<p>Kamasutra is the best CC ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Interesting, im a ■■■■■ now? For what, telling the OP that even with a low GPA med school is still possible and not to consider other career options = ■■■■■■■■? Fine, I only do it once in a while, at least I don’t spend all of my free time posting on here unlike you.</p>
<p>as i mentioned, there are good schools that admit a very high % (85ish) of their SMP graduates. look into these, as well as into linkage programs. </p>
<p>i’m not sure about mom2collegekids advice. staying an additional 5 semesters or whatever could raise red flags in your application. you should talk to your premed advisor about this. </p>
<p>i agree with mcat2’s assessment about verbal’s importance–it’s what i’ve heard through my application cycle as well. </p>
<p>and i agree with the gist of what lemaitre’s saying, too. it’ll be an uphill battle, certainly. but i think that there is still a chance for you to get into an allopathic school, assuming you rock the mcat. pick up a copy of the msar to figure out where your best chances are, and don’t be afraid to apply carribean/do, too. as an aside, i think that if you had the intelligence/preparation to do well enough on the SAT to get into penn, you should be able to do the same for the mcat.</p>
<p>I thought you’d be proud kama, you seem to care so much about being the best at everything :D. </p>
<p>And I’ll have you know that I spend my free time posting on SDN too.</p>
<p>No where did I mention that I wanted to be the best at everything. I just wanted to make the point that despite what you, or anyone else says, people with low GPA’s have gotten into med schools before. Its tougher for me since im competing with other Indian pre meds, and besides me, Indian pre meds don’t have a GPA lower than a 3.7. Its just another speed bumb I have to cross.</p>
<p>My point to the OP was that you can let a low GPA, people in your life, and cynics on CC and SDN deter you from getting into med school, or you can make an effort and succeed at the end. Its not about being the best, its about achieving your dreams and if you have the drive too, you will have the ability too overcome that low GPA. Its not a death sentence like you make it out to be, and certainly not a reason to quit and pursue a career where the OP will be unhappy forever.</p>
<p>Im very jealous of your lifestyle. Your a very lucky person to spend all that free time posting.</p>
<p>*i’m not sure about mom2collegekids advice. staying an additional 5 semesters or whatever could raise red flags in your application. you should talk to your premed advisor about this. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I didn’t say to do an ADDITIONAL 5 semesters. I said do an additional 2-3 semesters. The student still has 3 semesters to do (he’s a junior). I suggested that the student stay for a 5th year senior year (not unusual these days) to raise GPA, and maybe stay an extra semester after that if needed to still raise GPA.</p>
<p>still getting used to the premed idea; D is a freshman. Does college you attend matter, ie…if you have a lower GPA from a Ivy League/top undergrad program vs. lower level college. When you all say goot MCAT score, is that a 30?</p>
<p>* I just wanted to make the point that despite what you, or anyone else says, people with low GPA’s have gotten into med schools before.*</p>
<p>Yes…but do we know the details about those people? </p>
<p>Are they African American, Hispanic, American Indian or some other URM (especially URM males)? </p>
<p>Were these people’s low grades in “non-pre-med” classes - such as Art History or World History? </p>
<p>Did they have “family connections” or some other hook, such as the military was paying?</p>
<p>Was there some other logical explanation for their lowish GPA …</p>
<p>Or maybe they had a semester with low grades because of documented illnesses.</p>
<p>I know that my sister got into a VERY competive professional program at USC despite a semester with low grades…she had medical documentation that she had an emergency kidney transplant late in that semester (with complications) and it affected her grades. </p>
<p>I just don’t think that a person can just say, “Gee, others with low GPA’s have gotten in, therefore I can, too.”</p>
<p>What is the reason for your low GPA? Is it that you just didn’t care or do you have a real reason?</p>
<p>For the most part you are misinterpreting what people have been saying. I won’t say you are completely wrong, because you have definitely drawn ire from people on here due to your tendency to judge others with the supposedly cultural beliefs that you claim to hold. I for one one don’t think that a low GPA is insurmountable. If you look back to the first post I made in this thread you will see that I offered suggestions on how to get into medical school, not one what to do other than it. What people HAVE been saying, and what I do agree with, is that some people are not cut out to be in medical school. There are people with both low and high GPAs who are not cut out for it. Wasting your life on a single goal, ignoring the enormous debt you will accumulate, is just not practical. People move on and develop other passions. They are not less of a successful human being for doing so, but you disagree.</p>
