Hello,
I am a non-traditional student with a bachelors and a cumulative GPA of 2.7. I started to do a DIY post-bacc and I have completed all the Med School pre-reqs, including Biochem, but not the recommended extras like Genetics and Microbiology. For the post-bacc I have completed 32 credits hours with a 3.9 GPA, that brings my cumulative GPA to 2.90. To bring that up to 3.0 for the 2021 application cycle I would need to take 14 credit during the fall and 14 credits during the spring. I do have a full time job that I cannot quit until I get accepted into Medical school, that means if I take 14 credits per semester that would leave very little time to study for the MCAT.
My question: what would be a better use of my limited free time, take fewer credits per semester and study for the MCAT, potentially getting a higher score and apply to medical school with a 2.9ish GPA or aim for the 3.0 GPA and a potentially lower MCAT score?
Regards
Hi!
I am in the same boat as you (especially GPA) so these are things I also question myself on. I am currently taking introductory classes for Bio and Chem as well as pre-calculus at a CC since it has been over 10 years since taking those classes in high school so I gotta make sure my brain is ready for the pre-med reqs lol. Do you mind sharing how you did a DIY post bacc? I am not sure which I should do (formal/DIY) and money is always a huge concern. I wanted to take the pre-reqs at a university, is that what you did?
When I looked at the curriculum for formal post-baccs I calculated my GPA to be 3.5 at most if I were to get a 4.0 on post bacc classes so that isn’t that great of a GPA either. To answer your question (in my opinion as someone in the same boat as you), I think you should aim for the higher GPA. More so because 3.0 is typically the cut off to so many graduate programs these days.
Hey,
So there are no formal post-bacc programs near my area so my only choice was DIY. I did look into SMPs but decided I will reserve that if I don’t get into medical school next cycle, SMPs are very expensive! Most formal post-bacc looked to be more expensive while having the same curriculum as a DIY. I have both University and a Community College near my place, both costing the same for in-state students. I decided to take all my classes at University since the consensus is that it looks “better”. Since both the CC and Uni are within 5 minutes of my house I think I would have had a hard time explaining to admission committees why I went to CC instead of Uni.
To your next point.
I took these classes as my DIY:
I did not take inorganic chem because I already took those for my B.S 10 years ago.
Physics 1 + Lab
Physics 2 + Lab
Organic Chem 1 + Lab
Organic Chem 2 + Lab
Biology 1 + Lab
Biology 2 + Lab
Biochemistry + Lab
Instead of retaking intro to bio, chem and physics I just bought a few books and used youtube and khan academy to relearn the material. But just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it will work for you, I did struggle a lot with Orgo 1 but Orgo 2 was easier. The math in physics did take some getting used to as well.
In your case if your GPA is already over 3.0 before the post-bacc. I think you should concentrate on acing your pre-req classes and taking the MCAT. Then just take it from there.
Finally, I think I will take Dr. Gray advice and follow Dr. Wright 45 credit rule and make the MCAT my top priority. I am taking 8 credit this semester, Genetics and Microbiology, that puts me at 40 credits. I would need to take 2 more classes between spring and summer 1, that would put me at around 46 credits.
Regards,
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