- Joined
- Jan 1, 2016
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 11
Hi guys! I'm pretty new to SDN but I've been browsing through a lot of WAMC threads to sort of get a feel for how my stats compare with other medical school applicants here. After reading a couple of these threads on this forum, as well as receiving advice from professors and advisors from local schools, I am feeling a little disheartened by what I've seen and been told by people who have evaluated my ECs and GPA only. I have not yet taken the MCAT. Most of the people that I have talked to suggested that I may have trouble getting into MD schools because of my science GPA. This GPA is so low because I have been passing these so-called "weed out" classes (i.e., organic chemistry 1-2 and biochemistry 1) with just Cs or C-. Thus far, my science GPA, as per calculations made via this site here, is a 3.63, and my cGPA is a 3.80. These were determined based on the science courses I had taken as my home institution, as well as credits transferred from community college (NOT test credits) and neither are my actual undergraduate GPA. It is important to note that I am a traditional student (as in, I entered university as soon as I completed high school), but I did complete some of my courses before entering college, therefore cutting the completion of my undergraduate education in half since I received my AA before graduating high school (I'm not sure if med schools will praise me for doing this or look down upon me). So once I entered college, I had this goal of finishing my Biology degree in 2 years (since an AA is technically 2 years of work). However, this became a little challenging for me because basically every class I had left was a science course. I was taking at least 17-18 credit hours every semester, with 15 credit hours one summer semester. Currently, I am working to finish my last full semester in college and I have shadowing, hospital, and research experience (I'm working on 2 research projects involving the synthesis of nano rods and nano fibers, but I'm off and on with that) but I haven't been too involved in extracurricular activities such as clubs because I haven't been able to find ample time to focus on things other than my education. I entered college in Fall 2015 and plan to graduate either this semester or next semester, although I barely have enough classes to fill this semester in order to receive financial aid (15 credit hours minimum). If I stay one more semester, I plan to repeat classes such as organic and biochemistry, but I really don't want to because I do not receive financial aid over the summer. Below are some snapshots of my unofficial transcript to get a better idea of the classes that I have taken:
Please disregard the two Bs during my first semester of college. My school has apologized for making me take those courses when I did not need to AFTER I had completed them because I had already had test credits for the courses and has offered to remove them from my transcript, so these should not be considered when calculating my GPA. I believe my actual undergraduate GPA is 3.53, which I know is not at all competitive, although AMCAS calculates GPA differently. I currently attend FAMU but regularly take courses at FSU and UF as my school does not offer some important required courses that I need to take. For example, half of my classes were taken at FSU during the summer term. One class that is not reported on my transcript and cannot be factored into my GPA is ZOO 3603C, a 4-credit hour biology course that I took at UF last semester and managed to make an A in. Also, my organic chemistry 1 grade, for some strange reason, was never reported but I know that I made a C in it. Because I am an over-represented minority (Indian/Asian) attending a HBCU with a poor GPA, I feel that some sort of post-bac program/Masters degree is essential for me to complete before applying to medical school. If I had taken the MCAT and applied last year like a couple of my friends did, I probably would not have gotten accepted into most medical schools and many would have suggested a post-bac anyway. I am currently enrolled in the following classes for this semester as I need them to graduate: Biochemistry 2 + lab, Immunology, and Molecular Cell biology. Since my scholarship requires 15 credit hours, I plan on retaking some of my Cs and proceeding with grade forgiveness, where a higher retake grade may replace the first score for a class and improve my GPA, but both grades will remain on the transcript, so ADCOM will see both grades. If it is worthwhile, I may apply grade forgiveness to retake classes over the summer, also. Is it a good idea to retake Orgo 1-2 and Biochem 1? I've heard that Cs and C-s are frowned upon by several medical schools. Will I have a better chance of getting into medical school if I complete an online Masters degree (1 year) and focus on preparing for the MCAT and improving my ECs? Do I even need another degree? If I don't go on to doing a graduate degree before applying to medical school, based on my GPA and ECs ALONE, would I still have a decent shot of getting into medical school? I am extremely worried.
PLEASE BE NICE!!! I know it's a little difficult assessing my shot at medical school (any one within the contiguous US) without me listing an MCAT score but thank you so much for taking time to answer my questions. I very much appreciate it. Please feel free to ask if you need any sort of clarification on anything. Thank you, again!
*Also, please feel free to redirect me if I am posting to the wrong forum! I'm not too sure where this is posted.
Please disregard the two Bs during my first semester of college. My school has apologized for making me take those courses when I did not need to AFTER I had completed them because I had already had test credits for the courses and has offered to remove them from my transcript, so these should not be considered when calculating my GPA. I believe my actual undergraduate GPA is 3.53, which I know is not at all competitive, although AMCAS calculates GPA differently. I currently attend FAMU but regularly take courses at FSU and UF as my school does not offer some important required courses that I need to take. For example, half of my classes were taken at FSU during the summer term. One class that is not reported on my transcript and cannot be factored into my GPA is ZOO 3603C, a 4-credit hour biology course that I took at UF last semester and managed to make an A in. Also, my organic chemistry 1 grade, for some strange reason, was never reported but I know that I made a C in it. Because I am an over-represented minority (Indian/Asian) attending a HBCU with a poor GPA, I feel that some sort of post-bac program/Masters degree is essential for me to complete before applying to medical school. If I had taken the MCAT and applied last year like a couple of my friends did, I probably would not have gotten accepted into most medical schools and many would have suggested a post-bac anyway. I am currently enrolled in the following classes for this semester as I need them to graduate: Biochemistry 2 + lab, Immunology, and Molecular Cell biology. Since my scholarship requires 15 credit hours, I plan on retaking some of my Cs and proceeding with grade forgiveness, where a higher retake grade may replace the first score for a class and improve my GPA, but both grades will remain on the transcript, so ADCOM will see both grades. If it is worthwhile, I may apply grade forgiveness to retake classes over the summer, also. Is it a good idea to retake Orgo 1-2 and Biochem 1? I've heard that Cs and C-s are frowned upon by several medical schools. Will I have a better chance of getting into medical school if I complete an online Masters degree (1 year) and focus on preparing for the MCAT and improving my ECs? Do I even need another degree? If I don't go on to doing a graduate degree before applying to medical school, based on my GPA and ECs ALONE, would I still have a decent shot of getting into medical school? I am extremely worried.
PLEASE BE NICE!!! I know it's a little difficult assessing my shot at medical school (any one within the contiguous US) without me listing an MCAT score but thank you so much for taking time to answer my questions. I very much appreciate it. Please feel free to ask if you need any sort of clarification on anything. Thank you, again!
*Also, please feel free to redirect me if I am posting to the wrong forum! I'm not too sure where this is posted.
