3.22 Undergrad GPA with most pre-reqs completed.

[stereoisomeric]

Hi, I'm 22 years old and pretty confused. I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor until very late and my chances at being accepted have suffered, as a result. I've bounced between schools for my freshmen and sophomore years, finally setting into the Univerisity of Florida in my junior year. I started taking science courses and they piqued my interest. I ended up doing pretty good in the courses I did take but I'm afraid they might be working against me now.

Here's a listing of the science courses I have completed in my time as an undergraduate student: Bio I, Bio I Lab, Bio II, Bio II Lab, Gen Chem I, Gen Chem I Lab, Gen Chem II, Gen Chem II Lab, Physics I + Lab, Organic Chemistry I. All of these are A's except Physics I+Lab, in which I recieved a B+, and Organic Chemistry I, in which I recieved a C as my grades degenerated in my senior year across the board.

In the end, I took too many credits, taking only 1 summer in freshmen year off, and padded my grades with useless classes and went back to easier institutions to take care of harder classes. My senior year was the worst for my GPA, netting me a overall GPA of 3.22

I have no extra cirriculars and few sources for letters of recommendations after switching between shools so much and not being able to develop relationships with my professors and I worry that having taken the science courses that I have will disqualify me from fast-track post-bac programs that have good linkages to medical schools, especially considering my low GPA. Now after graduation, I may start some clinical work for the summer (and unsure about fall/spring this year), but I want to know if it is a good idea for me to go through with this and invest time/money. The only thing going for me is my semi-decent science grades and the fact that I am a minority. I am on the fence if it is worth it for me to pursue a career in this direction or not given my crappy situation. If I were to really drive forward with this, how should I do it?

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[DrMidlife]

If I understand your situation correctly, you're missing 5 items from a compelling med school app:
1. strongly confirmed desire to be a physician
2. competitive undergrad GPA
3. MCAT score
4. faculty who will recommend you
5. interesting, legitimizing experiences (extra-curriculars)

The only item on this list that you can't predictably acquire is #2. Even if you invest another couple of years in undergrad, you'll max out just under a 3.5 (much better, but worth two years?). But you can still attack #2 with an SMP. So you don't have any unsolveable problems, that I can see. It's not a crappy situation, given your assets.

What I'd really like to see you do is go slow. Getting through med school as fast as possible might appeal to some folks, but you only get one chance to be young and fabulous. Take some time to figure out what you want, by working in healthcare or doing something like the Peace Corps. Do some traveling. Take a break from academics until you've attacked #1 and #5. If you still want to pursue med school after a couple of years, then go after #2 - #4.

And whatever you do next, I'd strongly recommend that you take on a hospital or clinic volunteering gig, a few hours a week. You have to get in there and see the reality.

Best of luck to you.

 

[stereoisomeric]

What I'm confused about is whether if it is even possible for me to go to medical school the traditional route. And if so, how? I'm not exactly someone who is graduating from college with all prereqs done and MCATs already done. In fact, I've complicated things more by messing up my GPA. Now I have to worry about that as well.
Having taken so many of the prereqs (thinking that I could get all of them done before graduation and do MCATs while gaining experience and then apply to medschools later on was the original plan), I am now at a loss because most postbacc programs I'm looking at cater to students who have little to no science background and will not accept someone that has done ALMOST everything.
Should I try healing my academic record here in the United States (postbacc programs, SMP, masters programs, take courses at local uni) or should I just go offshore and make it easier on myself (so I won't have to worry about my blemished record and can concentrate with a full head on the actual material) and take the USMLEs. Of course during all of this, I'll be working on all the points you mentioned above while obtaining experience, wherever I may be. But I want to know how to go about doing this, considering there's so many options.

 

[gman33]

If you are interested in DO schools, you can fix your GPA problem much easier. They allow you to retake classes and only count the newer grade. Turn some of those C's and D's into A's and your gpa can have a significant boost in a year. Take it slow. Try a semester with maybe 2 classes. Make sure you get an A in both, no matter how much you have to study.

For MD schools, you have a much longer battle ahead. Probably at least 1 year of UG courses and a SMP. This is a harder route and the SMP will sink you unless you do very well.

Either route is fine, just be clear about your goal before you start.
Also, make sure you get a lot of clinical experience so you know this is what you want. Med school can be a big pain in the *****, so just be sure you know what you are in for.

 

[doctor712]

What I'm confused about is whether if it is even possible for me to go to medical school the traditional route. And if so, how? I'm not exactly someone who is graduating from college with all prereqs done and MCATs already done. In fact, I've complicated things more by messing up my GPA. Now I have to worry about that as well.
Having taken so many of the prereqs (thinking that I could get all of them done before graduation and do MCATs while gaining experience and then apply to medschools later on was the original plan), I am now at a loss because most postbacc programs I'm looking at cater to students who have little to no science background and will not accept someone that has done ALMOST everything.
Should I try healing my academic record here in the United States (postbacc programs, SMP, masters programs, take courses at local uni) or should I just go offshore and make it easier on myself (so I won't have to worry about my blemished record and can concentrate with a full head on the actual material) and take the USMLEs. Of course during all of this, I'll be working on all the points you mentioned above while obtaining experience, wherever I may be. But I want to know how to go about doing this, considering there's so many options.

