I feel like this isn't going to be possible?

[cdickson73011]

It is an extremely long story, but it all basically ends with an untreated mental illness that is now being treated.

I performed poorly in high school, in part due to mental illness and in part due to living in poverty and abuse. In college, first I was trying to overcompensate for my poor performance in high school by taking on way too much. I ended up not taking very good care of myself and came down with pneumonia. I fell behind very fast and couldn't catch back up, some of my professors gave me incompletes because of how far behind I was, but I ended up failing a few others.

I left after that semester because my grandmother needed help with my paralyzed uncle while her health deteriorated, and I decided to take culinary classes. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter and shortly after, the seizures I'd had as a child returned. Turns out those were triggered by hormones, they were described as IGE as a child and the docs believed I had grown out of them. Anyway, I was placed on bedrest and withdrew from the community college where I was taking classes.

After that, it was just one bad mistake after another. I became a single mom and had given up the dream of going to medical school because it seemed impossible. I decided I needed to get some kind of degree and settled on going to online school for business. I tried Ashford, Kaplan, and WGU, but I couldn't focus. Even in normal life, focus had become impossible for a while. Finally my doctors and I found the root cause, and I've finally been able to stabilize my moods and focus again.

Anyway, now I want to go back to school. I'm going to have to start all over. I don't even have enough credits to complete a full year. I'm 25 and my last attempt at school was 3 years ago. I plan to apply to IU and choose a single major while managing my time appropriately, but I'm worried that my prior mistakes will be a very dark spot on my applications. Obviously, I have time between now and then, but I'm trying to take the best possible route to take when it comes to my undergrad.

So is it a hopeless case? Or is there a way to make a comeback from the past?

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[WGSgrad]

It is an extremely long story, but it all basically ends with an untreated mental illness that is now being treated.

I performed poorly in high school, in part due to mental illness and in part due to living in poverty and abuse. In college, first I was trying to overcompensate for my poor performance in high school by taking on way too much. I ended up not taking very good care of myself and came down with pneumonia. I fell behind very fast and couldn't catch back up, some of my professors gave me incompletes because of how far behind I was, but I ended up failing a few others.

I left after that semester because my grandmother needed help with my paralyzed uncle while her health deteriorated, and I decided to take culinary classes. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter and shortly after, the seizures I'd had as a child returned. Turns out those were triggered by hormones, they were described as IGE as a child and the docs believed I had grown out of them. Anyway, I was placed on bedrest and withdrew from the community college where I was taking classes.

After that, it was just one bad mistake after another. I became a single mom and had given up the dream of going to medical school because it seemed impossible. I decided I needed to get some kind of degree and settled on going to online school for business. I tried Ashford, Kaplan, and WGU, but I couldn't focus. Even in normal life, focus had become impossible for a while. Finally my doctors and I found the root cause, and I've finally been able to stabilize my moods and focus again.

Anyway, now I want to go back to school. I'm going to have to start all over. I don't even have enough credits to complete a full year. I'm 25 and my last attempt at school was 3 years ago. I plan to apply to IU and choose a single major while managing my time appropriately, but I'm worried that my prior mistakes will be a very dark spot on my applications. Obviously, I have time between now and then, but I'm trying to take the best possible route to take when it comes to my undergrad.

So is it a hopeless case? Or is there a way to make a comeback from the past?

Hopefully, some better informed folks will soon enter this thread; however, because your post seemed genuine and no one else has responded yet, I thought I might a least offer a cursory answer.

1) You need to have a come-to-your maker moment and really evaluate whether or not you want to do this. Really want to do this and are really prepared to make all of the changes in behavior and sacrifices necessary to do this. Not, because it seems like a good thing to do, not because you like medicine, not because it's something you've always wanted to do. There are other ways, easier ways, shorter ways, more financial just ways, to achieve any of those goals. This has to be the only thing you could see yourself doing. Because if you could see yourself happy doing anything else, you should.

2) The stigma associated with mental illness is real. It seems like it is particularly real in medical school applications because of the pressures associated with medical school. You need to make sure that whatever challenges you faced with mental illness are really and truly addressed and that you would not be doing a disservice to yourself or any potential future patients in your practice of medicine.

