Wait and what should I do to improve (non trad)

[jmart]

Hello, first of all. I know my chances are slim to none and to be honest I think it wold be a waste of time and money to even attempt this round but my father who is a doctor does not think so.
Here are some stats

Graduated 08 with bs in psych, minor life sciences
cgpa 3.34
sgpa 2.97ish (I included stats class but those are offered through psych department so maybe it will be even lower)

terrified of the mcat, put it off for years and took it recently, prepared better than ever before, got through all material but only like 10 days to try to go over the rough areas and take practice test

so mcat results are FAR from stellar

PS 8
BS 8
VR 7
writing - M (shocked about this but then again with kaplans online program no one graded my practice ones or gave feedback)

ECs (so many idk how many to mention)
ER Research volunteer for like 2 or 3 years
last author on published paper from ER research project
-tons of work involved with catholic church, from creating young adult group, working with youth group (lifeteen) and running a children's liturgy
- 4 mission trips to haiti 2 of them medical
-tech in ER for two years through catholic volunteer program

-should be able to get great LOR


My plans as of know are to get a job as tech in an er and take some anatomy and physiology classes through university to help with my lower gpa and obviously retake the mcat and study better, I feel I could for sure raise it to at least a 27 or 28.

I'm also looking into post-bacc programs but those are super expensive and I would like to have more confidence that med school is my path for sure before making such a huge investment. I am doubtful because of my poor statistics.


I'm also open to DO but not really into their philosophy

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[reddoc]

With that GPA and MCAT, I would think you would have no chance at a MD school this year.

 

[Catalystik]

An MCAT score of 22 and low GPAs will not get you into a DO school either.

Plan for an MD acceptance: Take some upper-level Bio for a year and get As to prove you have the potential to do well. Then look into SMPs (Special Masters Programs) or other low-GPA boosters:
Searchable database: http://services.aamc.org/postbac/

With an MCAT of at least 30, you'd qualify for many SMP-type programss. If you didn't understand the prerequisite coursework well enough to get this score, then look into Postbacs or a formal classroom prep class to help get a better score. If you excel in an SMP, typically with a GPA of 3.5-3.7+, you have a decent chance of an MD acceptance.

Alternatively, for DO, if you don't want to go to this work and expense, just retake your lowest classes, getting As, to take advantage of the AACOMAS grade forgiveness policy (only the last grade counts if the credits are the same or greater; need not be retaken at the same school), get your BCPM to a 3.3 or so, get an MCAT score of 28+, and you could probably get an acceptance to a DO med school. [[BTW, AACOMAS science GPA doesn't include any math, so maybe your sGPA is higher if it's math that brought you low.]

 

[jmart]

An MCAT score of 22 and low GPAs will not get you into a DO school either.

Plan for an MD acceptance: Take some upper-level Bio for a year and get As to prove you have the potential to do well. Then look into SMPs (Special Masters Programs) or other low-GPA boosters:
Searchable database: http://services.aamc.org/postbac/

With an MCAT of at least 30, you'd qualify for many SMP-type programss. If you didn't understand the prerequisite coursework well enough to get this score, then look into Postbacs or a formal classroom prep class to help get a better score. If you excel in an SMP, typically with a GPA of 3.5-3.7+, you have a decent chance of an MD acceptance.

Alternatively, for DO, if you don't want to go to this work and expense, just retake your lowest classes, getting As, to take advantage of the AACOMAS grade forgiveness policy (only the last grade counts if the credits are the same or greater; need not be retaken at the same school), get your BCPM to a 3.3 or so, get an MCAT score of 28+, and you could probably get an acceptance to a DO med school. [[BTW, AACOMAS science GPA doesn't include any math, so maybe your sGPA is higher if it's math that brought you low.]

