Setting myself up for disappointment...too much going on?

[Serenitysweety]

Hi! I'm usually a lurker who finally decided to register to ask... Should I give up before I fail?

Okay, I have my BA in women's studies, a great major that I'm glad I chose to pursue. Yes, I always knew I wanted to goto med school, but I currently have none of my prerequisites fulfilled.

Let me explain. I am married with 3 kids though I'm still in my early 20s. I was great in school as a kid, and even my first two years of college when I goofed up and didn't take my science classes. I figured I had time. Well, then life struck. I was having medical issues that my doctor could explain. I was physically unwell, suffered panic attacks and fatigue, and could not concentrate on anything, in and outside of the classroom. I blamed my anxiety and did a full semester withdrawal. After that I decided that I needed to slow down and push off my med school prerequisites. I took anxiety meds that didn't help. I had 3 pregnancies my last year of school, two ending in miscarriages. One carried to term while I finished my bachelors.

I sought therapy for what I thought was anxiety alone, but got tested and diagnosed with ADHD just weeks ago. Years too late as my gpa (3.44) and transcripts with ,multiple withdraws has already suffered. Now, as if my health weren't already questionable, I have onset of cluster headaches. I feel like its one thing after another.

All this to say that my gpa is mediocre, but I went through an awful lot while pursuing my degree. I have volunteered and done good looking things outside of school and I plan on doing more. I want to go back and do my prerequisites. I'm in therapy, will be starting meds soon, and have taken nearly a year off after graduation to recuperate and rethink this whole thing through. I love medicine, I want this so badly but I have so much to manage, maintain, and account for.

Am I insane for even considering going back? I'm expecting harsh responses, but really, I need encouragement. From moms, from those with ADD, from those with low gpas, or those who are going for second degrees. God, I have a lot to deal with.

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[midnight0il]

It sounds like you have a lot of things stacked against you. A lot of baggage. Are you ready for medical school right now? I don't think so, but then again I don't know you or your situation well enough to say.

Why don't you begin to take some of the pre-requisites, see how you fare, and then report back. If you're not able to handle it, then you have your answer.

 

[theseeker4]

Hi! I'm usually a lurker who finally decided to register to ask... Should I give up before I fail?

Okay, I have my BA in women's studies, a great major that I'm glad I chose to pursue. Yes, I always knew I wanted to goto med school, but I currently have none of my prerequisites fulfilled.

Let me explain. I am married with 3 kids though I'm still in my early 20s. I was great in school as a kid, and even my first two years of college when I goofed up and didn't take my science classes. I figured I had time. Well, then life struck. I was having medical issues that my doctor could explain. I was physically unwell, suffered panic attacks and fatigue, and could not concentrate on anything, in and outside of the classroom. I blamed my anxiety and did a full semester withdrawal. After that I decided that I needed to slow down and push off my med school prerequisites. I took anxiety meds that didn't help. I had 3 pregnancies my last year of school, two ending in miscarriages. One carried to term while I finished my bachelors.

I sought therapy for what I thought was anxiety alone, but got tested and diagnosed with ADHD just weeks ago. Years too late as my gpa (3.44) and transcripts with ,multiple withdraws has already suffered. Now, as if my health weren't already questionable, I have onset of cluster headaches. I feel like its one thing after another.

All this to say that my gpa is mediocre, but I went through an awful lot while pursuing my degree. I have volunteered and done good looking things outside of school and I plan on doing more. I want to go back and do my prerequisites. I'm in therapy, will be starting meds soon, and have taken nearly a year off after graduation to recuperate and rethink this whole thing through. I love medicine, I want this so badly but I have so much to manage, maintain, and account for.

Am I insane for even considering going back? I'm expecting harsh responses, but really, I need encouragement. From moms, from those with ADD, from those with low gpas, or those who are going for second degrees. God, I have a lot to deal with.

I am sure you know this already, but your biggest obstacle to this is your physical and mental health. If you can get that managed to the point you no longer have problems with school work, you can definitely succeed in med school. Your GPA is below average, but it is not so low you need to consider dropping your dream of being a physician. Assuming you have a clean science GPA, since you have no pre reqs yet, you could potentially apply with a sGPA of 4.0 which should more than make up for some poor earlier terms.

Getting everything in order on the medical front is easier said than done, of course, but as long as you and your doctors think you can do this, and you get everything managed, you are definitely not out of the running yet. Welcome, and good luck!

 

[DrMidlife]

3.44 and some W's is a much better situation than many of us here had when we started the prereqs. If you do well in the prereqs, you won't have a GPA problem.

If and when you have the support from family/friends/faculty to get back in school, then it's reasonable to consider getting back in school. Boatloads of your classmates will be on the same meds, but meds aren't enough to get you the A's you need to make a credible run at med school. With kids and a spouse you're asking for your medical career to be the family business.

There are many, many options for getting the prereqs done and getting ready to apply to med school. A rookie mistake is to think you don't need to plan the years ahead in detail. Another rookie mistake with a lower GPA is to think you have more chances.

So two things.

1. Figure out your best options for more undergrad. Is there a local option such as Berkeley Extension or Harvard Extension or one of the formal premed postbacs you can find out about on aamc.org and in the SDN postbac forum? Do you need to move? Do you need to go part time? Be deliberate and diligent in your investigation, but if you want to be in a full time program next fall, you need to get your app out in the next month. And as you're looking at options, be very honest with yourself about the fact that every grade you get that isn't an A is a step away from med school and/or a step away from having your choice of opportunities.

