What do you suggest I should do with the stats I have?

[jhan719]

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I'm a non-traditional pre-med. I recently decided to try to gain admission into medical school. tl;dr I was initially pre-med in undergrad, but decided to pursue music and eventually went to grad school for music as well. (But I did receive both my bachelors in biology and music education, in six years of undergrad)

So after calculating my AAMC GPA,
my BCPM GPA (freshman to senior), was 3.86 -> 3.42 -> 3.46 -> 2.95...
my AO GPA was 3.34 -> 3.84 -> 3.91 -> 3.62
my total GPA was 3.62 -> 3.67 -> 3.69 -> 3.38
With my cumulative GPA being 3.31 for BCPM, 3.67 for AO, and 3.52 for total.
(Graduate GPA is 3.95, but they're all music classes.)

Trend is pretty wonky... and that 2.95 at the end of my BCPM GPA is definitely not a good look... I mean, if I have to give any honest justification, when I made the decision to pursue music, I didn't give as much effort as I should have to my science classes (and they were really hard classes too... like Advanced Genetics). And also I came out to my parents around that time and it did not go super well so that sort of put me in a dark place.

In order to combat this, I was thinking of doing a special masters program that has a lot of great courses that could definitely be counted in the BCPM GPA. What do you all suggest? Thanks in advance!

 

[Goro]

A few thoughts
1) While an SMP is a path to medical school to show you can handle the workload, it will not, repeat, not impact you undergrad GPA
2) Having a downward trend indicates you cant handle the workload as it gets more difficult
3) #2 also indicates the inability to develop necessary student skillset (eg: study discipline, time management, exam-taking)
4) your reasons expressed can easily be seen as excuses and crutches for your grades
5) you would need to overcome all three of the "pillars" of an application: motivation, commitment, and achievement.

Having said all that an SMP would be the best path into medical school along with an excellent MCAT and sufficent experiences to show evidence of service and the pillars

I agree 10000% with my learned colleague. OP, read my guide to reinvention for premeds

 

[jhan719]

A few thoughts
1) While an SMP is a path to medical school to show you can handle the workload, it will not, repeat, not impact you undergrad GPA
2) Having a downward trend indicates you cant handle the workload as it gets more difficult
3) #2 also indicates the inability to develop necessary student skillset (eg: study discipline, time management, exam-taking)
4) your reasons expressed can easily be seen as excuses and crutches for your grades
5) you would need to overcome all three of the "pillars" of an application: motivation, commitment, and achievement.

Having said all that an SMP would be the best path into medical school along with an excellent MCAT and sufficent experiences to show evidence of service and the pillars

Thanks for the awesome advice!

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Look for an SMP with a linkage. Ours is no cake walk, but if you do the work and make the grade, you get in. Many dont. Our basic scientist LOVE our smp students. They hit the ground running 1st year. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[jhan719]

Look for an SMP with a linkage. Ours is no cake walk, but if you do the work and make the grade, you get in. Many dont. Our basic scientist LOVE our smp students. They hit the ground running 1st year. Good luck and best wishes.

Which school is this?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Which school is this?

To quote @Goro , if I told you, I'd have to reject you. Really, I can't as I would no longer be anomymous.

 

[deleted987519]

Look for an SMP with a linkage. Ours is no cake walk, but if you do the work and make the grade, you get in. Many dont. Our basic scientist LOVE our smp students. They hit the ground running 1st year. Good luck and best wishes.

What is “the grade”

 

[Angus Avagadro]

What is “the grade”

Like a 3.3 i think
I'm not involved with the program. Don't be deceived. It sounds easy, but it's not. It's very much like the first year of med school. Right now 1st yr med students who have never gotten a C in their life are getting C's and worse on their first anatomy quizzes. The difference is they can continue on with a 2.0 average. In the SMP, you will not matriculate with a 2.0. So if you apply, being your A game. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[LizzyM]

What is “the grade”

It is a 50,000 bet that you can finish in the top half (or top quarter) of the first year med school class. Win the bet and you get to do it all over again for real.