Is GPA padding useless in my situation?

[Zzan999]

Long story short, I graduated last year from a UC school. Had a 3.2 at JC, then transferred and graduated from uni w/ a 3.86 in Biology. The upward trend only brought up my cGPA to a 3.5 and sGPA to a 3.4

The OCD in me wants to take a bunch of online science classes at my JC till both GPA's reach 3.6. I would have to take 13 classes in total.

Is this a complete waste of time? Should I just focus on other areas of my app?

I'm a 1st generation Mexican. Here are my EC's

Research:
- 17 months of research(no pub, strong Letter of rec). 3 month internship before entering college (1 poster)
Employment:
- 2 years of working at various jobs such as taco bell, CVS, Mcdonald's
- 1 year of tutoring science at my community college
- 1 year of tutoring Kids in math and english
Non-clinical:
- 100 hours foodbank
- 50 hours American cancer society
- 30 hrs at a warehouse that donates medical supplies
Clinical volunteering:
- 150 hours hospital volunteering
- 100 hours at a free clinic that helps underserved mexicans
Shadowing:
- 100 hours across a few specialties. Spent 35 hours in ortho which is where I got my physician LOR from

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[DocJanItor]

Congrats, your GPA and your ECs are impressive. As for raising your GPA, I wouldn't risk it. 13 classes would take a minimum of 3 semesters, and there's always the chance that you wouldn't get straight A's.

You didn't mention an MCAT score, so it would probably be best to focus on that. As a Hispanic applicant, you should look at this chart https://www.aamc.org/download/321512/data/factstablea24-1.pdf

From that you can see that getting a 30+ (510+ ish) on the MCAT correlates to a 75% acceptance rate, which rises with each band increase. Studying effectively for 3 months and killing the MCAT is arguably a better use of time than taking 3 semesters of courses for the same effect (and then you STILL have to take the MCAT).

 

[holdthemayo]

It looks like you have a pretty convincing upward trend. I agree with the Janitor, a focused 3 months of study for the MCAT to get a solid score is your best use of time.

Good luck!

 

[aformerstudent]

Doctors have to make good decisions. You are not thinking like a doctor. That's the bigger issue.

 

[DocJanItor]

He or she isn't a doctor yet. That's why wet have medical school, to teach someone to think like a doctor.

 

[aformerstudent]

He or she isn't a doctor yet. That's why wet have medical school, to teach someone to think like a doctor.

It's never too late to start though right?

 

[ill be a doc soon]

Dont listen to aformerstudent. Looking at his history, that guy never had anything useful to say. The dude dropped out of a caribbean medical school and he has the audacity to tell people they wont be good doctors. Give me a break.

I see nothing wrong with your judgement OP. You came here asking for advice, which already shows you're dedicated to get into medical school. That should be enough. For now, focus on getting a good MCAT score.

 

[Zzan999]

@holdthemayo @ill be a doc soon @DocJanItor Thanks guys! Will put my focus on rocking the MCAT