Worried about not getting in

[ethanol2025]

I'm finishing my undergraduate degree this year and applying to medical school this Spring. I did my degree in 3 years instead of 4 hence why I'm applying in the coming Spring, so I'd have all of my sciences done before the MCAT. I will be applying to MD and DO schools. I am very worried about not getting in next cycle.
My GPA is a 3.45 and my sGPA is a 3.5. I have clinical research, thousands of hours of clinical work as a COVID vaccinator, vaccine site lead, EMT, and medical assistant, and plenty of shadowing. My GPA is a lot lower than a lot of my premed peers who have 3.7's to 4.0's. If I do not get in this coming cycle I will be applying again, but I also need to consider when is the right time to do something else like PA or scrub tech which would take a few years of school (I wouldn't be giving up on being a physician, just doing that for the time being), and when I should be thinking about the Caribbean if at all. Any advice?

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

You should probably stop worrying until at least December of your application cycle. Plenty of people get in with a 3.5 sGPA. Take a deep breath and pick up a hobby; nobody can control the future and it doesn't help you at all to stress at this point.

 

[gyngyn]

and when I should be thinking about the Caribbean if at all.

This is a poor last resort.
It is putting $ in the pockets of people who do not have your interests at heart; people who will harm you if it does them good.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I'm finishing my undergraduate degree this year and applying to medical school this Spring. I did my degree in 3 years instead of 4 hence why I'm applying in the coming Spring, so I'd have all of my sciences done before the MCAT. I will be applying to MD and DO schools. I am very worried about not getting in next cycle.
My GPA is a 3.45 and my sGPA is a 3.5. I have clinical research, thousands of hours of clinical work as a COVID vaccinator, vaccine site lead, EMT, and medical assistant, and plenty of shadowing. My GPA is a lot lower than a lot of my premed peers who have 3.7's to 4.0's. If I do not get in this coming cycle I will be applying again, but I also need to consider when is the right time to do something else like PA or scrub tech which would take a few years of school (I wouldn't be giving up on being a physician, just doing that for the time being), and when I should be thinking about the Caribbean if at all. Any advice?

Get a strong, competitive MCAT. Focus more on DO schools or MD schools with lower stats for matriculating students. Submit an outstanding app. And you should be fine.

 

[ethanol2025]

You should probably stop worrying until at least December of your application cycle. Plenty of people get in with a 3.5 sGPA. Take a deep breath and pick up a hobby; nobody can control the future and it doesn't help you at all to stress at this point.

I just shadowed general surgery yesterday and it lit a fire under my ass because I got reminded how bad I want to do that. Have to do everything in my power to get A's this fall.

 

[cj_cregg]

The key for you will be a strong MCAT to dispel concerns about your GPA and academic preparation. Do NOT take the MCAT until you're scoring consistently above your goal on practice tests, even if that means delaying a year. Make sure you have a couple hundred hours of nonclinical volunteering as well, preferably involving direct contact with underserved patient populations and/or people who are different from you.

 

[Goro]

I'm finishing my undergraduate degree this year and applying to medical school this Spring. I did my degree in 3 years instead of 4 hence why I'm applying in the coming Spring, so I'd have all of my sciences done before the MCAT. I will be applying to MD and DO schools. I am very worried about not getting in next cycle.
My GPA is a 3.45 and my sGPA is a 3.5. I have clinical research, thousands of hours of clinical work as a COVID vaccinator, vaccine site lead, EMT, and medical assistant, and plenty of shadowing. My GPA is a lot lower than a lot of my premed peers who have 3.7's to 4.0's. If I do not get in this coming cycle I will be applying again, but I also need to consider when is the right time to do something else like PA or scrub tech which would take a few years of school (I wouldn't be giving up on being a physician, just doing that for the time being), and when I should be thinking about the Caribbean if at all. Any advice?

GPA is fine for DO, but very weak for MD.

Don't even think about going to the Carib. That sound you hear off in the distance is the lip smacking from those educational predators thinking they have another mark ready to fleece.

 

[ethanol2025]

GPA is fine for DO, but very weak for MD.

Don't even think about going to the Carib. That sound you hear off in the distance is the lip smacking from those educational predators thinking they have another mark ready to fleece.

Could a high MCAT give me a shot at MD schools?

 

[chilly_md]

Could a high MCAT give me a shot at MD schools?

Depends on score, your state of residence and your non-clinical volunteering. Schools that are more willing to accept a lower GPA are very service-focused (and I don't mean tutoring for free).

 

[Goro]

Could a high MCAT give me a shot at MD schools?

