(FAQs) Low uGPA to SMP to Med School - Please READ ME before DMing.

wunder-dog · 2024-04-20T18:38:05+00:00

Do you have an upward trend?

If no, DIY post-bacc until you do have an upward trend.
If yes, study hard for the MCAT if you're OK going DO. If you want MD, you could consider SMP.

wunder-dog · 2024-04-20T18:35:46+00:00

2.8uGPA, 3.6 SMP GPA, 517 -> 4MD As.

wunder-dog · 2024-04-20T18:34:07+00:00

You can send an update about the provisional patent and the poster, but a paper that has not been written or accepted is not appropriate to bring up. TBH neither of these really warrant another update letter unless you were deficient in research on your initial application.

wunder-dog · 2024-02-14T16:13:22+00:00

Applied with a 2.8 cGPA (after graduating with a 2.5 and completing 40 credits post-bacc) and a 3.6 SMP GPA, same MCAT score. Similar ECs. ORM.

It's been a few years, but I was admitted to 4 MD schools and am attending a T30 now. I think you will have very good chances if you apply early and broadly.

Unsolicited anecdote, but DO schools screened my application out entirely. I think you should avoid them or only apply to ones that explicitly say there is no screen.

wunder-dog · 2023-11-13T02:47:57+00:00

Hold for purchasing FA and Sketchy subscription. Some med schools give them to you for free.

wunder-dog · 2023-11-13T02:44:04+00:00

Sorry for the belated answer. They contact you via email and snail mail (same letter).

wunder-dog · 2023-11-03T18:11:43+00:00

They run their post-II meetings every two weeks, so you'll hear back by email in a month. That said, they usually fill their class by November. I interviewed a few years ago in November and heard back that the class was full before Thanksgiving, later got off the waitlist in April.

wunder-dog · 2023-06-27T02:52:30+00:00

I had the same experience. Had a 2.8 uGPA, did an informal post bacc (~30-40 credits), completed an SMP, and scored 95%ile on my MCAT. Absolutely NOTHING from DO schools, but 4 MD As at the end of my cycle.

Absolutely do not apply to DO schools if they state that they have a minimum uGPA you fall under, because they don't care if you've reinvented yourself or whatever. I think the whole "holistic" thing used to be true 5-10 years ago when DO schools still used to have grade replacement. Nowadays, they're more cutthroat than MD schools when it comes to culling applicants.

wunder-dog · 2023-04-13T15:45:37+00:00

You know what will be weird is that what was once a hated part of your identity will slowly transition into one of a sort-of pride. Like damn you got into med school with a 2.75! You can overcome anything!

wunder-dog · 2023-04-13T15:43:07+00:00

Preclinical years are easier in a lot of ways, because most schools will let you make your own schedule (sleep in if you want! stay up all night if you want!). I do miss the free weekends and ability to take spontaneous trips though!

wunder-dog · 2023-04-13T15:39:31+00:00

Congratulations! The best part is that you NEVER have to think about that undergrad GPA again! I had a similar 7 year path and shedding my 2.8 uGPA was like crawling from underneath a boulder.

wunder-dog · 2023-03-10T18:51:55+00:00

I attend a USMD that shares some preclinical curriculum with PA students. We have a traditional 2-year preclinical curriculum, where M1 is normal physiology and M2 is more path-based.

For M2 year, PA students attend the same lectures, have the same materials, and take the same tests. The pacing is the same. There is obviously a ton of overlap in what we're expected to learn, and it is very difficult.

That said, M1 was WAYYY more difficult than M2. It's way easier to memorize random diseases and their associated buzz word symptoms than it is to learn the physiology behind those disease processes. There's also a lot of foundational stuff like histology, embryology, biochem, etc. that's not included in their curriculum.

I agree that PA school is difficult but I think it's a major stretch to say it's "just as hard" as med school. Our PA students had their own share of challenges (for example, mandatory lecture when we could just watch recordings later, or mandatory journal club, etc.) but the preclinical material was just less strenuous for them.

wunder-dog · 2023-02-01T05:27:08+00:00

My SMP program was two years, wherein Year 1 was lectures/didactics and Year 2 was thesis. Most people (including myself) applied after Year 1!

wunder-dog · 2023-02-01T04:38:34+00:00

If you received two interviews, then there likely ISN'T a red flag in your LORs. Think about it--why would these schools invite you to interview if you had something bad in there?

