Am I good enough?

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Giftedhealer7589

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Hello everyone,
This is my first thread ever, and I would love positive feedback. So am I good enough to become a Medical Doctor? Throughout my life school has never been my cup of tea. I just did enough to get by. I never had intentions on going to college, but I went and registered for college knowing it really wasn't what I wanted. To make a long story short, I ended up withdrawaling from school, but not properly so I received 4 F's for that semester. It took me enlisting into the Marine Corps and becoming a husband and father to matured and discovered a new found love for education, primarily science. Now I'm getting ready to graduate from community college and transfer to a 4 year university and I have been really successful since I've founded this new hunger for science and medicine. I have been consistently averaging a 3.7 gpa, but I feel my past will comeback to haunt me. I know i have another 2 years of undergrad, and I am willing to put in the neccessary work to maintain my gpa or even better it. So am I good enough? All comments and testimonies welcome..

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So am I good enough?

If we had a crystal ball that answered that question for each of us, SDN wouldn't exist.

There is no "good enough". There's only "line up your best shot and take it". There's work your tail off, put together the best application you can, and be ready for the best or worst to happen. There are ways to stack the deck as much as possible in your favor: great GPAs, high MCATs, outstanding ECs...but look around these forums and you'll see there are plenty of people with "all the right stats" who don't get in. And those who rode a rockier path and did make it. And all vice versa.

You say you're still 2 years away from even completing undergrad. Good place to start looking at how to use that time to build the best application you can. Read threads by people who've come back from a rough start (there are many of us) and start to recognize patterns of what they did right and wrong. Ask for advice. Understand that an application is definitely strong stats, but it's also how compelling you make your story of your path to medicine, how well you can show you understand what you're getting into, and how strongly you can present yourself as someone who will make a great doctor.

It's not easy getting there, and not everyone succeeds. Sheer numbers ensure that. But we can try and help get you into the best place possible to launch from.
 
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You ask an Internet forum if you're good enough to become a doctor but your username consists of "giftedhealer"?
 
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The F's will factor into your GPA, but it sounds like that was a while ago, and that you have done things since then that indicate growth/maturity, not the least of which is a solid academic record since returning to school. As long as those old grades don't bring down your GPA by too much, I wouldn't be terribly worried. If you apply DO, you could always retake the classes you did poorly in and take advantage of their grade replacement. Don't forget to keep building the rest of your application.
 
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OP:

I was in your situation when I applied two years ago, but I had 8 F's to overcome. There was a 10 year gap between the last time I had attended college (2000), and beginning the 4-year pre-med journey (2010). I knew what I had to do, and worked my butt off to get straight A's for the first 3.5 years. It sounds like you're doing what needs to be done: Get all or as many A's as you can; and do as best as you can on the MCAT. As previous posters have mentioned, work hard, so when it comes time to apply, you won't be asking yourself, "am I good enough".

Good luck!!!
 
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If we had a crystal ball that answered that question for each of us, SDN wouldn't exist.

There is no "good enough". There's only "line up your best shot and take it". There's work your tail off, put together the best application you can, and be ready for the best or worst to happen. There are ways to stack the deck as much as possible in your favor: great GPAs, high MCATs, outstanding ECs...but look around these forums and you'll see there are plenty of people with "all the right stats" who don't get in. And those who rode a rockier path and did make it. And all vice versa.

You say you're still 2 years away from even completing undergrad. Good place to start looking at how to use that time to build the best application you can. Read threads by people who've come back from a rough start (there are many of us) and start to recognize patterns of what they did right and wrong. Ask for advice. Understand that an application is definitely strong stats, but it's also how compelling you make your story of your path to medicine, how well you can show you understand what you're getting into, and how strongly you can present yourself as someone who will make a great doctor.

It's not easy getting there, and not everyone succeeds. Sheer numbers ensure that. But we can try and help get you into the best place possible to launch from.


Thank you! Your response really resonated with me. I will continue to do the best that I can and receive the highest gpa. I'm not take the Mcat until summer 2017 so I have plenty of prep time to get the best score I can possibly get. I also have a lot of ECs coming up and I going to take full advantage of them..
 
