Running a business during college as a pre-medical student

[ethereum]

During my time as a undergrad which ended this past May, I graduated with a 2.69 uGPA, co-owner and president of a $1.3M media company, one research publication as second author, and scored a 510 on my MCAT.

considering my low GPA, i'm quite curious how my extracurriculars and research help me. During my time in school, I would be traveling from NY to SF / LA nearly weekly and still doing research on social behavior in mice after treatment as well as the neurological impact. I did some clinical volunteering as well. My grades suffered as a result.

I'm wondering if I should highlight this in my essay and what people think my chances are at DO / MD after I retake a few classes this fall.

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[deleted480308]

With <3.0 most won't even open your app to find anything else out. I'm sorry

 

[CyrilFiggis]

So you're saying that you focused on your career more than school? Why would any AdCom look at your app and see someone committed to med school when you weren't even committed to undergrad?

 

[ethereum]

I was committed but became unsure and matured since then, I am essentially wondering if so retake some classes and prove myself would I have a shot considering a did fairly well on the MCAT, sold my business to pursue medicine, done substantial research, etc.

 

[Skiiiiiing]

Sub 3.0 means they're not even going to look at the application.

Some SMP will, but that's a tough, unsure, expensive road when you're already in a decent spot.

 

[DocJanItor]

You'd have to get above a 3.0 to even be considered for a lot of schools. You may even need an SMP beyond that.

I'm sure any SMP/Med school would want to see that you've divested yourself of your other responsibilities before you started a program there.

 

[Shotapp]

How many credit hours will it take to raise your cGPA/sGPA to a 3.0?
Figure that out and plan out a post-bac. Start number crunching before your MCAT expires. It's really good that you are in a good financial spot which means you can put all your focus on post-bac/volunteer/shadowing and not have to work.

 

[timephone]

If in fact you have taken the majority of med school pre-reqs, then an SMP is your best shot. The users above are correct in that most med schools will not waste their time reviewing applications with a sub-3.0 GPA--many even state explicitly that a 3.0 uGPA is the minimum required for admission. An SMP doesn't change your uGPA, but it does help show that you can handle rigorous coursework (for the schools that may give your application a second-look). Unfortunately DO schools don't allow grade replacement anymore, so retakes will no longer supercede previous grades in the same course. But DO schools might be more forgiving of your low GPA, if you're able to prove you can test well, succeed in science classes, and be a responsible student.

There are many stories of people here on SDN working off a sub-3.0 uGPA and gaining admission, try using the search function and see how they approached it.

 

[premedbrah]

Search for the stickied @Goro thread on gaining admission to DO school w/o grade replacement. Focusing on transcript repair w/ 1-2 years of a solid 4.0 seems to be the best advice.


edit: also nice username lol

 

[Skiiiiiing]

If in fact you have taken the majority of med school pre-reqs, then an SMP is your best shot. The users above are correct in that most med schools will not waste their time reviewing applications with a sub-3.0 GPA--many even state explicitly that a 3.0 uGPA is the minimum required for admission. An SMP doesn't change your uGPA, but it does help show that you can handle rigorous coursework (for the schools that may give your application a second-look). Unfortunately DO schools don't allow grade replacement anymore, so retakes will no longer supercede previous grades in the same course. But DO schools might be more forgiving of your low GPA, if you're able to prove you can test well, succeed in science classes, and be a responsible student.

There are many stories of people here on SDN working off a sub-3.0 uGPA and gaining admission, try using the search function and see how they approached it.

DO is nowhere near the opportunity it once was. I don't think even the new DO schools are looking at sub 3.0 this cycle, and an awful lot are taking people that would have been good MD applicants just a few years ago. Moreover you HAVE to get a DO letter or they won't even look at the secondary

Doors do close as you do poorly and get older. It's called reality.

Many of the sub-3.0 success stories were minorities or pre-2008

OP will probably need an SMP after all the prerqs. The prereqs alone are 2 full years, at least 10k, and an awful lot of time/energy

 

[Ad2b]

Doors do close as you do poorly and get older. It's called reality. Many of the sub-3.0 success stories were minorities or pre-2008

OP will probably need an SMP after all the prerqs. The prereqs alone are 2 full years, at least 10k, and an awful lot of time/energy

Oh young Padawan, you are woefully naive. The only doors that close are the ones chosen to not force to be opened. It's funny how a very high GPA and solid MCAT score + the rest factor into an admission. AGE is not one of them.

Pre-req timing is close, could be done sooner by OP but I'm not seeing evidence of intent or ability quite yet, money doesn't seem to be an issue which is possibly what OP was thinking.

No need for SMP at this point.

 

[Ad2b]

TL;DR

53, 2.196 ugrad; decent midwestern land granting university; 20+ year career, former vice president of audit for a $2B public company, former partner Big 4; 10,000 hours volunteering, shadowing physicians for years; former Rotarian, board director cleft palate surgery group...

OH... and the near 4.0 now ... young padawan SDN has NEVER been known for being rosy. Ever.

 

[Ad2b]

applying with a Lizzy of just under 70 apparently hasn't been enough to overcome age and working in an unrelated field

You really need to spend more time researching before you spew that nonsense as it is simply untrue and misguided at best. Good luck with the rest of your app cycle. (My LM is not under 70, btw )

 

[Goro]

I was committed but became unsure and matured since then, I am essentially wondering if so retake some classes and prove myself would I have a shot considering a did fairly well on the MCAT, sold my business to pursue medicine, done substantial research, etc.

Your GPAS are lethal for MD and DO.

You need to prove that you can handle med school

 

[CyrilFiggis]

53, 2.196 ugrad; decent midwestern land granting university; 20+ year career, former vice president of audit for a $2B public company, former partner Big 4; 10,000 hours volunteering, shadowing physicians for years; former Rotarian, board director cleft palate surgery group...

OH... and the near 4.0 now ... young padawan SDN has NEVER been known for being rosy. Ever.

Your humblebrag is rather impressive, but even you know that your stats and CV make you a true outlier and exception. A med school is not going to look at a uGPA from the Reagan administration and read much into that so your success in a post-bacc or SMP will be weighted significantly more. The evaluation of your application vs. a current college junior is like comparing apples to airplanes. The truth of the matter is that more traditional, older non-trads (28-35) are still culpable for their undergrad experience and success in a post-bacc or SMP will still affect admissions. They also haven't had the 30 years of post-graduate time to climb the ladder to VP status.

 

[ethereum]

Thank you all for your hopeful, brutal, & more importantly, honest remarks.

Obviously I did not explain much, but I do have about 500 hours of shadowing, have completed research throughout my college years, ran a media business which created off shoots such as a TV show, merchandising, F500 corporate clients, international / national publication acclaim, etc etc.

My plan is to do a post bacc and or SMP or retaking classes myself.

Anyone have a SMP (1 year) or post baccs that are around my range or something I can hopefully be close to and perhaps let my mcat, experience, PS, and LOR do the talking.

As far as prereqs go, I got b+/a- in all minus orgo, i plan to retake them all nonetheless, my major classes (neuroscienxe), liberal arts requirements, etc i did horrible in based on my time commitment.

Also correction, the company I just sold was for $3.3M, typo.