.aamc.org. Around page 43 there's full categorization.

4) I have a W (withdraw) on my transcript. How is that counted in my AMCAS GPA?

It's not. Don't worry about one W.

5) Does attending an Ivy make a lower GPA more palatable for adcoms?

I'm less impressed with the Ivy than I am with the math content. In my experience, intimidating coursework above a B average is good to see.

6) Any extra things I should do as a post-bacc if I want to be competitive at the top schools?

Don't be in a hurry. If you get an opportunity to do interesting work, take it even if it keeps you out of med school for a couple of years. Travel. Do stuff. Get uncomfortable. Pay your own rent. The least significant benefit of all this is that when you sit before an adcom, you're somebody interesting.

Best of luck to you.

 

[prolixity29]

Thanks for the recommendations. It sounds like I have to focus hard on nailing the BCPM post-bacc courses and the MCAT.

I know that AMCAS calculates both a combined undergrad/post-bacc GPA and a separate post-bacc GPA. I'm going to do my best, but I'm wondering which of these 2 GPAs is weighted more in the decision process? Since I will be taking the post-bacc courses 4 years after graduating, if I do much better in them will my post-bacc GPA be "weighted" more by the adcom as it looks at my app holistically?

 

[DrMidlife]

Thanks for the recommendations. It sounds like I have to focus hard on nailing the BCPM post-bacc courses and the MCAT.

I know that AMCAS calculates both a combined undergrad/post-bacc GPA and a separate post-bacc GPA. I'm going to do my best, but I'm wondering which of these 2 GPAs is weighted more in the decision process? Since I will be taking the post-bacc courses 4 years after graduating, if I do much better in them will my post-bacc GPA be "weighted" more by the adcom as it looks at my app holistically?

Cumulative GPA, including everything, is the most important.

Quite frankly I would be very surprised if your GPA has anything to do with admissions decisions about you. You GPA is above the bar. Is the rest of your app?

 

[drizzt3117]

Cumulative GPA, including everything, is the most important.

Quite frankly I would be very surprised if your GPA has anything to do with admissions decisions about you. You GPA is above the bar. Is the rest of your app?

It'll play a role if the OP is applying for top tiers. Mine (~3.7) was discussed at almost every interview. The vast majority of top tier schools have median GPAs of 3.8 or above, in some cases 3.9, so 3.7 is prolly a standard deviation below the mean for non-URM applicants.

Postbac grades will be useful though. If you get all As you'll be in good shape.

 

[prolixity29]

Cumulative GPA, including everything, is the most important.

Quite frankly I would be very surprised if your GPA has anything to do with admissions decisions about you. You GPA is above the bar. Is the rest of your app?

Well, I hope so! 🙂 But I'm not really sure what you mean. I never thought I was going to become a doctor until very recently, so I have only a few medically-related volunteer positions. These include shadowing internists and family practitioners at a medicare clinic for several days, shuffling patients' families around the ER, and mentoring low-income high school youth who were interested in medical careers. That last one is a stretch. That's all I've got, except some life experiences, which will make for a good interview I guess. I also have lots of leadership and econ research experiences, but that would have only a nominal effect on my app, correct?

 

[drizzt3117]

Well, I hope so! 🙂 But I'm not really sure what you mean. I never thought I was going to become a doctor until very recently, so I have only a few medically-related volunteer positions. These include shadowing internists and family practitioners at a medicare clinic for several days, shuffling patients' families around the ER, and mentoring low-income high school youth who were interested in medical careers. That last one is a stretch. That's all I've got, except some life experiences, which will make for a good interview I guess. I also have lots of leadership and econ research experiences, but that would have only a nominal effect on my app, correct?

You'll have the opportunity to get good clinical experience at JHU. I would try to do research if you can too.

 

[runita]

Hello Everyone,
So after reading these threads, I am comfortable sharing my story and eagerly looking forward for the experienced advice.

Here's my story -

1) Graduated in Fall 2009 with B.S in Business Administration with a 3.25 cGPA from University of Maryland
2) Took 3 biology classes and 1 math class with a 4.0 GPA
3) I have been working as a medical assistant for the past 3 years.
4) At my current job I have shadowed physicians in surgery.
5) I am also voluntering at my work in reasearch studies in the field of urogynecology funded by NIH and IRB.

What are my options -
1) Should I do a formal post bacc?
2) Should I take only the pre req's from a university without a formal program?

Additional Info -
Must work full-time, part-time or no work is not an option for me.

Looking forward to hear back! Thanks

 

[gujuDoc]

Hello Everyone,
So after reading these threads, I am comfortable sharing my story and eagerly looking forward for the experienced advice.

Here's my story -

1) Graduated in Fall 2009 with B.S in Business Administration with a 3.25 cGPA from University of Maryland
2) Took 3 biology classes and 1 math class with a 4.0 GPA
3) I have been working as a medical assistant for the past 3 years.
4) At my current job I have shadowed physicians in surgery.
5) I am also voluntering at my work in reasearch studies in the field of urogynecology funded by NIH and IRB.

What are my options -
1) Should I do a formal post bacc?
2) Should I take only the pre req's from a university without a formal program?

Additional Info -
Must work full-time, part-time or no work is not an option for me.

Looking forward to hear back! Thanks

If part time work is not an option seems like informal post bac is more flexible. Just do the prereqs and get a good MCAT score and you should be fine since your science GPA isn't an issue. As long as you maintain it.

 

[runita]

If part time work is not an option seems like informal post bac is more flexible. Just do the prereqs and get a good MCAT score and you should be fine since your science GPA isn't an issue. As long as you maintain it.

Hey gujuDoc,
Thanks for the response!

So here's a few additional questions.

1) Considering that I maintain that GPA for my pre req's, do I stand a chance in MD school with a 3.25 or should I also consider DO school?

2) Does it make any difference (rather sense) if I get a second bacc in Bio to fulfill the pre req's just to get my GPA up?