A high MCAT does not remediate low GPAs. It merely highlights the discrepancy.

 

[macrophagefanatic]

You're not even finished with undergrad yet. There is absolutely zero reason to even be entertaining the thought of going to a Carribean school at this point. Your GPA obviously isn't ideal, but it's far from being so bad that it will prevent you from getting into solid DO schools (or even some MD schools, depending on the other many factors that play into it). At this point, your sole focus should be on finishing out your undergraduate classes with top marks and preparing yourself to absolutely knock the MCAT out of the park. Don't worry about anything else beyond that. Once you have a score, that's when you can start concerning yourself with what schools you should be targeting as realistic possibilities for acceptance. Oh, and please try to enjoy your last year as an undergrad. I know it's difficult sometimes due to the stress of maintaining high grades, but it's important to take a step back, have fun, and just embrace being a college kid.

 

[Obnoxious Dad]

I'm finishing my undergraduate degree this year and applying to medical school this Spring. I did my degree in 3 years instead of 4 hence why I'm applying in the coming Spring, so I'd have all of my sciences done before the MCAT. I will be applying to MD and DO schools. I am very worried about not getting in next cycle.
My GPA is a 3.45 and my sGPA is a 3.5. I have clinical research, thousands of hours of clinical work as a COVID vaccinator, vaccine site lead, EMT, and medical assistant, and plenty of shadowing. My GPA is a lot lower than a lot of my premed peers who have 3.7's to 4.0's. If I do not get in this coming cycle I will be applying again, but I also need to consider when is the right time to do something else like PA or scrub tech which would take a few years of school (I wouldn't be giving up on being a physician, just doing that for the time being), and when I should be thinking about the Caribbean if at all. Any advice?

Your state of residence is key. You may be from a state like Michigan or Ohio with a disproportionately high number of state owned medical school seats, or you might be from New Hampshire or Rhode Island which makes for a much bigger challenge. Going out of the country to med school has become a fool's errand.

Your first mistake was finishing college in three years. You should have taken your time by spreading out science classes.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Rushing through undergrad was a mistake. It hurt your GPA.

Rushing to take the MCAT, which you’re now planning to do would be a mistake as well.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I also need to consider when is the right time to do something else like PA or scrub tech which would take a few years of school

Well... have you shadowed these paths in addition to physician shadowing? Why not?

 

[LizzyM]

I think that we are a bit unclear on your timeline.
Are you taking the MCAT in August 2023 and applying for medical school in spring 2024 while graduating college at about the same time thus setting yourself up for a gap year during which you will (you hope) be interviewing for med school admission?

If you are currently at the end of your second year of college, can you slow your roll and take 4 years of classes to boost your GPA more than you would with just one more year of classes? The strongest possible GPA is the first step in the staircase into medical school and you are short-changing yourself (and paying for it later in the form of a special masters program or similar) if you get out of college in 3 years with a GPA too low to get you any traction.

Shadow a DO and consider whether that might be the right path for you. If yes, get a letter from the osteopath as you'll need it as part of your application packet.

Do not consider off-shore schools. It may look like they graduate a large number of students who go on to residencies but, they do it by starting with a very, very large number of students. It is the proportion that are successful that is most important and they'll use smoke and mirrors to cover up the denominator that you need to truly understand what a long shot that route is.

 

[Goro]

Shadow a DO and consider whether that might be the right path for you. If yes, get a letter from the osteopath as you'll need it as part of your application packet.

Just to clarify something from my learned colleague, having a DO LOR always helps with DO schools, but lacking one won't be lethal.

 

[MyOdyssey]

How am I rushing to take the MCAT? All of my prereqs will be done by the time I sit for it

25% of the MCAT covers a broad range of sociology/psychology questions. How many sociology/psychology classes have you taken?

25% of the MCAT covers nonscience reading comprehension. A lot of collegiate science majors struggle with this section. It tends to be the lowest scoring section of the 4 on the MCAT. How did you do on the verbal section of the SAT/ACT? That tends to be a pretty good indicator.

50% of the test will include lengthy passages that mimic mechnanistic biochemistry/molecular biology scientific articles published in Nature and Cell. How much experience do you have reading such articles and really understanding/critically analyzing the datasets contained therein?

I ended up with a 519 MCAT but my initial diagnostic test was .... ah .... substantially lower than that.

I read and did Anki notes from 3 different sets of review books, did all the AAMC practice materials and full length tests, memorized the 300 page Khan Academy outline of sociology/psychology videos, did every UWorld problem, and took many unofficial FLs. That's a process that takes many months.

