After a rocky first year, are my dreams squashed?

[NC1994]

In my first year I went to a college 3 hours away from home, I was 17 years old. I was immature and had no motivation as I didn't know what I wanted to do or understand the seriousness of college. I got 2 C, 2 B- and an F the first semester, which upset my parents as they were paying for my college. My parents had me come home and take classes at the university online because they were convinced I was goofing around with friends. I did even worse, failing 3 classes and dropping another. After it all I ended up with a 0.96 for 28 credits at university. Losing my parents financial help, I dropped out.

I worked all summer and payed to go to the local community college in the fall, after working I started to mature and regret my actions. I put my all in to college this time and the first semester I got 3.95 for 16 credits. I'm doing quite well this semester as well and expect to at least match last semester's GPA. Once I go back to the university for a semester next fall, I can get academic renewal, which doesn't erase but takes my failed classes out of my GPA calculations.

Is this gonna make med school impossible for me? They can still see my bad grades and drops from the first semester and it has me worried that no matter how well I do in class or on the MCAT, They'll ignore me. Anyone have a similar experience and get in to med school?

I'd like to go to a school in or near NC so I'm looking at schools like:
Campbell(DO)
Wake Forest(MD)
ECU(MD)
University of South Carolina(MD)
Lincoln Memorial University(DO)
ETSU(MD)

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[jetsfan1234]

I'm not an adcom, but one bad semester as a 17-year-old freshman is hardly insurmountable. In fact, it is more common than you might think.

The important thing is to move on from here, and take steps to ensure your application is as strong as possible. Keep your grades up, get clinical/research experience, etc.

I know this saying is super cheesy, but I think it applies here: If you really want to go to medical school, your chance of getting there is 100%, because you will find a way to make it happen. Good luck.

 

[TriagePreMed]

You're fine. Don't let the neuroticism get the best of you. The bad news is academic renewal is worthless to med school, but an upward trend is important. Meet the intended school's average gpa and mcat and freshman year won't matter.

 

[NC1994]

Since academic renewal will mean nothing I'm even more worried. 15 credits of F's is gonna KILL my GPA.

I guess a B is probably gonna kill me at this point. Gonna be impossible to get it above a 3.225 before I apply.
How much can the upward trend help?
Won't they just ignore my app if it's not above a GPA threshold?

 

[TriagePreMed]

Since academic renewal will mean nothing I'm even more worried. 15 credits of F's is gonna KILL my GPA.

I guess a B is probably gonna kill me at this point. Gonna be impossible to get it above a 3.225 before I apply.
How much can the upward trend help?
Won't they just ignore my app if it's not above a GPA threshold?

Osteopathic schools lets you retake courses as a way of cleaning up your GPA.

For MD, If you can't graduate with higher than a 3.2, it might be necessary to do an SMP. There's always exceptions to this and you might get lucky if you can show 3 years of (as close to) 4.0 GPA.

 

[NC1994]

Alright I'll look in to retaking vs. renewal, thanks for the info and guidance Triage, it's much appreciated.

Also, Is there anything to be lost if I were to apply after my fourth year instead of my third? It would allow me more time to pull my cumulative GPA in to a more competitive range.

 

[medickdb]

Alright I'll look in to retaking vs. renewal, thanks for the info and guidance Triage, it's much appreciated.

Also, Is there anything to be lost if I were to apply after my fourth year instead of my third? It would allow me more time to pull my cumulative GPA in to a more competitive range.

My advice? Keep doing what you're doing. Take the classes you need to take in order to fulfill your premed requirements and to obtain your degree in the end. Also, enjoy those classes and enjoy the journey. I know it probably seems like a long shot right now, but it's not impossible. Gain valuable experiences that YOU want to do on top of everything.

In the end, if you need to retake some classes or to do a master's program, it's a small sacrifice for your future. Plus, I don't know about you, but I think that shows a lot of determination to succeed.

I'm sure everyone who knows that he or she wants to be a doctor would love to go the traditional route of straight through undergraduate and onto medical school. But, there's something to be said about taking a non-traditional route. Does it really matter if you become a doctor at 26, 30, or beyond? Personally, I've found that some of the best doctors did something to gain good life experience and a true understanding of the world of medicine before they ever stepped through the doors of their respective medical schools.

At the end of the day, it's about what you want and how much you're willing to put into achieving those goals.

The last thing I'm going to say is, don't look around and think that other people seem to get something you don't. We're all learning. We all have hardships; we being our colleagues, our future patients, ourselves... everyone. Try not to let this setback bring you down, rather let it motivate you. One day, you will see that it will make all the difference no matter what you decide to do.

Good luck!

 

[TriagePreMed]

Alright I'll look in to retaking vs. renewal, thanks for the info and guidance Triage, it's much appreciated.

Also, Is there anything to be lost if I were to apply after my fourth year instead of my third? It would allow me more time to pull my cumulative GPA in to a more competitive range.

It would be totally fine. In fact, if you applied even a bit later and in the meantime from undergrad to medical school you did full-time research, that would help tremendously for MD programs. For DO programs that would help but not as much; it would be just like another EC.

 

[NC1994]

Do you think I could make it in to any of the schools on my list with a strong upward trend and a 3.35 cGPA and a 28-31 MCAT?
I think I can realistically pull off those stats before applying if I wait till after my fourth year.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Do you think I could make it in to any of the schools on my list with a strong upward trend and a 3.35 cGPA and a 28-31 MCAT?
I think I can realistically pull off those stats before applying if I wait till after my fourth year.

You could definitely get into an Osteopathic school without a problem. You'd probably need >33 if you want a chance into an MD. The most important thing is your sGPA. If you can get it higher because your initial bad credits weren't in science, you have much stronger chances despite the lower cGPA.

 

[NC1994]

Not sure if Biological Anthropology is considered a science or a humanities class, but I'll be retaking my psych class next semester, so if the main factor is sGPA I should be competitive after I retake it.

Edit:
Would Introduction to Psychology even count on sGPA?

 

[ciestar]

sGPA = BCPM (bio, chem, physics, math)

 

[NC1994]

Alright. thanks for clearing that up.

 

[TriagePreMed]

sGPA = BCPM (bio, chem, physics, math)

No math for DO and a few other courses like oceanography, physical anthropology and geology do count.

 

[NC1994]

So, I should retake the Biological(Physical) Anthropology class and let the Psychology class be?
I can only use grade replacement 3 times and would prefer to save at least 2 of them in case of mishaps.