~2.95 GPA No MCAT, how's my gameplan?

[mtn_dew0verdose]

Good morning everyone,

I'm coming into my last semester in the spring of 2017, at this point it's looking like I'm gonna finish out with about 2.95 GPA if I make all A's and no MCAT as of yet.

Currently, I have about 140+ hours (summation of some unnecessary dual credit courses in HS, allied health courses for scrub tech certification, and changing majors) at this point, so it makes sense to me that making all A's wouldn't change my grade all that significantly.

I don't have any research, I work as a scrub tech but I mainly work for a tissue bank doing tissue procurements overnight, I have shadowed an ortho surgeon about 50hrs, and I have about 100hrs volunteering at the same place.

I understand my situation isn't all that great as far as extra curriculars go, so I plan on using 2017 to volunteer/shadow more and possibly try some research...all while working of course. By fall 2017 I wanna start studying for the MCAT so that I can take it early in the spring of 2018, after that I plan to apply to med schools and/or SMP's.

My main concern is the SMP, pretty much any program is gonna take an extra year and good chunk of change...neither of which I really care to spend. However, I would take it as a form of penance for slacking off in undergrad. I'm confident I can do well in the SMP if I choose to do it, but if everything goes well over 2017-2018 (research, volunteering, shadowing, and MCAT wise) I would like to know if I have a fighting chance for MD or DO after I do the MCAT.

Thank you very much for any and all advice!

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[Goro]

With that GPA your chances at med school are ZERO.

You have yet to demonstrate that you can survive medical school, even with a 526 MCAT score.

Take the MCAT only when 100% ready.

The fastest path for you to become a doctor will be to retake all F/D/C science coursework, do well on MCAT, and apply to DO schools.

IF you're boning for the MD degree, there are MD schools that reward reinvention. You'll need to ace all the classic pre-reqs, and ace either a post-bac (which can be DIY) or a SMP, ideally one given at a med school. Then also ace MCAT (513 or better, 33+ on the old scale).

Do not apply until you have the best possible app. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Med schools aren't going anywhere, and, in fact, by the time you apply, several more schools will have opened their doors.

Good morning everyone,

I'm coming into my last semester in the spring of 2017, at this point it's looking like I'm gonna finish out with about 2.95 GPA if I make all A's and no MCAT as of yet.

Currently, I have about 140+ hours (summation of some unnecessary dual credit courses in HS, allied health courses for scrub tech certification, and changing majors) at this point, so it makes sense to me that making all A's wouldn't change my grade all that significantly.

I don't have any research, I work as a scrub tech but I mainly work for a tissue bank doing tissue procurements overnight, I have shadowed an ortho surgeon about 50hrs, and I have about 100hrs volunteering at the same place.

I understand my situation isn't all that great as far as extra curriculars go, so I plan on using 2017 to volunteer/shadow more and possibly try some research...all while working of course. By fall 2017 I wanna start studying for the MCAT so that I can take it early in the spring of 2018, after that I plan to apply to med schools and/or SMP's.

My main concern is the SMP, pretty much any program is gonna take an extra year and good chunk of change...neither of which I really care to spend. However, I would take it as a form of penance for slacking off in undergrad. I'm confident I can do well in the SMP if I choose to do it, but if everything goes well over 2017-2018 (research, volunteering, shadowing, and MCAT wise) I would like to know if I have a fighting chance for MD or DO after I do the MCAT.

Thank you very much for any and all advice!

 

[mtn_dew0verdose]

With that GPA your chances at med school are ZERO.

You have yet to demonstrate that you can survive medical school, even with a 526 MCAT score.

Take the MCAT only when 100% ready.

The fastest path for you to become a doctor will be to retake all F/D/C science coursework, do well on MCAT, and apply to DO schools.

IF you're boning for the MD degree, there are MD schools that reward reinvention. You'll need to ace all the classic pre-reqs, and ace either a post-bac (which can be DIY) or a SMP, ideally one given at a med school. Then also ace MCAT (513 or better, 33+ on the old scale).

Do not apply until you have the best possible app. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Med schools aren't going anywhere, and, in fact, by the time you apply, several more schools will have opened their doors.

Just so I have a clear idea of my situation, I got a 3.37 science GPA and have never had anything less than a B in that particular set of coursework. Knowing that, I guess it's okay to assume that the "fast track to DO school" option isn't gonna work ? I doubt a DIY post-bacc would work either just cause of the sheer amount of hours I have, my overall GPA couldn't raise all that much. So essentially, my only option left is to knock out a SMP provided by a medical school and kill the MCAT?

 

[Goro]

In this case, just retake any F/D/C science coursework and take any other courses that will get your cGPA over 3.0. The higher, the better.

Just so I have a clear idea of my situation, I got a 3.37 science GPA and have never had anything less than a B in that particular set of coursework. Knowing that, I guess it's okay to assume that the "fast track to DO school" option isn't gonna work ? I doubt a DIY post-bacc would work either just cause of the sheer amount of hours I have, my overall GPA couldn't raise all that much. So essentially, my only option left is to knock out a SMP provided by a medical school and kill the MCAT?