u/leonelv84

Hi everyone,

I graduated last summer of 2025 with a cGPA of 3.02 and sGPA of 2.36 (Several retakes, some medical withdrawals due to health issues, and bad study habits/time management in my first 3 years of college). But I have a decent upward trend. I had to retake some classes this year, hence the gap between my graduation and present day of Spring 2026. I have not taken the MCAT yet; I want to ideally take it near the end of my SMP so that I am more prepared.

Do you guys think I have a shot at getting in to SMPs for this Fall 2026 cycle? Are there any SMPs where I can get past their screening filter/or are there any SMPs that don't have a screening process that auto-rejects sGPAs under 3.0?

I'd much rather start my SMP this year than take another gap year, but I'm not sure if I will have a chance of being accepted, especially since it is already May and the admissions are rolling admissions for almost all SMPs. I really need some advice here.

My ECs:

Research - 1000+ hours (1 mid-author publication + poster presentation; 1 first-author paper that will be submitted into journal for peer review and hopefully publication)

Clinical hours - 200+ (Paid hours: scribe, medical assistant) (Unpaid hours: volunteering at homeless shelters with health screenings)

Non-clinical volunteering: 700+ hours (gardening, environmental help, soup kitchens, helping at a nursing home, volunteering at a diabetics support group nonprofit, etc.)

Leadership: ~400 hours

- Co-founder and VP of a cultural club (3 years); grew to 48 active members; helped establish two annual traditions: a cultural event that gathered over 200 attendees; and another cultural event tradition that gathered 70+ attendees per year.

- Established and led the service + volunteering branch of the student chapter of a national nonprofit (1 year); organized over 19 service events for members and provided 100+ volunteer hours; also led an initiative that raised over $3k for our chapter

- led a philanthropy campaign for our local hospital where we raised $1000+ for kids with congenital heart disease

So given all of this info, can I apply to SMPs to start in this year, or am I ineligible as of now (because of the 2.36 sGPA), and need to take more postbacc science classes to get that sGPA up to a 3.0?

Getting it up to a 3.0 would take me 43 more credit hours of straight A's in science courses, which is so much at this point. I'd rather get into an SMP now and not have to take any more postbacc classes, then prove myself by focusing on a high SMP GPA and high MCAT.

Are there any SMPs that yall would suggest me applying to, if you think I'm able to get in this cycle?

Hi everyone, I'm wondering which class to keep in my schedule for this summer:

BCH 4024 (Medical Biochemistry) with Kersten Schroeder - 8 weeks - Online

or BCH 4053 (Biochemistry 1) with Paul Lawrence - 12 weeks - In-person

Any advice on which class would be easier? I've heard that Lawrence is pretty strict but I haven't seen any reviews of him online on biochemistry, I've only heard people talk about him on Orgo. And with medical biochem (BCH 4024), the class is 8 weeks long which is very short, and we go through the entire material that we expect in the class during a regular fall/spring semester, so there isn't any content cut down.

Not sure what to do here, I only have about 4 hours left until the add/drop deadline and I need to make a decision asap. I'd really appreciate some insight on this 🙏

I'm premed btw for context