Hi guys,
I’m brimming with questions from veterans of this process.
Many of you took the extra classes at a university. Do they add those grades to your GPA from college or do they look at each separately? I ask this because I have a 3.33 (major in philosophy) from a competitive private liberal arts college which is a little low, so I’m worried about grades if they don’t factor in the extra classes to bump up my GPA.
Also, I’ve also been thinking about whether they will just immediately reject me since I only did one internship the last semester of my senior year. I didn’t exactly do “nothing” - I greatly matured as an individual due to spending a lot of time with people whose experiences were entirely different from my own. However, I didn’t do this through any activity. Assuming that I volunteer regularly during pre-reqs and do well during my extra classes, will they overlook my college experience?
I worry because I’m only 22 and just figuring myself and my dreams out, but am riddled with fear and doubt.
Sadako,
You’re a young person with plenty of time! Stop worrying so much! ;-). A 3.3 is a fairly respectable GPA, better in fact than some of the OPMers here, at least starting out. Do well in your pre reqs, do well on the MCAT. Shadow, volunteer, etc.
But, above all…know that THIS is what you want to do. Time is on your side!
Rather than worrying about your GPA (which, as Guitardan said is not that bad) and your lack of experience, DO something about it! Do very well in your pre-reqs and on the MCAT. Take some upper-division courses in addition to the basic pre-req courses (i.e., microbio, biochem, anatomy & physiology, etc.) because med schools want to see that you can do well at these types of harder classes as well. Try and get as much volunteering and shadowing experience as you can. Make sure you develop good relationships with your profs and people where you volunteer/shadow so you can get quality letters of recommendation.
Worrying takes a lot of energy (believe me, I know), so try to put that energy where it belongs – in building a competitive application.