what should i do with my low gpa?

[bobthesun]

What is my plan of action to get into med school?
I just finished my junior year and have a 3.198 I have B's or above in science pre-reqs.
I had a 3.35 until my 2nd semester junior year where I had just a bad semseter a C+ in macro econ, and D in genetics...feeling a little disheartened because I after a 3.9 gpa first semseter freshman year and 3.8 2nd semester freshman year I was working on my grades to bring them back up and then ended up with a 2.4...ouchhhhh
now i just need to know what to do
as far as EC
i play varsity sports (all-american finalist)
student gov treasurer next school year
2 publications
physician shadowing
hundreds of hours of ER volunteer
many other stuff

i was thinking about studying for my mcats over the summer as well as some physcian shadowing and now that i am student council treasurer i have a couple hours a week of work a week for that..
but what are you rhoughts...
i am guessing SMP now is my only choice as well as DO

should i just focus on rocking my mcats?

EDIT: I am an econ major chem minor

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[Thego2guy]

Nah dude, your GPA is not that bad. Its .002 from a 3.2. Instead of applying this year, apply next year. A year of good grades (and many credits) is going to do some good. See if you can bring it up to a 3.4 (take winter intersessions classes?) and then get a 33+ on your MCAT; you'll be fine. No need to limit to a DO. You will be right below "competitive" for most MD schools, and you will be very competitive for DO schools.

Have you seen the MCAT? do you know what you are capable of scoring?

 

[plumhill]

Is there anything that happened that semester that could explain such a sharp downward trend? While it's certainly not in your favor, you can probably explain what you learned from it or whatever.

Definitely rock the MCAT. You don't really have a choice now

Apply broadly and include some lower-tier schools, including state school(s). If that doesn't work, then I'd consider taking an extra year, and make that year count. You can take a gap year after that, so you can (hopefully) show two solid years of good grades. An SMP is another option, if you're willing to pay for it. Do note, though, that if you go the SMP route, you HAVE to rock the SMP. Anything below a 3.5-3.6 will pretty much shoot your chances in the foot.

 

[bobthesun]

Bump!!

 

[Ellabelle]

I don't know about your school but at my school you can retake a course and no one would ever see the bad grade you first got in it. Perhaps you can retake Genetics and improve both your overall GPA and your science GPA.

 

[Smokemont]

You need a strong MCAT, period. You could retake any low grades (that D in genetics), take an extra year to show an upward trend/strong finish, or a comination of both. You will be fine for most DO schools but should probably be aiming for 33+ to try to MD. Just the way it is.

 

[SnowyRox]

I don't know about your school but at my school you can retake a course and no one would ever see the bad grade you first got in it. Perhaps you can retake Genetics and improve both your overall GPA and your science GPA.

Dubious.

Generally that grade will be replaced for your school's gpa but both are reported to med schools.

Why did you get those grades is most important. Did you try and fail or did you just party the semester away?

 

[bobthesun]

Yea I just had a crummy semester, started doing poorly. My team did really well I just had a hard time studying with all the traveling.