What type of school should I be applying to?

[mdr8]

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I am in pharmacy school and will graduate in 2015. My GPA is a 3.16 and will remain at that as our graded courses are now done (my heart was never in pharmacy, I never was truly in love with the profession and did not try very hard. A decision I now regret). I am planning on applying to medical schools for the class of 2019. I am hoping my undergraduate career will save me and open a door for me somewhere to have a future in medicine. My undergraduate GPA is a 3.61 with my BCPM being close to a 3.9. I have not taken the MCAT yet, but will be doing so near the end of May. Based on my GPA's (I know it is difficult to predict without an MCAT score), do I have a shot at any allopathic schools? If so, which ones? Would I be better suited to apply to D.O. schools? Any recommendations based off my GPA's would be much appreciated. Thank you!

(P.S., please do not ask me about why I am making the switch etc. I have plenty of good reasons and it is a long story that I do not feel like typing right now and will save for the admission committees, if I am so lucky to be granted interviews. Or, PM me if you really want to know.)

 

[starkidbee]

It's my understanding (this thread discussed pharm->med switch a bit) that your pharmacy grades get counted into your total GPA. I'd do that first to figure out your overall cGPA and sGPA. That'd probably give you (and us) a better idea of where you stand in the application process.

 

[mdr8]

Okay, so I just calculated out all my GPA's. It is my understanding my pharmacy may be mixed in to my undergrad GPA for one cumulative GPA, but will not factor in to my BCPM (other than biostats which we took in pharm school). I went through both transcripts and just combined total quality points, then divided by total GPA hours for each category I have listed below.

Undergraduate cumulative = 3.61
Pharmacy cumulative = 3.16
Combined cumulative = 3.48
BCPM = 3.87

(Solid future MCAT score will be in there as well...... I hope....)

 

[starkidbee]

I don't think your gpa will be what holds you back if you apply MD. Your sgpa is strong, and even though your cgpa is below avg I think that could be overlooked a bit if your mcat is 30+. Aim for 34+ to give yourself the best shot, but provided you have great ECs/medical exposure (not just pharm related), you should be fine applying MD. I would apply to a few DOs to be safe, but I think you'll be okay if the rest of your application is strong. Make sure your personal statement really shows why you are choosing medicine. As for specific schools, invest in the MSAR and see where your stats line up. Maybe others on here know about what schools would be more lenient in regards to the pharm gpa. Good luck!

 

[BestDoctorEver]

Okay, so I just calculated out all my GPA's. It is my understanding my pharmacy may be mixed in to my undergrad GPA for one cumulative GPA, but will not factor in to my BCPM (other than biostats which we took in pharm school). I went through both transcripts and just combined total quality points, then divided by total GPA hours for each category I have listed below.

Undergraduate cumulative = 3.61
Pharmacy cumulative = 3.16
Combined cumulative = 3.48
BCPM = 3.87

(Solid future MCAT score will be in there as well...... I hope....)

MCAT = 30+, apply 15 M.D. and 5 DO
MCAT = 27-29, apply 10 M.D. and 10 D.O.
MCAT = 23-26, apply 15 D.O.
MCAT < 23, do NOT apply and retake the MCAT...

 

[mdr8]

I don't think your gpa will be what holds you back if you apply MD. Your sgpa is strong, and even though your cgpa is below avg I think that could be overlooked a bit if your mcat is 30+. Aim for 34+ to give yourself the best shot, but provided you have great ECs/medical exposure (not just pharm related), you should be fine applying MD. I would apply to a few DOs to be safe, but I think you'll be okay if the rest of your application is strong. Make sure your personal statement really shows why you are choosing medicine. As for specific schools, invest in the MSAR and see where your stats line up. Maybe others on here know about what schools would be more lenient in regards to the pharm gpa. Good luck!

Thank you for your reply, great advice! I bought the MSAR and it had no information on the stats of specific medical schools.... I'm not sure if I just bought the wrong version or something. I got the e-version from AAMC.