 

[Fluidity of Movement]

Depends on score, your state of residence and your non-clinical volunteering. Schools that are more willing to accept a lower GPA are very service-focused (and I don't mean tutoring for free).

came here to say this.

 

[macrophagefanatic]

25% of the MCAT covers a broad range of sociology/psychology questions. How many sociology/psychology classes have you taken?

25% of the MCAT covers nonscience reading comprehension. A lot of collegiate science majors struggle with this section. It tends to be the lowest scoring section of the 4 on the MCAT. How did you do on the verbal section of the SAT/ACT? That tends to be a pretty good indicator.

50% of the test will include lengthy passages that mimic mechnanistic biochemistry/molecular biology scientific articles published in Nature and Cell. How much experience do you have reading such articles and really understanding/critically analyzing the datasets contained therein?

I ended up with a 519 MCAT but my initial diagnostic test was .... ah .... substantially lower than that.

I read and did Anki notes from 3 different sets of review books, did all the AAMC practice materials and full length tests, memorized the 300 page Khan Academy outline of sociology/psychology videos, did every UWorld problem, and took many unofficial FLs. That's a process that takes many months.

THIS. The MCAT is an absolute bear of a test that requires intense, focused preparation. Your prerequisite courses will obviously provide a baseline of knowledge that you'll need for the test, but this isn't a test that is just going to ask you simple questions that can be answered by regurgitating facts you remember from Gen Chem. The name of the game is application of your foundational knowledge, which is something that requires months of practice tests/passages/discrete questions and reviews to fill in gaps.

 

[medschool98]

I got 2 MD II and a DO A with a 3.4 GPA and Fs and Ws on my transcript lol but upward trend! You'll be fine, just focus on the things in your control like your MCAT, how you write your PS/Activities, etc

 

[IlDestriero]

If your GPA is low, why not double major and use your 4th year for some grade repair?
You need to do very well on the MCAT. I had a low GPA, lower than yours, BUT I went to a well known grade deflating Tech school full of high flying over achievers, and I did very well on the MCAT my only time taking it.

 

[MyOdyssey]

If your GPA is low, why not double major and use your 4th year for some grade repair?
You need to do very well on the MCAT. I had a low GPA, lower than yours, BUT I went to a well known grade deflating Tech school full of high flying over achievers, and I did very well on the MCAT my only time taking it.

And use that year to bolster other holes in the app and to take some sociology/psychology classes to prepare for the MCAT.

 

[deleted1056062]

Have you thought about doing SMP's (Special Master's Programs)? My cGPA was low for MD school (originally 3.5x), but I just finished my SMP program and got a 3.89 in the program. I'm applying to MD schools for the first time this cycle (so I don't have an outcome yet to show for it), but I have heard that SMP's are a great way for people with lower cGPA's to get into many MD programs, provided they get 3.7+ in the program. They are very risky though, as they are incredibly difficult.

 

[PalaceLover]

Have you thought about doing SMP's (Special Master's Programs)? My cGPA was low for MD school (originally 3.5x), but I just finished my SMP program and got a 3.89 in the program. I'm applying to MD schools for the first time this cycle (so I don't have an outcome yet to show for it), but I have heard that SMP's are a great way for people with lower cGPA's to get into many MD programs, provided they get 3.7+ in the program. They are very risky though, as they are incredibly difficult.

+1 , 4.0 in an established SMP helped me get multiple MD interviews with a 3.3 sgpa

 

[deleted1056062]

+1 , 4.0 in an established SMP helped me get multiple MD interviews with a 3.3 sgpa

Great! Congratulations! Did you get any acceptances?

 

[PalaceLover]

Great! Congratulations! Did you get any acceptances?

Yes, both WLs and one A!

 

[deleted1056062]

Yes, both WLs and one A!

Congratulations 🙂

 

[theoceanman]

In short, don’t consider Caribbean or any other foreign medical schools.

Extend your graduation so you don’t have to graduate in 3 years and add on a major or a minor to help bolster your GPA. You may have time to fix this while still being in your undergraduate career without an SMP, post-bacc, etc. Do not rush your MCAT take, you should ideally have to take it only once and you should aim to do really well on it. Get community service experience in to work with a population you want to serve, and aim for 150+ hours in that category.

If you do well on your MCAT, you may stand a solid chance at your state MD schools since there’s always the in-state favoritism to a relative extent, unless you’re in a state with one public medical school, but hopefully you’re located in places such as FL, Michigan, Ohio, or Texas to give you a wider choice range of state MD schools. In addition, you should not have a problem with DO schools given you apply broadly.

 

[LizzyM]

A fourth year of college is almost always less expensive and less of a risk than a SMP.