What are my chances?

[anasasis06]

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Hello SDN!

First post! (raise your glass).

So I'm graduating a pre-med post bacc program at a large university in southern California (I'll review it in the post bacc forum once I finish it in about a week, pm if you want to know more about it before then). I'm looking to assess my chances for MD and DO admissions for the current and future cycles for anyone who would like to offer their input/advice. Here is my profile and stats:

EC's/ The good stuff:
1. 1 year/~500hrs volunteer rotations at two of my local teaching hospitals
2. 1 year/ ~500hrs working in allied health
3. 20hrs shadowing general internist (family member #yolo)
4. 1 year/current, research assistant in biophysics lab (no pubs to date)
5. 120ish hrs cadaver dissections/ cadaver lab assistant
6. Miscellaneous volunteer outreach events at community clinics and current campus ~20hrs (received cert. of recognition by California state senate for campus events. if that matters?)

GPA/ The bad stuff:
cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.0
uGPA: 2.93
post bacc GPA: 3.5
MCAT: tbd (taking in a month)
-No long term community service outside of the hospital and aforementioned miscellaneous stuff
-Technically a non-trad even though I switched into the post bacc immediately after ugrad

While I prefer MD, my ultimate goal is any US MD or DO admission. My current objective is to become more competitive stats-wise. So what's the best plan of action from here? I understand my MCAT score is going to be some serious make or breakage. Some of my current ideas are to continue working on the post bacc GPA and continue taking classes DIY style OR skip that and go for an SMP this cycle (I would very much like the later but will not have an MCAT score in time for any good programs). I suppose doing both would work best?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers all!

 

[CHoge25]

Hello SDN!

First post! (raise your glass).

So I'm graduating a pre-med post bacc program at a large university in southern California (I'll review it in the post bacc forum once I finish it in about a week, pm if you want to know more about it before then). I'm looking to assess my chances for MD and DO admissions for the current and future cycles for anyone who would like to offer their input/advice. Here is my profile and stats:

EC's/ The good stuff:
1. 1 year/~200hrs volunteer rotations at two of my local teaching hospitals
2. 1 year/ ~600hrs working in the allied health field
3. 20hrs shadowing general internist (family member #yolo)
4. 1 year/current research assistant in biophysics lab (no pubs to date)
5. 120ish hrs cadaver dissections/ cadaver lab assistant
6. Miscellaneous volunteer outreach events at community clinics and current campus ~20hrs (received cert. of recognition by California state senate for campus events. if that matters?)

GPA/ The bad stuff:
cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.0
uGPA: 2.93
post bacc GPA: 3.5
MCAT: tbd (taking in a month)
-No long term community service outside of the hospital and aforementioned miscellaneous stuff
-Technically a non-trad even though I switched into the post bacc immediately after ugrad

While I prefer MD, my ultimate goal is any US MD or DO admission. My current objective is to become more competitive stats-wise. So what's the best plan of action from here? I understand my MCAT score is going to be some serious make or breakage. Some of my current ideas are to continue working on the post bacc GPA and continue taking classes DIY style OR skip that and go for an SMP this cycle (I would very much like the later but will not have an MCAT score in time for any good programs). I suppose doing both would work best?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers all!

Can't really tell without the MCAT score, but I do not think MD is going to be very viable... That 3.0 sGPA is still very low but good that you got a 3.5 in post bacc

 

[Faha]

MD school is unlikely unless you can achieve a MCAT score of at least 508. Where is your state of residence? You need a MCAT above 500 to have a chance at some DO schools.

 

[anasasis06]

Can't really tell without the MCAT score, but I do not think MD is going to be very viable... That 3.0 sGPA is still very low but good that you got a 3.5 in post bacc

Yeah some early math courses killed the sGPA, I retook a few of them and did better so maybe it's a little higher for DO schools?

MD school is unlikely unless you can achieve a MCAT score of at least 508. Where is your state of residence? You need a MCAT above 500 to have a chance at some DO schools.

Nice! I took a diagnostic that was 495, but I have yet to take a full length. I'm in California. probably doesn't help my case.