 

[starkidbee]

Maybe you got the preview/demo? I don't know much about the online version, I ended up taking the 2012 and 2013 print msar out from my public library during spring break. I would check to see what 'level' msar you got, you probably got a basic version instead of the full.

 

[Goro]

I don't think so. The cGPA is not competitive, but even worse, your Pharm school GPA, which is indicative of how you'd do in a rigorous medical school curriculum, is clearly not stellar.

Based on my GPA's (I know it is difficult to predict without an MCAT score), do I have a shot at any allopathic schools?

DO programs would cut you more slack, and so you'd probably get a fair share of IIs. Apply broadly

If so, which ones? Would I be better suited to apply to D.O. schools? Any recommendations based off my GPA's would be much appreciated.

 

[mdr8]

I don't think so. The cGPA is not competitive, but even worse, your Pharm school GPA, which is indicative of how you'd do in a rigorous medical school curriculum, is clearly not stellar.

Based on my GPA's (I know it is difficult to predict without an MCAT score), do I have a shot at any allopathic schools?

DO programs would cut you more slack, and so you'd probably get a fair share of IIs. Apply broadly

If so, which ones? Would I be better suited to apply to D.O. schools? Any recommendations based off my GPA's would be much appreciated.

When you say fair share of II's, I take it you mean secondary applications? I thought pretty much all schools sent out secondaries no matter what, just because they want the money.

And you don't think my sGPA will be enough to get M.D. programs to consider me if I have a strong MCAT?

 

[starkidbee]

II = interview invites

 

[Goro]

Not really. It's a common misconception that for MD schools, a high MCAT offsets a low GPA and vice-versa. It's a seller's market, so they can turn away many qualified candidates.

When you say fair share of II's, I take it you mean secondary applications? I thought pretty much all schools sent out secondaries no matter what, just because they want the money.

And you don't think my sGPA will be enough to get M.D. programs to consider me if I have a strong MCAT?

 

[mdr8]

Not really. It's a common misconception that for MD schools, a high MCAT offsets a low GPA and vice-versa. It's a seller's market, so they can turn away many qualified candidates.

I see, Goro. Thank you for your advice. I have a state M.D. school here that I will apply to, and I guess the rest will be D.O.

 

[Goro]

Good luck! Let us know how things turn out.

I see, Goro. Thank you for your advice. I have a state M.D. school here that I will apply to, and I guess the rest will be D.O.

 

[WillburCobb]

I see, Goro. Thank you for your advice. I have a state M.D. school here that I will apply to, and I guess the rest will be D.O.

What's your state school?

 

[mdr8]

What's your state school?

UCDenver. It is pretty competitive to get into, but from my understanding, it favors in state heavily.

 

[WillburCobb]

UCDenver. It is pretty competitive to get into, but from my understanding, it favors in state heavily.

Well Goro is an adcom and I can see where he's getting at with less than stellar chances at MD schools having a downward trend in more rigorous classes, but I still think it wouldn't hurt to apply to a few MD programs as well as DO depending how your MCAT turns out and finances. That said your best chances are probably at a DO school.

 

[mdr8]

Well Goro is an adcom and I can see where he's getting at with less than stellar chances at MD schools having a downward trend in more rigorous classes, but I still think it wouldn't hurt to apply to a few MD programs as well as DO depending how your MCAT turns out and finances. That said your best chances are probably at a DO school.

Thanks for the reply! I'll have to look into what M.D. schools other than the state school here, have average entrance statistics that would not put me completely out of the discussion for acceptance. I am a strong interviewer, and I feel like all I need is a chance to explain myself and convince them my pharmacy GPA is not an accurate reflection of what they can expect to see out of me in medical school. For this reason, I can see why you think D.O. is probably where my best shot is, as getting interviews to an M.D. program with a low cumulative GPA may prove to be difficult.