Business to Med School?

[ZachMD]

Hey everybody,

To make things simple: I have a masters degree in business... no real science GPA! My GPA in undergrad is around 2.8 and the master's GPA is 3.2... should I just go for a new BA in premed and earn a very high GPA or should I just focus on taking the prerequisites and hopefully up my GPA enough to be competitive?

What's the best course of action?

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[KanGaHru]

I'm basically in the same boat as you (except no MBA and 2.96 cgpa for my undergrad business degree)......The road I am taking is starting a new degree in order to get priority for the science pre reqs I need and then hopefully getting straight As all the way through (about 48 credits of classes for me)....I have been told by my local MD schools (I am in FL) that if I accomplish this and get a decent MCAT, that I will have a good shot at acceptances since it has been so long since I've been in school (5 years). Anyways, I'm sure others on here can offer you much better advice, but I thought I would share since I'm in a similar situation.

 

[jjbodean]

Hey everybody,

To make things simple: I have a masters degree in business... no real science GPA! My GPA in undergrad is around 2.8 and the master's GPA is 3.2... should I just go for a new BA in premed and earn a very high GPA or should I just focus on taking the prerequisites and hopefully up my GPA enough to be competitive?

What's the best course of action?

similar to the situation i was in: BS in finance, 2.83 gpa. i went back and strictly took courses leading up to the prerequisites, no new degree. make sure you ace your new coursework. the further you are away from your old time in the classroom the more excelling now will stand out. do well on the mcat and have great EC's.

 

[Jlaw]

I had a finance degree and switched to med. If you crush your science pre reqs and do well on the MCAT you will be fine. Don't bother worrying about your undergrad cGPA, if its a 2.8 after 4 years its going to take a ton of time and money to bring it to 3.0. This might put you under some cutoffs, but other schools will be impressed if you are able to turn your grades around. I was under 3.0 but went back and did a post bacc program to knock off my science requirements and pulled a 3.97. I fumbled the MCAT pretty badly but still got plenty of DO interviews and got accepted on the first cycle. If I had done better on the MCAT I think I would have been competitive for MD as well. Being a non traditional trad applicant helped me in my opinion. PM me if I can answer any other questions.

 

[NavyEnlisted]

I also have a Finance B.S (3.8 GPA) and a MBA (3.8 GPA) and am just now starting premed. Did any of you find the premed classes harder than finance and business classes? I am just trying to see how much B-school teaching styles compare to Pre-Med.

 

[Goro]

Do well (like > 3.5) in a post-bac or SMP and then ace MCAT. There are MD schools (and ALL DO schools) that reward reinvention. Your MBA GPA will not count towards this process.

Don't forget all the necessary ECs.

Hey everybody,

To make things simple: I have a masters degree in business... no real science GPA! My GPA in undergrad is around 2.8 and the master's GPA is 3.2... should I just go for a new BA in premed and earn a very high GPA or should I just focus on taking the prerequisites and hopefully up my GPA enough to be competitive?

What's the best course of action?

 

[Ronald Kris]

I also have a Finance B.S (3.8 GPA) and a MBA (3.8 GPA) and am just now starting premed. Did any of you find the premed classes harder than finance and business classes? I am just trying to see how much B-school teaching styles compare to Pre-Med.

just curious, what brought about the change? I'm actually currently getting a masters degree in a business field, but have started to think about trying medicine. Were you in finance, and if so, front office, middle/back, PE/HF/IDB, etc.?

 

[NavyEnlisted]

Finance is fun for the first few years and then it becomes dull (or at least to me). I did quite a bit of non-profit work, personal financial management, and tax preparation. I got into securities a little bit before joining the Navy, but I lost interest really fast. Currently I do the taxes for sailors here in Japan.

Medicine was my first choice almost ten years ago, but the crash of the market caused me to change my life and I found I had a knack for money management. My mother is in Oncology and my father works as maintenance man at our home town hospital so I have spent awhile in hospitals growing up. Now I have the resources and experience to finally get me there.

 

[tigers2007]

What's the best course of action?

I'm almost in the same boat with you (biz major with few science pre-req's and a rough start yea). I set a goal about a year and a half ago to end my never-ending schooling "career" with medical school. With that said, I decided to finish up a Bachelors in Business Administration (I will graduate one year from today) and then initiate my science courses starting January 2016. What I have learned from the last year is that my mind will change many times but it always leans back toward medical school no matter what. From what I've gleaned from the zillion similar posts around here (and success stories) is that you need to not only think about changing your ways but you must actually act those changes out. I am getting all A grades now. The real test is how I do that first semester in 2016 when I take Gen Chem and Bio. I really won't be finished with my prereq's until the end of 2017. Yeah it is very far out but that is the only way I can reasonably do this while working a full-time job.

Here is my plan:

CHEM 1 2016/SPR (Jan-Apr)
BIOL 1 2016/SPR (Jan-Apr)
CHEM 2 2016/SUM (May-Aug)
PHYS 1 2016/FAL (Sep-Dec)
BIOL 2 2016/FAL (Sep-Dec)
PHYS 2 2017/SPR (Jan-Apr)
Organic CHEM 1 2017/SPR (Jan-Apr)
BIOL 2016/SUM (May-Aug) (A&P optional)
Organic CHEM 2 2017/FAL (Sep-Dec)
BioChem 2017/FAL (Sep-Dec)

 

[BlastedHeath]

Chiming in from a similar position as well. I got a horrible start to college, worked in management a few years before going back and did business because it was what I was already doing and I figured medicine was no longer an option. About a year ago I started to get the itch for medicine again and knew I had to go for it. I decided to complete my BBA and then do post bacc through extension courses. Next semester my BBA is done and I'm taking Gen Chem 2 and Bio 1. I think the good thing about studying business is that it teaches a lot of things that are adaptable across almost all industries and positions, even medicine.

