third year, low gpa, looking at a 30 mcat

[drasn2011]

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I am a third year honors student at the University of Georgia and am majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Spanish. I have been doing only okay in my science classes (see below for grades) and have a current overall GPA (as of through first semester of third year) of 3.39.

I was on the UGA HEROs Special Events committee from Spring of 2008 to Fall of 2008. HEROs is an organization geared towards helping victims, especially local children, of AIDS.

I am also currently one of three members of a planning committee for LISTo (Latinos Investing in the Students of Tomorrow). We basically plan out each meeting and give presentations at them to first-year Latino mentees and their assigned mentors. These presentations may be on study skills, organization, time management, tips for college success, etc.

I shadowed an ophthalmologist during the summer prior to my second year. I have racked up about 100 hours from him.

I took an MCAT class last summer, so I devoted my time to that. I will take the MCAT in April, but I got a 31 on my first diagnostic. I am consistently getting around a 30 or so on my practice tests.

I have been giving private drum lessons ever since December of 2004.

I have been employed part-time as a music teacher for Montessori kids. This lasted for a summer session, so two weeks.

I have been a private SAT tutor.

I have volunteered my time as a sound technician for charity dance shows.

I have been an emcee at a local cultural program, Festival of India.

I just started research this semester, and it deals with liver cancer. However, will that be enough time to get something published by the time I apply for med school starting this summer??? And since the answer is probably no, am I okay doing this research?

I realize that all of the above may not be relevant to my med school application, but I thought I would just let you guys be aware of everything. My science grades up until now are as follows:

Year 1, Fall Semester:
- BIOL 1107 (with lab) [Title: PRINC BIO I] (4 hours): B
- CHEM 1212 [Title: FRESHMAN CHEM II] (3 hours): A- (I exempted out of the first semester of gen chem with AP credit out of high school)
- CHEM 1212L [Title: FRESHM CHEM LAB II] (1 hour): B

Year 1, Spring Semester:
- PHYS 1112 (with lab) [Title: INTRO PHYS ELEC] (4 hours): A (I exempted out of the first semester of Physics (mech) with AP credit out of high school)

Year 2, Fall Semester:
- CHEM 2311H [Title: ADV ORG CHEM I] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2311L lab [Title: H-ADV ORG LAB I] (1 hour): B

Year 2, Spring Semester:
- BIOL 2108H (with lab) [Title: PRIN BIOL II HON] (4 hours): B-
- CHEM 2212 [Title: MOD ORG CHEM II] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2212L [Title: MOD ORG CHEM LAB II] (1 hour):A

Year 3: Fall Semester:
- VPHY 3100H [Title: ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY] (3 hours): B+
- BCMB 3100 [Title: INTRO BIOCHEM AND MOLECULAR BIOL]: B
- MIBO 3500 [Title: INTRO TO MICROBIOLOGY]: A-

what are my chances with state schools such as the medical college of georgia?

and what are my chances with private schools like emory?

 

[KingJames23]

I am a third year honors student at the University of Georgia and am majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Spanish. I have been doing only okay in my science classes (see below for grades) and have a current overall GPA (as of through first semester of third year) of 3.39.

I was on the UGA HEROs Special Events committee from Spring of 2008 to Fall of 2008. HEROs is an organization geared towards helping victims, especially local children, of AIDS.

I am also currently one of three members of a planning committee for LISTo (Latinos Investing in the Students of Tomorrow). We basically plan out each meeting and give presentations at them to first-year Latino mentees and their assigned mentors. These presentations may be on study skills, organization, time management, tips for college success, etc.

I shadowed an ophthalmologist during the summer prior to my second year. I have racked up about 100 hours from him.

I took an MCAT class last summer, so I devoted my time to that. I will take the MCAT in April, but I got a 31 on my first diagnostic. I am consistently getting around a 30 or so on my practice tests.

I have been giving private drum lessons ever since December of 2004.

I have been employed part-time as a music teacher for Montessori kids. This lasted for a summer session, so two weeks.

I have been a private SAT tutor.