This shouldn't really be your top concern. Why do you need to go traditional? Why do you WANT to go traditional? Is that more important than getting a good foundation. Dr. Midlife's post was EXCELLENT and exactly what I would've written. When you are 75, will going traditional really make a difference?

Tell us what going traditional gains you, and we'll be able to help a bit more. But as of now, needing help in a couple areas, I don't think "traditional" makes a ton of sense for you. An extra year or two to practice the rest of your life...no biggie. You are STILL very young. You have time. You will come to see this. If FORMAL post baccs aren't aligning for you, make one up on your own and get back to school that way. Formal post bac is not the only way to do this. Explore all your local school options. There are plenty of debate threads on CC vs Uni.

Med schools are, more and more, welcoming non trads into their ranks. But you have to be unique and extraordinary to really pop out come adcom time, you need to focus on WHAT YOU LOVE, regardless, and the rest will come. These sorts of decisions take time. Rushing into an app season without the all the spoken and UNSPOKEN reqs will not help you, but actually waste more time, potentially, then taking Biochem for example.

Have you done research? Have you volunteered clinically? If so, where?
When? For how long? How consistent have you been with clinical exposure? (imagine an adcom member asking you this, what would your answer be?) Have you spent 6 months studying for the MCAT....
See where I'm going with this....?

Time, or rushing, cannot be the solution. It just rarely works this way.

GOOOOOD LUCK!
D712

 

[stereoisomeric]

I agree with all of you that I should take my time to develop my assets and understanding what I want to do and being sure that I want to do it before applying. In that respect, for me, this is what makes sense: going back to school at one of the institutions I've transferred from and getting a 2nd bachelors degree, which will boost my undergrad GPA, give me a chance to complete my prereqs (retake Orgo I, do Orgo II, Physics II+Lab, Biochem at least), line up some professors for recommendation letters, all the while, doing volunteer work and get some hands on experience. I expect to spread the coursework so that I may concentrate on MCATs in the latter half of the year and be able to apply to a SMP program, to further boost my competitiveness. I'm still considering which programs to apply for as some of the linkages in the programs are very interesting, but would definitely be continuing to gain clinical experience. If it is as demanding as I think it is, it may limit how much research I may be able to do. This is my plan for attacking the points DrMidLife mentioned, I don't know if there is a better way to do it or if I should slow it down even more.

 

[DrMidlife]

I agree with all of you that I should take my time to develop my assets and understanding what I want to do and being sure that I want to do it before applying. In that respect, for me, this is what makes sense: going back to school at one of the institutions I've transferred from and getting a 2nd bachelors degree, which will boost my undergrad GPA, give me a chance to complete my prereqs (retake Orgo I, do Orgo II, Physics II+Lab, Biochem at least), line up some professors for recommendation letters, all the while, doing volunteer work and get some hands on experience. I expect to spread the coursework so that I may concentrate on MCATs in the latter half of the year and be able to apply to a SMP program, to further boost my competitiveness. I'm still considering which programs to apply for as some of the linkages in the programs are very interesting, but would definitely be continuing to gain clinical experience. If it is as demanding as I think it is, it may limit how much research I may be able to do. This is my plan for attacking the points DrMidLife mentioned, I don't know if there is a better way to do it or if I should slow it down even more.

All of the above is sensible. Let me point you to the postbac forum, where you'll find hordes of other young nontrads who are looking for GPA repair options. The low GPA thread will give you story after story (and almost all the stories are WAY worse than your situation).

And let's go ahead and talk about URM, shall we? First off, you don't have to tell us anything here, but I want to make sure you understand that URM generally means you either grew up in poverty in the US, or that you're of an ethnicity that is underrepresented in medicine (Black, Hispanic, American Indian etc). You may feel disadvantaged without fitting into these categories, but that doesn't qualify. Second, there are TONS of programs aimed at URMs, all over the US. California, in particular, has programs on all the UC campuses, Wake Forest has one, and these programs are ideally suited to your situation. Take advantage.

Lastly, let me say again that I'd like to see you take a break from academics before diving back in. I'm concerned about burnout for you. If you go do something else for a couple of years, you're still just barely nontraditional, and it'll be very good for you in the long run. There is absolutely an abundance of 21-24 year olds in their first year of med school, but starting at 25-27 is absolutely normal. If you go work (and travel!) for a couple of years, and you still want it, then you're fresh when you get back in the classroom and it'll feel less like punishment.

I'm rooting for you. Best of luck.

 

[Krisss17]

Great advice, Dr. Midlife!

OP, I would strongly suggest that you listen to the great advice Dr. Midlife gave to you. You are still so young, that taking 2 to 3 years more will not hurt at all and most likely will help your application.

Why do you want to be a doctor? What kind of exposure to medicine have you already had? These are questions only you can answer, and it would be better to get this more firmly in mind before you start the application process.

Good luck