3) If you got affirmative answers to the first two questions, and I mean really affirmative answers (because a lot of people are going to suggest you throw the oars out here and turn back) then you need take an evaluative moment and LET GO OF THE PAST. **** happens. Life sucks. You were dealt a ****ty hand. To get anything accomplished, you need to set most, if not all of it, aside and move forward. The only thing you want to keep with you from the past you have detailed here are the lessons you learned.

4) SCOUR SDN for informed responses to other students who have asked this question. There are a ton.

5) SCOUR SDN for information on GPA repair/starting over. There are a ton. Take it all in. Let it marinate.

6) Create a plan.
- This plan needs to account for non-academic things like childcare, the ability to provide for yourself while you are in school, and what your new and improved response will be if you find yourself in a moment of crisis.
- Forget the online colleges. Start at the local community college or state school. Start with non-medical school prerequistes (I.e general education depth/breath requirements) AND KILL IT. It is better to start with these non-medical school prerequsistes because it will give you time to refine your routine/schedule/plan while in somewhat more flexible courses (ENGL 101 is a lot more flexible in terms of study time than BIO 101). It will also give you a chance to reacclimatize yourself to school and further determine that (if) you are really ready for the long academic road ahead of you.

Take it one day, one week, one course, one semester at a time and plug away. If you are doing well in school, then begin taking the medical school prerequsites. If you do well, then keep going. If you aren't doing well, take a step back and think about what a different life for yourself and your child could like if you did something else.

You have a long road ahead of you and you might certainly be better served doing something else, but if you want it, AND it is the right decision for you and the patients you might serve, there is a way.

 

[DrMikeP]

It is an extremely long story, but it all basically ends with an untreated mental illness that is now being treated.

I performed poorly in high school, in part due to mental illness and in part due to living in poverty and abuse. In college, first I was trying to overcompensate for my poor performance in high school by taking on way too much. I ended up not taking very good care of myself and came down with pneumonia. I fell behind very fast and couldn't catch back up, some of my professors gave me incompletes because of how far behind I was, but I ended up failing a few others.

I left after that semester because my grandmother needed help with my paralyzed uncle while her health deteriorated, and I decided to take culinary classes. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter and shortly after, the seizures I'd had as a child returned. Turns out those were triggered by hormones, they were described as IGE as a child and the docs believed I had grown out of them. Anyway, I was placed on bedrest and withdrew from the community college where I was taking classes.

After that, it was just one bad mistake after another. I became a single mom and had given up the dream of going to medical school because it seemed impossible. I decided I needed to get some kind of degree and settled on going to online school for business. I tried Ashford, Kaplan, and WGU, but I couldn't focus. Even in normal life, focus had become impossible for a while. Finally my doctors and I found the root cause, and I've finally been able to stabilize my moods and focus again.

Anyway, now I want to go back to school. I'm going to have to start all over. I don't even have enough credits to complete a full year. I'm 25 and my last attempt at school was 3 years ago. I plan to apply to IU and choose a single major while managing my time appropriately, but I'm worried that my prior mistakes will be a very dark spot on my applications. Obviously, I have time between now and then, but I'm trying to take the best possible route to take when it comes to my undergrad.

So is it a hopeless case? Or is there a way to make a comeback from the past?

Absolutely possible, as 25 may not seem it but it is still VERY young. You will have to academically demonstrate that you've overcome past mistakes. Medical schools are concerned with where you are now and can be in the future. They are also concerned with what you learned from the past and won't repeat mistakes again. You must demonstrate that you have your mental health issues under control, as med school is one of the most stress evoking experiences you will ever have. So return to school and make A's and some B's. The next 4 years will help tell you if you have what it takes to do med school. Take it one step at a time and do what the other poster suggested, especially do the reading on SDN.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I second the advice above and recommend that you start a community college. Look for the academic support office and use their services to improve study skills/time management (we all can improve these two) and make sure you use office hours religiously. Start with basic classes such as writing, math, maybe introduction to chemistry (i.e. not general chemistry). Don't start the pre-med classes until you are ready. At my former school, every year 2,000 undergraduates would start general chemistry with the hopes of going to medical school, by the end of the second semester of organic chemistry around 140 would pass and even fewer with the grades that are necessary. Pre-med classes are designed to weed students out and they do this very well. Only start them when you are ready. Best of luck to you.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

There are so many folks on this forum who are just starting to consider medical school in their 30s, 40s, 50s... I can't stress enough that you have plenty of time, if this is indeed the career you want! I'll be turning 29 just after I start med school. No regrets.

