Graduate and Post-Bacc or Stay and Play? Seeking Guidance...

[austintr]

First of all, let me say I have been following the forums here for a couple of years, and the community has helped me get a second wind. So thanks for that! Now, here is my predicament:

As a pre-med student, I had a very rough first couple of years of college. The typical scenario of "I was never challenged by high school, so thought college would be easy, thus started drinking copiously and not attending class". After a couple of disappointing years at a state university, I opted to take an EMT class back home, in hopes of getting some experience. After EMT class, I went ahead and finished paramedic school. I learned that the intensity and accountability required by the program actually played to my strong points incredibly. I graduated second in my class and now have 3 years experience as a paramedic. I teach EMS continuing education, and am very involved with the training aspect of my department. Most, if not all, of my leadership experience comes from my professional experience. I'm currently shadowing an amazing ER physician at a regional trauma center about 40 miles away, and plan on having a total of 200+ hours. With the other EC's I have, I'm not too worried about this aspect; rather, I am trying to formulate a better game plan for the academic side. I'm on schedule to graduate in the spring of '15 if I need to, however I'm planning to retake about 5 classes (18-20 hours) in order to get my GPA up to where it at least partially reflects my potential. My cGPA is just below 3.0, and my sGPA is right around 2.7. I know these numbers are unacceptable, and the situation gets even sticker here. My girlfriend just got accepted into a Doctorate of Nurse Practitioner program, and we will be moving to a much larger city next June. I feel rushed to finish a bachelor's in life science, but I feel I will then be in a tough spot of doing retakes at another university in a post-back fashion, and I'm not sure how well that would work. My other option is to go ahead and transfer, requiring me to take 30 more hours at the (slightly less regarded) university in the larger city. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of situation, or have any advice? Also, if there's anymore info you guys need, I'd be happy to put it out there! Thanks!

TL;DR: Messed up GPA, now an allied health professional with a decent upward trend taking classes part-time. Finish UG degree then do post-back retakes elsewhere, or transfer and graduate at the other college after retakes?

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[Goro]

Finish and then do post-bac/retakes/SMP elsewhere.

First of all, let me say I have been following the forums here for a couple of years, and the community has helped me get a second wind. So thanks for that! Now, here is my predicament:

As a pre-med student, I had a very rough first couple of years of college. The typical scenario of "I was never challenged by high school, so thought college would be easy, thus started drinking copiously and not attending class". After a couple of disappointing years at a state university, I opted to take an EMT class back home, in hopes of getting some experience. After EMT class, I went ahead and finished paramedic school. I learned that the intensity and accountability required by the program actually played to my strong points incredibly. I graduated second in my class and now have 3 years experience as a paramedic. I teach EMS continuing education, and am very involved with the training aspect of my department. Most, if not all, of my leadership experience comes from my professional experience. I'm currently shadowing an amazing ER physician at a regional trauma center about 40 miles away, and plan on having a total of 200+ hours. With the other EC's I have, I'm not too worried about this aspect; rather, I am trying to formulate a better game plan for the academic side. I'm on schedule to graduate in the spring of '15 if I need to, however I'm planning to retake about 5 classes (18-20 hours) in order to get my GPA up to where it at least partially reflects my potential. My cGPA is just below 3.0, and my sGPA is right around 2.7. I know these numbers are unacceptable, and the situation gets even sticker here. My girlfriend just got accepted into a Doctorate of Nurse Practitioner program, and we will be moving to a much larger city next June. I feel rushed to finish a bachelor's in life science, but I feel I will then be in a tough spot of doing retakes at another university in a post-back fashion, and I'm not sure how well that would work. My other option is to go ahead and transfer, requiring me to take 30 more hours at the (slightly less regarded) university in the larger city. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of situation, or have any advice? Also, if there's anymore info you guys need, I'd be happy to put it out there! Thanks!

TL;DR: Messed up GPA, now an allied health professional with a decent upward trend taking classes part-time. Finish UG degree then do post-back retakes elsewhere, or transfer and graduate at the other college after retakes?