I have volunteered my time as a sound technician for charity dance shows.

I have been an emcee at a local cultural program, Festival of India.

I just started research this semester, and it deals with liver cancer. However, will that be enough time to get something published by the time I apply for med school starting this summer??? And since the answer is probably no, am I okay doing this research?

I realize that all of the above may not be relevant to my med school application, but I thought I would just let you guys be aware of everything. My science grades up until now are as follows:

Year 1, Fall Semester:
- BIOL 1107 (with lab) [Title: PRINC BIO I] (4 hours): B
- CHEM 1212 [Title: FRESHMAN CHEM II] (3 hours): A- (I exempted out of the first semester of gen chem with AP credit out of high school)
- CHEM 1212L [Title: FRESHM CHEM LAB II] (1 hour): B

Year 1, Spring Semester:
- PHYS 1112 (with lab) [Title: INTRO PHYS ELEC] (4 hours): A (I exempted out of the first semester of Physics (mech) with AP credit out of high school)

Year 2, Fall Semester:
- CHEM 2311H [Title: ADV ORG CHEM I] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2311L lab [Title: H-ADV ORG LAB I] (1 hour): B

Year 2, Spring Semester:
- BIOL 2108H (with lab) [Title: PRIN BIOL II HON] (4 hours): B-
- CHEM 2212 [Title: MOD ORG CHEM II] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2212L [Title: MOD ORG CHEM LAB II] (1 hour):A

Year 3: Fall Semester:
- VPHY 3100H [Title: ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY] (3 hours): B+
- BCMB 3100 [Title: INTRO BIOCHEM AND MOLECULAR BIOL]: B
- MIBO 3500 [Title: INTRO TO MICROBIOLOGY]: A-

what are my chances with state schools such as the medical college of georgia?

and what are my chances with private schools like emory?

Since you have a year and half left and have a chance you get that GPA up, I think you can have a solid chance at any med school. Your research is your choice, at least your doing some research...some ppl don't at all. If you get atleast a 30 on the MCAT, with the boosted GPA, your research, shadowing (maybe shadow a few different docs), one thing i noticed was no hospital volunteering, try to get some of that. If you have all these things then you should get into state schools. I honestly could not tell you about Emory...they are on the more research side of care and you got some of that. That's just about all i can say....oh btw do you have any rec sports ec's?

 

[Catalystik]

current overall GPA (as of through first semester of third year) of 3.39.

I took an MCAT class last summer, so I devoted my time to that. I am consistently getting around a 30 or so on my practice tests.

1) I just started research this semester, and it deals with liver cancer. However, will that be enough time to get something published by the time I apply for med school starting this summer??? And since the answer is probably no, am I okay doing this research?

2) what are my chances with state schools such as the medical college of georgia?

and what are my chances with private schools like emory?

I would strongly recommend that you spend another year raising your BCPM GPA before you apply. Your cGPA could be better, and your likely MCAT score won't compensate for it.

1) Even 4 months of research is better than none, and getting your name on a publication seems unlikely with so little time. Your application would benefit from another year of research, especially if you want to go to Emory. A publication is rarely come by as an undergrad, but if you could get one it would be very helpful.

2) This is hard to answer without knowing your MCAT score and final GPA. What do you think your BCPM GPA is? It looks like you need to be getting consistent As in sciences to raise that number too. If you had a competitive BCPM and all the appropriate ECs, your chances (if you're hispanic) could be as high as 81% if you applied broadly across the country. Your chances would be better at Mercer and Morehouse than at the schools you specified.

Other comments. Your application looks to be strong in community service, teaching, and leadership. You have way more shadowing than you need with a single specialty, but if you had fun, that's fine. A little more variety would be nice, even if just for a half day each for two more specialties, of which one is a primary care doc.

Where is your clinical experience? Shadowing doesn't count toward this, being essentially an observership. You need active experience engaging with sick people. The average applicant has 1.5 years of this. I'd consider a year to be the minimum. This can be acquired via volunteerism, job, or clinical research. Did you forget to mention it?

