MD & DO What are my chances?

[chocolatelover8012]

So I have not been doing well throughout my college years. I major in Biology and the Bio department at my school sucks. Professors grade harshly and don't curve. The Bio dept. has the lowest gpa out of all the other departments at my school. I have received many Cs and a D in my science classes. I received many As in non-science courses. I will be taking the new MCAT soon and will be taking a gap year. I have one semester left and currently my overall gpa is 3.01. I plan on taking a science course at another college during the summer as a non-matriculated student to bring my gpa up. All my friends have been doing poorly too and are giving up with the medical route. I don't want to give up but is it possible for me to get into a medical school in the U.S. or the Caribbeans? Thank you!

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[candbgirl]

What is your science GPA?

 

[chocolatelover8012]

My BPCM gpa is 2.77. My gpa for non-science courses is 3.73

 

[Govols22]

My BPCM gpa is 2.77. My gpa for non-science courses is 3.73

That's a huge difference

 

[darkeon]

Raise the bcpm gpa to 3.o. Apply to a special masters program. Do well on that and on mcat then apply md.
Or
Retake your Cs and Ds and apply to DO osteopathic schools as they calculate gpa using last retake of a class only. Do well on the mcat as well obviously.
Caribbean not recommended at all but feel free to check out their forum on here for more details. (You could theoretically apply and get accepted to one as you are now)

Lastly, live up to your mistakes. Don't blame a school nor professor for your grades. It doesn't reflect well on you and adcom members will see that. Only possible excuses are life changing ones like death, finance, etc. If the bio major was a hard as you said, you should have switched majors. Don't justify your state saying that your friends are doing badly too. Many premeds fail to go to med school and if we were to follow our friends, then med schools would be struggling getting students admitted which is clearly not the case. You are your own individual responsible for your actions. Keep in mind that if the biology major at your school gave you trouble, med school will be ten times the struggle you had. A full 1 point difference between non sci and sci gpa shows that you are not "science-efficient" (for now). You can change that if you put yourself to it.

 

[Goro]

I can't recommend taking the MCAT until you figure out why you're doing so poorly. And no, it's not the professors or a lack of curve, it's you.

Darkeon's advice is spot on.

 

[chocolatelover8012]

Ok thank you for the advice. I know I can't blame others my actions and mistakes but I did have a hard time throughout my first 3 years of college as I lost 3 of my grandparents each year as they all became sick. My parents had to leave the country and I had to commute a lot and take care of my sister and household chores as well as working at a pharmacy. So I had less time to study since I had so many things to do. Should I be explaining all that on my personal statement?

Also I plan on taking about 2 science classes after I graduate at another school as a non-matriculated student. One of the classes is to replace a D I got from my current school. How does the AMCAS calculate my gpa from undergrad and my extra classes from another school? For example, if I get 3.2 undergrad and let's say a 4 as non-matriculated student, do they take the average of both those gpas?

Also if I had to pick a class that would be helpful for me in med school, which one should I pick... Virus-host interaction (online course) or Organic Evolution?

 

[candbgirl]

AMCAS averages all of your grades. They do not replace grades. DO schools replace grades. Your most efficient path to med school is to retake all of your C/D/F science grades so you can apply DO. But you have a ton of work ahead of you. First visit your college learning resource center and find out if there are better strategies to use for science classes. I understand you had some family issues but you did fine in your other non-science classes so that excuse doesn't seem reasonable. I really think you decided early on the bio program is hard and the professors are hard etc. when really it is your fault and you still aren't owning it. Don't take the MCAT until you figure out what the issues are. As it stands now you might not have a grasp of the science sections and you for sure don't want a low MCAT score. Stop making excuses and start doing some serious grade repair. How are your ECs? Oh and don't put all of your excuses in your PS. ADCOMS will view it as one excuse after another.

 

[chocolatelover8012]

For ECs I have done volunteering at hospitals for 3 years, shadowed some doctors, went on a medical mission trip and helped treat over 400 patients, done a few clubs at my school and am currently the president and Vp for 2 clubs. I have worked as a pharm tech for 2 years. I'll be taking a gap year and will be looking to shadow more docs, do internships and research. I plan to take MCAT in July and apply to medical schools before the end of Septemeber. I know it'll be a rough road ahead but after reading some of the forums, people said they have gotten into med schools with low gpas. So if they can get in and it's possible for them, then i know it's possible for me. I will keep praying and working hard.

As of now I will try to do well my last semester as undergrad, take 2 science classes as a non matriculated student, take MCAT, and then apply. I can't do much else because I can't afford to do a masters program nor take more classes.

 

[candbgirl]

Well you seem to have made up your mind so good luck I guess!

 

[chocolatelover8012]

Thank you! Is there anyone specifically on this forum that got into medical school with a low gpa and they can tell me what helped them to get in?

 

[dpmd]

Thank you! Is there anyone specifically on this forum that got into medical school with a low gpa and they can tell me what helped them to get in?

Since you invited me to respond I will tell you how I did it, but I don't think it will necessarily help you. I was getting poor grades for a variety of reasons including working full time, and not spending as much time as I needed considering how hard the classes were (was used to sailing through things easily in high school). I changed my major to something I enjoyed and did well in which helped slightly, but then decided to join the army reserve where I trained as a medic and then as a nurse. Part of my reason for doing so was to have access to more financial aid, but I ended up gaining so much more than that. I graduated at the top of both my medic and nurse training, then came back to college and aced my remaining classes (including the rest of med school prereqs). Then I scored very well on my MCAT. My final gpa was something like a 2.9, but the high mcat got me some secondary applications. I think my military experience then got me interviews and acceptances (this was pre 9/11 but the redemption aspect of my story was still appealing). But the military really isn't for everyone and I can't be sure that it is the reason I got in (or if it was just the high mcat with the better final year-although I don't see what would have made me perform so differently had I not gone through the training I did)

 

[Goro]

Do not make excuses. All you will do is make an interviewer think that you didn't have enough sense to drop your coursework when things got tough. We look for people who make good choices.

Ok thank you for the advice. I know I can't blame others my actions and mistakes but I did have a hard time throughout my first 3 years of college as I lost 3 of my grandparents each year as they all became sick. My parents had to leave the country and I had to commute a lot and take care of my sister and household chores as well as working at a pharmacy. So I had less time to study since I had so many things to do. Should I be explaining all that on my personal statement?

Also I plan on taking about 2 science classes after I graduate at another school as a non-matriculated student. One of the classes is to replace a D I got from my current school. How does the AMCAS calculate my gpa from undergrad and my extra classes from another school? For example, if I get 3.2 undergrad and let's say a 4 as non-matriculated student, do they take the average of both those gpas?

Also if I had to pick a class that would be helpful for me in med school, which one should I pick... Virus-host interaction (online course) or Organic Evolution?

 

[chocolatelover8012]

What are the best medical schools in NY and TX with a good MD program and helpful professors?