what should i do?

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indigo9680

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I dont know if i should apply early... or even apply..

I had a terrible time during my undergrad.. had some health probs, etc.. my science GPA from Northwestern was like around a 2.0 then my overall was about a 2.8.

then i took postbac course work for one year at local university (had a sci/overall gpa of 3.86)... Then went to another university (a more competitive school) and got myself a 2nd bachelor's degree in biology in one year. now i have a postbac sci gpa of 3.7 and postbac overall of 3.6.

but adding all together.. since my undergrad gpa from Northwestern sucked.. i only have a 2.7 sci and 2.96 overall

i took april mcat.. got a 9 on phy sci, a 10 on bio sci.. and a horrible 5 on verbal (prob bc english isnt my first language).. i plan on taking the mcat again this aug..

i am going to an one year masters program in the fall.. so i will have a separate grad gpa..

i dunno if i should apply now since i have my personal statement ready or should i just wait after i get my Aug mcat score in Oct....but then the tight deadline and timeline

advice, suggestions PLEASE!!!! :confused:

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indigo9680 said:
I dont know if i should apply early... or even apply..

I had a terrible time during my undergrad.. had some health probs, etc.. my science GPA from Northwestern was like around a 2.0 then my overall was about a 2.8.

then i took postbac course work for one year at local university (had a sci/overall gpa of 3.86)... Then went to another university (a more competitive school) and got myself a 2nd bachelor's degree in biology in one year. now i have a postbac sci gpa of 3.7 and postbac overall of 3.6.

but adding all together.. since my undergrad gpa from Northwestern sucked.. i only have a 2.7 sci and 2.96 overall

i took april mcat.. got a 9 on phy sci, a 10 on bio sci.. and a horrible 5 on verbal (prob bc english isnt my first language).. i plan on taking the mcat again this aug..

i am going to an one year masters program in the fall.. so i will have a separate grad gpa..

i dunno if i should apply now since i have my personal statement ready or should i just wait after i get my Aug mcat score in Oct....but then the tight deadline and timeline

advice, suggestions PLEASE!!!! :confused:
I was in a similar situation. Click on the link below my signature to see what I had to do to get my acceptance. A difference between us is your GPA is close to 3.0 - that's a big cut-off, and you might be able to get it over 3.0. Then schools start to look at you and you begin to get interviews. The will put you in a much better place than I was.

The other big difference is MCAT. I had to get a high score before schools would take a look at me. You don't have as bad of a GPA to work against, but you still need to get as high a score as possible. ESL sucks, and I didn't know how much of a hinderance it was until I started reading these boards.

If you decide to apply, send out your info ASAP and mark that you're taking the August MCAT. Then study like mad to increase your MCAT score, espcially that Verbal score. You need an 8 or above so that schools won't see it as a weakness, and with your GPA, many schools don't need much excuse to reject your application.

That's what you have to work against.
 
RxnMan said:
I was in a similar situation. Click on the link below my signature to see what I had to do to get my acceptance. A difference between us is your GPA is close to 3.0 - that's a big cut-off, and you might be able to get it over 3.0. Then schools start to look at you and you begin to get interviews. The will put you in a much better place than I was.

The other big difference is MCAT. I had to get a high score before schools would take a look at me. You don't have as bad of a GPA to work against, but you still need to get as high a score as possible. ESL sucks, and I didn't know how much of a hinderance it was until I started reading these boards.

If you decide to apply, send out your info ASAP and mark that you're taking the August MCAT. Then study like mad to increase your MCAT score, espcially that Verbal score. You need an 8 or above so that schools won't see it as a weakness, and with your GPA, many schools don't need much excuse to reject your application.

That's what you have to work against.


wow... your mcat scores are great.. thanks for ur advice..
 
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indigo9680 said:
I dont know if i should apply early... or even apply..

I had a terrible time during my undergrad.. had some health probs, etc.. my science GPA from Northwestern was like around a 2.0 then my overall was about a 2.8.

then i took postbac course work for one year at local university (had a sci/overall gpa of 3.86)... Then went to another university (a more competitive school) and got myself a 2nd bachelor's degree in biology in one year. now i have a postbac sci gpa of 3.7 and postbac overall of 3.6.

but adding all together.. since my undergrad gpa from Northwestern sucked.. i only have a 2.7 sci and 2.96 overall

i took april mcat.. got a 9 on phy sci, a 10 on bio sci.. and a horrible 5 on verbal (prob bc english isnt my first language).. i plan on taking the mcat again this aug..

i am going to an one year masters program in the fall.. so i will have a separate grad gpa..

i dunno if i should apply now since i have my personal statement ready or should i just wait after i get my Aug mcat score in Oct....but then the tight deadline and timeline

advice, suggestions PLEASE!!!! :confused:

Hi there,
You already know that you need to re-take the MCAT but do NOT re-take the MCAT unless you know that you can raise that verbal score substantially. By waiting until your August score comes out (around Oct 15th) you will be in the later group of applicants which may not be to your advantage. I really believe that you need the early application. Even though your application will be held for your MCAT scores, it will reviewed.

My advice to you is send in your application as early as you can. With your combined GPA, you should apply across the board to both allopathic and osteopathic schools. Indicate that you are taking the August MCAT and make sure that you do something to raise that verbal score. Since you have a solid upward trend in coursework, you should be OK with the early application as long as you do better on the MCAT. If you spin your earlier undergraduate experience properly, it's effect should be fairly minimal given that you have recent excellent coursework.

I would place the masters program in the Plan B category and again, put most of your effort into this August's MCAT.

njbmd :)
 
You've already received the best advice. Prep for the MCAT. Believe me the MS may not be the best route. It worked for me, but the pain and poverty...
 
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