Would you do an SMP in my situation?

[Topizungochico]

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Hi all,

Wondering if I should go through with an SMP I’m accepted to. I’ll give some context below but the gist of the situation is given in the graph below, and I presently plan to apply this coming cycle with a 3.34 cGPA and 3.17 sGPA.

I started college at a local state university in 2015 and simply had the wrong priorities. Not focused on my academics, especially my junior year and the first semester of senior year (fall 2018). At the end of Fall 2018, I knew it was pointless to try and slog through another semester for a small chance of graduating. I dropped out, started working full time in various clinical settings, and returned to school to finish my degree and my senior year over 27 credits of classes in 2021. Did better, but graduated with a paltry GPA (3.17uGPA, 3.01 s GPA on AMCAS)

Continued adding to my work and EC experiences, then took the MCAT April 2025, got a 518.

After the MCAT, I took 19 credits (15 BCPM) at a small local university, got a 4.0 — just finished this program. I know the timeline can be confusing so I attached a pic of my trend, accounting for my pre and post drop out stats senior year.

What do you think about doing an SMP in my situation? I am accepted to an SMP that will have access to grad-plus loans, since I can opt to do a summer start at the end of May. This is the only opportunity to get an SMP funded by federal loans, and I do not intend on taking private loans out for one, so I either do an SMP now, or I dont do one at all. I also largely prefer MD schools but will apply to a select # of DO schools too b/c I know beggars cannot be choosers… Thoughts? I am so unsure on whether to commit to the SMP in my situation, especially since I have 2 weeks to decide before summer classes start (which I will need to get grandfathered in to grad PLUS federal loans)

The other thing i was considering for my glide year is Americorps. There are a couple full time positions for service in areas nearby I’d be pretty interested in. The stipend isn’t much to live on, but I have enough in savings to cover any projected shortfalls too..

My other stats for your reference…
ORM, 8000+ clinical hours in the same orthopedic clinic where I started as a scribe and now work as a medical assistant/casting tech (very direct hands on patient care experience, have been doing this since 2022), ~500 hours of research with one publication back in 2019, 50 hours of ortho bio lab research this year (no pubs/posters), ~365 hours non clinical volunteering (food shelf, tutoring adults in ESL and reading in kids, tax prep volunteering for low income folk), ~60 hours shadowing, TA for micro class this last semester (spring 26) and for a bioinformatics lab back in 2019, student board and student senate for my college back in 2017-2019.

Thanks for your time!!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If there's a linkage to your SMP, do the SMP if you have no issue going to the school(s). Understand that you may not be able to (probably won't) get PLUS loans for your time in medical school, so think ahead about COA and debt. If the SMP has already accepted you, they think they can help you get into medical school if you do your part.

If you needed more service hours, arguably, you should have done that before you started your SMP. But if you start your SMP, ask if you can still do some volunteering in service orientation activities, but understand your grades will dictate if you get an interview and subsequently an offer. The courses are your job, and you cannot fail or your won't get into medical school. High risk, high reward.

 

[polymerization]

In your case, I would not. I would apply very conservatively with a minimal MD list of schools that reward reinvention (see Goro's list) and apply broadly DO outright. You will benefit from an early interview-to-admission window (DO schools don't edge you the entire year in anticipation for a response), and even if MD doesn't pan out, at least you didn't waste your time chasing a moving goalpost.

I want to level with you. You have a B average GPA, a 90+ percentile MCAT, and 4+ years of work, sometimes in more than one job. How much more of your life do you want to sacrifice at the altar of the MD?

I can tell you that a prestige MD acceptance is probably theoretically possible for most students given enough time and effort. I can see you already looking to do Americorps and a master's and who knows what else will occur to you to optimize your chances. I did it and gave 10+ years. I am now at the point where I can look back and appreciate what that cost me. It was not worth it. It physically pains me to type it, but it's how I really feel.

But when I was making the decision all that time ago, I read comments like this and said "well, easy for you to say, you're going to Renowned University School of Medicine and I'm literally nobody."

I'm telling you, the people getting into these schools are no better than you are. You are not evolved or sanctified simply for voluntarily exploiting yourself in service roles endlessly, and you are reaching a point where "more hours = better" logic plateaus as an application strategy. There is something so unfair about "paying your dues" in this system that does not guarantee an outcome.

It is in some ways logical to imagine that if you just sacrifice more and for longer than everyone else, you will eventually get Harvard (or whatever your dream school might be), but the reality is that you might end up at a school for which the average matriculant is not nearly as impressive. Some of my classmates are traditional students with 200 hours in every activity category, vs my tens of thousands. And once you get in, we're all "back at zero" for residency, so to speak. There's something morally/existentially shocking about that.

My prediction is that the financial aspect is only going to complicate things further than the obvious by creating more and more students like me for whom medicine very quickly becomes the only way out of lifelong financial precarity. I made it in and I am still stressed because I cannot imagine paying down these truly exasperating private loans, even as a pediatrician or family physician. I'm sure you know what that means: even if you do make it in, you get to perform this song and dance again, now with New and Improved Trials and Tribulations™ because you will be competing against all of the crazy people that were successful alongside you.

