A Little Guidance

[DRAD1S]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been having thoughts for the past couple of years as to whether I should pursue medical school and wanted to get some suggestions. First, a little about me…

I graduated with an undergrad in Finance and a final GPA of a 3.06. (Nothing stellar by any stretch of the imagination.) My last two and a half years in college I saw nothing but A’s and the occasional B but my first year and a half really sunk me. (I’ve worked full time to put myself through school and I just didn’t balance work/school that well my first year.) I plan on volunteering at the hospital a couple of weekends a month just to get a better feel for it but I’ve shadowed a local doctor and am passionate about pursuing this. I’m planning on taking my pre-reqs through a local college and sitting for the MCAT in the next couple of years. I’m 24, married, and have a soon-to-be 2 year old. I’m aware of the time sacrifices that have to be made in order to achieve this along with the financial obligations that will be required to support my family and my education simultaneously. I enjoy studying and consistently challenging myself but my primary concern is this being reflected in my lower GPA. I’m confident I can Ace the pre-reqs (BIO, CHEM, PHYS) given the effort that I’m willing to put into this but I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to whether this is feasible or if there are other recommendations? Any guidance would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks Everyone!

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[0919mmk]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been having thoughts for the past couple of years as to whether I should pursue medical school and wanted to get some suggestions. First, a little about me…

I graduated with an undergrad in Finance and a final GPA of a 3.06. (Nothing stellar by any stretch of the imagination.) My last two and a half years in college I saw nothing but A’s and the occasional B but my first year and a half really sunk me. (I’ve worked full time to put myself through school and I just didn’t balance work/school that well my first year.) I plan on volunteering at the hospital a couple of weekends a month just to get a better feel for it but I’ve shadowed a local doctor and am passionate about pursuing this. I’m planning on taking my pre-reqs through a local college and sitting for the MCAT in the next couple of years. I’m 24, married, and have a soon-to-be 2 year old. I’m aware of the time sacrifices that have to be made in order to achieve this along with the financial obligations that will be required to support my family and my education simultaneously. I enjoy studying and consistently challenging myself but my primary concern is this being reflected in my lower GPA. I’m confident I can Ace the pre-reqs (BIO, CHEM, PHYS) given the effort that I’m willing to put into this but I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to whether this is feasible or if there are other recommendations? Any guidance would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks Everyone!

This is completely feasible - you are still so early in the process, there's no reason that you can't do it. Kill your prereqs (don't take them at a CC if that was your plan). Good luck.

 

[theseeker4]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been having thoughts for the past couple of years as to whether I should pursue medical school and wanted to get some suggestions. First, a little about me…

I graduated with an undergrad in Finance and a final GPA of a 3.06. (Nothing stellar by any stretch of the imagination.) My last two and a half years in college I saw nothing but A’s and the occasional B but my first year and a half really sunk me. (I’ve worked full time to put myself through school and I just didn’t balance work/school that well my first year.) I plan on volunteering at the hospital a couple of weekends a month just to get a better feel for it but I’ve shadowed a local doctor and am passionate about pursuing this. I’m planning on taking my pre-reqs through a local college and sitting for the MCAT in the next couple of years. I’m 24, married, and have a soon-to-be 2 year old. I’m aware of the time sacrifices that have to be made in order to achieve this along with the financial obligations that will be required to support my family and my education simultaneously. I enjoy studying and consistently challenging myself but my primary concern is this being reflected in my lower GPA. I’m confident I can Ace the pre-reqs (BIO, CHEM, PHYS) given the effort that I’m willing to put into this but I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to whether this is feasible or if there are other recommendations? Any guidance would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks Everyone!

Your situation is similar to my own, as I have a wife and a newborn, and I am 28 and applying this cycle.

It is doable, though you will have to have your spouse on board 100% to be successful. I would go with what you have planned, making sure you get solid A's in everything you take. If you get less than an A, don't panic but don't take any more courses until you know exactly what you did wrong and correct it. (If I had followed this advice I would be a lot more confident of being accepted.)

Make sure the courses are at a 4-year University since med schools sometimes view CC courses as an attempt to boost a GPA by taking less demanding classes. Take the MCAT after pre req courses are all complete, and study well for it. The best way to show you are medical school material given the lower GPA is to get a high MCAT score, so after your pre reqs are done dedicate a few months to studying and taking as many practice courses as you can to know what to expect and what you need to brush up on.

If you take ~30 hours of science courses and get a 4.0, your GPA will be ~3.25 (assuming you graduated with 120 credit hours) so the MCAT and pre-reqs are vital to be considered. You can certainly do it if you are dedicated.

Also, make sure you shadow and build a relationship with a DO doctor so he or she can write you a recommendation, if you will apply to DO schools. If you are interested in DO, you can re-take any old classes you got low grades in and they will accept the new, high grade instead of averaging the two like MD schools do. Good luck!

 

[EgotiStick]

As long as you do well in the rest of the prereqs, I think you have a lot of positive aspects about your application. Too much focus is placed on numbers. As long as your numbers get you to a position where people will read your essays and consider you for interview, they are high enough.

A lot of times I think being a "late bloomer" can be a very attractive aspect for an application as long as your focus/resilience/work ethic are all easily apparent because it effortlessly demonstrates maturity.

 

[EdLongshanks]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been having thoughts for the past couple of years as to whether I should pursue medical school and wanted to get some suggestions. First, a little about me…

I graduated with an undergrad in Finance and a final GPA of a 3.06. (Nothing stellar by any stretch of the imagination.) My last two and a half years in college I saw nothing but A’s and the occasional B but my first year and a half really sunk me. (I’ve worked full time to put myself through school and I just didn’t balance work/school that well my first year.) I plan on volunteering at the hospital a couple of weekends a month just to get a better feel for it but I’ve shadowed a local doctor and am passionate about pursuing this. I’m planning on taking my pre-reqs through a local college and sitting for the MCAT in the next couple of years. I’m 24, married, and have a soon-to-be 2 year old. I’m aware of the time sacrifices that have to be made in order to achieve this along with the financial obligations that will be required to support my family and my education simultaneously. I enjoy studying and consistently challenging myself but my primary concern is this being reflected in my lower GPA. I’m confident I can Ace the pre-reqs (BIO, CHEM, PHYS) given the effort that I’m willing to put into this but I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to whether this is feasible or if there are other recommendations? Any guidance would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks Everyone!

In addition to the good advice that others have given you i think that you ought to also set aside another year to take upper level biology/biochemistry. Not only will these courses help prepare you for the MCAT, they will also show the schools that you are capable of doing well in high level biology classes. This is the best way of assuaging concerns about your academic ability.

Your GPA will knock you out of the running for numbers-****** schools, but the majority of medical schools look at more than just numbers. When you are ready to apply, look at the schools with MCATS and GPA's in the lower range (except for niche schools like Loma Linda and Meharry). These schools care less about numbers than about recuiting the best candidates.