The F's will factor into your GPA, but it sounds like that was a while ago, and that you have done things since then that indicate growth/maturity, not the least of which is a solid academic record since returning to school. As long as those old grades don't bring down your GPA by too much, I wouldn't be terribly worried. If you apply DO, you could always retake the classes you did poorly in and take advantage of their grade replacement. Don't forget to keep building the rest of your application.

I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that grades that are 7 plus years back, Med schools won't even consider as a factor. Don't quote me on it though
 
OP:

I was in your situation when I applied two years ago, but I had 8 F's to overcome. There was a 10 year gap between the last time I had attended college (2000), and beginning the 4-year pre-med journey (2010). I knew what I had to do, and worked my butt off to get straight A's for the first 3.5 years. It sounds like you're doing what needs to be done: Get all or as many A's as you can; and do as best as you can on the MCAT. As previous posters have mentioned, work hard, so when it comes time to apply, you won't be asking yourself, "am I good enough".

Good luck!!!

Thank you.. So you were accepted into Med school?
 
I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that grades that are 7 plus years back, Med schools won't even consider as a factor. Don't quote me on it though

Incorrect (unless you live in Texas, in which cause old grades can be wiped after ten years). When you fill out AMCAS/AACOMAS, you must enter ever grade you've ever gotten in a college-level course. Schools will see all of them. How they ultimately decide to treat old grades is a school's choice. There are quite a few that don't seem to put any weight on them at all, and some that do.

You can't change the situation. All you can do is go up from here. Some people choose to explain poor old performance on secondaries that give you space to explain such things. Some people don't. When the time comes to interview, you might be asked what happened in the early years (I think I was questioned about it three or four times...the rest never asked), so that's an explanation you'll need to be thinking about.

So no, you can't escape them on your record. But with a strong comeback and a solid rest of your application, it's unlikely that will be a factor that sinks you.
 
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I think you will be fine. You failed, joined the military (which schools love) and came back and killed it on your second try (which schools love).
 
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Thank you.. So you were accepted into Med school?

Yup, got accepted to DMU and another school. But, ultimately was accepted to my state school. My F's were brought up in both interviews, too. When it's time for your interviews, own it (your past GPA), and say how you were able to come back. Like ChrisMack390 said, you're killing it on your second try, and that's important. Focus on what's ahead of you: A's and MCAT. You got this.

Good luck.
 
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Yup, got accepted to DMU and another school. But, ultimately was accepted to my state school. My F's were brought up in both interviews, too. When it's time for your interviews, own it (your past GPA), and say how you were able to come back. Like ChrisMack390 said, you're killing it on your second try, and that's important. Focus on what's ahead of you: A's and MCAT. You got this.

Good luck.
Thank you and congratulations on getting into medical school. Your story has inspired me and I will continue to give it my all!!!
 
First off, many thanks for your service to our country.
Your current academics demonstrate that you can handle med school.

Semper Fi!



Hello everyone,
This is my first thread ever, and I would love positive feedback. So am I good enough to become a Medical Doctor? Throughout my life school has never been my cup of tea. I just did enough to get by. I never had intentions on going to college, but I went and registered for college knowing it really wasn't what I wanted. To make a long story short, I ended up withdrawaling from school, but not properly so I received 4 F's for that semester. It took me enlisting into the Marine Corps and becoming a husband and father to matured and discovered a new found love for education, primarily science. Now I'm getting ready to graduate from community college and transfer to a 4 year university and I have been really successful since I've founded this new hunger for science and medicine. I have been consistently averaging a 3.7 gpa, but I feel my past will comeback to haunt me. I know i have another 2 years of undergrad, and I am willing to put in the neccessary work to maintain my gpa or even better it. So am I good enough? All comments and testimonies welcome..
 
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First off, many thanks for your service to our country.
Your current academics demonstrate that you can handle med school.

Semper Fi!


Thank you, it was a honor to serve this beautiful country. Semper Fi!
 
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