<p>Hello. I am approaching my junior yr. I am a Biology major, with a minor in Chemistry. I currently have 3.45. This is mainly due to my last 2 semesters of Organic Chem in which I could not seem to get past a C average in the class. This has caused some major worry for me in my goals to be a Cardiothoracic surgeon. </p>
<p>I have been strong everywhere else in the sciences & in all my other courses (A's and B's). I have a research mentor and have been working in the lab since the summer after my freshman yr (2011). I have a very strong resume, full of campus involvement and important extracurriculars. I am in my schools Honors College, on a full scholarship (tuition, room & board). The only thing that I think that I may be missing is shadowing experience, which I am currently acquiring (& will be getting during my junior yr). </p>
<p>Organic Chemistry was worth 4 credits every semester (& I took 19 & 20 hrs for each) so it really drug my gpa down from the 3.7-3.8 that I had envisioned to end with. I know that I have 2 years left in college, but this has seriously worried me about my med school admittance chances. </p>
<p>Anyway, I have being doing a ton of research in different alternatives to simply going to med school directly after graduation. I am positive that I can end my undergraduate yr with at least a 3.5/6 and the MCAT prep that I have been doing shows me that I can get at least a 30. I was wondering what my odds of getting into med school are? Also, I've always desired to go to med school somewhere in Boston, MA if that helps, though really I'm not that picky and am adaptable.)</p>
<p>In conclusion, if my gpa or MCAT somehow keeps me out of med school, what is the best option for me to focus on as a back up? SMP, postbac, or MD/PhD? (I only included the MD/PhD option because I have almost 2 years of research under my belt & may be interested in that route). </p>
<p>Any advice would be appreciated. I really desire to go straight into Med school, but I don't just want to have to settle for any program that I may get accepted to, so I would just like to know what my chances are and if I need to take some time to build my application.</p>
<p>I hope all this makes sense.</p>
<p>Matriculants into MD/PhD programs have GPAs, sGPAs and MCAT scores higher than typical MD-only applicant. I wouldn’t consider that as a “back-up” plan if your stats are not sufficient for a regular MD program.</p>
<p>If you want to be physician and your stats aren’t quite good enough for MD schools, consider SMPs, post-baccs and add DO schools to your list. DOs have the same practice options and specialty choices as MDs.</p>
<p>“Settling”? There are no “bad” US medical schools. They all teach the same fairly standardized curricula since all med students must pass the same USMLEs. Your residency options are much more dependent on your USMLE scores than what med school you attend. Get over your snobbishness.</p>
<p>I thank you for your suggestions, but I don’t feel like I was being a snob. I never said that I thought there were any bad US med schools, I just wanted to know my chances of getting in at all and what kind of back up plan would be best for me to utilize. I have a preference, but I stated that I am adaptable. & I know that I would be extremely blessed to get into any US med school anywhere in the country. </p>
<p>Thank you for your time and consideration. Just thought I should clarify. </p>
<p>Any other advice would also be very helpful because I would like to get on this asap.</p>
<p>Here’s AAMC’s grid on applicants and matriculants to US medical schools sorted by GPA and MCAT score for 2009-2011.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/270906/data/table24-mcatgpagridall0911.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/270906/data/table24-mcatgpagridall0911.pdf</a></p>
<p>With a GPA of 3.4-3.59 and MCAT 30-32, you have approximately a 53% of getting an acceptance to one US medical school. (Assuming you don’t make stupid mistakes during the application process and apply to a sufficient number of schools—typically around 20.)</p>
<p>Thank you. I’ve actually looked at that before, but clearly not with the same intent that I am now…</p>
<p>Is there any data sheet like this that shows the rate/odds of applicants getting into specific postbac, SMP, &/or DO schools?</p>
<p>You’ll need to check the data provided by individual post-baccs and SMP programs on their websites. There’s no central clearinghouse for those AFAIK.</p>
<p>AACOM has some data here on 2011 matriculants</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.aacom.org/data/applicantsmatriculants/Documents/2011-Applicants.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aacom.org/data/applicantsmatriculants/Documents/2011-Applicants.pdf</a></p>
<p>with those numbers, and md/phd program is likely not happening. 19+ units is an overload for you. Over-achieving is silly if it causes you to get bad grades. Research and shadowing is nice, but of no help if you are gonna earn C’s. A low mcat ain’t gonna help either. Graduate first, take a gap year, and study your butt off for the mcat. Apply later, if necessary. That would be a much cheaper alternative than an SMP, which is high risk and high cost.</p>
<p>The better SMP’s require a minimum of a 3.0, and a 30 mcat. Obviously, the higher the better.</p>