What can I do next without doing a Post-bacc?

[deleted977029]

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Basically I have a downward GPA trend (from burning out), expected below average MCAT (from rushing it to apply this cycle), and little to no money for a post-bacc program let alone medical school. What schools should I aim for, and what should the next realistic step be? Thank you for your time and consideration. My stats are listed below:

Community College for first 2 years of school:
- Drove roughly 35 min to school and back everyday
- worked 3 jobs (to pay for my car and books)
- volunteered 125+ hours at my local ER
- did 100+ hours of research
- was in 2 clubs (1 being a national honor society)
- I recieved a 3.54 cGPA for 2 majors (Biology and Biotechnology) and 3.6 sGPA.

Went to the "local" University the next 2 years (University of Delaware):
- I commuted 45 min to and fro school everyday, worked one job as a server
- shadowed over a dozen doctors for a total of 75+ hours
- volunteered in a non-hospital setting (my community) for 50+ hours
- was in 4 clubs including Phi Delta Epsilon.
-Last week I graduated my 2 years in Uni with a 3.0 cGPA and a 3.1sGPA for only 1 degree (Biology BA). I did poorly in my arts electives especially.
- I rushed my MCAT during final exams last month so I don't know what my score is yet. If it's anything like my Princeton Review practice exam then it's probably a 500-504 range.

I plan on applying to USUHS or get the HPSP scholarship with a DO school so that my family won't have to pay for my education and I won't have to worry about finances. I plan on finishing my application this week. I am an African American applicant if that matters.

 

[Moko]

Basically I have a downward GPA trend (from burning out), expected below average MCAT (from rushing it to apply this cycle), and little to no money for a post-bacc program let alone medical school. What schools should I aim for, and what should the next realistic step be? Thank you for your time and consideration. My stats are listed below:

Community College for first 2 years of school:
- Drove roughly 35 min to school and back everyday
- worked 3 jobs (to pay for my car and books)
- volunteered 125+ hours at my local ER
- did 100+ hours of research
- was in 2 clubs (1 being a national honor society)
- I recieved a 3.54 cGPA for 2 majors (Biology and Biotechnology) and 3.6 sGPA.

Went to the "local" University the next 2 years (University of Delaware):
- I commuted 45 min to and fro school everyday, worked one job as a server
- shadowed over a dozen doctors for a total of 75+ hours
- volunteered in a non-hospital setting (my community) for 50+ hours
- was in 4 clubs including Phi Delta Epsilon.
-Last week I graduated my 2 years in Uni with a 3.0 cGPA and a 3.1sGPA for only 1 degree (Biology BA). I did poorly in my arts electives especially.
- I rushed my MCAT during final exams last month so I don't know what my score is yet. If it's anything like my Princeton Review practice exam then it's probably a 500-504 range.

I plan on applying to USUHS or get the HPSP scholarship with a DO school so that my family won't have to pay for my education and I won't have to worry about finances. I plan on finishing my application this week. I am an African American applicant if that matters.

As painful as this may be to hear, your chances are not great and it would make more sense to delay your application to maximize your chances for success. You only want to apply once -- the application process is taxing (physically and emotionally), time-consuming, and expensive.

What concerns me the most is the steep downward trend in your GPA when you transitioned from CC to university. It makes me think that there was either significant grade inflation at the community college (and that your GPA otherwise would have been ~3.1), or that you are currently crashing and burning academically. Neither are circumstances that give me significant confidence in your ability to succeed in medical school.. Personally, I also give more weight to the latter years. Yes, folks do get in with low GPAs (AACOMAS matriculant data would put it at around 25%), but those matriculants typically have a strong upward trend, above-average MCAT, strong LORs, and/or significant extra-curriculars to make up for it. Being URM helps. Being disadvantaged socioeconomically helps. Having real job experience helps. With the right story, interest in your application could be piqued, but I'm just not convinced it's enough to overcome my concerns in your case.

Being at a DO school, hopefully @Goro can shine more light on this. If you do apply, I hope that you can prove me wrong, but no one should be applying based on hope alone. Good luck.