<p>I’m going to give you some advice that is very applicable to a career in medicine and for life. Don’t anchor. Blindly attaching yourself to a single idea will ultimately make you miss rarer diagnoses in medicine and miss out on life as well. No argument can sway you, because you have imparted so much weight to your conceptual anchor that in the face of a thousand facts you would still cling to your belief and deny them all. You see this as a strength, because that is part of your anchor and part of the appeal of anchoring because it is a guard against the helplessness of uncertainty. I see it as a weakness, a human weakness that we all suffer from now and then. Regardless, it is a very bad habit for a hopeful clinician.</p>
<p>@ mom: The reason for my low grades was my fear of failure that led me into a depression. Its not exactly medical, and yes a lot of people with low GPA’s are URMs. As I said, I am probably the only Indian pre med with this low a GPA, and when I am compared to other Indians it will kill because Indian pre meds don’t have GPA’s below a 3.7. I don’t know how much of my game plan will (if at all) mitigate the damage.</p>
<p>@ mmmcdowe:</p>
<p>Anchoring in life versus anchoring in a medical diagnosis are two completely different things. A medical diagnosis is a collaborative effort and the nature of the process itself leads to shifting ideas and tests until eventually a diagnosis is found. I also mentioned earlier to the OP that if he finds something else that he is passionate about and would be willing to give up medicine for than he should pursue it. I haven’t found that calling yet, and for now I can assume that I won’t in the near future. I know that I would wake up everyday filled with regret that I was too stupid to be a doctor. Im not even sure if I would be able to go see a doctor when I needed too. Ive failed repeatedly in my life and as I mentioned - Indians pre meds don’t fail. There is nothing wrong with having a goal in life that you are willing to die for. </p>
<p>I made a game plan and I know what I need to do and I am starting to climb out of my depression. I have been going to therapy (again something Indians don’t do but I chose too anyway) after listening to the advice that I got on here. I feel now that even if I achieve everything that I have in mind. The fact that im Indian with a low GPA is going to preclude me from any school that I apply too, I can’t change my race unfortunately, I would in a heartbeat if I could, I hate being Indian. But how much of red flag would it be?</p>
<p>I appreciate your high opinion on medical diagnosis, but I’m afraid humans are more imperfect than that. As far as being indian and that ruining your chances, ethnic quotas are not so rigid (theoretically they don’t exist at all) that you can’t get into medical school just because you are Indian with a low GPA. You will simply need to sell something other than high grades, just like all other low GPA applicants. I’d personally prefer a more rounded indian applicant over the stereotypical grade machine, and I think you will find that if you open yourself up other ways of making your application competitive that many adcom members will agree. There is still a certain level of academic achievement required, but it isn’t a 3.7.</p>
<p>* Does college you attend matter, ie…if you have a lower GPA from a Ivy League/top undergrad program vs. lower level college.*</p>
<p>You don’t get a pass because your lower GPA is from an Ivy. Besides, some elites have a rep for grade inflation.</p>
<p>It seems here on this forum, a good GPA seems to be at least a 30 with a balance between sections.</p>
<p>* I don’t know how much of my game plan will (if at all) mitigate the damage.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>What is your game plan?</p>
<p>And, I’m not even sure if publics are really allowed to have ethnic quotas. But, maybe I’m wrong. </p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>
Kama, IMHO, this may be a bigger problem than the one about whether you will get into a medical school or not.</p>
<p>Everything is relative. I think you know that there are many in the world (Indian or not) who would envy the opportunity you may have had in your life (e.g., some youngman in your age may need to fight for his/her day-to-day livelihood, instead of being a lucky college student supported by the parents), as well as the talent/skills you may have had or acquired.</p>
