What to do? Low GPA high MCAT

[pleasemedical]

Okay, so ec's first. I have 500 volunteer hours at a hospital, job experience as a pharmacy tech for a year, 80 hours of shadowing experience, one semester abroad in beijing, and 1.5 years of research experience in a bioengineering lab, with minor publications.

My GPA is a 3.2, and my MCAT is a 40. Here's the deal, though... I had a cumulative GPA of a 1.7 my freshman year, and had a 4.0 my sophomore and junior years... My freshman year, I was unmotivated, lazy, and irresponsible.. At the end of the year, I looked back at what I had accomplished, and felt the worst feeling of wastefulness. Because of that, I worked harder than I ever had in my life, and as a current chemical engineering major, got As in every class since my freshman year..

What are my chances of getting into a US medical school? Do I have a shot at any high tier medical schools.. what do I do at this point?

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[Doctor Strange]

Address your turnaround and upward trend directly in PS and secondaries, if possible. This should mitigate any doubts in your academic competency. The MCAT score speaks for itself. You definitely have a shot at MD schools.

 

[FSU2013]

Agree with above. There's a chance you'll be filtered out just based on GPA, but I think almost any med school would be happy to take a student with 2 years of a 4.0 and anything over 32. You may not get into a top school and it may hurt your shots at getting a scholarship because of the poor first year, but I imagine if you apply broadly, explain the bad grades in your PS, get strong letters and interview well, you shouldn't have any problem.

Good luck.

 

[drabberbadge]

Good job on the turnaround
U give me hope for myself!

 

[plumhill]

Congratulations on your MCAT score!

A 3.2 is a little low for MD schools, and even with the turnaround it may not help. Any pre-req in which you got a C- or lower needs to be retaken. Grade replacement at DO will help, but you may not need to go DO unless you really want to. But if you are willing to wait a year and can get a solid GPA your senior year, your higher GPA may make you much more competitive.

 

[coffeesnob]

What will your graduation GPA be if you maintain 4.0 in your 4th year? If I were you, I would apply after graduation so you can apply when your GPA is the highest. But see for yourself:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/2012factstable24.pdf

65.4% of those with 3.2 GPA and 40 MCAT get in to an MD school.

If you raise your GPA up to 3.4, your chance of getting into an MD is almost 80%. =) Good luck.

 

[chopes31]

I think your GPA is nearly a non-issue considering your massive upward trend, MCAT, publications, and ECs. Some top schools might filter you out by your GPA, but not all of them. Even the ones that filter you out might filter you back in thanks to the MCAT. Good luck!

 

[pre med 2014]

What will your graduation GPA be if you maintain 4.0 in your 4th year? If I were you, I would apply after graduation so you can apply when your GPA is the highest. But see for yourself:

https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/2012factstable24.pdf

65.4% of those with 3.2 GPA and 40 MCAT get in to an MD school.

If you raise your GPA up to 3.4, your chance of getting into an MD is almost 80%. =) Good luck.

That is pretty shocking. A 40 is on average 9-10 points above most schools medians, yet a 3.2 is about 3-5 points below most schools medians

 

[nysegop]

This should be in what are my chances.

You'll probably get in. I don't think you need to wait until after graduation, but it could be a good idea.

 

[sinombre]

This should be in what are my chances.

You'll probably get in. I don't think you need to wait until after graduation, but it could be a good idea.

I don't understand why you continue to advise people about the medical school admissions process when you haven't even started undergrad yet. If you really feel the need to chime in, at least have the courtesy to inform those you advise of this fact.

 

[Alejandro]

numberwise, you'll be fine. make sure your letter writers can attest to your experiences and will vouch for your recent stellar academic performance and the past was all just nothing. i think you'll do fine.

Certainly not a shoe-in per se, but i think you have decent chances at it.

Oh, and as I always say: APPLY EARLY, and BROADLY. you never know which school will prescreen you. Nothing personal, but how else can they narrow out the field?

 

[sector9]

Moving to "What are my chances"

 

[nysegop]

I don't understand why you continue to advise people about the medical school admissions process when you haven't even started undergrad yet. If you really feel the need to chime in, at least have the courtesy to inform those you advise of this fact.

You can do that for me.

 

[deleted508066]

I didn't read this entire thread nor do I have time to right now. But I just wanted to tell OP that his upward trend is inspiring. If I was running my own upper tier med school I would let you in The best of luck to you. I'm sure whatever happens it will be good for you. You're so close to a high gpa and even a 3.2 is good by a lot of people's standards.

 

[dirigo]

Could you post on the +30 mcat thread your study plan?

 

[pleasemedical]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just really don't want to go to a medical school in the Caribbean if I don't have to... not knocking those medical schools, but I just think it would be better to go to a US medical school.

I worked so hard, studying hours every day just to get my GPA back up to a 3.2. I didn't sacrifice friends and fun; I just became incredibly organized and responsible with time management.

So do you guys think that I should take an extra year for my masters (I was thinking bioengineering) to try to get my GPA to a 3.4 range to apply to higher tier US medical schools? Or do I have no shot at the higher tier ones...? Research is a big thing for me, and I am also considering MSTPs. Would any MSTP pretty much be out of my reach? I have minor publications with a year and a half of research. Would I have to take the GRE?

