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applying
4 powerful options to consider when applying to med school if you have a low gpa
4 options to consider when applying to med school with a low GPA
Having a high GPA is essential to any competitive med school application. Which is why it’s critical for all premeds to maintain a high GPA, but doing so is not always an easy task. What if you don’t have the best grades? Should you give up on your dream to becoming a doctor?
No! You can still become a doctor! There are still many options that you can take to improve your chances of getting into medical school. So don’t give up hope yet, you can still make it! We got you covered!
So what kind of options do you have available to you if your GPA is not so great?
– Caribbean medical school
– Osteopathic medical school
– Post-baccalaureate programs
– Get job experience
Caribbean medical school: This is a great option if your GPA is not as good as you would like. Most Caribbean school’s have easier requirements than the American medical school counterparts. This means you could have a lower GPA and/or MCAT score and still get accepted into a Caribbean medical school. But this does NOT mean that Caribbean schools are bad schools or that this should be a last ditch option. Caribbean schools such as Ross Medical school and St.George medical school are excellent schools. These schools perform just as well on the USMLE step 1 as American medical schools, boasting around a 97% first time pass rate. Also interesting to note is that the doctor I shadow went to Ross, and he is an amazing doctor. His patients always mention how he is there FAVORITE doctor. He also told me that once you start working as a doctor no one actually cares where you went to medical school. Caribbean medical schools are an excellent choice for someone who wants to be a fully licensed doctor (MD) but has a low GPA or MCAT.
Osteopathic medical school: Osteopathic medical school is another great option if you have a low GPA and want to apply to medical school. Typically Osteopathic medical schools are less competitive than the Allopathic medical schools. There a few differences between Osteopathic and Allopathic medical schools, one obvious one being that you will get the title “D.O” instead of “M.D”. But if you want to be a doctor then it shouldn’t really matter what title you have.
Post-baccalaureate programs: Post-baccalaureate programs offer a great opportunity to those who are struggling with a low GPA and still want to get into medical school. There post-baccalaureate programs that are linked to medical schools, where if you do well in those programs then you will be admitted into that medical school. (Check out some post-baccalaureate programs here)
Get job experience: Getting some kind of job experience in the medical field can do alot to boost your medical school application. Remember, its not just your GPA that gets you into medical school. There’s alot more to it than that. If you can show that you are well rounded and serious about a job in medicine then that can give your application a boost. Having a job in the medical field shows that you care about medicine and are serious about it, sometimes this can make the difference you need to get accepted.
These are four powerful options you can use to improve your chances of getting accepted into medical school. I covered five more ways you can make your application more competitive if you have a low GPA in this article here. Make sure to check it out!
Also since you read to the end of this article, I will give you the password to a free e-book , called “3 unique ways to make your med school application stand out“!
The password is :pmc3
Just go to member downloads and insert the password.
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Good luck on your journey to medical school! Premed Community is here with you every step of the way!
Proven method to improve your grades!
Proven method for improving your grades
We all know that getting good grades is essential to becoming a doctor and getting into medical school. So when it comes to having and maintaining a good GPA, it is critical that we master the art of studying. Getting good grades and acing your tests is much more than being really smart or being a genius.
It is a skill. A skill that can be learned and improved on.
Getting good grades is a skill. A skill which requires practice and constant refinement.
I’m going to repeat that getting good grades is more about HOW you study than about how smart you are. If you know how to study, you WILL get good grades. That simple. So it is important to understand the fundamental principles of proper studying and know all the associated techniques.
A new study from Harvard Medical school has found a way “to increase knowledge retention by 50%”. This method is now being used to help medical students remember their material better and score better on their exams. This method is known as.. Spaced repetition.
Spaced repetition is exactly what it sounds like. It is getting repeated exposure to the material you want to learn over a period of time. What this means is that, we are actually better at learning and remembering information if we see it many times over a period of time than if we try to cram the night before. Exposing yourself to the material several times over weeks or months helps to solidify it in your memory. So just remember that the more we are exposed to some information the better we will remember it. If you only see it once or twice before your test, you will find it difficult to recall it during your exam. And if you see that material 50 times, you are super sure that you won’t forget it!
Making it practical:
So here’s how can you use spaced repetition to improve your studying and help you get better grades..
– Start studying for your tests several days and possibly even weeks before you take them
– Study and review your class notes a little bit every day
– To help prepare for your finals. Review your old tests and quizzes every week
– Break a long study session into multiple shorter study sessions
– Whatever you do, DON’T cram last minute. (This is a recipe for disaster)
So the lesson to be learned here is that we remember information better if we are exposed to it several times over an extended period of time (weeks or months). Being exposed to some information once is not enough to solidify it in our long term memory. We must make an active effort to make sure we revisit the same material multiple times to be able to fix it into our memory.
The way we can utilize this advice is by trying to break up long study sessions into multiple shorter study sessions. This allows us more opportunities to see the material. And also the earlier you begin preparing for your exam the better! That doesn’t mean you will have to study 3 hours a day, it simply means if you spend 30 minutes a day for a week you will be in good shape!
The main thing is that you should start studying for your exams as soon as you can. Preferably study your material every day, and even after you finished your exam continue to review your old material every week. Doing so can help you get good grades and improve your GPA!
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Get our free ebook , “The Pre-Med Beginner’s Guide”, which summarizes everything that every premed must know!
Also get free access to our comprehensive lists of medical school rankings! Click here to download
Good luck on your journey to medical school! Premed Community is here with you every step of the way!