Low GPA, lot of unit hours

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bjt223

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I have a dire situation. I spend at a community college for 6 years and gather up around 400 semester units. I did not know what was I doing and I did a lot of bouncing around on careers. In the end, I end up with a 2.2 GPA with 400 semester units. I don't know how medical school counts with all those other classes, but I am assuming this. However, luckily, I was able to get accept into a research institution to finish my upper division course. So far, I have a good start with 4.0 GPA with 12 quarter units. I was wondering that should I continue a GPA repair and ace the upper division or should I just give up entirely.

I would hate to give up because I spend 3 years volunteering at a hospital and 2 years as an EMT. I love working in the health professions and I always wanted to be a doctor. Right now, I'm 25 years old and people keep telling me to quit. What should I do now?

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Since you asked if you should give up entirely, I will tell you YES you should give up. It's not worth it. 400 credit hours, you probably could've bought a house with that money or invested in the market. Being a doctor is just a service job, that's really all it is. There's nothing special or magical about it. You shouldn't feel bad about not realizing this dream. There are countless other good occupations you can strive for. If you want to help people by saving lives, become an EMT or nurse, there's no shame in that. Say you do get into DO school and residency of your choosing, will you be like the majority of physicians that regret their choice of career?
 
You have already asked this question in the pre-Allo forum. Weren't the answers there good enough?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/was-my-advisors-right.1116056/

Just because people tell you what you want to hear, does that mean it's the right info????

I have a dire situation. I spend at a community college for 6 years and gather up around 400 semester units. I did not know what was I doing and I did a lot of bouncing around on careers. In the end, I end up with a 2.2 GPA with 400 semester units. I don't know how medical school counts with all those other classes, but I am assuming this. However, luckily, I was able to get accept into a research institution to finish my upper division course. So far, I have a good start with 4.0 GPA with 12 quarter units. I was wondering that should I continue a GPA repair and ace the upper division or should I just give up entirely.

I would hate to give up because I spend 3 years volunteering at a hospital and 2 years as an EMT. I love working in the health professions and I always wanted to be a doctor. Right now, I'm 25 years old and people keep telling me to quit. What should I do now?
 
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You have already asked this question in the pre-Allo forum. Weren't the answers there good enough?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/was-my-advisors-right.1116056/

Just because people tell you what you want to hear, does that mean it's the right info????


I do appreciate your answer on that side of message board. I am just seeking more opinions and advice. There is nothing wrong with that. Thanks @Goro for your opinion on the other side. Beside, I am considering rethinking in a change of career anyways if DO route doesn't work out for me.

I have considered to be a PA or a nurse if doctor doesn't work out.
 
OP, what do your "400 semester units" translate to on normal semester credit hours? Look at your transcripts and search online, they should have conversions on them. I can't tell if you went to schools with quarters or if you actually managed to pull off nearly 70 credit hours per year (basically what the average person does in 2 years). It sounds like you really have ~150 semester credits.

As someone who graduated with ~160 credits with a GPA not much higher than yours, I'd say your best bet is applying DO. Even then, you are looking at ~2 yrs of grade replacement with all A's and having to get a good score on the MCAT.

Honestly, I think your only chance of getting into an MD school would be to spend 3-4 years on your grades, or taking advantage of some school policies that say replace your previous GPA with the last X number of credits or only take into account your graduate GPA (provided you ace a graduate program). I also think in Texas there is a rule about grades >10 yrs old being dropped. I have no idea if that would apply to you, but just throwing that out there.
 
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Thanks @hallowmann , that is my other choices. Those units are what I accumulate over my 6 years at a junior college. I wasn't exactly sure how does semester credit counted because the units credit to a class varies at every community college. Can I find an universal semester unit accredited for certain classes such as:

General Biology, General Chemistry, etc.

At a community college, those classes are weighted differently than say a university?
 
Many Adcoms consider CC coursework to be less rigorous than UG work. Many MD schools will not accept pre-reqs from CCs. I have a higher opinion of CCs, but if one can't do well at CCs, it's not a good sign.

Thanks @hallowmann , that is my other choices. Those units are what I accumulate over my 6 years at a junior college. I wasn't exactly sure how does semester credit counted because the units credit to a class varies at every community college. Can I find an universal semester unit accredited for certain classes such as:

General Biology, General Chemistry, etc.

At a community college, those classes are weighted differently than say a university?
 
Thanks @hallowmann , that is my other choices. Those units are what I accumulate over my 6 years at a junior college. I wasn't exactly sure how does semester credit counted because the units credit to a class varies at every community college. Can I find an universal semester unit accredited for certain classes such as:

General Biology, General Chemistry, etc.

At a community college, those classes are weighted differently than say a university?

There is no universal conversion (unless you're talking about a standard used by all schools in one system - like UC schools for example). On each transcript, you'll have to look for the conversion that your school uses and actually calculate out the numbers. This is the case whenever schools deal with "units" instead of credits. It has nothing to do with being a CC or "accredited", simply what they define their units as.

Put in the time, because this is all part of a long and rigorous process, and you'll want to know exactly what you're dealing with and if your retakes will even replace your old grades (make sure they fulfill the AACOMAS grade replacement requirements).

That all said, if the schools are dealing in normal quarter credit hours, the universal conversion can be found here near the bottom:
https://aacomas.aacom.org/survey/views/client/aacomas/collegesinstructions4.html
*Take note though that it clearly says, if you are dealing with "units" then you need to follow whatever conversion your school uses.
 
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Many Adcoms consider CC coursework to be less rigorous than UG work. Many MD schools will not accept pre-reqs from CCs. I have a higher opinion of CCs, but if one can't do well at CCs, it's not a good sign.

@Goro, I understand, but what happens in my past, I cannot go back and change that. All I can do is focus now. I was hoping to do very well on my upper divisions and show potential growth. I am already in a good start with a 4.0 GPA so far.

If you say that many MD school do not accept pre-reqs from CC, should I take a pre-req class at a different university? That's sound alarming.
 
I don't make the rules, I just report them. Invest in MSAR Online to find out who accept CC credits and who doesn't.

If you say that many MD school do not accept pre-reqs from CC, should I take a pre-req class at a different university? That's sound alarming.[/QUOTE]
 
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