Also, does it help that I am in line to graduate summa cum laude? My school requires about a 3.8 in all courses past the 60 credit mark (all my bad grades were before then), and since that mark, I have achieved all As.

 

[alpinism]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just really don't want to go to a medical school in the Caribbean if I don't have to... not knocking those medical schools, but I just think it would be better to go to a US medical school.

I worked so hard, studying hours every day just to get my GPA back up to a 3.2. I didn't sacrifice friends and fun; I just became incredibly organized and responsible with time management.

So do you guys think that I should take an extra year for my masters (I was thinking bioengineering) to try to get my GPA to a 3.4 range to apply to higher tier US medical schools? Or do I have no shot at the higher tier ones...? Research is a big thing for me, and I am also considering MSTPs. Would any MSTP pretty much be out of my reach? I have minor publications with a year and a half of research. Would I have to take the GRE?

Also, does it help that I am in line to graduate summa cum laude? My school requires about a 3.8 in all courses past the 60 credit mark (all my bad grades were before then), and since that mark, I have achieved all As.

If you want to get into a more research oriented med school or MSTP program, do a year long post bacc and try to get your GPA above the 3.4 mark. Keep doing research and get more pubs too.

Graduate coursework is not counted as part of your cumulative undergraduate GPA for AMCAS and a MS will not raise your cGPA. In addition, most adcoms don't respect grad GPAs bc of grade inflation (w the exception of SMPs).

 

[chopes31]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just really don't want to go to a medical school in the Caribbean if I don't have to... not knocking those medical schools, but I just think it would be better to go to a US medical school.

I worked so hard, studying hours every day just to get my GPA back up to a 3.2. I didn't sacrifice friends and fun; I just became incredibly organized and responsible with time management.

So do you guys think that I should take an extra year for my masters (I was thinking bioengineering) to try to get my GPA to a 3.4 range to apply to higher tier US medical schools? Or do I have no shot at the higher tier ones...? Research is a big thing for me, and I am also considering MSTPs. Would any MSTP pretty much be out of my reach? I have minor publications with a year and a half of research. Would I have to take the GRE?

Also, does it help that I am in line to graduate summa cum laude? My school requires about a 3.8 in all courses past the 60 credit mark (all my bad grades were before then), and since that mark, I have achieved all As.

I think you should apply, rather than go for a masters, SMP or otherwise. Put that line about organization and time management in your personal statement. I stand by my earlier post that I think you could land a top tier school, not to mention MD schools in general.

 

[pleasemedical]

Thank you. I feel a bit more confident about my chances now. A re-take on my MCAT would just be a waste of time, right? Would let's say a 42 look any more impressive than a 40?

 

[plumhill]

Thank you. I feel a bit more confident about my chances now. A re-take on my MCAT would just be a waste of time, right? Would let's say a 42 look any more impressive than a 40?

Do not retake. You'll look desperate, and your chances of actually improving your score are slim to none, and you risk getting a lower score.

 

[plumhill]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just really don't want to go to a medical school in the Caribbean if I don't have to... not knocking those medical schools, but I just think it would be better to go to a US medical school.

I worked so hard, studying hours every day just to get my GPA back up to a 3.2. I didn't sacrifice friends and fun; I just became incredibly organized and responsible with time management.

So do you guys think that I should take an extra year for my masters (I was thinking bioengineering) to try to get my GPA to a 3.4 range to apply to higher tier US medical schools? Or do I have no shot at the higher tier ones...? Research is a big thing for me, and I am also considering MSTPs. Would any MSTP pretty much be out of my reach? I have minor publications with a year and a half of research. Would I have to take the GRE?

Also, does it help that I am in line to graduate summa cum laude? My school requires about a 3.8 in all courses past the 60 credit mark (all my bad grades were before then), and since that mark, I have achieved all As.

If you do decide to do a gap year, look for masters' programs with heavy research emphasis (Mt. Sinai comes to mind). There are a select few other masters' programs designed for people who want to do MD/PhD or PhD programs. But if you can pull your GPA up to a 3.4 you might be able to get away with just an extra year of research.

 

[candbgirl]

Oh my goodness!!! Do not retake the MCAT. Are you finishing junior or senior year? Is the 3.2 your final undergrad GPA? I don't think a graduate degree will help your undergrad GPA. If the 3.2 is your final undergrad GPA, you should consider taking upper level science courses through a formal or even informal post bacc to boost your GPA.

 

[pleasemedical]

I just finished my junior year with a 4.0. I will be entering my senior year in the fall. Okay, so no MCAT re-take. Would an extra year help my chances for a good medical school in the US? I feel more confident now about getting into a US medical school, but don't mind taking an extra year if I can get into an MSTP or a higher tier medical school. Would a SMP be better than just a master's degree w/ thesis? I was considering a masters in bioengineering, but would it not look as good as a normal SMP?

 

[pleasemedical]

Oh, and the bioengineering degree isn't just to look good for med school. If I got into an MD/Ph.D program, my Ph.D would be in biomedical engineering, as research in medicine is something I am interested in.