any advice/thoughts?

[Guest notamedic]

Hello eveyrone,

 

I should start off my saying how much I appreciate this site and all the helpful people that contribute so much to it every day. Now my story.....

 

......I could make this much more detailed, but I think I'll save everyone the read. You can send me a private message, although I don't know how to check those yet!!

 

This October I will be a 4th time applicate-I've been interviewed twice now. My overall GPA has consistently increased over this time while my last 60 has remained constant. This time, my overall will be about 78 and last 60 credits 86. Needless to say, I BOMBED a couple of years, thus my pre-reqs are a 74.

 

Now, my relative to my academics, I do A LOT (like all of us) outside of the classroom. My NAQ has been 21 and 22 (before scaling/normalization) over the past two years. I can elaborate on this if you like........

 

Now, given that I just finished my second undergrad, I'm wondering if some could offer some advice to me. I'm travelling in the fall in Europe.

 

When I return I plan to take more classes as an unclassified in january in an effort to raise my gPA more and I will also re-write my mcat (current scores 7vR, 12PS, 10BS, Q). I know these won't help my current application, but I plan to do both in the event that I get rejected again.

 

Now, it's easy to get caught up in this process, so I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice in case I'm missing something here.

 

Thanks.

[Guest ewon2003]

I think it's likely your MCAT verbal and the interview that are keeping you out of UBC med school.

 

Even though your prereq is on the low end, your gpa and extracurricular should get you interview again in the upcoming application.

 

 

I don't know what to say, but I know it is definitely difficult to improve on verbal. If you can bump it to a 9 than it would certainly help a lot. I remember reading someone from this board being rejected, and the only weakness in his application was a lot MCAT, like 6.

 

Best of luck to you on the next app.

[Guest Jazz]

You've been getting interviews already, so I am not sure if going back to raise your GPA will help all that much, particularly since your last 60 credits are so high already.

With the MCAT scores being so high this yr, many people feel as though that was an important factor, but there's no way the 37 average is correct and I know many people who have gotten in with much lower MCAT scores.

I'll say just focus on the interview, sometimes it just comes down to having a panel that can relate to you. With UBC still increasing its number of seats and you past experiences with the process, I like your chances. Good luck!

[Guest soapyslicer]

Hi notamedic,

 

A few thoughts. It would be nice to get the verbal up but given the fact that you have had interviews it may not be a problem. I think going traveling will give you more to talk about in the interviews and would be more valuable. If you bombed in your 2nd undergrad you may not be able to change your overall GPA but if it was in your first then when does the 10yr rule begin to apply for you. As someone who had some early problems in my academic career as well as 240 credits by the time I applied this year, dropping 30cr really boosted my GPA. Most of my marks in Grad school were in the 95's so dropping the first 30 weighted the last 60 much more.

 

Having said all that maybe the best thing you can do is really do some soul searching and learning about the world during you travels. I think having such broad experiences really helped me this year in my interview....it was also my 4th try!!!!

 

Don't give up!!!

 

soapy

[Guest notamedic]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I figured most of what's been said already, so it's good to know that I'm thinking in the right way.

 

I'll enjoy my travels and we'll see what happens during the next round of interviews.....