Slightly Lower Undergraduate GPA 3.26 pretty strong upward trend

[Missferg]

Hey Guys,

First of all let me say thanks to everyone willing to read and offer advice I'm a non-traditional student I'm married with one child I'm 31 and graduated with my first B.S. in 2004. I have always had an itch for medical school and in fact I was admitted to PA school last cycle but deferred enrollment then withdrew because I knew that it wasn't my ultimate goal and I didn't want to waste the tutition when I knew I would want to eventually return to med school.

Undergraduate GPA 3.26 B.S. Degree Health Science Kinesiology and Health Promotion some disappointing grades C is Gen Chem I, retake I got a B, also a C in Chem II (took these in 2002 and 2003) Mostly strong trend 2.0 fresh, 3.0 soph, 3.2 junior, 3.8 senior year.
Post-Bach GPA 2.86 (ouch I know) Certificate Clinical Laboratory Science, but lots of clinical chem, hematology, biology, etc.
Graduate GPA 3.98 M.S. Clinical Laboraotry Science 2012 Graduate course in Immunology, Molecular, Biology, and Hematology
Also I have taken a few more undergraduate courses such as child psych, pathophysiology, pharamacology, statistics, calculus and a few others, earned all A's
I have approx 100 hours shadowing (ER, Pathology, Family medicine)
1 publication
6 years clinical experience in laboratory
I haven't taken MCAT yet but I plan on taking a prep course soon.
I live in WAMMI region so I will be applying to UW probably the only school I will apply to do to geographic location. I know that DO is probably a closer fit, but there is not a DO school in my state.

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[TriagePreMed]

Sorry, it's not gonna happen for you. You went downhill on the post-bacc and traditional masters don't carry much weight. Unless you pulled a 30+, I'd call DO school a stretch.

PNWU is also in Washington and the most realistic Osteopathic option you'll have.

 

[red doctober]

I'd say one school is worth a shot granted your MCAT score is high enough 30+, but again with that low post-bacc gpa, you may be seen as a risky choice for adcoms.

 

[Missferg]

Ouch you guys are kinda brutal, my post bach was in 2005 so that was several years ago, and I had a pretty rocky year, my father and my grandmother both died so I think that my be taken into consideration, but of course I don't know for sure. But I guess if it's not in my future I will just pursue my PhD.

 

[411309]

Well since you're only applying to a state school on top of having a low end gpa you're setting yourself up for failure. Unless you have a really good mcat to balance it will be a stretch...I can imagine it's tough having a family and being a nontrad but you have a much better shot at DO than MD. they like nontrads usually.

I think if you really want to follow through with your dream, chances are you're going to have to uproot your life and end up going out of state somewhere after you nail the mcat.

 

[red doctober]

Ouch you guys are kinda brutal, my post bach was in 2005 so that was several years ago, and I had a pretty rocky year, my father and my grandmother both died so I think that my be taken into consideration, but of course I don't know for sure. But I guess if it's not in my future I will just pursue my PhD.

Sorry I misspoke, I meant that with in-state status, your best chance will probably be at UW. I would recommend applying elsewhere as well. It's just really tough to say you have a good chance of getting in somewhere for MD with your current stats. I think your ugrad gpa with an upward trend is good enough for DO, but is still low for MD statistically speaking. You made a good choice to pursue a post-bacc, but the resulting gpa is worrisome. Your reason would most likely be taken into consideration by adcoms, but the question of whether or not you can handle the rigors of medical school is still quite up in the air. An SMP is another option, but they are pretty expensive. I guess you can roll the dice and apply to both med school and an SMP because a AMCAS + secondaries will cost ~$1000 and an SMP will cost ~$40000+.

So one thing I didn't notice the first time I read your original post was that you took additional ugrad coursework after college, from which you got A's. Do you know what your resulting cGPA and sGPA are with those included, or does 3.26 actually include those as well? When are you planning to take the MCAT and apply?

 

[Missferg]

No the 3.26 GPA does not reflect the addtional course work, so maybe those A's push me to about a 3.4 would be my estimate. I was planning on taking MCAT this summer, I have been scoring about 34 on practice tests so that is hopeful.

 

[red doctober]

No the 3.26 GPA does not reflect the addtional course work, so maybe those A's push me to about a 3.4 would be my estimate. I was planning on taking MCAT this summer, I have been scoring about 34 on practice tests so that is hopeful.

Given that your MCAT score is ~30, you'll have a pretty decent chance at DO. You still may have a shot at some MDs, so I'd say if it's your dream, go for it. Ideally, you'd want at least a 30 for MD, shooting for 33+. Good luck!