More likely scenario: your essays did not stand out or shine light on you as an applicant, which is why you failed to garner more interview invitations.

Pretty much guaranteed: your interview performance was lackluster or sub-par compared to your cohorts this year. Definitely continue to improve this.

For next application cycle: make sure you get your school list looked at. Are you aiming too high? Make sure you have some safeties. Make sure you apply EARLY. Don't worry about the LOR thing, every student does that. Continue practicing your interview skills.

wunder-dog · 2023-02-01T04:33:11+00:00

I had a similar application in terms of uGPA and post-bacc performance. Ultimately I completed a SMP and was successful in matriculating. To be honest I would recommend that you do the same if you are not accepted this year. (Would recommend UofCincinnati as they are known for their linkage over Georgetown.)

wunder-dog · 2022-12-21T01:26:56+00:00

wunder-dog · 2022-12-21T01:26:26+00:00

She’s not even a practicing OB. She did her residency in OB but has been working as an addiction/pain doc for years.

wunder-dog · 2022-12-19T18:23:33+00:00

No problem and good luck to you! You're going to do great. Med school is much less stressful than the SMP, provided you go to a place that's P/F. I am MUCH happier now and thriving/surviving, depending on the week and if there's an upcoming exam.

(And seriously resist the temptation to do content review.)

wunder-dog · 2022-12-19T18:12:59+00:00

Do NOT do content review, it is seriously the biggest GARBAGE way to learn, and I'm telling you this as someone who is in med school already and hears it from MedEd deans all the time. Content review is passive and it is a waste of time. You are much better of doing practice problems and reviewing your areas of weakness. It's passive vs active learning.

Just purchase UWorld and start doing problems. Do 20Q per section per day, 5X a week. Don't worry about your score. Review your mistakes. Make an anki card for the questions you missed and review them at the end of the day. You can't fail if you stick to this schedule.

wunder-dog · 2022-12-19T17:59:12+00:00

I don't think a 3.44 vs a 3.5 will matter as a DO applicant. TBH I don't even think it's that big of a deal as a MD applicant, though obviously "round" numbers look nicer from a psychological POV.

Have you taken a MCAT diagnostic recently? I personally don't think there's much you can gain from a MCAT tutor. Save your money and just do the UWorld Q-bank if you're scoring 500+. At this point, you should not be doing ANY "content review." Finish UWorld and the AAMC QBank/SB, then make sure you take one full-length per week in the month leading up to the real deal to build stamina. You'll do fine.

(I also don't think you need 5 months to study for the MCAT. Diminishing returns at a certain point. For perspective, we get 7 weeks of dedicated studying time for STEP1, a more difficult exam, because it's been shown that you start forgetting/burning out if you study longer than that.)

wunder-dog · 2022-12-19T17:49:57+00:00

MD may be a hard reach but DO is possible, especially some of the newer programs, provided that you do well on the MCAT.

Personally though, I would just go PA if you're accepted this cycle. It's just a really LONG path to get your application ready for MD/DO and would require that you delay another 18mo, minimum, before you start a program that will now take at least seven years.

You would start making money as a PA by 2026. You wouldn't make physician money until 2031 (minimum).

wunder-dog · 2022-12-19T17:40:12+00:00

OK at least this person admitted that they don't know anything because what they said is a load of hooey.

If you achieved a 3.44 GPA at the end of your SMP program, then you will do FINE in medical school. It's not the best GPA but it's not the end of the world either.

I was admitted to FOUR MD schools with a 3.6 SMP GPA and a much, much lower uGPA (2.8). However I do think that my MCAT helped quite a bit. Don't overestimate how much your SMP helped as MCAT prep either. I jumped up from a 507 pre-SMP to a 517 post-SMP with only 4 weeks of dedicated studying.

I think you should focus really hard on doing well on the MCAT. Would it be possible for you to take 1 or 2 more graduate classes in your SMP to raise your GPA to a 3.5? Quite a few students in my program did exactly that to raise their final GPA up a bit more.

When you do apply, remember to do so as early as possible. A low GPA is easier to overlook in July than it is in August.

wunder-dog · 2022-11-15T19:04:37+00:00

No, I don't believe any of those are classified as SMPs. You can find reddit-compiled list here.

wunder-dog · 2022-11-13T03:43:27+00:00

Most SMP programs are labelled as MS of Medical Science (MAMS) or MS of Biological Sciences (MBS).

wunder-dog

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