Low undergrad GPA sankey
After going through the application process (almost twice), sankeys have really soured on me, but I would have really appreciated seeing this when I first started, so here you go!
The hardest part was the application itself. I was really focused on just getting experience and did not pay attention to building a cohesive narrative. So the process of synthesizing everything in the personal statement/experiences/secondaries was painfully slow and laborious (hence the 15 secondaries that I gave up on when November rolled around). So the earlier you can start crafting a narrative and aligning your experiences, the better. I’m a hater on sankeys because the way people present their stats on them completely erases that narrative building process, which is one of the biggest determining factors for getting into medical school.
A 4 year long journey culminating with an acceptance at an in-state program, one of my top choices. I’m happy to answer any questions/DMs about postbaccs/MCAT/applications, anything!
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One of the larger comment threads is about how discouraging this sankey is, which I think is my fault for omitting certain factors (but hey, that's what I've been trying to say about those sankeys!).
First - I had a bad application cycle: Submitted primaries late, submitted a lot of secondaries after the 2 weeks soft deadline, ultimately applied only to 19 schools total which is relatively low. On top of that, my personal statement was pretty weak. Not badly written per se, but not very emotionally evocative ("not very personal" was feedback I received). I wrote a comment here about a way to think about your narrative and "why medicine" that helped me.
Second - I had a truly dismal undegrad history. I was on academic probation, also one semester where my science gpa was literally "1" (not premed tho). I didn't have a B average in college, I shat the bed for two years then had a decent upward trend in the last 2.
Third - A lot of my postbacc is also from community college which devalues the 4.0 a lot. I did CC because it could fit my budget and work schedule. I do think a more formal postbacc program at a full fledged university will give you much better chances if its financially viable, but not necessary!
Final - And yes, a low GPA is one of the worse things you can do for your chances of getting into med school. Avoid it if you can! And if you can't, I hope that this sankey shows it's still possible to get into med school.