Wait to apply to SMP?

[Recovered_Slacker]

Hello SDN,
I am in need of some insight as a health science major heading into their senior year. My stats: cGPA 3.11 and scGPA 2.94. To be brutally honest, I was an awful student freshman and sophomore year, and had a gpa of around 2.8 heading into my junior year.
I managed to put out a 3.82 gpa for my junior year after a major life re-evaluation. Sadly, most my pre-reqs happened sophomore year, my absolute worst year.
I have a C and C+ in anatomy(and physiology) 1 and 2 respectively.
C+ and C- in Orgo.
C in Gen Chem 2

Most my other pre-reqs are a mix of B's. I have an A from physics 1, my only A in my first two years of college. These grades honestly paint a picture of profound laziness, I didn't do homework or study, I just showed up and took the tests and left. Looking back, I can't even picture how I did this.

My junior year stacked up as following
Protein folding and Mis-folding, Genetics, Developmental Psych: A-
Irish Cultures, Personal Health: A

Creative Writing, Physics 2, Epidemiology, Abnormal Psychology: A
Calc 2: B+ (I fought very hard for this grade, I did very poor in math in high school and early college)

This summer I took
Medical Terminology: A
Orgo 2 Retake: (Currently at an A going into last week)

My classes for senior year will include Biochemistry, Evolutionary medicine, and some graduation requirements. Where I run into trouble is that I want to know how to demonstrate how much I have improved my academic self to smp programs. I am considering a retake of Anatomy 1 and 2 at a CC nearby (School doesn't allow retakes of C or higher) or some neuroscience courses to give my gpa a last boost and apply after the fall semester.

I am currently studying for MCAT, most likely will take January. I am confident I will do fine, I am a good standardized test taker and am approaching this test very seriously. I could take it sooner to get app in sooner but I won't know how well my study schedule will adapt until the semester begins. I want to apply to BU, Tufts, and LECOMS smp programs. I will apply to more but at the time being I am focusing on my summer class so will do more research soon.

There is a lot more info I can give but this is already long winded with background info, so let me get my questions out and I can fill in any extra later. Should I wait as long as possible to let my gpa rise further before applying to smp or focus on getting my app in early (MCAT score dependent)? Should I retake classes like anatomy at CC or take up some more neuroscience courses and all the bio and health science classes I can in my last year?

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[238460]

Retaking those classes will be a good idea. Apply early..don't wait. I think if you do well on the MCAT, your GPA will not be an issue. Don't beat yourself up too much, just do the best you can. All the best!

 

[Recovered_Slacker]

Would retaking just anatomy be adequate or perhaps going for more than that? I have a lot of wiggle room second semester as I will only have 2 requirements left for my degree, but first semester I only have one slot open for an extra science course. I also am very hesitant to take more than 3 science courses at once, biochemistry is fairly difficult at my school (New professor so hard to rely on other students for tips on labs and such) and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.
I suppose I should mention I work 20 ish hours a week and volunteer another 11. I will be halving both of those hours when school begins but I pay my own rent so I can't cut myself too slim.