Hey, so yea my GPA is pretty bad. I haven’t yet taken the MCATs but plan to do so next year.
Currently, I have two years of research experience. I have three publications, one of which I am a co-author of. One of my years of research experience dealt with three different cancer research labs. I am also EMT-I certified and am working as a medical scribe. I’m part of three other clubs on campus. Have worked for a health related nonprofit. Used to do crew but quit since just didn’t have enough time for it. I’m really good at interviews so I’m fine for that. But do you think my ECs will help me get into a middle tier med school even with my crappy GPA?
Where do you go to school? And where are you looking?
@studyhard13 I go to University of California, Irvine. I’m in the bio and psych majors. And I guess what are my chances of getting into middle tier medical schools? Should I just go for a Masters somewhere and then apply to medical schools?
I think going for your masters and being able to get a better GPA, then apply to med school will be your best opportunity.
Hang on now. Studyhard is still in high school, it looks like. Wait for more informed advice from knowledgeable posters like Wayoutwestmom and mom2collegekids.
@bodangles haha I guess I’m not the only one who thinks mom2collegekids knows everything lol
I answered your other thread.
ECs will not make up for a poor GPA. (Also your ECs just aren’t that exceptional. Lots of applicants have similar ECs plus 3.75 GPAs. Why would a med school pick you?)
Your chances are extremely poor. You will be auto-screened out at most med schools and a human being will never even look at your application. (First round screening is mostly done by a computer program.)
As a California resident, you have essentially a zero chance of med school admission instate. (California is the home of sky high stats!) California has way too many med applicants and way too few in-state med school seats. UCLA alone graduates more pre-meds every year than there are seats in all Cal public and private med schools. Also Cali has no in-state bias in admission so you will be competing against a national pool of applicants. CA residents need to apply widely OOS–and this makes your low GPA even a bigger problem.
A grad degree is pretty useless. Med schools screen using uGPAs and typically don’t consider grad GPAs except in a few exceptional cases. (SMPs, for example.) Adcomms know grad programs often have terrible grade inflation and so devalue grad GPAs.
SMP= Special Master’s Program. This is a 2 year long program where you essentially take the first year of med school classes, often side by side with actual med students. You will be compared to and competing against real med students for grades. Student who finish in the top 10-25% and with a GPA of 3.75+ may have some success applying to med school, but there are no guarantees. SMPS are very expensive and there is no financial aid other than loans.
Also SMPs are considered the nuclear option–don’t finish with that 3.75+ GPA and you’ve permanently destroy any chance of going to med school (MD or DO).
A SMP is your only chance if you want to attend an allopathic med school. However, right now your GPA may even be too low for most of the better SMPs (which typically accept students with GPAs in the 3.25-3.5 range.) SMPs often require a MCAT for admission.
If you’re willing to consider osteopathic med schools, you can re-take any C/D/F grades and use grade replacement to raise your GPA.
Is more than one student using this screen name?
Did you or someone else post this back in 2013:
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sparklingme
11-21-2013 at 7:43 am
Hey, so I’ve been at this 4-year private university for two years and want to transfer. So far I’m a junior in standing (credit wise) and I calculated that I have 105 quarter credits (if they transfer).
I’m afraid that all that hard work in my courses and all my credits (or some) won’t transfer over to UCSD. I contacted my own academic advisor and they said that they can’t help because apparently it’s not in their speciality. I don’t know how to tell which classes will transfer and which won’t.
Does anyone have any similar stories or what happened to them?
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The below was written in 2011…and you graduated from high school in 2012
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I'm going to be a senior in high schoolnand I would like to apply to these schools as an undergraduate.....do you think I can make it? Gpa: 3.0 Community service: 100 hours SAT: 1800 Took 4 APs Did sports sop yr and will senior yr
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In Fall of 2013, this student had junior standing. Did you just graduate from college this month??
Did your grades just tank after you transferred? In the above post, you don’t seem concerned about grades. Instead, you’re worried that your hard work won’t transfer…which suggests to me that you had good grades back then.
If this is the same student, it’s very telling that you had a 3.0 in high school…and a 3.0 in college.