Interesting Scenerio - Borderline Competitive or Don't Bother?

[R3P]

Hey Everyone,

 

I am uncertain whether to go ahead with my application, or not, and was hoping to get some unbiased, anonymous opinions regarding my chances.

 

Interesting Scenerio:

- After graduating undergrad I enrolled in a Physics Course (Physics I) at a visiting university. I opted to drop the course, but I wasn't able to access the online system and did not pay my fees - normally, this removes you from courses, EXCEPT at this institution. Despite having an honest 0 (I stopped attending after a week) I got an F overall, GPA of 0.00 on this half credit. Incredibly stupid on my part, I know.

 

However, my undergraduate was ok:

sGPA: 3.62 --> 3.44 (with Physics included)

AO GPA: 3.92

cGPA: 3.77 --> 3.69 (with Physics included)

 

I am finishing a thesis-based masters, cGPA 4:00 (A+'s) and will have one published first author 1ry paper in a 7 impact factor journal, and a second submitted to a similar journal. I have about 5 other articles where I am 4-5 author, abstracts, conferences, review articles, textbook chapter [very strong research focus]

 

MCAT: (BS/PS/VR)

1st Attempt: 9/10/8

2nd Attempt: 10/9/8

3rd Attempt: 11/11/8

 

I would consider my ECs above average: 4-year varsity athlete, shadowing, working in a healthcare setting for 4 years now, very strong community roles, strong leadership positions.

 

I am missing Physics pre-requisites, half of organic chem, half of inorganic.

 

I am not picky as to where I end up, but I am primarily interested in the MD route. I will be rewriting my MCAT to apply to Canadian schools in June so I could potentially mention that in my application (but would prefer to apply early June and be considered super early).

 

Thoughts?

 

Thank you very much in advance guys!

[nychila]

Your GPA isn't too bad. Your MCAT only passes, especially with a low verbal score, and you have made many attempts.

 

Apply early to low-tier schools. Throw in a few mid-tiers if you're confident about your pending MCAT. A strong MCAT will strengthen your application.

 

Use your unique experiences to your advantage in your primary and secondary application essays.

[R3P]

Thanks for the reply.

 

What schools would you consider mid-tier? What stats do they usually have? I'm planning to grab the latest MSAR and go through the list of schools accepting Canadians and then applying to those.

[nychila]

Generally-speaking, I usually consider US News research rankings top 10 to be top tier, 10-30 upper-mid-tier, and 30-50/60 mid-tier.

 

In terms of just statistical averages, matriculants at mid-tiers have around 3.65-3.70 GPA and 32 MCAT.

[R3P]

Oh I see, cool thanks!

 

Just one last thing, do you think my whole Physics mishap will be used against me or are there any options in the application to explain the situation further? Perhaps sending an official letter to each of the individual medical schools? Applying with a 3.44 sGPA / 3.69 cGPA is less attractive than 3.62sGPA / 3.77 cGPA.

[nychila]

There is dedicated space to explain academic anomalies in some of the secondary applications. Schools can probably tell that it was an odd situation anyways.

[R3P]

Awesome, thanks for all your help nychila!