So I’ve been after it pretty hard lately trying to get everything sorted out to be ready to apply in time for this cycle and be “competitive” and although I’ve done everything on my list that I wanted to do up until this point I don’t think my numbers are good enough to get me into anywhere. It’s the same old story… classes from 10 years ago coming back to haunt me
Here’s where I am:
-I’m a 28 year old CPA transitioning into medicine
-Graduated from a UC school with a degree in Business Economics with a 3.0 GPA but 5 F’s and 2 D’s early on in my academic career brings my cGPA to a 2.9 and my BCPM GPA is 3.35 even after factoring in my postbacc work which is as good as I can possibly do
-My Postbacc GPA is 3.92
-All med school pre-reqs are A’s (chem,orgo,bio,physics - 4.0)
-I took the MCAT on May 24th. I was averaging 36 on practice exams but I feel like the real deal blindsided me… Hopefully I’m somewhere near my average but I wouldn’t be surprised with ANY score I get… I’ll find out soon enough
-Currently volunteering at a hospital in a structured internship (CCE program if anyone is familiar) and have 100 hours under my belt so far and I can rack them up before I submit if it will help
-Good LOR’s
-No research (ugh)
2 years of work experience in public accounting and 3 years as a financial manager of a medically oriented small business working as a CPA
I really thought that with all the A’s I was getting in my postbacc work I would AT LEAST be above a 3.0 at this point but after putting my numbers into the AMCAS GPA calculator spreadsheet I was devastated to see I haven’t even broken a 3. The classes that are really hurting me are from 10 years ago.
I calculated that if I want to bump up over 3.0 I need another 17 semester units of A’s. I can cram 17 units in the summer if it will make a big difference in my application but that will also force me to submit my app in early August when I know the importance of submitting early. Now I’m not sure whether I should just submit with my current GPA, cram a bunch of classes to get over 3.0 and submit in August (will it even make that much of a difference?), or just to apply to DO schools… or wait a year
My AACOMAS GPA #'s are better (cGPA 3.35, sGPA 3.85). Knowing what I got on my MCAT would help out a lot but my GPA isn’t helping my cause for sure so I want to figure out what my options are
I’d say to apply now rather than delay and pad the gpa. It’s a question of you being slightly more competitive among a pool (later in the application cycle) that is even more competitive.
Don’t talk yourself out of applying! Your post-bacc gpa is very impressive! I’d apply both MD and DO and see what happens!
I'd say to apply now rather than delay and pad the gpa. It's a question of you being slightly more competitive among a pool (later in the application cycle) that is even more competitive.
Don't talk yourself out of applying! Your post-bacc gpa is very impressive! I'd apply both MD and DO and see what happens!
Kate
I think you bring up a good point that the pool later on will be much larger and already more competitive than I can hope to become in that amount of time but DNelson articulated my concern about being automatically filtered out before my application is even looked at because I lost the numbers game.
I'm sure that if schools are willing to look at my application I can at least get some notice for my post-bacc work but I'm not very confident that they will be willing to even look at me with my GPA.
I really don't want to have to wait another year to apply. I'm giving up a comfortable career and a comfortable salary for this dream. My wife is a PA and she works hard to earn an income for us and my contribution has been sacrificed in order to pursue this. She is very supportive but I'm eager to get on track with a timeline so we will have an end of the road to look forward to that will give some justification to the sacrifice. That being said, I wouldn't want to make a desperate move now to save myself a year that I would regret later on.
I’m not sure it’s that desperate. Will your application be automatically filtered out at some schools --very likely yes. But I don’t think that’s a global problem. Don’t see the problem with applying now AND holding doing further courses in reserve. In fact, since glide year is involved, you might as plan on taking additional courses anyway. Then if you HAVE to reapply you are already working on it.
I'm not sure it's that desperate. Will your application be automatically filtered out at some schools --very likely yes. But I don't think that's a global problem. Don't see the problem with applying now AND holding doing further courses in reserve. In fact, since glide year is involved, you might as plan on taking additional courses anyway. Then if you HAVE to reapply you are already working on it.
Kate
Thanks Kate. I'm definitely planning on continuing to enroll and complete more course work regardless of the outcome of this application cycle. I plan on taking anatomy and physio over the course of the year and at a minimum I plan on now taking enough courses to overcome the 3.0 threshold over the course of the year. It seems like it is not worth it for me to withhold my application until I have padded my GPA slightly versus applying early so I think I will complete and submit my app as early as possible and just keep taking classes and hope for the best.
You might find some luck by calling and/or writing schools that automatically reject you (likely based on cum GPA) and asking them to re-eval your application. I have heard of a few people doing this with some success.
I was in a similar situation when I started post-bacc classes. From what I gathered, it seemed like some DO schools filtered out at 2.75, not 3.0 (where many MD schools draw the line).
It seems as if you’ll have a nice upward trend, and if you’re even within 5 points of your practice scores on the MCAT, you’ll be in ok shape for DO.
You have some GREAT numbers after you figured out what you wanted in life. Apply as soon as you can, MD and DO.
Don’t worry about schools filtering your GPA. You have to do some leg work. Don’t let computers decide your fate. Figure out the schools that you want to go to and start making some phone calls.
You:
“Hi, my name is _______. I recently submitted my application and had a question I was hoping you could help me with.”
(VERY IMPORTANT - ASK FOR HELP!)
Them:
“Sure, what is it?”
You:
“I’m a nontraditional student, applying to medical school as a second career. I recently completed my postbacc with a 3.92 GPA with all A’s in the pre-req science courses. I’m worried that although I did well, when combined with my prior, unfocused, grades, my GPA might cause your system to skip my application for review. If there is any possibility to manually grab my application for review I would greatly appreciate it. I am very excited about the possiblity of attending SCHOOL NAME.”
This simple rehearsed script discussing how you would like the admissions comittee to take a look at your application even if their system didn’t grab it is totally feasible and not an unreasonable request. They might also tell you that your application was already pulled and is/was being reviewed and that will help put your mind at ease.
Good luck! - You might have a great career as a physician financial consultant with your background!
"I'm a nontraditional student, applying to medical school as a second career. I recently completed my postbacc with a 3.92 GPA with all A's in the pre-req science courses. I'm worried that although I did well, when combined with my prior, unfocused, grades, my GPA might cause your system to skip my application for review. If there is any possibility to manually grab my application for review I would greatly appreciate it. I am very excited about the possiblity of attending SCHOOL NAME."
I could not agree more. While I have no experience applying to med school yet, I have used this technique job hunting in the past. It was almost always well received. If the contact is friendly and receptive, I'll also usually ask if I can reach out to them directly should I have any future questions. I've been told in job interviews/offers that I was selected due to that type of enthusiasm.
