<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I am currently a senior attending UCSD double majoring in History and Biology. I have always had aspirations to pursue a career in medicine be it as an EMT/Paramedic, oncologist nurse particular, ER physician, and the list goes on. Sounds great right?? Here is the kicker- my freshman year I allowed myself to become occupied with the party scene and spent most of my non-partying hours chasing girls (to no avail might I add). I winded up with a 2.27gpa at the end of the term. Fortunately the blackout era in my life was short lived and after contemplating what I wanted to do with my life, I jumped back on the horse on re-focused myself on achieving my goals. As I mentioned, I am currently a senior, took the MCAT last year (scored 32Q) and I have achieved a 3.7-4.0 every term since my freshman year. I completely understand that there are other factors which are weighed in the admissions process (extracurricular activities, personal statement, volunteer work etc.) however, do I stand a chance against the 16,000 other applicants with flawless GPAs and admirable MCAT scores? Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi Mr:</p>
<p>To my understanding, you're posting a chances thread. To better answer your question, we'll need the following:</p>
<p>1.) What's the overall BCPM GPA now?
2.) What will you be doing in your year off? Will there be multiple years off?
3.) What was the breakdown of your MCAT score?
4.) Have you done any research?
5.) What's your clinical experience like?
6.) Most importantly, what's your race?
7.) What schools are you willing to attend?</p>
<p>Etc.</p>
<p>If you're asking whether it's possible to be disqualified from any medical school whatsoever on GPA alone, the answer is yes, but it sounds to me on a first approximation that you wouldn't be.</p>
<p>And no, I don't know what the cutoff is, but I'm going to guess that it's in the 3.0 range.</p>
<p>PS: There are about 16,000 other kids who will get admitted to medical school (~18K). There are more than twice that many applying.</p>
<p>Hello Bluedevil-</p>
<p>Thank-you for your response. I apologize for lacking these details in my original message-</p>
<p>-I am African American
-My current BCPM GPA is 3.65 (however, due to my freshman year my cumulative GPA is 3.45)
-My MCAT breakdown is as follows- 11 Biology, 11 Verbal, 10 Physics, Q on the writing sample.
-Unfortunately, I did not undertake in any research in my undergrad studies.</p>
<p>Although I have never used it in a clinical setting, I am a certified EMT. I have volunteered approximately 150 hours in a local Hospice assisting nurses in minor care duties as well as another 100 hours at a local hospital providing administrative support to the hospital staff. Also, I have just recently begun instructing a personal development class and conducting mock interviews at a local homeless shelter. </p>
<p>I will be taking the next year off to "catch my breath" so to speak as I have been working very hard academically the past 4 years to try and compensate for my lack of progress freshman year. For as long as I can remember I have always had my heart set on attending med school at Georgetown however, with the exception of foreign schools, I would be willing to attend any school that has a duel MD/MPH program that would accept me.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Well, while you'll need to apply broadly, Georgetown's median MCAT is a 31 and their BCPM GPA median is a 3.58. So you'd be above their median numerically. Add in your race and the upward trend, and I think it should be obvious that you very much "stand a chance".</p>
<p>Of course, this is just one school, and you can never tell what any one school is going to do. So when the time comes you'll apply broadly and all that.</p>
<p>And I would recommend that you spent this year doing something at least nearly-full time. Just "catching your breath" isn't the best answer, and this is a question that's going to come up a lot. In particular, some research exposure might really put you over the top.</p>