How to raise a GPA

[Futuremedstudent?]

So my rejection post interview came down to my GPA. After conversion by the OMSAS scale it worked it's way down to a 3.6. Will rewriting the MCAT and getting a killer score help make my 3.6 seem better? I currently have a 30 O on the MCAT. It seems like a waste of time/money right now to do another year of undergrad, since I have already been working full time doing clinical research since November. It would be backtracking to do another year of an undergrad and completely defeat my loan paying off process. My application was not lacking in extracurriculars and my interview was good, though average. The only real hurting point is my GPA.

 

What is my best route? Will raising my MCAT help?? I will have lots more medically related experience to add on the next cycle as well. Do you think having a below average GPA is just going to cut me off for good??

[doc2B]

That's a tough position. I actually did a grad degree after undergrad and at one point felt like I may have to go back and do more undergrad to upgrade and I really felt like it was backtracking. For me they actually somehow combined my grad marks and undergrad marks to give me a 3.7 (my undergrad wasn't stellar) and my MCAT was a 31P this year. I know what they gave me for GPA because I was rejected last year and I didn't do any upgrading for my GPA this year.

 

After applying 3 times and trying to figure out what I needed to do to get accepted I've heard a lot of things. Short of doing another full year of school there is no way to raise your GPA and even then they won't really see any of it for the next application cycle. The way the scoring works on the MCAT you would have gotten a 7/12 so if you got another 5 points obviously that would help but I might be able to give you better advice if you gave the score breakdown that you received. If you'd rather PM me that's cool.

 

From the first year that I was rejected they told me if you got anything 26 or below you should re-write the MCAT. Most people wouldn't re-write with a 30.

[Futuremedstudent?]

They didn't give me an actual score breakdown which I was fairly disappointed about. All it had was tick boxes for specific areas of weakness: Academics, GPA, MCAT, MultipleMini Interview, Supplemental Form and References. GPA was the only thing ticked with a little comment below saying: "This is a good application but this year GPA of 3.6 is below average + average interview ( a good interview but not above average) makes file uncompetitive." I can't really improve my interview skills. I did practice interviews before I went and felt that I was relaxed during the MMI so I don't know if I can improve that at all for the next cycle. It's just this GPA that is killing me.

[doc2B]

Interesting.... they've obviously changed the feedback from last year. Everything else was above average?? I disagree about the interview skills. Everyone has room to improve. The old saying practice makes perfect holds true (at least to some extent).

 

Like I said I had a 3.7 GPA (for admissions purposes) a 31 MCAT and I was accepted this year. Those academic stats aren't much different than yours. I think I likely did extremely well on the supplemental section (lots of really good and meaningful jobs/volunteer work, lots of medically related stuff) I worked very hard on my essays as well. (After 3 years and lots of people reading them you find what works and what doesn't). I also think the interview was really important to my acceptance this year. Last year they gave me a 16/25 which I was really disappointed in (because I actually thought it went really well). This year I practiced, did a workshop and the MMI felt really good. It was actually fun. Obviously the 5 extra points in my MCAT was a huge boost (I had a 26 last year). My references were great last year and I don't have any reason to believe they weren't this year, 14/15.

 

I think that if you look at my application in comparison to yours which is very difficult because each person's different..... the hard stats are not far off.... if you really think you can do a lot better i.e. gain 3-5 points it could be worth re-writing the MCAT. If you're not willing/able to up your GPA in anyway then you need to look at the other areas of weakness... it seems as though they didn't even mention the MCAT so your big thing next would be the interview. It's a hard one, because you never really know if you've improved until you get the appropriate response from the adcom but if medicine is really what you want you need to put the effort in to achieve it.

 

Was this your first time applying?? I know we all tend to have a life plan and if things are going quite that way it can be discouraging. I don't think I'm old by any stretch, but I'm turning 27 soon... I did 5 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad school (most of the while planning on med school) and have been working for the past 2 years (while attempting to get in). It certainly would have been better if I was accepted earlier but I don't regret any of the experiences I've had over the last 5 years and in the end I did what I had to do, to get accepted to med school which is my dream. And that's my advice to you too.

 

Good luck!!!