 

[KingJames23]

^^ Yea, basically what i had posted before......

 

[Bernoull]

I am a third year honors student at the University of Georgia and am majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Spanish. I have been doing only okay in my science classes (see below for grades) and have a current overall GPA (as of through first semester of third year) of 3.39.

I was on the UGA HEROs Special Events committee from Spring of 2008 to Fall of 2008. HEROs is an organization geared towards helping victims, especially local children, of AIDS.

I am also currently one of three members of a planning committee for LISTo (Latinos Investing in the Students of Tomorrow). We basically plan out each meeting and give presentations at them to first-year Latino mentees and their assigned mentors. These presentations may be on study skills, organization, time management, tips for college success, etc.

I shadowed an ophthalmologist during the summer prior to my second year. I have racked up about 100 hours from him.

I took an MCAT class last summer, so I devoted my time to that. I will take the MCAT in April, but I got a 31 on my first diagnostic. I am consistently getting around a 30 or so on my practice tests.

I have been giving private drum lessons ever since December of 2004.

I have been employed part-time as a music teacher for Montessori kids. This lasted for a summer session, so two weeks.

I have been a private SAT tutor.

I have volunteered my time as a sound technician for charity dance shows.

I have been an emcee at a local cultural program, Festival of India.

I just started research this semester, and it deals with liver cancer. However, will that be enough time to get something published by the time I apply for med school starting this summer??? And since the answer is probably no, am I okay doing this research?

I realize that all of the above may not be relevant to my med school application, but I thought I would just let you guys be aware of everything. My science grades up until now are as follows:

Year 1, Fall Semester:
- BIOL 1107 (with lab) [Title: PRINC BIO I] (4 hours): B
- CHEM 1212 [Title: FRESHMAN CHEM II] (3 hours): A- (I exempted out of the first semester of gen chem with AP credit out of high school)
- CHEM 1212L [Title: FRESHM CHEM LAB II] (1 hour): B

Year 1, Spring Semester:
- PHYS 1112 (with lab) [Title: INTRO PHYS ELEC] (4 hours): A (I exempted out of the first semester of Physics (mech) with AP credit out of high school)

Year 2, Fall Semester:
- CHEM 2311H [Title: ADV ORG CHEM I] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2311L lab [Title: H-ADV ORG LAB I] (1 hour): B

Year 2, Spring Semester:
- BIOL 2108H (with lab) [Title: PRIN BIOL II HON] (4 hours): B-
- CHEM 2212 [Title: MOD ORG CHEM II] (3 hours): B
- CHEM 2212L [Title: MOD ORG CHEM LAB II] (1 hour):A

Year 3: Fall Semester:
- VPHY 3100H [Title: ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY] (3 hours): B+
- BCMB 3100 [Title: INTRO BIOCHEM AND MOLECULAR BIOL]: B
- MIBO 3500 [Title: INTRO TO MICROBIOLOGY]: A-

what are my chances with state schools such as the medical college of georgia?

and what are my chances with private schools like emory?

Becareful with the courses u exempted out of. Make sure the schools that u are interested in DO ACCEPT AP credits. U may have to take additional courses in those areas. I ran into trouble with CLEP credits so look into in.

 

[drasn2011]

During my time with that ophthalmologist, he had me work with the patients physically. He allowed me to administer the Schirmer's Test for dry eye diagnosis, take their history... although very basic tasks, does that count toward clinical experience?

*Of course, the patients gave their consent to me doing these things, and the doctor himself was overseeing my work...

 

[Catalystik]

During my time with that ophthalmologist, he had me work with the patients physically. He allowed me to administer the Schirmer's Test for dry eye diagnosis, take their history... although very basic tasks, does that count toward clinical experience?

Yes, this is clinical experience. But it should not stand alone. You need experience with sick people too.

 

[Morsetlis]

His experience won't be what holds him back. I suggest a higher MCAT and raising your GPA instead of applying unless you wanna go DO/Caribbean. The application process itself takes a lot away from studying, and if you want to raise your GPA, that might even worsen your GPA.