How competitive are my current stats?

Alright, now that the fall semester is over and I pretty much know what my current standings are, I would like to get a very honest assessment from those that have knowledge of how likely I could get accepted to medical school with these stats:


community college gpa: 3.01


undergrad gpa: 2.61


post bacc: 3.73


practice mcat:30


The reason I am asking is because my advisor told me that because of my undergrad gpa,they most likely may not accept me because of other candidates that may have similiar gpas, but without the handicap gpa that I have. I am really deflated right now because I worked really really hard to make a comeback, and it seems like I may not be able to get in. What do you guys think?



The best is still to ask the schools you want to get into. If you can’t take more classes to improve your undergrad GPA (I don’t know if that is doable), then you should take and ace the MCAT. You can find plenty of stats on the average MCAT for matriculated students. In Dallas for instance average MCAT for the DO school is 28, average MCAT for the MD school is 35. If your GPA is under 3 then they don’t look at your application ( for the MD school, the DO school I don’t know). Now I don’t know what GPA they look at, cumul - science prereqs…


Other things may be important as well, community service, volunteering, shadowing, strong recommendation letters from top MDs who will say that you have what it takes (that’s where the MCAT is important) etc… With a good MCAT, everything else being excellent as mentioned, you may be able to get somewhere. My 2 cents…


Good luck.

You need to average your GPA out to get a real picture.


Sciences -


Total GPA -

thomasfx10- the post bacc gpa is my current science gpa.


redo it all- I have visited ut houston and ut san antonio medical school, and both couldn’t give me a re-assuring or direct answer. I showed them both my transcript of recent works and the lack luster past undergrad gpa, and pointed to the upward trends, and all they could tell me was that they were impressed in the new grades, and even said it was like looking at two completely different applicants, but they do not know until they look at the overall applicants for the year, which is why I am asking this question now because I want to know how competitive are my overall grades on the average so far, this way I can get an idea of my chances.

Joe


well if you talked to schools and didn’t say “forget about Med School”, I guess you have your chances. You have to really ace the MCAT and work on your application very hard like I said before. I believe an important part for you will be your personal statements to communicate why you think these differences in you GPAs.


You are obviously committed, but so are many applicants. Yet I believe you can put forward your strengths showing that you have corrected some past weaknesses.


Just give it a shot and again, ace the MCAT as a standardized test, it will prove how strong your science is.


Good luck, keep us posted.

redo-it-all: I am not sure if they are showing me some courtesy or not by not telling me of a “no chance” up front, but acing that mcat is not going to be easy! It is every bit as tough as it is going made to be. I didn’t under-estimate the practice version either and it was pretty tough; I can only imagine how intimidating the real one will be.


I was hoping to get some more replies to see what others’ experiences are, that may know, but I guess they are in the dark every bit as much as I am. Man, I hate this feeling of not knowing,or even having a bit of a clue about my chances. It is so much like gambling, and I am a bad gambler…

Joe


I understand your fears and frustration. Since you were able to impress them face to face, I am sure that you can still do the same when you apply. That’s why your personal statements have to be exemplary.


The MCAT is an issue for every pre-med. If you screw it, then your chances are very very low, if you do well then your chances exist.


For now, I would just forget about everything and work as hard as possible on my application. Eventually, you will make it provided that you put in the time, effort and perseverance. If you are truly passionate about Med, then you have no other options than to succeed. How and when remain for you to figure out.


Good luck man, may the force be with you!



Joe,


With the information you’ve provided I’d disagree with what you’ve been told about not being looked at. There are some things that I think would help, however. One of the most important things will be the number of post-bacc credits you’ve had and in what courses. If these are for your pre-req courses and include multiple advanced courses I think you’re setting yourself up pretty well. You may need to add in some more higher level science courses to continue to boost and prove that you have what it takes to be successful in medical school for the to take a chance on you. I cringe a little in writing this, but B’s aren’t going to cut it anymore–you need solid A’s in those courses if you want to really have a fair chance of getting a number of interviews.


Practice MCAT’s are exactly that, practice, and often don’t reflect what you will end up getting on the real exam (in either direction). Continue with solid preparation for this exam and determine why you’re missing the questions you’re missing. This means to identify whether it’s content deficiency or in how to take the exam.


Again, with the information you’ve provided, I think you’re a long way from throwing aside your dream for medical school and a career as a physician!

Without an MCAT, you can have the best GPA and it will not matter. Currently, your focus should only be on the MCAT.


Now is not the time to worry if you are competitive or not. Now is the time to focus on the MCAT. Once you have the MCAT and the score, you can then assess your competitiveness better. You can have a 4.0 GPA and 12 MCAT and you will not get into anywhere. Then again, you can have a 2.95 GPA and a 34 MCAT and get multiple admissions.


