I have a very large disparity between my undergrad and post-bacc grades with a overall GPA still below a 3.0. I am wondering if it is worth spending the time and money for yet another semester or two despite my recent successes. I originally graduated in 2011 with a 2.63 GPA in finance but did very well career-wise until I started from scratch with a DIY post-bacc. I completed the standard 40 credits of prerequisite courses over the past year with a 3.84 GPA.
My currents stats are:
2011 Undergraduate GPA: 2.63
2017 Post-Bacc GPA: 3.84
Cumulative GPA: 2.93
Total BCPM GPA: 3.86
MCAT Score: 512
I would need to invest 12 more credits at no less than a 4.0 in order to reach the 3.0 mark. Therefore, is it worth spending the extra time and money to commit to another semester or two in order to reach a 3.0? I feel confident in the rest of my application and that I have proven my academic abilities but am concerned about the autoscreen risk. Thanks!
Congrats. Clearly, you show that you’re intelligent and can do the work. That’s a great post-bacc GPA and great MCAT score. I would look at all of the schools to which you would like to apply. Some schools have a hard cutoff on cumulative GPA, so I believe that you would be wasting your money by applying to them. That’s to say, if you have a cumulative GPA below 3.0, they won’t look at you. If one of those schools is where you want to go, then I’d simply call their admissions office and explain your situation and ask what they would advise.
But I wouldn’t hold back on applying this cycle. The work you’ve done over the last year is the best indicator of who you are and what your capabilities are. Good luck!
Damn, great job! PERSONALLY, with a great MCAT out of the way, I would take another semester just so I can avoid the 3.0 autoscreen. I would be very worried that my application wouldn’t even be seen by human eyes. This is also nuanced by your state of residency and competitiveness of the medical schools you’re applying to.
I agree with Englishprof. It would be worth a shot this coming cycle if you aren’t strapped for cash and can afford the risk. Pretty solid recency of academics and a good narrative of how you’ve changed with life that enabled you to pretty much shift 180 degrees academically, and I’d say you have a shot. If you want a safety net, take a class or two during the fall/winter semester. The downside is that a class here and there doesn’t move up your overall GPA very much.
Thanks for the boost of confidence guys. I suppose that I will apply this cycle and see what happens!
This may be a little late but I am impressed as well. I can tell you if you were interested in applying to LSU in New Orleans, LA they have a 32-hour policy. So they won’t even consider your cumulative GPA at all if you have at least 32-hours in the post-bacc. All they would see is your post-bacc GPA. I am not sure if other programs out there do the same. Good luck!
Thanks DavidA! It appears that very few schools verbalize that they have a GPA cutoff without prodding and the MSAR does not provide any info regarding this. Is there a resource that shows which schools have a cutoff and which do not? Otherwise I might just need to reach out to each school individually. Thank you!