WAMC? uBCPM: 2.9, ucGPA: 3.7, 523 MCAT, unique experiences

[Carlinea]

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Undergrad cGPA: 3.70
Undergrad BCPM: 2.96
523 MCAT

Current grad GPA (biochemistry): 4.00

Clinical: 289 hours total

• 164 hours at hospice center (USA)
• 32 hours at local hospital (USA)
• 63 hours at Red Crescent (Egypt)

Shadowing: 91 hours total

• 32 hours in Cairo hospital in the ED/ER and ICU (Egypt)
• 21 hours in Amman hospital in cardiology (Jordan)
• 16 hours in American hospital in ED/ER (USA)
• 22 hours collectively with various GPs (USA)

Volunteer: 431 hours total

• 171 hours helping refugees: food distribution, transportation, communication, etc... (Egypt)
• 93 hours helping disabled individuals with daily tasks and activities (Egypt)
• 84 hours at soup kitchen and community clothing center (USA)
• 52 hours assisting orphanage with daily tasks and activities (Jordan)
• 31 hours of environmental clean-up with Amman organization (Jordan)

Research: 1923 hours total

• Undergrad: 723 hours of microbiological research. Co-author on unpublished paper (pending).
• Grad: 1200 hours of biomedical research. Co-author of 2 papers.

Work/Teaching: 855 hours total

• 765 hours as a TA for bio lab course at university during undergrad
• 90 hours as an unpaid English teacher and tutor (Jordan)

Other info:
I'm from Mississippi and studied Arabic in my undergrad. During that time I also studied abroad in the middle east for a collective 2 years. I'm getting a master's (not SMP or post-bac, just masters) in biochemistry abroad and am set to finish it after one more semester. I plan to get certified and work as a phlebotomist in the short time before and then during the application cycle.

My undergrad BCPM was so low because I was consistently terrible at chemistry (I had a C in every lecture course except for orgo 2 which I failed and retook with a C, and an A in every chem lab course). The reason my undergrad cGPA was so high is mainly due to my high performance in biology and Arabic courses. Now, my highest MCAT section is chemistry and I have an A in every graduate chemistry course I've taken. I have 0 desire to do an SMP or post-bac at this point, but I want outside opinions on my chances. I feel like my stats just offer really weird mixed signals and the undergrad BCPM is a killer for MD.

 

[Aiscool]

I worry that your science gpa will get you filtered out in a lot of places.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
Mississippi
Tulane
Alice Walton
Roseman
Belmont
Ponce (St. Louis)
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
USF Morsani
Miami
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Rochester
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
UMass
Tufts
If you have not received any interviews by November, apply to DO schools also and include WCU-COM, ACOM, PCOM, CUSOM and the VCOMs.

 

[Carlinea]

I worry that your science gpa will get you filtered out in a lot of places.

That's my big concern. I don't think a post-bacc financially makes sense for me, and it especially seems strange to pursue after I'll have already completed a master's degree at Cambridge. It feels like a regression in pursuit of what would at most be a minor bump to 3.1-3.2 range (which still isn't great, I've seen people with those science GPAs doing post-baccs...). I don't ever hear anything from students who have decent/good stats hindered only by a really poor undergrad science GPA (I've see great GPA/MCAT + poor ECs, poor GPAs round the board + 500ish MCAT = post bacc, Good GPAs + poor/mid MCAT, etc...) so I'm just not sure where exactly I fall when it comes to applying and my expectations, or what else I can do to improve my chances that aren't a post-bacc.

 

[Carlinea]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
Mississippi
Tulane
Alice Walton
Roseman
Belmont
Ponce (St. Louis)
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
USF Morsani
Miami
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Methodist
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Hackensack
Rochester
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
UMass
Tufts
If you have not received any interviews by November, apply to DO schools also and include WCU-COM, ACOM, PCOM, CUSOM and the VCOMs.

Thank you, I really appreciate this!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you talked with admissions teams? I want to make sure your master's degree is properly weighted since your master's came outside the US. Was it part of a prestigious scholarship?

 

[Carlinea]

Have you talked with admissions teams? I want to make sure your master's degree is properly weighted since your master's came outside the US. Was it part of a prestigious scholarship?

I reached out to two schools about my master's and I provided them the details, and they only said that they do consider both grad science GPA and undergrad science GPA during admissions. Neither could offer me any insight as to if there's a preference shown to one over the other. I received the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to attend Cambridge University in England.

 

[karaya]

The Gates is impressive. Overall your entire app aside from sGPA is good. The main issue is whether your 2.96 will be screened out. For places that use holistic review, your sGPA and MCAT will likely be given a weighted composite academic score, then combined with clinical, volunteer, and research scores. Separate from that, some schools may use a 3.0 filter, I can't say which, and in those cases you'd be well served by taking 1 or 2 science classes at your local college just to pass the threshold. This isn't a formal postbac; you'd go through open university.