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Hello All,
I'm new here and wanted to ask a question that I've been struggling with. I'm currently a high school senior and I've been dual enrolled since junior year. I was doing okay academically until covid hit and have struggled ever since. I've been applying to schools to go to after high school and got admitted to my top school which is a state school that also offers a BA/MD program. The BA/MD program is 3+4 and I would get a liberal arts education if admitted. The program is highly competitive and only takes 10 high school students from the state. I believe I have a really good shot at getting in since most often 4/10 people generally chosen have come from my side of the state and I match the profile of what they are looking for, a high achieving high school senior that is an underrepresented minority interested in medicine. I'm waiting for my invitation to apply and have been told that I most likely will get one. If my application is good enough I could get an interview and then an offer of admission, if my application isn't good enough then I won't get an interview and the dream dies there. I've been urged to apply once I get the invitation and I thought that this path was right for me. However, I recently have been thinking about going for the traditional route. I will have 90 credits before fall semester 2021 and I can come in as a senior to the state school and attempt to apply to more schools outside the state for medical schools. I can take the MCAT this April and go through the application cycle and would be 18 years old as an applicant and 19 when I officially begin as a first year medical student. Here are some of my stats:
Fall 2019:
Communications = A
Political Science = A
Writing I = A
College Algebra - B
World history = B
Semester cGPA = 3.63
Spring 2020:
Gen Chem I = C
Pre - Calc = B
Writing II = A
Modern American Literature = A
Geography = A
Semester cGPA = 3.25
Summer 2020:
Gen Chem II = C
Bio I = B
Calc 1 = F (had a C midterm failed final and got an F)
EC = Summer intern professional Development
Semester cGPA = 1.53
Fall 2020:
Ochem= B (my school doesn't curve)
Bio II = B
Spreadsheets = A
Medical Terminology = B
Calc I = C
Semester cGPA = 2.75
Spring 2020 (no actual grades just giving a best case scenario):
Stats = A
Genetics = A
Sociology = A
Psychology = A
Calc Based physics I = A
Directed Research (going to get in a micro - publication) = A
Semester cGPA = 4.0
Summer 2021 (I've secured spots in a few research labs still deciding between them)
Research and shadowing to get shadowing hours in (hopefully about 480 hrs by the end of the summer)
Going to take 1 English class
even if I get all A's spring semester my overall gpa would be a 3.15 do to the F I got over the summer without the F I could've had a 3.35. I've been told that I don't have a competitive gpa and would be better off putting my effort into getting into a BA/MD program since my high school gpa is much higher than my college gpa. I have a reason why I got the F though, I was doing okay in the class and had a C midterm but my laptop crashed out of the blue, couldn't afford a new one and the libraries weren't open due to covid so I couldn't find a way to get the material in since I couldn't do homework on my phone. As for the other grades, learning online is honestly not what I enjoy, I feel that at times I'm relearning how to learn and that has caused my grades to go down. I like the assurance that a BA/MD program gives, but part of me wants to give applying a chance. Would it be possible to get into med school when applying with a 3.15 gpa and a high mcat (If I get a good score >514, I've been getting 513 on practice exams)? I can pull up my gpa over next year and matriculate with a higher gpa, but as an applicant would my gpa lower my admission chances given I'm 18 during the application season? I would like to believe that I can talk and connect with others at an interview and hopefully impress, but my gpa is constantly at the back of my mind. If I get into a BA/MD program I can't graduate early and head off to medical school because I would need to follow the rules of the program and stay for the full 3 years of undergrad before moving on to the next 4 years of medical school. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Would you say it's safe to try applying and explain my grades given I would have published, researched, and had shadowing hours before interviewing, or would you try hard to land a spot on the BA/MD program? I appreciate any advice, and please be upfront with me, I won't bite I promise.
Would it be possible to get into med school when applying with a 3.15 gpa and a high mcat (If I get a good score >514, I've been getting 513 on practice exams)?
Only if you have a long stretch, like two years, of solid grades (like 3.75+).
I can pull up my gpa over next year and matriculate with a higher gpa, but as an applicant would my gpa lower my admission chances given I'm 18 during the application season? I would like to believe that I can talk and connect with others at an interview and hopefully impress, but my gpa is constantly at the back of my mind. If I get into a BA/MD program I can't graduate early and head off to medical school because I would need to follow the rules of the program and stay for the full 3 years of undergrad before moving on to the next 4 years of medical school. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Would you say it's safe to try applying and explain my grades given I would have published, researched, and had shadowing hours before interviewing, or would you try hard to land a spot on the BA/MD program? I appreciate any advice, and please be upfront with me, I won't bite I promise.
I suggest forgetting about a BA/MD program and focusing on learning how to learn. Your Spring 2021 semester projections are just that, projections, and we can't indulge magic or wishful thinking.
As online learning has been a detriment to you. I suggest that focus on getting a job and gaining some life experience until the COVID crisis is over. Med schools aren't going anywhere.
