Will DO schools take "improvement" into consideration?

[cinfid12]

My first two years of college i had a cumulative gpa of 2.67 Not really sure what the science GPA is. I transferred to a better more well known school and had a 3.17 last semester and hopefully a 3.6 this semester. I was tested for ADHD last summer and put on meds. Now that I know what makes school difficult has helped me improve. Obviously if you average everything out my gpa is still low. I dont know if this is a good reason to explain the up trend....Im just not really sure what to do. I am only applying to DO schools

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[ncguy2005]

My first two years of college i had a cumulative gpa of 2.67 Not really sure what the science GPA is. I transferred to a better more well known school and had a 3.17 last semester and hopefully a 3.6 this semester. I was tested for ADHD last summer and put on meds. Now that I know what makes school difficult has helped me improve. Obviously if you average everything out my gpa is still low. I dont know if this is a good reason to explain the up trend....Im just not really sure what to do. I am only applying to DO schools

Your GPA is still quite a bit lower than the average medical school GPA (MD and DO). Isn't DO somewhere around 3.5?

All hope is not lost, however. I assume you have a few more semesters left. What you can do now is show a significant upward trend. Do as well as you can on the MCAT and I think you'd stand a good chance.

Also make sure you're working on your extra curricular stuff (shadowing, volunteering, making the world a better place, etc.). Its important to show a strong interest in medicine so you can answer the infamous interview question : "Why medicine?"

Good luck.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

My first two years of college i had a cumulative gpa of 2.67 Not really sure what the science GPA is. I transferred to a better more well known school and had a 3.17 last semester and hopefully a 3.6 this semester. I was tested for ADHD last summer and put on meds. Now that I know what makes school difficult has helped me improve. Obviously if you average everything out my gpa is still low. I dont know if this is a good reason to explain the up trend....Im just not really sure what to do. I am only applying to DO schools

Your situation is something to put into consideration. You'd need to still probably take advantage of DO schools ability to retake classes. I think if you retake a good amount of classes you got a C- ( C for pre-requisites or science if you need to lift science gpa up) or below in. You'll be able to reach standards of competitiveness with some work.

 

[rayn]

Your situation is something to put into consideration. You'd need to still probably take advantage of DO schools ability to retake classes. I think if you retake a good amount of classes you got a C- ( C for pre-requisites or science if you need to lift science gpa up) or below in. You'll be able to reach standards of competitiveness with some work.

I am actually doing that now so I guess I am on the right track... thanks for the advice

 

[cinfid12]

Your situation is something to put into consideration. You'd need to still probably take advantage of DO schools ability to retake classes. I think if you retake a good amount of classes you got a C- ( C for pre-requisites or science if you need to lift science gpa up) or below in. You'll be able to reach standards of competitiveness with some work.

Does it matter how many classes I retake or does retaking too many look bad on the application?

 

[Daedra22]

Does it matter how many classes I retake or does retaking too many look bad on the application?

It doesn't matter how many you retake, as far as I know. It shows initiative if you retake courses that you didn't do well in and improve. As others have said, keep up the better trend and concentrate on the MCAT. Don't forget a DO letter or rec, it'll help a lot.

 

[tideleonheart]

You have a couple of options / things you need to do:

• drastically increase your GPA for the remaining time you have before applying
• or complete a post-bac or masters with a good GPA in that program
• or get a good MCAT score (30+) while mildly increasing your GPA
• and make sure you have lots of extracurriculars, and lots of shadowing experience
• and show initiative - visit the schools and the admissions departments of where you want to go. Ask them, and not us, what you should do. If your top choice school says, "well, do this and this and this," and then you go off and do it, it will show them that you're dedicated.

If you don't do something, though, you will have a hard time getting in.

 

[cinfid12]

You have a couple of options / things you need to do:

• drastically increase your GPA for the remaining time you have before applying
• or complete a post-bac or masters with a good GPA in that program
• or get a good MCAT score (30+) while mildly increasing your GPA
• and make sure you have lots of extracurriculars, and lots of shadowing experience
• and show initiative - visit the schools and the admissions departments of where you want to go. Ask them, and not us, what you should do. If your top choice school says, "well, do this and this and this," and then you go off and do it, it will show them that you're dedicated.

If you don't do something, though, you will have a hard time getting in.

That sounds good thanks.....should I tell them exactly why my GPA was so low the first two years? Or will giving them that reason look bad

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

That sounds good thanks.....should I tell them exactly why my GPA was so low the first two years? Or will giving them that reason look bad

You should include it. It's not really a excuse its a reasonable diagnosed disease which interfered with your ability to do well in school.