Quick serious question...

Hello everyone,


My name is Joe and I have been browsing this forum for the past 2 weeks and read up on many of your discussions, and have learned quite a bit. like everyone here, I am also a returning student at the age of 30, with hopes of becoming a doctor; but what troubles me is that I have a very bad undergrad gpa; 2.616. However, my current gpa, in my post-bacc program after completing both gen chemistry courses; gen physics, and gen biology is a 3.85. If med schools were to average my science gpa with both post and undergrad, I don’t think I will meet the 3.5 min. Yet, from reading these boards, I also understand that medical schools also look at positive trends. How is this possible if the school selects candidates with calculated gpa cutoffs? How will I be able to even get an opportunity to demonstrate to them my changed perception on life with my new found efforts?


Thanks, joe

Joe - Most schools don’t have an absolute minimum cutoff (and a 3.5 minimum seems pretty high- it’s probably more like a 3.0). In any case, most of them will tell you that they look at the entire application before rejecting anybody.


The best thing to do is before you apply, do your research on the schools you think you are interested. If it makes you feel better, call the schools and ask if they have automatic cutoffs. Another alternative is applying, and if you are automaticallly rejected (i.e. they reject you the same day they cash your check), call and ask the school if they will reconsider your application. I have heard of the latter strategy being successful for a couple of people who were automatically rejected based on cum GPA.


Continue to get good grades post-bacc and do well on the MCAT, and you might be surprised how many schools you at least get interviews at. My undergrad GPA was a 2.78, and even with a nearly 4.0 in my postbacc, my cum ugrad GPA only came up to a 3.19. I received acceptances at all five schools I applied to.


Obviously, there is more to the application than grades and MCAT. ECs, LORs, and the like can all make a significant difference. Don’t give up hope. When I was applying, I worried the same thing. Even though admissions people at a couple of different schools told me they would look at my recent grades and take that into consideration, I was still holding my breath until I actually got interviews.


Good luck!

Thanks for the response. Your post was very encouraging, and it was something I needed. I plan to go ahead and get a biology degree from the post-bacc program, as I am really enjoying this material, and would at the same time give the admissions people new evidence of my change in attitude and motivation.


again, thanks for your help,


joe

  • Emergency! Said:


Continue to get good grades post-bacc and do well on the MCAT, and you might be surprised how many schools you at least get interviews at. My undergrad GPA was a 2.78, and even with a nearly 4.0 in my postbacc, my cum ugrad GPA only came up to a 3.19. I received acceptances at all five schools I applied to.



This certainly sets my mind at ease. Even though as a post-bacc my GPA is a 4.0 (so far!), my undergrad GPA was a 2.99 and it has had me worried. I know that there are other factors involved as well, but at least I know I have a chance.

I still have a quite a bit more post-bacc work to do, but I was wondering, what classes did you take for your curriculum?

I mostly just took the basics: gen chem w/ lab, bio w/lab, physics w/lab, organic w/lab. I also took college algebra (to refresh from many years ago), pre-calc and calc (not sure why - none of the schools I applied to require calculus). The only extra science courses I took were microbiology and biochemistry. I actually took micro, biochem and the last quarter of physics after submitting my application, so they didn’t factor into the decision at all.


In retrospect, I wish I had at least considered taking some other courses - molecular genetics, immunology, anatomy and physiology. Perhaps the learning curve for medical school would have been a bit lower for me had I had a broader background.

  • Joe_10 Said:
I plan to go ahead and get a biology degree from the post-bacc program, as I am really enjoying this material, and would at the same time give the admissions people new evidence of my change in attitude and motivation.



That's all you can do. I am seeing evidence that med schools are giving greater and greater consideration to students that have more "life experience". That's not to say that life experience will make up for poor grades or a low MCAT, but if you show that you can hack the med school curriculum and via a strong post-bacc and MCAT, I think it certainly makes your application more interesting.