Thanks for your advice. I wrote down my scores wrong so I actually got a 23 but this is still way too low. One of my plans is to work FT and take one class each semester upper level bio and repeat my mcat. If I get an A in those classes and get my mcat to 28-31, still do a med masters before trying to apply? I was looking online and with my stats there is 6.8 chance of acceptance. Not great odds, but I think if I can get it up to at least a 28 my chances increase to like 24 and if I can get a 30 then like a 45% chance.

Are my ECs super strong? My dad seems to think this will take me far or at least make them look into my application more.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Catalystik]

Your ECs are unlikely to be appreciated if you don't meet automatic cutoffs for your stats.

ECs (so many idk how many to mention)
ER Research volunteer for like 2 or 3 years
last author on published paper from ER research project
-tons of work involved with catholic church, from creating young adult group, working with youth group (lifeteen) and running a children's liturgy
- 4 mission trips to haiti 2 of them medical
-tech in ER for two years through catholic volunteer program

Of those ECs you chose to mention, the research is well above average (how are you not sure how many years you did this activity?) and will be considered strong if you had some of your own projects and some creative control, as opposed to being a research tech who gathered data based on someone else's protocol. Your (nonmedical community service) Youth Group Leadership and involvement is excellent with superb longevity. Your clinical experience is excellent. The abroad experiences are interesting.

But you don't mention Physician Shadowing. Or teaching. Or hobbies, sports, or artistic endeavors. I'm sure you have some of these too.

JMO, but I don't think that one A class a semester will have much impact. Could you do two, plus one in the summer?

 

[jmart]

Your ECs are unlikely to be appreciated if you don't meet automatic cutoffs for your stats.

Of those ECs you chose to mention, the research is well above average (how are you not sure how many years you did this activity?) and will be considered strong if you had some of your own projects and some creative control, as opposed to being a research tech who gathered data based on someone else's protocol. Your (nonmedical community service) Youth Group Leadership and involvement is excellent with superb longevity. Your clinical experience is excellent. The abroad experiences are interesting.

But you don't mention Physician Shadowing. Or teaching. Or hobbies, sports, or artistic endeavors. I'm sure you have some of these too.

JMO, but I don't think that one A class a semester will have much impact. Could you do two, plus one in the summer?

The research is more of the later, I do know how long I did it but not off the top of my head, it was 3.5 years now that I check my cv. I participated in an online event with Kaplan and someone who is on the admissions board and he seemed to stress big picture and altruism and I think if that is the case with improving stats, I will have some chance.

I don't have much physician shadowing because I get a lot of that from my former volunteer and even some during clinical times, so I have not set apart time specifically with that intention. Should I do that? It would super easy to do, I have done some scribing but only a few times with a doctor.

I don't have teaching in terms of medical things really, I do have some experience through my youth group activities though. Hobbies and sports, my hobbies basically are Catholicism, medicine and Haiti. I did intramural back in the day when in college but I'm not sure if these are things I should included since space is limited for ECs.

I'm not sure if I could work full time and take two classes and continue with everything else that I am doing in my life. That maybe too much for me, but I could take a summer course. This university is switching over to semesters sadly, so before I planned on getting in at least 3 courses.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I don't have much physician shadowing because I get a lot of that from my former volunteer and even some during clinical times, so I have not set apart time specifically with that intention. Should I do that? It would super easy to do, I have done some scribing but only a few times with a doctor.

2) I don't have teaching in terms of medical things really, I do have some experience through my youth group activities though.

3) I did intramural back in the day when in college but I'm not sure if these are things I should included since space is limited for ECs.

1) I think some formal shadowing is a good idea, but in the same space, you can mention informal contacts as well. I recommend an office-based primary care doc at the minimum. Your dad can maybe help set this up? 50 hours is average.

2) Teaching with the Youth Group is still teaching and should be mentioned, even if included in the same space as nonmedical community service.

3) All Hobbies, sports can be mentioned in one space to save room.

 

[LegendaryPunk]

BTW, AACOMAS science GPA doesn't include any math, so maybe your sGPA is higher if it's math that brought you low.

Did not know this - thank you for teaching me something today!

 

[Catalystik]