Worrisome downward GPA trend?

[gdub4ever]

cGPA/sGPA
freshman: 3.80/3.66
sophomore: 3.87/3.81
junior: 3.68/3.61
senior (assuming I get all As in next 18 credits for winter quarter): 3.59/3.53

cumulatives with that assumption: 3.73 cGPa, 3.65 sGPA

I am hoping to apply this cycle. My MCAT score is 523, but it was my third attempt; my previous scores were sub-500. I believe my overall application is strong except for these two metrics and a low downward trend. I have a WAMC on my account if that will help anyone.

My grades dipped junior year spring quarter after my mom had a brain tumor and my dad lost his vision to diabetes; I am their full-time caretaker. I made the mistake of taking the MCAT 2x in this time since I had already spent months studying and believed I could still do well.

Classes are getting harder and I am trying my absolute best to succeed but it does not seem enough. Do I have a chance of getting into any CA (MD or DO) school? If I add in-progress spring quarter classes on my application before grades come out, will MD schools understand my senior GPA can improve?

For DO schools since their cycles are longer, I can wait to apply until after spring quarter grades come in so my GPA is better. Any other advice is highly appreciated! Thank you, in advance.

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[ecobio]

with an MCAT >520 and a GPA > 3.5 your stats will certainly not be holding you back. i dont think you'd need to apply DO unless you wanted to.

california schools are kind of a crapshoot even for us californians. they are so mission-focused and have a huge amount of applicants. so, hard to say if you have a "chance" without knowing your ECs/narrative/etc but again I think your stats would get your foot in the door.

take my advice with a grain of salt as a fellow CA applicant 😛

 

[LindaAccepted]

cGPA/sGPA
freshman: 3.80/3.66
sophomore: 3.87/3.81
junior: 3.68/3.61
senior (assuming I get all As in next 18 credits for winter quarter): 3.59/3.53

cumulatives with that assumption: 3.73 cGPa, 3.65 sGPA

I am hoping to apply this cycle. My MCAT score is 523, but it was my third attempt; my previous scores were sub-500. I believe my overall application is strong except for these two metrics and a low downward trend. I have a WAMC on my account if that will help anyone.

My grades dipped junior year spring quarter after my mom had a brain tumor and my dad lost his vision to diabetes; I am their full-time caretaker. I made the mistake of taking the MCAT 2x in this time since I had already spent months studying and believed I could still do well.

Classes are getting harder and I am trying my absolute best to succeed but it does not seem enough. Do I have a chance of getting into any CA (MD or DO) school? If I add in-progress spring quarter classes on my application before grades come out, will MD schools understand my senior GPA can improve?

For DO schools since their cycles are longer, I can wait to apply until after spring quarter grades come in so my GPA is better. Any other advice is highly appreciated! Thank you, in advance.

I read your WAMC from last year.

The downward trend is worrisome, but your experiences are strong and your MCAT is stellar. I'd suggest that in any secondary that provides place for you to discuss your family situation in the last two years or "to provide context for something that needs explanation," you provide that context or explanation. Don't blame MCAT study for the drop in grades. Obviously people study/work and get high MCAT scores. Point to your MCAT and earlier grades as evidence of what you can do.

At the same time, you need to realize that you can't be your parents' full-time care givers and at the same time attend medical school full time. You may want to take a gap year or two or perhaps take a lighter load spring semester and graduate a little later. See if you can't get help for your parents so that you can devote yourself to your studies now and in medical school. Look into IHHS, if you haven't already.

You will also need to reassure schools that your family situation has stabilized, that you are not needed as much, and that family responsibilities won't distract you from med school or cause you to drop out.

 

[Goro]

The downward trend is worrisome, but your experiences are strong and your MCAT is stellar.

You will also need to reassure schools that your family situation has stabilized, that you are not needed as much, and that family responsibilities won't distract you from med school or cause you to drop out.

Very sorry to hear about this sad news, OP.

Agree 1000% with my wise colleague. OP, you're going to need to display good coping/compartmentalization skills. Med students have to be selfish at times in that they cannot run home every time there is a family emergency.

 

[gdub4ever]

I read your WAMC from last year.

The downward trend is worrisome, but your experiences are strong and your MCAT is stellar. I'd suggest that in any secondary that provides place for you to discuss your family situation in the last two years or "to provide context for something that needs explanation," you provide that context or explanation. Don't blame MCAT study for the drop in grades. Obviously people study/work and get high MCAT scores. Point to your MCAT and earlier grades as evidence of what you can do.

At the same time, you need to realize that you can't be your parents' full-time care givers and at the same time attend medical school full time. You may want to take a gap year or two or perhaps take a lighter load spring semester and graduate a little later. See if you can't get help for your parents so that you can devote yourself to your studies now and in medical school. Look into IHHS, if you haven't already.

You will also need to reassure schools that your family situation has stabilized, that you are not needed as much, and that family responsibilities won't distract you from med school or cause you to drop out.

Thank you so much for your reply! I have a question. I will need to work extremely hard for this; if I can push both senior year cGPA and sGPA to at least a 3.65 with my spring quarter grades, should I wait till after grades come in to submit? Grades are released by June 27. That will delay verification, for sure. Is it a risk worth taking for the GPA improvement?