Thanks for the responses guys!

 

[CHoge25]

Yeah some early math courses killed the sGPA, I retook a few of them and did better so maybe it's a little higher for DO schools?



Nice! I took a diagnostic that was 495, but I have yet to take a full length. I'm in California. probably doesn't help my case.

Thanks for responses guys!

You should calculate out your sGPA with the retakes in there.... did you retake all classes that you got a C or lower in? If your sGPA is above 3.3 then with that post-bacc I think you would be competitive for DO schools (assuming good enough MCAT)...

I think you should wait until you get an MCAT score to consider if you would have any shot at MD and if that SMP route is worth it, if not the DO route will be easier in your situation

 

[anasasis06]

You should calculate out your sGPA with the retakes in there.... did you retake all classes that you got a C or lower in? If your sGPA is above 3.3 then with that post-bacc I think you would be competitive for DO schools (assuming good enough MCAT)...

I think you should wait until you get an MCAT score to consider if you would have any shot at MD and if that SMP route is worth it, if not the DO route will be easier in your situation

Ok, assuming I did it correct, I calculated the sGPA as a 3.16 w/ retakes. So still not quite there I guess. I do have a couple non-sciences I still have C's in from way back, should I bother retaking these? I'll wait to get a score before deciding on the SMP then.

Many thanks for the help

 

[WedgeDawg]

Really hard to say without an MCAT score, sorry

 

[CHoge25]

Ok, assuming I did it correct, I calculated the sGPA as a 3.16 w/ retakes. So still not quite there I guess. I do have a couple non-sciences I still have C's in from way back, should I bother retaking these? I'll wait to get a score before deciding on the SMP then.

Many thanks for the help

For DO grade replacement you only calculate the highest score gotten for the class.. So if you got a C and then an A, your grade is an A

For MD, it will average the two grades.

IMO, A good approach for you would be to take this summer and study for the MCAT, and see how you do. After you get your score you will realistically know which path you need to take and can plan accordingly. Good luck!

 

[Faha]

Yeah some early math courses killed the sGPA, I retook a few of them and did better so maybe it's a little higher for DO schools?



Nice! I took a diagnostic that was 495, but I have yet to take a full length. I'm in California. probably doesn't help my case.

Thanks for responses guys!

Study hard for that MCAT and hope you can score at least 500. You have no chance for CA MD schools with your GPA so DO wold be the best route

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

20hrs shadowing general internist (family member #yolo)

This is not a positive. You need to shadow someone who isn't a family member.

cGPA: 3.2
sGPA: 3.0
uGPA: 2.93
post bacc

While I prefer MD

So does everyone. Unless you kill the MCAT (like 515+) I don't see MD even being worth applications with your GPA.

Another note: DO schools do not include math in sGPA calculations. It is only BCP, so recalculate your sGPA without any math in it, I suspect it will be higher. Aim for a 505+ MCAT for DO schools.

 

[anasasis06]

This is not a positive. You need to shadow someone who isn't a family member.





So does everyone. Unless you kill the MCAT (like 515+) I don't see MD even being worth applications with your GPA.

Another note: DO schools do not include math in sGPA calculations. It is only BCP, so recalculate your sGPA without any math in it, I suspect it will be higher. Aim for a 505+ MCAT for DO schools.

This is great! 3.39 sGPA w/o the math in there.

As for the MCAT I have about 5 weeks until test day, still got quite a bit to cover. Would a competitive MD score be viable given my time frame or should I consider deferring?

Thank you for the response.

 

[AlphaBeta<3]

This is great! 3.39 sGPA w/o the math in there.

As for the MCAT I have about 5 weeks until test day, still got quite a bit to cover. Would a competitive MD score be viable given my time frame or should I consider deferring?

Thank you for the response.

you're doing this all wrong imo. You haven't taken a full length test yet and your MCAT is 5 weeks away? and your diagnostic score is only 495? I think you should wait and study more. Your stats show that you're not strong in the sciences, so without enough time to prepare you're just wasting time and money. I also hear that they average your MCAT scores and look at all attempts, so getting a bad score, along with your stats, won't help you at all