What's my next step?

[vashp2029]

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I originally started undergrad a prospective engineer thinking that's what I wanted to do. I found out right after first semester it wasn't as interesting for me as I had hoped and decided to go a different route. I changed my major to science because I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do yet. I didn't exactly work as hard as I should have freshman and sophomore year and the result is a sub-par GPA (~2.7).

Now that I've decided I wanted to go to med school (M.D or D.O, doesn't matter) I need to bring that GPA way way up. After doing some calculations, the highest possible GPA at this point for me is around a 3.2-3.3. Needless to say, it's not stellar. There's no way I'm NOT going to med school so I've decided I'll be taking summer classes for the next two summers and possibly post-bacc.

The problem is that for summer classes to effect my GPA, I have to take them at the school that will be giving me a degree. I've looked at our summer course selection and it looks like most of it is geared more for early freshman. There's several courses I can retake to improve my grade but I don't know if that'd be more effective then my other option. I could take science courses that aren't too related to my major or med school (i.e advanced physics courses, anthropology, computer science).

My question is, would it be more effective to retake courses I received a C+ or lower in (nothing lower then a C-) or to take new courses that don't really pertain to medicine per se?

Also, as far as post-bacc is concerned, when is a good time to start applying and should I take the MCAT before/after applying?

 

[augeremt]

The problem is that for summer classes to effect my GPA, I have to take them at the school that will be giving me a degree.

This may be true for a GPA at the school you're attending, but for med school admissions, any college class you've ever taken anywhere will affect your GPA. So you don't have to take them at the school where you're getting your degree for them to count for AMCAS.

The community college courses I took in high school contribute just as much to my AMCAS GPA as do my undergrad classes and post-bacc classes from yet another university.

 

[varsityblue]

Neither. Don't bother attending a post-bacc; earning a two-years masters degree in something like medical anthropology or medical sociology will be more than enough.

 

[theseeker4]

This may be true for a GPA at the school you're attending, but for med school admissions, any college class you've ever taken anywhere will affect your GPA. So you don't have to take them at the school where you're getting your degree for them to count for AMCAS.

The community college courses I took in high school contribute just as much to my AMCAS GPA as do my undergrad classes and post-bacc classes from yet another university.

Word of caution: Do NOT take classes at a CC to boost your overall or science GPA. Medical schools are not fooled by that, and will believe it demonstrates you can't get good grades at an actual university. Feel free to take extra classes at a university other than the one you will graduate from, and as the above poster said, your school's GPA doesn't matter when calculating the AMCAS GPA. You want to prove you can get the grades at the university level though, so don't go to a CC to boost your GPA.

Also, if you have a few poor grades bringing your GPA down, you can re-take those classes and end up with a higher GPA for DO schools than you can with MD schools. DO schools will replace re-taken classes, while MD schools average all classes taken together.

 

[augeremt]

Correct, do NOT take community college classes for your post-bacc!

My CC classes are from an extension program we had in high school for subjects they didn't offer when I was a senior (upper level math and the like). Even though I took them in high school about a decade ago, the credits and grades will still count for med school admissions. And luckily I cared about school back then so they're helping me out a lot right now!

All of my post-bacc classes are all from a 4-year university, which is the route I would suggest for everyone for a variety of reasons. But, like I said earlier, it doesn't have to be the same one as your undergrad/where you're getting a degree.

 

[vashp2029]

Neither. Don't bother attending a post-bacc; earning a two-years masters degree in something like medical anthropology or medical sociology will be more than enough.

Wouldn't that actually be a longer route? I mean one-year post-bacc seems like it would would save me a year over a masters unless there's something about a masters degree that I'm missing...

Also, I've seen that a lot of post-bacc programs at really good universities (i.e Harvard) accept students between a 3.0 and 3.5 range. That sounds too good to be true. Are there other constraints that would keep the average student from applying to and getting into the Harvard Extension program and others that are like it?

 

[theseeker4]

Wouldn't that actually be a longer route? I mean one-year post-bacc seems like it would would save me a year over a masters unless there's something about a masters degree that I'm missing...

Also, I've seen that a lot of post-bacc programs at really good universities (i.e Harvard) accept students between a 3.0 and 3.5 range. That sounds too good to be true. Are there other constraints that would keep the average student from applying to and getting into the Harvard Extension program and others that are like it?

Doing a masters other than a SMP or similar med school-linked program is not a good way to make up for a low undergrad GPA. Many masters programs are considered seriously grade inflated, so med schools don't look at a high masters GPA as proof you can handle medical school if you have a low undergrad GPA. Boosting your undergrad GPA is the way to go, or look into SMP's, but a random health-care-related masters program won't help as much as the other options.