What should I do? SMP? Postbacc? Or more ug. classes?

[desiremedical]

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Hello,

I am currently depressed with my stats. I am a transferred student to UC and I completely bombed my first year and probably this quarter also (just got out of finals). I read a lot of threads on the forums about SMP and Post-bacc and planning to apply soon. However, I talked to one of my counselor (so-called "pre-health" counselor") and she told me that I can stay for 1 more year at UC and keep taking classes to build up my GPA.

Both of my sGPA and cGPA is around 3.5-3.6 yet my UC GPA is <3.0
MCAT: 510 (I guess I am not gonna retake)
2 publication, hospital volunteer, shadowing, VP of health-related club.
I am planning to apply June 2017 (which is 2 gap year for me if I graduate in Spring)

1. Is it possible for me to stay longer at ug and take more classes to bring up my GPA? How would med schools think about this?
2. Between SMP and Post-bacc, which would more beneficial for US MD? I am hesitate to do SMP because of the tuition but I read a lot threads saying they would give me better chance for matriculation.
3. I read about "med school that awards reinvention." How can I have more info about those schools?

Any inputs/suggestions/critics is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Stay in undergrad for a year...it's generally cheaper and all that matters is GPA. This is quite common, 5 years is

 

[Gonefission]

I would stay in undergrad. Its lower cost and your overall gpa is still decent, just that severe downward trend will hurt you. Do you know what's causing the poor grades? Just staying longer won't cause you to perform better. There are entire threads on SDN dedicated to study skills. For me, I try to look at my materials regularly and ask myself questions about the material. I also use a whiteboard for chemistry and physics so that I'm not going through tons of paper doing practice problems. Obviously you knew what worked for you at some point so if it's a personal problem maybe see if you can take a quick break to get things worked out? Best of luck! Oh and for the list of med schools that reward reinvention (from Goro)
-University of Miami
-BU
-Tulane
-Rosalind Franklin
-Duke
-UCSF
-Columbia
-Duke (good research activities req)
-Albany
-Drexel
-NYMC
-Case
-Tufts

Keep in mind I'm quoting so the advice may need to be altered a bit for your situation. Hopefully others with more knowledge than me will chime in also.

Hello,

I am currently depressed with my stats. I am a transferred student to UC and I completely bombed my first year and probably this quarter also (just got out of finals). I read a lot of threads on the forums about SMP and Post-bacc and planning to apply soon. However, I talked to one of my counselor (so-called "pre-health" counselor") and she told me that I can stay for 1 more year at UC and keep taking classes to build up my GPA.

Both of my sGPA and cGPA is around 3.5-3.6 yet my UC GPA is <3.0
MCAT: 510 (I guess I am not gonna retake)
2 publication, hospital volunteer, shadowing, VP of health-related club.
I am planning to apply June 2017 (which is 2 gap year for me if I graduate in Spring)

1. Is it possible for me to stay longer at ug and take more classes to bring up my GPA? How would med schools think about this?
2. Between SMP and Post-bacc, which would more beneficial for US MD? I am hesitate to do SMP because of the tuition but I read a lot threads saying they would give me better chance for matriculation.
3. I read about "med school that awards reinvention." How can I have more info about those schools?

Any inputs/suggestions/critics is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[GrapesofRath]

Fix what's causing these bad grades before thinking of any post-bacc or SMP work. If you aren't capable of getting above a 3.0 at a 4 year institution, a hypercompetitive post-bacc/SMP isn't going to save you, it'll just be way too overwhelming for you instead. If that means staying an extra year in college to fix and modify your study habbits and approach, then do it. Have success in undergrad first before thinking about anything else.