  |
Back to
|
  |
© Alex Shteynshlyuger 1999-2000
|
Tell your friends about this site |
CTRL+D will bookmark this page! |
Subj: back to school
Date: 9/10/99
To: BestPreMed
Hi! I found your website to be very informative and right now I can use all of the advice that I can get.
I am enrolled in school, taking undergrad classes in bio, chem, spanish and public speaking. These classes, I understand, will be helpful in applying to medical schools. ( I am taking spanish because I would like to become fluent in the language one day, hopefully soon.)
I have a degree already, a BA in mathematics, and i did take 2 years off from school and did work full-time. I was a staffing manager so I did work in a role where I was a leader as opposed to a follower.
My question is, how heavily are grades weighed when applying to med schools? I know my gpa from my degree is 2.5, or around there, I am afraid to actually confirm that, but I do intend to get A's now in these undergrad classes. Will my chances for applying to med school still be in my favor even though I did so poorly before in school when I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life? Please email back your thoughts to me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again!
Reply
Yes, indeed given the competitiveness of admissions, grades play a very important role. Your low undergrad GPA is of course a card that is not in your favor. The really bad thing is that given you have 2.5, even if do another 4 years and take as many classes as you took as undergrad and get straight 4.0 GPA, your average GPA over all classes would still be 3.25, which puts you at the bottom of the pack.
I do not know how schools will look at this. Hopefully there are schools that will pay enough attention to your transcript to realize that you did extremely well taking pre-med classes after you graduated from college. The unfortunate thing is that because each school gets so many applications, many schools filter out applicants based on GPA/MCAT scores--using some "secret" algorithsms to make their task more managable.
In your case, it would make sense to apply to schools that are favorable to non-traditional applicants--they seem to take a more personal interest in applicants and are more likely to forgive your low undergrad GPA if you did exteremely well in your post-bacc premed classes. Though in general it is not advisable to talk about your weaknesses on your application, it may make a lot of sense to write about your situation in your personal statement--just don't make excuses. Be truthful--say you've had no clue what you wanted to do but when you get the desire to become a doctor, you worked your butt off--which will show that you can do work. Good recommendations from reputable people--your professors, (may be a manager where you worked? but not your mom) will also be helpful.
Finally, all the regular things--extracurriculars, clinical experience apply to you as well. If you haven't read the details on this site about these take a look at the things I've already written.
Good luck,
Alex
| |
Back to
|
|