 

[austintr]

Finish and then do post-bac/retakes/SMP elsewhere.

Thanks, Goro...I appreciate your input, and I'm relieved to know that your advice in consistent with my current plan/instincts. On a somewhat unrelated note, the "much larger city" I will be moving to is probably somewhere in your neck of the woods. Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, do adcoms generally prefer blunt honesty regarding poor early academic performance with an emphasis on growth, or would it be more prudent to deemphasize my general lack of success in my younger days? I tend to be a lot more open now that I have come to terms with my failures as a freshman/sophomore and I suspect it will be a much visited topic in interviews...

 

[Goro]

In interviews, yes. They also want evidence that the you at interview is not the you of the past. We all know that not everyone is ready for college at age 18.

Do NOT explain poor performance in a PS...it always comes off as an excuse.

Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, do adcoms generally prefer blunt honesty regarding poor early academic performance with an emphasis on growth.

 

[anon01]

Goro, what constitutes explaining poor performance? Without explicit mentioning of grades/tough semesters/etc would you advise completely against writing about maturing as a student/person throughout undergrad?

I suppose it's tough to explain what I am asking without an example but as an undergrad I was generally academically confused to say the least and as I focused more on my academics throughout the years, my grades rose. In this context there is no mention of poor grades or semesters but I guess it could be inferred that there were poor grades/semesters.

*Edit: Sorry for the possible thread hijack

 

[austintr]

No worries, Anon...Goro has already pretty much given me the advice I was looking for...

 

[GypsyHummus]

First of all, let me say I have been following the forums here for a couple of years, and the community has helped me get a second wind. So thanks for that! Now, here is my predicament:

As a pre-med student, I had a very rough first couple of years of college. The typical scenario of "I was never challenged by high school, so thought college would be easy, thus started drinking copiously and not attending class". After a couple of disappointing years at a state university, I opted to take an EMT class back home, in hopes of getting some experience. After EMT class, I went ahead and finished paramedic school. I learned that the intensity and accountability required by the program actually played to my strong points incredibly. I graduated second in my class and now have 3 years experience as a paramedic. I teach EMS continuing education, and am very involved with the training aspect of my department. Most, if not all, of my leadership experience comes from my professional experience. I'm currently shadowing an amazing ER physician at a regional trauma center about 40 miles away, and plan on having a total of 200+ hours. With the other EC's I have, I'm not too worried about this aspect; rather, I am trying to formulate a better game plan for the academic side. I'm on schedule to graduate in the spring of '15 if I need to, however I'm planning to retake about 5 classes (18-20 hours) in order to get my GPA up to where it at least partially reflects my potential. My cGPA is just below 3.0, and my sGPA is right around 2.7. I know these numbers are unacceptable, and the situation gets even sticker here. My girlfriend just got accepted into a Doctorate of Nurse Practitioner program, and we will be moving to a much larger city next June. I feel rushed to finish a bachelor's in life science, but I feel I will then be in a tough spot of doing retakes at another university in a post-back fashion, and I'm not sure how well that would work. My other option is to go ahead and transfer, requiring me to take 30 more hours at the (slightly less regarded) university in the larger city. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of situation, or have any advice? Also, if there's anymore info you guys need, I'd be happy to put it out there! Thanks!

TL;DR: Messed up GPA, now an allied health professional with a decent upward trend taking classes part-time. Finish UG degree then do post-back retakes elsewhere, or transfer and graduate at the other college after retakes?

I kind of have a similar situation, in that my GPAs are lower as well (3.4 and 3.0 cum and science).

Here is what my advice is (what I am doing right now):

Retake Everything below a C. Get at least a 3.3 science and cumulative GPA, preferably a 3.4 (isn't too hard with summer retakes). Do well on the MCAT (28 or 29+), and you will be ok. I say 28+ because stats are rising and by the time that you will be ready to apply in 2 or 3 years

Don't feel rushed. Med school isn't going anywhere, and it sounds like your life is on track and your GF will have a stable job. Take your time and do it right. You don't wanna be a reapplicant.