Hi guys,
I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all this and would appreciate any pointers (or encouragement!) you might have to offer.
Do you know of any sites that would help calculate various GPA elements? I have an undergrad degree, a master’s, and I have yet to do most of the prerequisites due to my non-science bachelor’s. I’m not sure how to weight each element, considering the various lengths of time associated.
My undergrad GPA would not get me in on its own, but my graduate GPA was a vast improvement (3.94). Now that I know how to study, if I do very well in the prereqs (3.7+) and take some upper-level sciences to further buttress it, I think I just might have a shot. That’s a big maybe. Also, what’s the recommended number of clinical volunteer hours? I should have 400-500 in the ER by the time I apply - is that reasonable?
However, I want to be as practical as possible, and I’m worried about sacrificing as much as I’m prepared to sacrifice - at my age (35) it feels like even more somehow - and then finding my grades are still inadequate.
Thanks so much! I appreciate your time.
Lupe,
If you use the search function on this forum you’ll probably find lots of posts dealing with GPA and how it’s calculated.
In general, keeping it short, undergrad GPA counts more than grad school grades; scienecs count more than non-sciences. Admission people ususally notice and appreciate when someone improved significantly and ‘newer’ grades are better than the ‘older’ grades. So try to do best you can in your prerequistes and give it a shot!
As far as volunteering goes…lots of people have far less volunteering hours than you will have and get into the med school. Remeber…they judge you a whole person!!!
Hope this helps,
Kasia
AMCAS will calculate your grades by BCPM, all others, and overall, and also separate the calculations by each year of undergrad, masters degree, and post-bacc.
AMCAS does not actually “weight” the classes. I have heard that adcoms tend not to weigh Master’s classes very heavily, unless it is a science type degree.
Thanks for your replies! Great info. After posting I went back a couple of years through the forum, and found a lot of people in the same situation. The undergrad GPA issue seems to be a recurring theme, and it’s good to know there are others facing these challenges too. I have a plan A and a plan B in place, and I’ll do my absolute best with what I have to work with.
Fortunately my grades indicate an upward trajectory during undergrad, which by the time I apply will be 15+ years behind me. I hope my performance in grad school and the prerequisites will show the adcoms that I (like most people on this site) would be a very different student at 39 than I would have been at 22!
Thanks again and best wishes to you both!