Nontrad: high MCAT, low gpa with upward trend?

[Astronaught]

So, my first two years of undergrad were terrible: I had a few failed classes, several Ds and Cs, in easy stuff. No excuses, was just irresponsible and didn't take anything seriously. There was other stuff going on, but it's nothing that other people haven't had to deal with.

I picked things up in the second two years, averaging about a 3.75 in my upper level coursework, and graduated with a BA in philosophy and with departmental awards. I ended up with a cGPA of 3.35, and a super low sGPA...most of my science courses were taken in the early years.

That was a while ago. Since then I've gone back to school to do another degree (in neuroscience) while I do my pre-reqs, get research experience, etc. I've been at it for three years and I've kept a 3.95 during that time. If you take my GPA averaged over the course of both degrees it's about a 3.5 now for both cGPA and sGPA. Maybe a bit lower if AMCAS isn't going to throw out the Ds/Fs that I retook (my school did).

I took the MCAT and nailed it (studied my ass off for that thing), got a 41R (14BS, 13PS 14VR).

ECs are, I guess, okay...a few hundred hours volunteering over several years in the same hospital but different departments, plenty of research experience, including a semi-independent project, in a psycholinguistics lab with a few posters (no pubs), shadowing, lots of community service-type volunteering with leadership, etc....nothing really exciting, but nothing really missing either. I'll probably be going abroad this summer, maybe doing an internship in Madrid (polishing my Spanish and working at something sort of public health related)...I'm not saving orphans or curing cancer, but it should be interesting enough to have something to talk about.

I guess my question is, when I apply, probably next year, are adcoms going to see a below average gpa, or are they going to see someone who's averaged in the 3.9 range for the last 5 years of undergrad work? I'm not the kind to be dead-set on applying to top 20 schools, but there are a few in particular I'd love to go to, only I'm not sure I want to waste my money if there's going to be some kind of GPA cutoff where my app gets thrown away before anyone even looks at it to see an upward trend. I'm not complaining by any means: I think I'll get in somewhere and am super excited about that: I just want to know what I should expect and avoid spending money on places I've got no chance getting into.

Anyone who's been in a similar situation? What's the deal here going to be?

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[FrkyBgStok]

AMCAS isn't going to throw out the retakes, AACOMAS will. What is your GPA when factoring in those Ds amd Fs. You have a high enough mcat and a very strong upward trend that you will probably be ok.

 

[Catalystik]

I guess my question is, when I apply, probably next year, are adcoms going to see a below average gpa, or are they going to see someone who's averaged in the 3.9 range for the last 5 years of undergrad work? I'm not the kind to be dead-set on applying to top 20 schools, but there are a few in particular I'd love to go to, only I'm not sure I want to waste my money if there's going to be some kind of GPA cutoff where my app gets thrown away before anyone even looks at it to see an upward trend. I'm not complaining by any means: I think I'll get in somewhere and am super excited about that: I just want to know what I should expect and avoid spending money on places I've got no chance getting into.

Let us know your AMCAS BCPM and cGPA.

Adcomms are going to see your high MCAT score and then take a closer look at your pattern of grades, appreciate the recent steep upward grade trend, and the fact that they occurred a while back. Then they'll delve further into the application.

I can't promise that top schools will give you a chance when so many with flawless academic histories are applying. But the stronger the rest of the story is, namely your ECs, LORs, PS, and interview skills, the harder it would be for those schools to turn you away. You won't know if you don't try.

I would agree that you're very likely to get in somewhere if your AMCAS GPAs are greater that 3.3, and possibly less.