I agree with others who have said that community college is probably the best place for you to start. I'm sure that childcare/work responsibilities may make in-person classes challenging but if you can swing it (through night classes perhaps?), it's your best bet. The last thing you want is to bust your butt and waste money on online classes that medical schools may or may not accept. I would start slow as others have said with 1 or 2 classes per semester, starting with basics like English, writing, algebra, etc. These are good foundational courses and they will help you determine if you're ready for the more intense pre-med requirements. Pay attention to your mental/emotional health throughout and take good care of yourself.

Lastly, I don't think you should write off becoming a doctor, if that's what you really want. Just know that it is a long, stressful road that never really ends. I recommend exploring other fields in health care like RN, NP, PA. You can do this by shadowing and also just by doing some research. You may find that one of these careers suits you better and, if not, it'll only reinforce your desire to become a doctor. To answer your question, yes, it is definitely possible to make a comeback!

 

[Goro]

Don't even think about starting down this path until all of your health issues are under control.

Your therapist/psychiatrist also needs to be on board with you. Med school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 cause of our students dropping out, failing out or delaying graduation is mental illness.

It is an extremely long story, but it all basically ends with an untreated mental illness that is now being treated.

I performed poorly in high school, in part due to mental illness and in part due to living in poverty and abuse. In college, first I was trying to overcompensate for my poor performance in high school by taking on way too much. I ended up not taking very good care of myself and came down with pneumonia. I fell behind very fast and couldn't catch back up, some of my professors gave me incompletes because of how far behind I was, but I ended up failing a few others.

I left after that semester because my grandmother needed help with my paralyzed uncle while her health deteriorated, and I decided to take culinary classes. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter and shortly after, the seizures I'd had as a child returned. Turns out those were triggered by hormones, they were described as IGE as a child and the docs believed I had grown out of them. Anyway, I was placed on bedrest and withdrew from the community college where I was taking classes.

After that, it was just one bad mistake after another. I became a single mom and had given up the dream of going to medical school because it seemed impossible. I decided I needed to get some kind of degree and settled on going to online school for business. I tried Ashford, Kaplan, and WGU, but I couldn't focus. Even in normal life, focus had become impossible for a while. Finally my doctors and I found the root cause, and I've finally been able to stabilize my moods and focus again.

Anyway, now I want to go back to school. I'm going to have to start all over. I don't even have enough credits to complete a full year. I'm 25 and my last attempt at school was 3 years ago. I plan to apply to IU and choose a single major while managing my time appropriately, but I'm worried that my prior mistakes will be a very dark spot on my applications. Obviously, I have time between now and then, but I'm trying to take the best possible route to take when it comes to my undergrad.

So is it a hopeless case? Or is there a way to make a comeback from the past?

 

[esob]

1) You need to have a come-to-your maker moment and really evaluate whether or not you want to do this.

This^^ Its going to be ugly, but if you realize this AND are still excited, then you start moving in the right direction.

Mine was something like "Oh man, this is really going to suck......I can't wait to get started!"

 

[QofQuimica]

A lot depends on what your mental illness is and just what the meaning of "controlled" is. As others have suggested, medical training can be detrimental to the health of people with certain mental illnesses. You cannot get through medical training without sometimes being sleep deprived, following an irregular schedule, and otherwise being under severe physical and emotional stress. Certain mental illnesses may therefore not be compatible with medical training. If you haven't already, you should have this discussion with your psychiatrist and see what s/he thinks about the idea of you going to medical school in terms of the risks to your health. If s/he believes it would be detrimental to your progress and health, you should seriously reconsider this career choice, especially given that you are the sole caretaker of a young child. No career is worth ruining your health or your life, not to mention your daughter's life.