<p>Ok, let me break it down for you. I am currently a Junior in college with a 2.9 GPA. I recently made up my mind that I want to become a doctor. I haven't taken the MCAT yet because I am not prepared for it. Neither have I done any research or community service. My plan until my graduation next year is this; take the MCAT my senior year, do community service starting now until next year when I graduate, and also do 1 year of research next year also. The thing is, I want to apply the year after my graduation because by then I will have enough hours of community service, 1 year of research, and also a boosted GPA to about 3.3. What do you guys think of this idea? What's the best thing I should do?</p>
<p>If you haven’t done any CS or research, how do you know you want to be a doctor? Just asking because i’m sure you’ll be asked that question by med school adcoms</p>
<p>Because neither community service (most of it, anyway) nor research really provide motivation for wanting to be a doctor. Clinical experience (which includes volunteering in the area) and shadowing, yes, but the OP hasn’t specified whether he has these things or not.</p>
<p>One year of community service and one year of research are not going to make up for a GPA of 3.3, unless you’ve got some other hook going for you.</p>
<p>That’s for allopathic schools, though. Are you looking into DO schools?</p>
<p>Raising a GPA from 2.9 —> 3.3 in one year that late in your college career is basically impossible. You should look into post-bacc or SMP programs after you get your MCAT score back, or perhaps some newer or lower-ranked DO schools assuming you have good medical ECs.</p>