 

[bbbaaa]

I got a degree in accounting and my CPA license, then worked for a few years before making the switch. I did the science pre-req's directly required for admission as a part time student over the course of two years. Finished in May and applied this cycle, got accepted to UNC. I don't know how much my college GPA had to do with it, (it was fine but not outstanding), and just did the best I could in my pre-reqs and MCAT, got good EC's. From most of the people I spoke to, it seemed the nontraditional business background was a plus.

Granted I'm on high because I got into a good school, but I say go for it. Your low undergrad GPA may mean some prestigious doors close on you before they take into account your accomplishments since then, but not at all schools. To echo what other people have already said, if you dedicate yourself to the pre-reqs, MCAT and EC's you'll be fine. I got a really good letter of recommendation from a partner at the accounting firm I used to work at too, so don't burn any bridges.

 

[ZachMD]

I'm basically in the same boat as you.

Thank you for sharing your story and good luck to all of us who are going after our dreams.

 

[ZachMD]

similar to the situation i was in: BS in finance, 2.83 gpa. i went back and strictly took courses leading up to the prerequisites, no new degree. make sure you ace your new coursework. the further you are away from your old time in the classroom the more excelling now will stand out. do well on the mcat and have great EC's.

Hello and thank you so much for the information, it's extremely helpful. May ask how many total credit hours in prereqs did you take? And what was the final accumulated GPA that got you accepted?
Additionally, can you expand on the EC's? What do you recommend?
Again, thank you so much for sharing your story, makes me extremely hopeful and I'm very happy for you that you're half way through the "dream".
Zach

 

[ZachMD]

I had a finance degree and switched to med. If you crush your science pre reqs and do well on the MCAT you will be fine. Don't bother worrying about your undergrad cGPA, if its a 2.8 after 4 years its going to take a ton of time and money to bring it to 3.0. This might put you under some cutoffs, but other schools will be impressed if you are able to turn your grades around. I was under 3.0 but went back and did a post bacc program to knock off my science requirements and pulled a 3.97. I fumbled the MCAT pretty badly but still got plenty of DO interviews and got accepted on the first cycle. If I had done better on the MCAT I think I would have been competitive for MD as well. Being a non traditional trad applicant helped me in my opinion. PM me if I can answer any other questions.

Hello, first of all congratulations on your success so far and secondly thank you so much for the information you shared. Reading your response along with the other responses makes it clear that simply jumping on a post bacc and knocking the prerecs out of the way is the way to go, no need to spend four more years doing another under grad.
Again, thank you so much and good luck for the rest of your career.
Zach

 

[ZachMD]

Do well (like > 3.5) in a post-bac or SMP and then ace MCAT. There are MD schools (and ALL DO schools) that reward reinvention. Your MBA GPA will not count towards this process.

Don't forget all the necessary ECs.

Thank you for the information
Can you please share what EC's would you recommend?

Thanks again,

 

[jjbodean]

Hello and thank you so much for the information, it's extremely helpful. May ask how many total credit hours in prereqs did you take? And what was the final accumulated GPA that got you accepted?
Additionally, can you expand on the EC's? What do you recommend?
Again, thank you so much for sharing your story, makes me extremely hopeful and I'm very happy for you that you're half way through the "dream".
Zach

i think i ended up taking 50-60 hours once i went back. i started with the basics just to get back up to speed since it had been a while since i had been in a classroom, then got into the core classes required to apply to school. with a post-bacc 4.0 it raised my undergrad 2.83 to a 3.18 for amcas purposes.

ECs i had involved between 200-300 hours of physician shadowing in multiple disciplines, i was also on the board of directors for 2 different non-profits, was doing minor (very minor) research in the chem lab on campus, volunteered at a camp for handicapped children and adults, etc, you get the idea.

above all else you must crush your coursework when you go back and do well on the mcat

 

[Goro]

Shadowing doctors
Doing clinical volunteering
Doing non-clinical volunteering (your local houses of worship will be good places to start).
For a bigger bang for the buck, get off campus and out of your comfort zone.

Thank you for the information
Can you please share what EC's would you recommend?

Thanks again,

 

[Jlaw]

I should add that if you can get it to 3.0 your app is that much stronger because it will probably get you above some cut offs, but I wouldn't put off applying if you have a great post bacc, MCAT, etc...but if you're within a class or two of hitting 3.0 at the end of your post bacc you might want to think about banging out a couple more.

For EC's, my advice is to do a few things as mentioned above but find one experience to be the centerpiece of your app; i.e. having one significant volunteer experience that you put hundreds of hours into is better than doing 50 different volunteer projects for a few hours each. Even better if you can tie said volunteer experience into applying to school. i.e. you volunteered as an EMT and want to be an ER doc or you volunteered with boys and girls club and want to go into peds. Make notes of your experiences and then build your personal statement off that, you want your app to read like a story and show the adcom's that while you didn't start out wanting to be a doctor you life has clearly drawn you towards it.

Good luck man, its a long road but worth it.