<p>It may be a good idea to count your blessings and appreciate what you have now and then. I guess it will do you good psychologically, independent of whether you succeed in getting into a medical school or not in the end. (Is it only me who think that some of your posts come out as somewhat “unhappy”?!)</p>
<p>My intention for this post is a good one (from my perspective at least, not necessarily from yours?) I do not intend to “put you down.” Hopefully, it comes out in this way.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’ve seen that “low” GPAs (3.6) can get into top-tier medical schools when candidates present sky-high MCATs and elite undergrads.</p>
<p>Kamasutra wrote:</p>
<p>“I know that I would wake up everyday filled with regret that I was too stupid to be a doctor.”</p>
<p>I have had a deep passion for Astronomy my whole life and majored in Astrophysics as an undergraduate. One of the things I learned and had to come to terms with is that although I am smart enough to be a doctor, I am not smart enough to be an astrophysicist. That is one of the major reasons I went to medical school at Drexel and got my MD and did not go into a PhD program in Astronomy or Astrophysics. I enjoy being a doctor but I think I would be even happier if I were a professional astronomer. </p>
<p>Just because you want to do something does not mean that you can do it. For any individual there are things that are attainable and there are things that are not. It is pointless and self-destructive to only be satisfied with things that are unattainable rather than make the best you can out of what is attainable.</p>
<p>@ mom: My game plan so far is to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Transfer to get an extra year in (maybe even do a summer semester or two).</p></li>
<li><p>Try to ace whatever semesters I have left.</p></li>
<li><p>Kill the MCAT.</p></li>
<li><p>Research.</p></li>
<li><p>Shadow/Volunteer for a medical non-profit/Clubs</p></li>
<li><p>Do a public health related research project in India after I graduate.</p></li>
<li><p>Maybe do a masters or a postbac (idk which one yet) after that.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And yes race does play a major role. Asians have the lowest acceptances with a low GPA.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/157598/data/table25-a-mcatgpa-grid-asian-0810.pdf.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/157598/data/table25-a-mcatgpa-grid-asian-0810.pdf.pdf</a></p>
<p>@ mcat2: That makes sense, but I can’t help but detest the competitive nature and the high standards that my culture expects me to conform too and then beat me down and make me feel like crap when I fail to achieve those.</p>
<p>@ BDM: There are GPAs lower than a 3.6, like 3.5, 3.4, 3.3 etc I think you get the picture. The GPA scale goes from 0.0-4.0 with most med applicants in the 3.6-3.8 range, but some also have GPAs in the 3.0 - 3.5 range. 3.6 isn’t even that low. Guess you learn something new everyday.</p>
<p>@ Lemaitre1: But you can still become an astrophysicist if you really wanted too and apply for a PhD, do some more research, get better GRE scores etc. If you really wanted to do something and were willing to die in order to achieve it, you will achieve it. You only make things unattainable when you decide that its unattainable.</p>
<p>You’ll notice I had it in quotes. I’ve seen 3.6’s get into WUSTL, Duke, Penn, Harvard, Hopkins, etc. Provided that they’re from really elite programs AND have really high MCATs.</p>
<p>Kamasutra,</p>
<p>I didn’t read this entire thread, but I do have a suggestion for you to make you a stronger candidate when (and if) you end up applying to medical school.</p>
<p>If there’s one thing that will ameliorate a low GPA or a low MCAT (once you’ve passed minimum thresholds, which I’d estimate to be 29ish and 3.2ish), it’s a hook. And a good one at that. Something that makes people say, “Wow. No kidding? You did that as a 20something? That’s amazing. How’d you figure it out?”</p>
<p>Opportunities to develop hooks aren’t everywhere, but I bet you’ll come across one at some point. When you find something to do that really resonates with you, do everything you can to take that something to new and impressive levels.</p>
<p>What you need to do is stop making excuses for your low GPA (it’s great you have a plan, now act on it) and pull together a whole slew of meaningful activities and experiences that will make medical schools think, “We’d be crazy not to accept this kid. Who cares if he only has a 3.3–we HAVE to have him because he’s…”</p>
<p>It’s impossible to read med school adcoms’ minds and even more impossible to predict this process, but if people you trust–mentors, advisors, physicians you shadow, etc–believe that you have something which may make adcoms think “We’d be crazy not to accept this kid. Who cares if he only has a 3.3–we HAVE to have him because he’s…” then you’re going to have a much more pleasant application cycle than you’re expecting.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, Lemaitre. I guess we know why you fell short.</p>