All of the people I looked down on for going to DO school way back when became physicians and surgeons while I worked as an MA. And yeah, I'm going to MD school now, but they're making attending salaries and starting families while I'm eating ramen in my shoebox apartment in my 30s.

Ask yourself if this is really the life you envisioned.

 

[Topizungochico]

In your case, I would not. I would apply very conservatively with a minimal MD list of schools that reward reinvention (see Goro's list) and apply broadly DO outright. You will benefit from an early interview-to-admission window (DO schools don't edge you the entire year in anticipation for a response), and even if MD doesn't pan out, at least you didn't waste your time chasing a moving goalpost.

I want to level with you. You have a B average GPA, a 90+ percentile MCAT, and 4+ years of work, sometimes in more than one job. How much more of your life do you want to sacrifice at the altar of the MD?

I can tell you that a prestige MD acceptance is probably theoretically possible for most students given enough time and effort. I can see you already looking to do Americorps and a master's and who knows what else will occur to you to optimize your chances. I did it and gave 10+ years. I am now at the point where I can look back and appreciate what that cost me. It was not worth it. It physically pains me to type it, but it's how I really feel.

But when I was making the decision all that time ago, I read comments like this and said "well, easy for you to say, you're going to Renowned University School of Medicine and I'm literally nobody."

I'm telling you, the people getting into these schools are no better than you are. You are not evolved or sanctified simply for voluntarily exploiting yourself in service roles endlessly, and you are reaching a point where "more hours = better" logic plateaus as an application strategy. There is something so unfair about "paying your dues" in this system that does not guarantee an outcome.

It is in some ways logical to imagine that if you just sacrifice more and for longer than everyone else, you will eventually get Harvard (or whatever your dream school might be), but the reality is that you might end up at a school for which the average matriculant is not nearly as impressive. Some of my classmates are traditional students with 200 hours in every activity category, vs my tens of thousands. And once you get in, we're all "back at zero" for residency, so to speak. There's something morally/existentially shocking about that.

My prediction is that the financial aspect is only going to complicate things further than the obvious by creating more and more students like me for whom medicine very quickly becomes the only way out of lifelong financial precarity. I made it in and I am still stressed because I cannot imagine paying down these truly exasperating private loans, even as a pediatrician or family physician. I'm sure you know what that means: even if you do make it in, you get to perform this song and dance again, now with New and Improved Trials and Tribulations™ because you will be competing against all of the crazy people that were successful alongside you.

All of the people I looked down on for going to DO school way back when became physicians and surgeons while I worked as an MA. And yeah, I'm going to MD school now, but they're making attending salaries and starting families while I'm eating ramen in my shoebox apartment in my 30s.

Ask yourself if this is really the life you envisioned.

Thank you so much for your comment. This resonated deeply with me as I am 27 already too. I greatly appreciate your advice.

@Goro, I’ve looked over your reinvention advice - in my case, do you think going though with an SMP in my situation for my glide year is overkill?

 

[Goro]

I agree with poly. You have a massive u-shaped GPA trend, but I think that the freshman and last year's of your academic times represent the real you, and so you should Target MD schools that reward reinvention, especially Drexel/Albany class schools.

Chances for getting into dor excellent, and you'll probably have a lot more luck with them. Send an application to my school, somewhere west of St Louis.

 

[chilly_md]

If your post bacc had new, upper division science courses instead of repeats of earlier coursework, you really do not need the SMP. There clearly has been a lot of time in between who you were in 2017/2018 and today.

 

[Topizungochico]

I agree with poly. You have a massive u-shaped GPA trend, but I think that the freshman and last year's of your academic times represent the real you, and so you should Target MD schools that reward reinvention, especially Drexel/Albany class schools.

Chances for getting into dor excellent, and you'll probably have a lot more luck with them. Send an application to my school, somewhere west of St Louis.

Thank you so much! Will do! I almost feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief with not having to take on extra debt from the SMP. And I’m very open to DO, so I’ll get to starting my AACOMAS app real shortly..

 

[Topizungochico]

If your post bacc had new, upper division science courses instead of repeats of earlier coursework, you really do not need the SMP. There clearly has been a lot of time in between who you were in 2017/2018 and today.

Yes, I didn’t repeat any courses as I was able to finish with C+ or better in all my pre reqs. Took stuff like microbiology, anatomy, physiology, and nutritional biochemistry

 

[GoSpursGo]

You asked this before and were told you didn't need an SMP. Is there a reason you think the answer would have changed?

Bottom line, you need DO schools no matter what you do and you need to be ready to accept going there. You COULD shoot for an SMP with MD-linkage, but it seems like that would be a waste of time and money when you could just get into DO now, and then you also risk not performing well in the SMP and losing your chance at DO