34 yo Paramedic resuscitating a poor GPA

[Jake_From_State_Farm]

Hi all,

I have been lurking on these forums for about a year now and finally made an account.

Stats:

34 yo
Bachelors in Economics from 2008 cGPA: 2.7

Undergrad GPA got kind of rocked when I lost my brother in Iraq, lost my dog, and another family member was diagnosed with cancer shortly after. Not an excuse but it definitely had an impact.

Post Bach 4.0 past 60 hours

Been a Paramedic for five years to see if I liked medicine. Turns out I love it. Knowing that I loved medicine, I decided to start taking classes in order to get into another arena of clinical practice where I would have a more expanded scope of practice and more patient contact.

I have cranked out the following classes:

Bio 1,2,3
A&P 1&2
Gen Chem I&II
OChem 1&2
BioChem
Microbio
Stats
Genetics
Psych 101
Dev Psych

All with A's

I am about to take Physics I and II this summer. I am currently looking to take courses on Pathophysiology, nutrition, immunology, pharmacology.

After taking all of these courses I expect to be at a 3.15 according to DO grade replacement standards.

My question is how did you all decide when and how to prepare for the MCAT? What does a timeline look like?

I am trying to piece together a loose schedule to be able to somewhat adhere to and be able to set benchmarks. As of now the big missing piece seems to be preparing for the MCAT.

Also would you suggest that someone in my position move to Texas and try to invoke grade forgiveness as most of my poor grades were around 2005?

Thank you for all of this information, it is extremely helpful.

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[etp123]

There is a MCAT specific forum with lots of nice resources you should check out. There's a thread with tips from people who got 510+ scores, example study timelines, etc.

Things I've seen commonly are: allow yourself at least roughly 3 months to prepare, and practice tests (!!!!). Like, TONS of practice tests. Read passages and all those little "real life application" stories in the margins of your textbooks. Memorizing content is not as important as learning to integrate and apply it.

 

[Eccesignum]

I'm not an expert on the Texas thing, but from https://www.tmdsas.com/medical/texasAcFrshStrt.html it sounds like you need to move to Texas, establish residency, enroll in a Texas undergraduate institution under the Fresh Start provision, earn credits there, then apply to medical school (with Fresh Start only counting for TMDSAS schools, of course).

Whether all that is worth it to you is up to you. I would contact TMDSAS and make sure you understand everything necessary for that to happen, if you're truly interested.

As for the MCAT, plan to take it absolutely no later than May of the year in which you intend to apply. This makes sure you get a score back in June, before you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an application that ends up sunk due to a poor test performance. I took my own in January 2015, so that I'd have my score back by February and have several months to prepare for a retake in case of disaster (thankfully didn't happen, but I was ready).

As the above poster said, practice is key. When you've finished all your pre-reqs, take a practice exam to give you an idea of where you're weakest, and give that section extra attention. Give yourself at minimum three months (many people need longer). SDN has an MCAT forum where many high scorers have posted their study methods; you might want to browse those and see what speaks to your style.

Nutrition, pharma, and pathophys are not particularly helpful MCAT-wise (though do take them if they interest you). I noticed you didn't include Gen Chem I and II in your list, have you taken those? They're absolutely necessary. The new MCAT also features psychology and sociology -- and they are becoming pre-requisites at many schools -- so if you've never had 101 in either you'll need to take care of that.

 

[Jake_From_State_Farm]

Thank you for the replies. I had read through some of the suggestions in that forum and ended up purchasing the MCAT through osmosis program. I have not yet taken Physics but feel as if listening to the examples is making me more comfortable with the science.

I went ahead and added the other classes I have already taken such as Gen Chem. I had already taken social sciences for my undergrad totally forgot to include those.

The only reason I included possibly moving to Texas is because I have seen it mentioned many times. I will go to school wherever allows me the chance.

It sounds like I will be too late to apply this year but will plan to take the MCAT maybe this winter as you have suggested to give myself plenty of wiggle room in case of unanticipated turbulence.

Thank you again for all of your replies.