Preparing 5 yrs later to go to med school

[crazy11]

Hi!

I have a question about preparing to apply for medical school. I am aware of the importance of the MCATs, but my problem comes with my grades. I was a bio major in college (class of ’99) and most of my grades in the sciences were Bs with a few of Cs and a couple of As. My general GPA is about a B+, about a B for my major GPA. My question is do I need to retake those classes to boost my application, or should I avoid looking back and maybe take a few more upper-level classes and try to get As in those, like immunology, cancer cell bio, histology, etc. The Cs came in courses like organic chem.

I also wanted to know the importance of the MCATs given what I’ve described above. Does a good MCAT score alliviate some of the mediocre grades?

I’d appriciate any help, thanks for your time!

[y82benji]

You should also post this on the “Ask Admission Consultants” thread.

1. Taking new (more advanced) classes is the better way to go, generally. It is generally expected that upper level classes are harder than the lower level classes and that performing well (A’s) in the upper level classes now is more indicative of whether or not you can handle medical school than your previous grades in the lower level classes. However, the premed classes are important, and for something like organic chemistry you might not have an upper level available to you in “organic chemistry.” If you have a C in organic 1 and a B in organic 2 you might not consider retaking them, but if you have a C in both classes it might be better to retake those. If you retake those I wouldn’t recommend retaking general chem and in general I would take upper level biology classes instead of general bio. Do not retake classes in which you earned a “B” or a “B-,” and even think hard about a “C+.” You might use biochemistry to be an upper level to make up for organic chemistry

2. MCATs. Basically these are compared to your grades. Imagine you are evaluating an application. These are the facts you are given:

1.Several B’s, two or three A’s , and a few C’s in a basic biology program from 1995-1999. C’s in Organic Chemistry 1&2, Genetics, and Physics 2. GPA=3.1
2.An MCAT score in 2005 of 34S (11 VR, 12 BS, 11PS, S WS)
3.Several A’s and one or two B+’s in 300-600 level biology courses, including an A in Biochemistry in 2004-2005. GPA=3.9

You have to decide if this student can be successful in medical school in 2006. I would say that #1 doesn’t fit with #2 and #3, and #2 and #3 match and are indicators of present performance. This is what admissions committees look at too. In the past this applicant may not have been med school material, but right now they are, and the MCAT helps to confirm their potential for academic success. (So yes, the MCAT helps bad grades, not entirely, but it does, especially if you go from bad grades to good grades.)

[crazy11]

Thank you so much!

I will dread having to take OChem again, but my mindset is different now than back in college. Thanks!

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