 

[Goro]

Thank you so much for your reply! I have a question. I will need to work extremely hard for this; if I can push both senior year cGPA and sGPA to at least a 3.65 with my spring quarter grades, should I wait till after grades come in to submit? Grades are released by June 27. That will delay verification, for sure. Is it a risk worth taking for the GPA improvement?

That will be fine. Apps aren't processed in order of receipt, either

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I read your WAMC from last year.

...

I agree. I don't really see this catastrophic GPA drop that you (OP) are seeing. Given your situation with caregiving, I would have encouraged you to pause your studies to focus on your parents, but you still kept your head afloat.

And that said, you don't get bonus points. Your situation may make some of us pause if you are ready for full-time studies as a medical student. Your father's vision loss will likely not come back (unless your doctors say so), so what is going to happen with him? I hope your mother's tumor has been fully resected and she fully recovers, but there are never guarantees. Med school admissions doesn't work like undergrad... it's not so easy to be near home or pick where you want to be without a lot of networking and mentoring. Does this exist with you?

To your side, have you continued with your local food bank? Who else has helped your family get social resources needed to help your parents and you (applying for disability for your father)? There's a LOT to do, and I presume this last year has been full of follow-ups.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Thank you so much for your reply! I have a question. I will need to work extremely hard for this; if I can push both senior year cGPA and sGPA to at least a 3.65 with my spring quarter grades, should I wait till after grades come in to submit? Grades are released by June 27. That will delay verification, for sure. Is it a risk worth taking for the GPA improvement?

June 27 is OK. if your grades are going to be that good, wait.

 

[gdub4ever]

I agree. I don't really see this catastrophic GPA drop that you (OP) are seeing. Given your situation with caregiving, I would have encouraged you to pause your studies to focus on your parents, but you still kept your head afloat.

And that said, you don't get bonus points. Your situation may make some of us pause if you are ready for full-time studies as a medical student. Your father's vision loss will likely not come back (unless your doctors say so), so what is going to happen with him? I hope your mother's tumor has been fully resected and she fully recovers, but there are never guarantees. Med school admissions doesn't work like undergrad... it's not so easy to be near home or pick where you want to be without a lot of networking and mentoring. Does this exist with you?

To your side, have you continued with your local food bank? Who else has helped your family get social resources needed to help your parents and you (applying for disability for your father)? There's a LOT to do, and I presume this last year has been full of follow-ups.

Thank you for your thoughts. While I do have some networking that can allow me to attend a local medical school, I understand that the likelihood of admission is super low. I am talking this through with my parents, as well; I may need to move out of state for medical school and cannot fulfill family responsibilities at the same time. You are right when it comes to social resources. Working on that right now as I finish senior year!

As others have commented, June 27 submission is OK. I will try my best to keep the grades high and shall see what happens.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to WAMC

cGPA/sGPA
freshman: 3.80/3.66
sophomore: 3.87/3.81
junior: 3.68/3.61
senior (assuming I get all As in next 18 credits for winter quarter): 3.59/3.53

cumulatives with that assumption: 3.73 cGPa, 3.65 sGPA

Along similar feedback from others, I have to challenge this assumption--if you get a 4.0 on 18 credits in the spring and would still wind up with <3.6 for the year, that means in the semester you're currently completing you have gotten <3.2. What is going to magically change from this semester to next semester that will allow you to perform at a 4.0 level in the difficult courses that you have previously been struggling in?

I am hoping to apply this cycle. My MCAT score is 523, but it was my third attempt; my previous scores were sub-500. I believe my overall application is strong except for these two metrics and a low downward trend. I have a WAMC on my account if that will help anyone.

My grades dipped junior year spring quarter after my mom had a brain tumor and my dad lost his vision to diabetes; I am their full-time caretaker. I made the mistake of taking the MCAT 2x in this time since I had already spent months studying and believed I could still do well.

Classes are getting harder and I am trying my absolute best to succeed but it does not seem enough. Do I have a chance of getting into any CA (MD or DO) school? If I add in-progress spring quarter classes on my application before grades come out, will MD schools understand my senior GPA can improve?

For DO schools since their cycles are longer, I can wait to apply until after spring quarter grades come in so my GPA is better. Any other advice is highly appreciated! Thank you, in advance.

As others have said, schools will understand that your GPA can improve--however, given your history of taking the MCAT twice when you weren't ready and now your downward GPA, they are also going to understand that you are at significant risk of being overwhelmed by your circumstances outside of medical school. You have shown you feel you cannot say no to the demands of being your parents' caretakers, and that you can't perform at the level that you would be expected to while being their caretakers.

Bottom line--you're trying to do too much, and it's hurting you academically. Who else can potentially help your parents? If the answer is nobody, then can you take an LOA for the spring semester and try to graduate in December or next May? I understand you want to hurry up, graduate, and move onto medical school... but I'm worried the coming spring semester is a freight train that's heading straight for you and will leave you in a much worse hole than you're already in.