WAMC - Low Stats/Good ECs, Can I fix this?

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AYunusBrother

AYunusBrother

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Hey Guys,

I'm feeling very disoriented, and I could really use your honest advice and help. My application is pretty wonky.

Cum GPA: 3.49

Science: 3.27

Illinois ORM, first gen, low income background

I have a couple of post-bacc and Allied Health-type classes in there. My cumulative GPA is closer to a 3.4 without those.

I have a decent number of Cs and Ws. That stuff is rough, but I've also taken upper-level coursework and done pretty well in them.

Sadly, I felt I needed an SMP, so I enrolled in one but dropped out with a W halfway through the first semester due to financial/family stuff (I was OOS and had to move back). Yes, I know this is a red flag. How bad do you think it is, and how can I address it? Maybe a letter from the course director there?

MCAT: 503 (124/128/123/128). I did pretty well in everything but the actual science. I definitely think I can do better, and I am planning on retaking before applying.

Extracurriculars:

I have >1200 direct clinical hours as a ER Tech + Other roles.

>1000 Clinical and non-clinical volunteering hours. I founded a successful community-based nonprofit (this is not BS, and we actually do stuff and we've even been getting grants).

500 hours of research, no pubs.

And a whole bunch of other things I was passionate about in undergrad.

I also have excellent LORs from professors and physicians/employers.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I think the fact that I have a W from an SMP makes everything much worse. I definitely need to improve my MCAT (I understand that is a must), but I'm wondering if I need a master/smp to fix this. I'm ok MD/DO whatever and almost wherever, as long as I get it and I wanted to apply the upcoming cycle.

One option is to begin a one-year master's degree in anatomy this Spring at a big state school near me. That way, I'll at least have a semester under my belt. It's not a well-known program, but I was looking at the classes, and they're solid (A&P, Histology, Immunology, Embryology, Endocrinology). Another option is to do a one semester postbacc.

Thank you all for your time. Any feedback would be tremendously appreciated.
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I am just another applicant so I can not speak about SMP or anything. However, I would say that I am a low stat(my GPA is a bit higher) great EC person as well. I think EC are helpful because they provide you something to talk about, but I do think one thing that limited me significantly last cycle and maybe even this cycle was my low MCAT. In my eyes, from my experience, my last cycle wasn't successful because my MCAT held me back even with 1000's of clinical and research hours. With that being said, I have been very lucky and fortunate this go of it with DO programs. I think retake the MCAT for sure if you can do better. You also could be a great candidate for DO schools. Do research into those and see if you are a good fit🙂
 
sciencerules135 said:
What's your mission fit? What do you do with your non-profit? How many shadowing hours do you have? Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Looking back, most of my service falls under mental health advocacy and mentorship. My nonprofit provides mentorship to low-income/first-generation high school students from senior year through the first two years of college. I'm the first in my family to go to college and from a low-income background, so I've stumbled around a lot. This nonprofit is about giving back with my experiences.

I have about 100 hours of shadowing. I haven't pushed it too hard because I work directly with physicians in my job and get to see how they work.

I've been told by interviewers that I answer the Why Medicine question well enough, but it's a passion rising from taking care of my grandparents and the patients under my direct care, especially the elderly. I see being a physician as the opportunity to serve my community both inside and outside of medicine.
 
sciencerules135 said:
I am just another applicant so I can not speak about SMP or anything. However, I would say that I am a low stat(my GPA is a bit higher) great EC person as well. I think EC are helpful because they provide you something to talk about, but I do think one thing that limited me significantly last cycle and maybe even this cycle was my low MCAT. In my eyes, from my experience, my last cycle wasn't successful because my MCAT held me back even with 1000's of clinical and research hours. With that being said, I have been very lucky and fortunate this go of it with DO programs. I think retake the MCAT for sure if you can do better. You also could be a great candidate for DO schools. Do research into those and see if you are a good fit🙂
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Thank you for your response. Yes, I absolutely need to lock in and do better on the MCAT. I'm glad to hear you've had better luck, and I'll be happy if I can get into a decent DO program myself.
 
Faha said:
You are competitive for most DO schools with your current stats. Post your new MCAT score here when available.
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Thank you for your insight. Do you think its worth it to do have a semester of a masters GPA or post bacc GPA under my belt?
 
Hi, I have very similar stats as you, I would love to know of ways to increase my science GPA?
I have only 1 semester, at the most 2 to graduate...
 
sszz said:
Hi, I have very similar stats as you, I would love to know of ways to increase my science GPA?
I have only 1 semester, at the most 2 to graduate...
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I recommend finding out which classes have good professors and are rigorous but manageable. Remember that you not only want to bring your GPA up, but perhaps more importantly, you want to demonstrate an upward trend with rigorous classes. Simultaneously, or alternatively, you can take 'easier' science classes that will pad your gpa (like evolution or ecology for example) but just a heads up not too rely on these two much. Certain psych classes can also count towards your science GPA depending on the content of the class. I would say avoid risky courses or classes known to be difficult.

At the end, a balance would be good with rigorous classes and easier classes where you can do good in all of them. This is what I did in my senior year and did pretty well. I performed not too great in the lower level classes like cell bio and genetics but did a lot better in classes like neurobiology, neuroanatomy, neural diseases, immunology, biochem, and anatomy and physiology).

Of course, you have to lock in hard like your life depends on it and get straight As now. Hopefully you know what works and doesn't work. Study hard but work smart.
 
What's your upward trend like? What specialty do you think you want? If you're in love with surgery or want an MD it's a different ballgame from if you want FM.
 
LeaveNoTrace said:
What's your upward trend like? What specialty do you think you want? If you're in love with surgery or want an MD it's a different ballgame from if you want FM.
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Generally, a pretty solid upward trend with correspondingly more rigorous classes. Right now I'm really strongly Neuro>EM>IM.
 
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