Right now, focus on the MCAT and worry about your competitiveness when you are done and get the score.



I know of current doctors that had mediocre gpa’s (let’s say 3.4) and had screaming high MCAT scores. They received multiple acceptances and into their first choices. When asked about the difference in gpa and MCAT he told them that once he learned what he had done wrong, he always remembered it. Thus, the high MCAT.


For those of us with community college or poor past gpa’s, the MCAT is critical. It may help the board to overlook where we are “lacking.”


I am sorry that you didn’t get as many replies as you wanted, but, most of us on this site are in your shoes and just trying to figure it all out. We will all have unique applications, histories, school experiences et ctera. At some point you might even see someone that you felt was more qualified, more deserving not make it into medical school. Different committee, different letter, different story, different time of day et cetera. So, to some degree you may just have to forge ahead and report back. Wishing you the best.

Kill the MCAT and then decide where to apply.

If your overall BCPM GPA is 3.73 that is an excellent GPA, especially for a non-traditional applicant. Your undergrad non-science GPA is close to meaningless, other than as an illustration of how much you have matured. As everyone has said, your main concern has to be the MCAT. A 30 on a practice MCAT is a good start, but you are going to need to put in a solid 4 months of prep to turn that into a 34+ on the actual test. Not to scare you, but the current MCATs are significantly harder than any of the practice tests. If you work on the MCAT full-time from now till May you should be able to really nail it, considering how well you’ve done in your postbacc courses. Also, you should be starting work on your PS right about now as well. And hopefully you’ll be “applying broadly” as everyone will tell you, that meant 30+ schools for me, 20+ for others.

Just for information…the national average gpa for matriculating MD students usually is about 3.6 in each gpa calculation (sci, non-sci, cum).


Cheers,


Judy

Joe,


Your stats aren’t great, but remember there is more to your application than numbers. There are students who make it with an overall GPA below 2.5, though this is rare.


Keep working on your overall package. You didn’t go into details about what you’ve done that will make you attractive to med schools. I’m not giving you any false hope, but you may still have a chance.


If you really want it, you’ll get into medical school. It may not happen right away, and you may have to keep taking classes year-round to offset less than stellar grades. But don’t lose hope.

One premed I know got a 29 on her MCAT she said NONE of the practice MCAT’s indicated that she would be anywhere near that low. So, she did not get an interview with UWSOM. They interview at 30+

Antman- the bcpm of 3.73 is my post bacc work only. It will be much lower if you facter in the undergrad and community college work from a decade ago.


Jcolwell- thanks for replying to my thread, but what do you mean by national average of 3.6? Do you mean for us nontraditinal students, where that would include our past grade calculations as well? If so I would have to take a lot more classes to bring my overall gpa to 3.6!!


Kim- You are absolutely right about the differences in the practice mcat to the real one. I was told the same thing by several students who has taken both. The real one is MUCH more difficult, but the practice mcat is pretty close to the real one too. Also, I was told according to several former mcat takers, your real score can vary from 3 to 6 points! Not sure how true this is though. So going from this theory, I could really be scoring between 24 to 27! Not to good, but it does sound pretty consistent to your experiences.


I think everyone is right, I am going to have to score a 32 or better to have a chance with even a post bacc work of 3.73. What do you all think about taking more science classes to bump my bcpm to a 3.81 or higher? Will that help out? And practice on getting a 32 on the mcat? Any chances with those assumed scores then? I do believe I can do it, but money and time is going to be a huge obsticale.

Why are you psyching yourself out already? You’ve not even taken your MCAT yet, and should be focusing on doing well on that aspect. With regard to the national avg, I don’t think there’s a distinction between trad and non-trad. The avg is composite, but note that some GPA-centric schools have a narrow band (3.7 - 4.0) while others have a wide band (3.0 - 4.0) And besides, the positive trend in your academic performance will show (to those schools that don’t employ a baseline GPA cutoff.)


It’s probably fair to say that you ain’t gonna make it into Wash U, St. Louis or the like, but all is not lost either, I would think. Take a look on MDApps – do a search for those who got an interview in a GPA range of 2.8 - 3.1 with an MCAT in the range of 28 - 33 and you’ll find quite a few profiles. It is possible – perhaps focus on the MCAT for now and let the rest happen. Well, that’s my 2 cents anyway…

  • jeffm Said:
Kill the MCAT and then decide where to apply.



^ ^ ^ And this too. Once you have all your stats and have done your research, you'll hopefully be able to decide where best to spend your application $$. Needless to say, skip Wash U.