MD What should I do to boost my application? Low GPA.

[SnqwFlake]

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I transferred from a college in 2019 where I ended up getting 2 F's and 3 W's because I was transferring which gave me a low GPA. My GPA at the college I'm currently at is 3.51 which doesn't include the courses I took at my other college. My transfer GPA was 2.95 because I got a few C's in biology but that was only for my freshman year where I was still adjusting to courses and I have Crohn's. I got in touch with my disability coordinator at my school last year and it has helped me with my upper-level courses especially since I've recently got into remission. I've only gotten A's and B's since transferring. I've held off on taking the MCAT because of my GPA. I'm wanting to know what should I do to boost my GPA and application to med school since I'll be taking a gap year. Should I do a postbacc or go for a master's degree? Also, how would I go about getting research hours? For my senior year, I'm taking 6 courses for both the fall and spring semesters. Right now for fall, I'm taking Cell Bio with lab, intermediate inorganic chem with lab, civics literacy class, and professional writing. I'm not sure whether or not to switch inorganic chem with genetics + lab or clinical chemistry + lab. For spring, I was planning to do general genetics with lab if I didn't take it this semester. I was also planning to take physiology with the lab for spring. If anyone could help me, that'd be great.

 

[candbgirl]

What are your cGPA and sGPA for all of the courses you have ever taken at a CC, College or Uni? All grades are included in your GPAs(not Ws).Don’t worry about research. You won’t be applying to research powerhouses so concentrate on other things that might help your application. Do you have 50 hours of physician shadowing, including some with a primary care doc? How about 200+ hours of clinical experiences( paid or volunteer). Must be face to face with patients. How about 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering focused on the unserved/underserved in your community?
Why are you taking so many courses each semester next year. Taking 6 courses each semester isn’t wise. Doing this successfully will be tough if you are also planning on studying/taking the MCAT at the same time.

 

[SnqwFlake]

What are your cGPA and sGPA for all of the courses you have ever taken at a CC, College or Uni? All grades are included in your GPAs(not Ws).Don’t worry about research. You won’t be applying to research powerhouses so concentrate on other things that might help your application. Do you have 50 hours of physician shadowing, including some with a primary care doc? How about 200+ hours of clinical experiences( paid or volunteer). Must be face to face with patients. How about 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering focused on the unserved/underserved in your community?
Why are you taking so many courses each semester next year. Taking 6 courses each semester isn’t wise. Doing this successfully will be tough if you are also planning on studying/taking the MCAT at the same time.

I have the volunteering just need the shadowing. On my school website, it says my cGPA is from courses I've only taken from the college I'm currently at which is 3.51. However, if you include the courses I took from the college before I transferred it says it's a 3.27 which I guess is because of the two F's I ended up getting for transferring but that was for orgo 1 and orgo 1 lab which I took during sophomore year after the transfer. I'm not sure if it overwrites it but I'm guessing it does. I also got 2 C's during the first half of my freshman year which was bio 2 and bio 2 lab. When I calculate my sGPA it says a 3.25. I've been taking 5 to 6 courses a semester because my premed advisor said I should except for one semester where I only took four courses due to covid. My advisor said I should be taking 14 to 16 credits a semester to be competitive for med school which means 5 to 6 classes. They also said my course load per semester should include 2 science/math courses, 2 science labs, and two electives.

 

[candbgirl]

I have the volunteering just need the shadowing. On my school website, it says my cGPA is from courses I've only taken from the college I'm currently at which is 3.51. However, if you include the courses I took from the college before I transferred it says it's a 3.27 which I guess is because of the two F's I ended up getting for transferring but that was for orgo 1 and orgo 1 lab which I took during sophomore year after the transfer. I'm not sure if it overwrites it but I'm guessing it does. I also got 2 C's during the first half of my freshman year which was bio 2 and bio 2 lab. When I calculate my sGPA it says a 3.25. I've been taking 5 to 6 courses a semester because my premed advisor said I should except for one semester where I only took four courses due to covid. My advisor said I should be taking 14 to 16 credits a semester to be competitive for med school which means 5 to 6 classes. They also said my course load per semester should include 2 science/math courses, 2 science labs, and two electives.

That may be true for your university when they calculate your GPAs. But that is not how AMCAS calculates your GPA. AMCAS uses every grade you have ever earned in a college course, even if you took that class as part of dual enrollment in high school or you took a class somewhere because it interests you. There is also no grade replacements in med school applications. So the retakes you took as a sophomore will not “overwrite” your F grades. Every grade is counted. So your GPAs seem to be well below the average for MD (3.7+) and somewhat below for DO. But with a good upward grade trend , strong MCAT and strong ECs you might okay at DO schools. Keep working hard and see what happens. Good luck.

 

[SnqwFlake]

That may be true for your university when they calculate your GPAs. But that is not how AMCAS calculates your GPA. AMCAS uses every grade you have ever earned in a college course, even if you took that class as part of dual enrollment in high school or you took a class somewhere because it interests you. There is also no grade replacements in med school applications. So the retakes you took as a sophomore will not “overwrite” your F grades. Every grade is counted. So your GPAs seem to be well below the average for MD (3.7+) and somewhat below for DO. But with a good upward grade trend , strong MCAT and strong ECs you might okay at DO schools. Keep working hard and see what happens. Good luck.

Would you recommend doing a postbac or getting my masters to boost my GPA to go to a MD school? I don't care if it takes 2 years to boost my application.

 

[candbgirl]

A Masters will do you no good for MD school. MDs schools do not combine Undergad and grad GPAs. You could do a post bacc of 3-4 semesters of full time upper division science courses . If you get a 3.7+ GPA in your post bacc you might be able to convince ADCOMS that you are up to the rigors of med school. You could also look into a SMP. A SMP is sort of a backdoor/ second chance into med school. It is a very high stakes high reward option. It’s also very expensive. If you don’t get at least a 3.7+ GPA your med school dreams are most likely over. If you decide on this option look for SMPS that have linkage to medical schools.