What to do if you don't get in the first time.

[DeadCactus]

Specifically for a low GPA. Is post-bacc your only option?

I'd hate to go back to school and waste a year solely to bump up a GPA. I'd much rather pursue a Master's (Engineering) or do something like the Peace Corps. Is post-bacc the only reliable way to improve your chances significantly?

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[ChubbyChaser]

Personally, I plan on crying. Then I will look back and see why I was rejected, work on that, and if I still dont get in, ill probably become a fighter pilot

 

[utahjazz]

How low is your GPA?

 

[Law2Doc]

Specifically for a low GPA. Is post-bacc your only option?

I'd hate to go back to school and waste a year solely to bump up a GPA. I'd much rather pursue a Master's (Engineering) or do something like the Peace Corps. Is post-bacc the only reliable way to improve your chances significantly?

If you have a flaw in your application, the way you fix it is to directly address the flaw. There is no "one size fits all" in terms of improving chances. In your case where you have identified a low GPA, the way you fix it is to take more undergrad level courses. A masters won't affect undergrad GPA and one in another field altogether after an application may raise questions as to your focus on medicine. Peace Corps always looks good, but if your issue isn't ECs, you are not addressing your shortcomings head on.

 

[45408]

Peace Corps always looks good, but if your issue isn't ECs, you are not addressing your shortcomings head on.

Exactly. If you didn't get accepted because you have a low GPA, the adcom is worried that you can't handle the academic rigor you've gotten so far. You need to prove that you can, not do something entirely unrelated.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I know someone who had the not so great GPA thing with a decent MCAT who made it up by killing the MCAT second time around and got in, but that's not feasible for everybody.

 

[DeadCactus]

Exactly. If you didn't get accepted because you have a low GPA, the adcom is worried that you can't handle the academic rigor you've gotten so far. You need to prove that you can, not do something entirely unrelated.

Well it would seem to me that the MCAT is the bigger sign of your ability to handle Med School. The GPA always seemed more of a work ethic thing to me. If you have a decent MCAT (30+) certainly there are better or more productive ways of proving you have the work ethic than sticking around undergrad for another two years.

It just seems like such a colossal waste of time to go take more undergrad classes when taking graduate level courses or gaining some sort of life experience are possible...

 

[Law2Doc]

It just seems like such a colossal waste of time to go take more undergrad classes when taking graduate level courses or gaining some sort of life experience are possible...

Perhaps, but med schools want to see a certain undergrad level GPA. If you can't give them that, you haven't demonstrated the "work ethic" in the way they want yet. So you really can't jump to the graduate level courses and life experiences angle.

It's dangerous to convince yourself that what you want to do is what a school will regard positively. In fact, there is pretty irrefutable evidence that undergrad level GPA and MCAT are the numeric factors med schools focus in on most. If you fall short on one of these, you generally need to fix it, not do something else because you see doing that as a "collossal waste of time".

 

[gotmeds?]

Well it would seem to me that the MCAT is the bigger sign of your ability to handle Med School. The GPA always seemed more of a work ethic thing to me.

Luckily, med school is super easy, so you don't need a good work ethic.

 

[mvenus929]

I would cry. Then I'd work on that clinical experience thing, which I'm working on now anyway. Improvement during the application cycle is the best way to go, because you can always update schools if you get waitlisted, and you'll automatically have a better application for the next year.

 

[DeadCactus]

Luckily, med school is super easy, so you don't need a good work ethic.

I was merely saying that GPA is simply used as a numerical value from which to judge work ethic. That doesn't mean it's not a flawed method (nor the only sign of a strong work ethic); It's simply the method used because it's a convenient way to filter through a large number of applicants...

 

[Lennybruce]

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[gotmeds?]

I was merely saying that GPA is simply used as a numerical value from which to judge work ethic. That doesn't mean it's not a flawed method (nor the only sign of a strong work ethic); It's simply the method used because it's a convenient way to filter through a large number of applicants...

I don't think that GPA = work ethic, but what else do you have on your application that better reflects your "job" performance over the past four years? Think about it like this: if you were evaluating an applicant for a job, you'd probably want to see his evaluations from a prior, similar job that he had held for the past few years, his scores on an aptitude test (if applicable) and an interview.

Your current job is being a student. For better or for worse, your grades are your performance evaluations. For what it's worth, I graduated college with a 3.2 GPA and got into a great school (several of them, actually). But doing so, took years of straight-A post-bac classes and a very high MCAT score. Hopefully, you'll get in this cycle. If not, you'll need to address the weaknesses in your application and it may take a couple of years to do that.

 

[bellacnella]

two words: Ben & Jerry's


i have to brace myself for utter disappointment

 

[PilSeungKorea]

Luckily, med school is super easy, so you don't need a good work ethic.

that is what most students that majored in Biological Science say. The hardest part is getting in

 

[DeadCactus]

Just to be clear, I fully understand the relevance of using the GPA to judge applicants and have no problems with it. It is a flawed system in some ways, but it is the best choice available.

I'm just frustrated that I may find myself taking more undergraduate classes after this rather than learning medicine or something I am interested in...

 

[gotmeds?]

that is what most students that majored in Biological Science say. The hardest part is getting in

 

[ufgrad00]

Specifically for a low GPA. Is post-bacc your only option?

I'd hate to go back to school and waste a year solely to bump up a GPA. I'd much rather pursue a Master's (Engineering) or do something like the Peace Corps. Is post-bacc the only reliable way to improve your chances significantly?

If I don't get in, I plan on buying a camera giving myself a cool sounding name and filming myself surviving 5 days in exotic locales. I can find a way to put my biology degree to work for me other than med related stuff.

If you ever read Bear Grylls or Les Strouds bios, you can see they are doing their Plan-B's in life and making it work for them.

 

[PilSeungKorea]

sarcasm?

 

[Law2Doc]

Hopefully you are also taking this time to intensively study for the MCAT.

There is no "one size fits all" so what you did may not work for the OP. You identified a lowish MCAT as an issue and fixed it, among other things you did. OP has identified a GPA issue. He similarly has to address that particular factor.

 

[UMP]

get a 38