Looking for advice

[nylonase46]

Thank you for taking the time to look at this. I had an upward swing in my grades from my junior year on. My GPA was as low as a 2.5. I was able to get mostly As with some Bs and finished my BS in bio with a chem minor with a 2.9. I completed my MS degree with a 3.8. It was a mix of teaching and biology/chemistry. About 2/3 of the classes were science(they were grad/undergrad mixed classes that weren't a cakewalk). I also walked on to my division 1 university's football team(a well known school with top 50 academics) and started for 3 years eventually earning a scholarship. I'm pretty sure my athlete status got me into the MS program, but I did well in it.

I did a lot of volunteer work over this time ranging from volunteering as a high school coach, tutoring elementary school kids, bone marrow drives, and Ronald McDonald's house.

I haven't been able to shadow or do much research, but I should be able to start this summer.

Is medical school realistic at this point or did my early academic struggles doom me?
If it is realistic, do you know which schools I should look at?
Should I wait til next year to take the apply and do research and work now?

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[DrHart]

You sound well rounded. I would still wait till next year to apply if you haven't even shadowed a doctor yet.
Why the interest in medicine? Have you had any experience with the medical field?

 

[nylonase46]

I have had a number of surgeries and other medical issues that doctors have helped me with. The fact that you can cut open someone and fix whats broken blows my mind. So does taking a pill to make an infection go away. Being able to improve people's lives is something I have always wanted to do. I think its what made me want to coach and tutor over other things. Other fields like business, communications, among others don't have ethics I agree with. I have some family members that are doctors and scientists and they seem happy with what they do for a living. By your response, it seems like you would recommend shadowing first, so I'll consider finding a doctor to shadow this summer.

 

[Goro]

There are definitely MD schools that reward reinvention. I think that you'll be better off if you can get your cGPA > 3.0

 

[nylonase46]

There are definitely MD schools that reward reinvention. I think that you'll be better off if you can get your cGPA > 3.0

If cGPA includes my graduate grades then I have over a 3.0, but if not, then that is definitely something I can do.

 

[nylonase46]

There are definitely MD schools that reward reinvention. I think that you'll be better off if you can get your cGPA > 3.0

Do you know which schools reward it?

 

[Goro]

Case, Vandy, Duke, U Miami, BU, among others.

 

[ZedsDed]

Graduate grades are calculated separately. If you are looking to go MD, then I strongly suggest you work on getting your cGPA over a 3.0; many schools will auto screen out a cGPA<3.0. In addition, you may very well need to do an SMP after that. The MD route is probably at least 3 years away, in my opinion; your lack of research and clinical exposure doesn't help. It seems pursuing grade replacement via AACOMAS (DO) policy is your best option. If you don't know what DO is do some research, they can do everything MD's can. Keep you chin up, work hard and you can do it.