What are my chances? :-)

[ctsurgery]

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Thanks in advance for helping me out here. =p

I am currently a senior (physics major) at Dartmouth. I have a very low 3.2 gpa but a semi-good MCAT score of 36. (VR=12, PS = 13, BS = 11) I have been slacking off for a while in college and to make the problem worse I have been quite stupid in picking out my classes (almost all my classes are upper-lvl science classes taken without their prereqs.), a mistake now I come to regret.

Other than that I have some nice ECs. Including 2 research projects and extensive community, volunteer, and shadowing exp both in and out of the U.S. Also been involved in the medical field since early high school.

I'm thinking about doing to a one year Master of Public Health program after I graduate and then applying to Med school. If I could get into a decent program and make top grades would I have a decent shot at a med school after? (keeping in mind that I will have to apply soon after I start this program, so all the new grades might not be reflected)

Your inputs are greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Mobius1985]

An MPH will not help you to get accepted to med school, so don't do it unless you have a profound interest in that area. A good grad school GPA will not help resuscitate a low undergrad GPA, which is the number, along with your MCAT score by which you are primarily judged.

A) If you have had a steep upward grade trend the last three semesters, you might be fine if you apply the next cycle, considering you feel you have excellent ECs. If your recent grades are not high enough to reassure adcomms that you can excell in their science-heavy curriculum, then option B is ...

B) If you do not have a recent upward grade trend, you need to demonstrate one. You can do this with additional upper-level science classes (as a post-baccalareate, if you graduate, or by delaying graduation by a year) which has the added benefit of raising your GPA, or by taking a science heavy masters degree. There are SMPs (Special Masters Programs) specifically for this purpose if you already have a decent MCAT, some of which have linkages into medical schools, and make guarantees of an interview if you exceed their minimum GPA requirements. See the Post-Baccalareate forum of SDN for more information about this.