<p>Is this a bunch of bogus? I have a 2.9 and 39 MCAT yet it gives me highly competitive results at decent medical schools (Case Western, Albert Einstein). </p>
<p>I know from MDapplicants that low-GPA applicants get shafted, and that most admits have something unique (IE: post-bacc, masters, etc). I just want to know my chances at this point (I'm a sophomore) assuming in a worse case I end up with a 3.0 or something close.</p>
<p>a 2.9 will hold you back in a major way! if you think you are going to end up with a 3.0 you need to do something about it immediately because that will be a huge problem when you apply to med school. </p>
<p>it also seems like your 39 on the MCAT is just you being EXTREMELY hopeful ...you realize that is like top 1% or less right? since you are a sophomore i'm assuming that isn't your actual score and you haven't taken it yet.</p>
<p>With a 2.9 GPA, your MCAT score, for all intents and purposes, is irrelevant. A 2.9 GPA is just too low to make the cut. If I'm not mistaken, the average accepted applicant now has a GPA of 3.5-3.6. Being over half a GPA point below the average is going to doom any applications you put in.</p>
<p>^ not to mention, many med schools will filter you out due to a <3.0 GPA and won't even look at your application, high MCAT or no. Not all will do this, but a lot have numbers cut-offs to reduce the number of secondaries they have to read.</p>
<p>A friend of mine just graduated with his BS and his GPA was right around 3.0 and had low MCAT scores and was accepted to medical school in Tennessee. I’m not sure about the name of the school, but if you would like the name I can find out. However, it’s never too late to work on your GPA and you may be able to retake the MCAT.</p>
<p>I am in a similar predicament. I have a 3.2 and 36 on a MCAT and had quite a few personal disasters (which caused my GPA to drop so low) such as death of a close relative, a major heart attack (and later transplant) for my brother, and I battled depression my sophomore year (therefore ending up with D’s in three of my courses which I have retaken now). Do you think I stand a chance? I am senior now but I am taking an extra year to complete courses that I ended up dropping due to depression. I am not even worried about getting into top medical schools- at this point, I will take whatever it is that gives me an opportunity in USA. If not, I am going to go to Carribean and just end up being a family practioner but I would love to get into an American medical school so that I can at least have a chance at my dream of being a cardiologist, however unrealistic that may seem now due to my grades.</p>
<p>Miranda- whatever the reasons, no matter how valid, it seems like it is just an excuse in the eyes of adcoms. If you read SDN you will see that person after person with a lower than ideal GPA posts a litany of valid reasons and the hope that they will raise with a 4.0 in their remaining time. Some can do that, some cannot, but I think it a waste of time to explain why. I don’t think they care why it happened, but that it did.</p>
<p>With your MCAT you should get in somewhere, even if it is DO. A lot depends on your state and your ECs. Of course, move ahead with the classes and get As if you can, apply and if you are not successful, perhaps a grad school year to prove you have the focus together.</p>
<p>Life is really a series of one distracting issue after another- car troubles, money troubles, family issues, health issues, pet issues. The med school people want to see that you can function at the top of your game despite these issues, show them you can</p>
<p>2.9 with 39 means only one thing - you did not work in your classes. If you did put a little effort, you would have 4.0. That is how everybody will look at it, including adcoms.</p>
<p>I had higher than 39 with less than a 4.0, and I put in at least a little effort. But whatever; that post is two years old.</p>
<p>As for the actual thread happening here, I think Miranda’s worrying a little too much. 3.2 is bad, but it’s not catastrophic. Bring it up, write good essays, apply early and broadly. I’d be surprised if nobody bit.</p>
<p>LOL, so if you don’t have a 4.0, and really high mcat scores that means that you didn’t try at all? ***? That is NOT how everybody will look at it, ESPECIALLY adcoms. </p>
<p>I have known plenty of people with 36+ on their mcats who worked hard in college, but didn’t have a 4.0. They had 3.8s which is still considered a respectable gpa.</p>
<p>"LOL, so if you don’t have a 4.0, and really high mcat scores that means that you didn’t try at all? ***? "</p>
<p>-You took it out of contest. Yes, I meant for the person with 39, GPA=2.9 is an indication of no effort in classes. For person with 27, GPA=2.9 would mean something entirely different.</p>
<p>I will remind readers that a 2.9 is roughly one-third B-'s and two-thirds B’s. Perhaps the schools with which Miami is familiar require no work to achieve such grades, but most of the schools that collegeconfidential focuses on require at least moderate work to get B’s. Even for very smart students.</p>
<p>Took it out of contest, huh? I see that 4.0 got you really far, MiamiDAP. </p>
<p>So I’m going to perk this thread up a little because everyone’s gloom and doom. You don’t need to be perfect to get into med school. 3.2 is kind of low (depending where you’re going to college, of course), yes, but 36 is a great MCAT score, it’s over 90 percentile, and there are ways to get their attention from among the rest. LIKE… why don’t you try early decision? It’s usually a little less competitive, and gives you the chance to try twice without wasting a year. Some schools will allow you to set up an interview with the Admissions Dean before you even consider applying, so that gives you face time. At their core, admins want to see that you’re passionate, sure, and committed to the mission of the school they represent. If you can show them that before you show them the numbers, then suddenly they won’t look so harshly on that 3.2 because they’ll know they have a competent, dedicated individual. So don’t let what anybody else says discourage you from your dream. </p>
<p>And if applying early doesn’t work, DO is a great option. You learn everything you do in an allopathic school and then some. I mean, maybe you won’t end up Chief of Neurosurgery at Columbia Pres but you’ll be practicing alongside MDs and other DOs who, in the end, got the same job you did.</p>
<p>Early Decision is never a good idea for medical school admissions. If I am remember correctly, when you ED at a med school you can’t send out apps to other schools until your ED decision is released. Since med schools use rolling admissions, ED at one medical school will hinder your chances at other schools. As a result, the cost associated with ED at a particular medical school are far greater than any of its benefits. Its best to get all your apps out to ALL your medical schools right when schools start accepting apps.</p>
<p>Unless you are a URM the lowest GPA you can have and still have a realistic chance of being accepted to medical school is 3.4 and that would be with an MCAT score of at least 30.</p>