What to do while waiting this cycle?

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colberag

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I have sent secondaries back to about 15 total MD and DO schools. No rejections yet, and I passed the screening at places like Wake Forest and Arizona, but no interview invites either. I have great ECs and MCAT (35), but my GPA is on the low end (3.48 cGPA, 3.2 sci although that will go up a little after 2 A's in biochem and physics 2 this summer).

If I do not get accepted anywhere this cycle I am planning on retaking some of my basic prereq science courses since I took nearly all of these my first two years of my first undergrad degree and I was happy at the time with B- in all of them (and a C in one).

Its obviously going to cost a lot of money to retake classes, especially if I do it at a university, so when should I plan on taking them? I know fall is probably too early to know if I am accepted this cycle, but what if I am waitlisted or on hold in the spring? I really want to avoid paying the $10,000+ for the classes I want to take if I end up getting accepted this cycle.

I know for MD schools it would not have a huge GPA boost, but maybe it would show adcoms that I do actually understand the material and have matured a lot since I was 18-19. And for DO schools, the GPA boost would be pretty dramatic. So do you think I should even worry about retaking them?

P.S. If I retake in the spring, then I will not be able to go on a 5 month rural medicine trip to Nepal for RNs due to time and money issues.

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I have sent secondaries back to about 15 total MD and DO schools. No rejections yet, and I passed the screening at places like Wake Forest and Arizona, but no interview invites either. I have great ECs and MCAT (35), but my GPA is on the low end (3.48 cGPA, 3.2 sci although that will go up a little after 2 A's in biochem and physics 2 this summer).

If I do not get accepted anywhere this cycle I am planning on retaking some of my basic prereq science courses since I took nearly all of these my first two years of my first undergrad degree and I was happy at the time with B- in all of them (and a C in one).

Its obviously going to cost a lot of money to retake classes, especially if I do it at a university, so when should I plan on taking them? I know fall is probably too early to know if I am accepted this cycle, but what if I am waitlisted or on hold in the spring? I really want to avoid paying the $10,000+ for the classes I want to take if I end up getting accepted this cycle.

I know for MD schools it would not have a huge GPA boost, but maybe it would show adcoms that I do actually understand the material and have matured a lot since I was 18-19. And for DO schools, the GPA boost would be pretty dramatic. So do you think I should even worry about retaking them?

P.S. If I retake in the spring, then I will not be able to go on a 5 month rural medicine trip to Nepal for RNs due to time and money issues.

I think retaking those classes will be a waste of time and money. Who cares if you can get an A in physics after taking the class and then getting a ~12 on the PS section of the MCAT. Take other upper division science classes that you find interesting and will help your medical education. That accomplishes the same purpose, besides the DO grade replacement, and has several other advantages.
 
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