 

[Faha]

Post your actual MCAT score here when available and I will suggest a list of schools you can apply to based on your GPA and MCAT score. What is your cGPA and sGPA for all your courses combined ?

 

[deleted967981]

As painful as this may be to hear, your chances are not great and it would make more sense to delay your application to maximize your chances for success. You only want to apply once -- the application process is taxing (physically and emotionally), time-consuming, and expensive. Taking a year to redo some classes and utilizing the grade-replacement policy of DOs may end up saving more money in the long run.

What concerns me the most is the steep downward trend in your GPA when you transitioned from CC to university. It makes me think that there was either significant grade inflation at the community college (and that your GPA otherwise would have been ~3.1), or that you are currently crashing and burning academically. Neither are circumstances that give me significant confidence in your ability to succeed in medical school.. Personally, I also give more weight to the latter years. Yes, folks do get in with low GPAs (AACOMAS matriculant data would put it at around 25%), but those matriculants typically have a strong upward trend, above-average MCAT, strong LORs, and/or significant extra-curriculars to make up for it. Being URM helps. Being disadvantaged socioeconomically helps. Having real job experience helps. With the right story, interest in your application could be piqued, but I'm just not convinced it's enough to overcome my concerns in your case.

Being at a DO school, hopefully @Goro can shine more light on this. If you do apply, I hope that you can prove me wrong, but no one should be applying based on hope alone. Good luck.

There is no grade replacement with DO anymore. I believe that was phased out in 2016.

OP, can you please post your cumulative GPA and science GPA? If you scored 500-504 and have a reasonable gpa, DO might be fine for you as you are.

 

[Moko]

There is no grade replacement with DO anymore. I believe that was phased out in 2016.

OP, can you please post your cumulative GPA and science GPA? If you scored 500-504 and have a reasonable gpa, DO might be fine for you as you are.

Guess I am dating myself . Thank you for the correction

 

[Goro]

Basically I have a downward GPA trend (from burning out), expected below average MCAT (from rushing it to apply this cycle), and little to no money for a post-bacc program let alone medical school. What schools should I aim for, and what should the next realistic step be? Thank you for your time and consideration. My stats are listed below:

Community College for first 2 years of school:
- Drove roughly 35 min to school and back everyday
- worked 3 jobs (to pay for my car and books)
- volunteered 125+ hours at my local ER
- did 100+ hours of research
- was in 2 clubs (1 being a national honor society)
- I recieved a 3.54 cGPA for 2 majors (Biology and Biotechnology) and 3.6 sGPA.

Went to the "local" University the next 2 years (University of Delaware):
- I commuted 45 min to and fro school everyday, worked one job as a server
- shadowed over a dozen doctors for a total of 75+ hours
- volunteered in a non-hospital setting (my community) for 50+ hours
- was in 4 clubs including Phi Delta Epsilon.
-Last week I graduated my 2 years in Uni with a 3.0 cGPA and a 3.1sGPA for only 1 degree (Biology BA). I did poorly in my arts electives especially.
- I rushed my MCAT during final exams last month so I don't know what my score is yet. If it's anything like my Princeton Review practice exam then it's probably a 500-504 range.

I plan on applying to USUHS or get the HPSP scholarship with a DO school so that my family won't have to pay for my education and I won't have to worry about finances. I plan on finishing my application this week. I am an African American applicant if that matters.

How bad of a downward trend are we talking about? This is SDN, after all where people see going from a 4.0 to a 3.8 as a "downward trend".

 

[EasyEveryoneWouldDoIt]

you also need a min gpa of 3.2 to apply for the hpsp

 

[Cornfed101]

Have you figured out how to deal with your burnout? If you burned out halfway through undergrad what is your plan for 4 years of med school and 3+ years of residency?

Also, it is not a good idea to join the military to pay for med school unless you actually want to be in the military... do you want to be in the military? If not, find another way to pay for school. Most just use loans. They suck, but I say it’s worth it to be a doctor.

 

[evilbooyaa]

This thread will be closed due to cross-posting. If you would like to reply to this thread, please go here: I need realistic help for my next step.