To apply or not?

[wannaBdoc01]

Hi all,

I have posted a question before, but now it is coming down to the wire and circumstances have changed. See, this semester rocked me (GPA dropped a lot)- not for lack of trying- it was just hard. Needless to say, it brought down my cum GPA. I just got my MCAT scores back and they are no where near being above average (or even average for that matter). I took a review class but I guess with the semester I had it just didn't do the trick. Anyway, I had a discussion with a pre-med advisor and her advice was not to even apply. I have gotten some pretty crappy advice from them before, so I am leery to trust anything they say. I heard that my letters of recommendation were fine and I have a lot of vol./shadowing exp. I am just not sure in my heart that it is enough to pull me through. Just so you have an idea of where I am coming from- my cum GPA is about a 2.9 and MCATS are less than 23. DO I do it anyway, just to give it a try. Or should I wait a year- I was thinking about a post-bac program- and then reapply? I know what the solution is- it's just hard for me to come to terms with it. Thanks for the help ahead of time.

wannaBdoc01

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[mig2k]

i know you might not want to hear this, but you would probably be wasting your money if you apply. You really need at LEAST a 3.2 and a 28 IMHO to have a chance. good luck

mig

 

[nontradstudent]

Hello,

I think you should call and talk to director of admissions at NJCOM. Sometimes, they would look more than just the number. Good luck.

 

[DocGibby]

I'm sorry to say that I echo Miglo's response. Your really behind the 8-ball with those numbers. My recomendation it to apply only to a few schools perhaps 2 or 3 max that you really like or who's entrance numbers are statistically lower then the rest. Truly, you never know. Getting accepted to medical school is sometimes a quirky thing. There's no logical reason why one school thinks your great and a nearly identicle school (same entrance stand.) doesn't give you the time a day. Sometimes it's just a crap shoot. In anycase, if you don't get in, at least you'll be taking the first steps toward making yourself a household name in each school's respective admissions office. This is accomplished by repeatedly pestering the admissions office. It will even give you a good excuse to make an appointment with the admissions dean to discuss your file should you be rejected (trust me that last one builds brownie points big time). Of course, this is a very expensive way to get in which is why I advise applying to only a few (whatever you can reasonably afford) and be sure to choose wisely. As you may or may not know some schools will reject you immediately just becuase your not from the region. Last point, start planning your coming year should you not get accepted so that your prepared. Most people in your position just to the post bach and retake the MCAT. You should try to retake some of those classes if you can, that would make the biggest improvment in your GPA. AACOMAS drops the lowest score when calculating GPA. I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[PimplePopperMD]

I normally say to apply, since you can never know what MAY happen.

But your case, unfortunately, we can pretty much guess. You can't have weak GPA and MCAT... something has to bring you up. You will need to retake the MCAT... if you can bring it up to 30, I would say you could apply even with a 2.9... sorry.

Good luck with that dreaded test!