2. Get very familiar with the best practices for applying to med school. Embrace and understand the key phrases such as "early and broadly" and "score release" and "LOR". There is a huge body of work here on SDN that explains the details over and over. The reapplicant forum is a gold mine. Take no one person's opinion too seriously. When you see the same opinion 3 times it's probably valid. Don't spend any time in pre-allo or pre-osteo unless you want to lose your mind.

Best of luck to you.

 

[theseeker4]

It sounds like you have a lot of things stacked against you. A lot of baggage. Are you ready for medical school right now? I don't think so, but then again I don't know you or your situation well enough to say.

Why don't you begin to take some of the pre-requisites, see how you fare, and then report back. If you're not able to handle it, then you have your answer.

To add to this, you definitely need to start here, but FIRST you want to get your health issues taken care of. Don't jump into pre reqs before you are as prepared as you can be.

 

[Serenitysweety]

I had planned on going back and taking one or two classes at a time. But I have read on here varying opinions with people saying that a full course load is necessary to prove ability to handle med school. Finally having figured out many of my downfalls and pursuing treatment and coping mechanisms, I hope that by the end of my prerequisites, I'd be well prepared for med school. But the thought that I might regress with my treatment is a big fear. For sure, I plan on putting of school until I have a sure handle on my health. I also plan to register with the disability center on campus if possible.

And I have taken science courses, but none of the ones required for med school. The grades in those that i have taken range but I am ashamed to say that I was in two of them at my worst mentally and physically and scraped by with Ds. Again, I so regret not seeking help when I was in the thick of it. But I must deal with the consequences.

 

[midnight0il]

To add to this, you definitely need to start here, but FIRST you want to get your health issues taken care of. Don't jump into pre reqs before you are as prepared as you can be.

It goes without saying that the health issues need to be resolved first. However, once you have all of that under control and consistently under control, start off slow with one or two of the pre-requisites. Gradually take on more if you find that you can handle it.

 

[midnight0il]

I had planned on going back and taking one or two classes at a time. But I have read on here varying opinions with people saying that a full course load is necessary to prove ability to handle med school. Finally having figured out many of my downfalls and pursuing treatment and coping mechanisms, I hope that by the end of my prerequisites, I'd be well prepared for med school. But the thought that I might regress with my treatment is a big fear. For sure, I plan on putting of school until I have a sure handle on my health. I also plan to register with the disability center on campus if possible.

And I have taken science courses, but none of the ones required for med school. The grades in those that i have taken range but I am ashamed to say that I was in two of them at my worst mentally and physically and scraped by with Ds. Again, I so regret not seeking help when I was in the thick of it. But I must deal with the consequences.

This is false. I started my post-bac taking only Gen Chem 1 and Calculus 1. It had been a few years since I was a college student and decided to dip my feet back into the pool slowly. My current application cycle has been unaffected by that decision. No one questioned my course load. Of course, you have to ramp it up further into your pre-requisites.

 

[Serenitysweety]

Good advice so far. Thank you for the realistic responses. However, and excuse me, but my anxiety is peeking through here, how will I explain this when I am applying to med school? I know med schools may appreciate progress assuming i do well, but they won't ignore what I've done. How will I explain my record? I'm obviously not going to disclose a fraction of this.

 

[theseeker4]

Good advice so far. Thank you for the realistic responses. However, and excuse me, but my anxiety is peeking through here, how will I explain this when I am applying to med school? I know med schools may appreciate progress assuming i do well, but they won't ignore what I've done. How will I explain my record? I'm obviously not going to disclose a fraction of this.

You discuss having personal issues and problems that you were going through with as much detail as you can without disclosing anything you are not comfortable discussing. If anyone presses you on reasons, simply re-direct to your much more successful recent performance and repeat that underlying causes are personal in nature, but resolved and not likely to recur. Don't worry too much right now about how you are going to address these potential questions in future interviews; you have a lot to get through between now and then, and answering these questions will be very minor obstacles compared to your path as a whole.

 

[DocWinter]

Good advice so far. Thank you for the realistic responses. However, and excuse me, but my anxiety is peeking through here, how will I explain this when I am applying to med school? I know med schools may appreciate progress assuming i do well, but they won't ignore what I've done. How will I explain my record? I'm obviously not going to disclose a fraction of this.

Hi Serenity,

You would not be alone to have obstacles and ugly splotches on your overall record. Medical schools want to see solid understanding of science material and persevere through 4 more years of very difficult coursework, desire and passion to study medicine and character. You have to have a handle on your health and well-being 1st and foremost to give this a realistic shot.
Do some of that soul-seeking, spend time talking to those close to you, get close to a local doctor who will give you time to see his/her world and let you ask questions.

Take Dr.Midlifes #2 recommendation very seriously. If you can get through all the health issues, get solid grades & MCAT, and make it to an interview, you have what it takes to get it.

Best of luck

 

[Quizlet04]

You are having cluster headaches after being diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and whatever else. Your body is SCREAMING at you to slow down. Do that. You will do no one any favors if you run yourself into the ground during your pre-reqs. I did only part-time classes. That was not the problem with my application. (My ****ty MCAT was).

 

[Goro]

I suggest that you have these issues dealt with, and then start seriously thinking about Medicine. In the mean time, do some patient-contact volunteer work to see if it's really for you.


Am I insane for even considering going back? I'm expecting harsh responses, but really, I need encouragement. From moms, from those with ADD, from those with low gpas, or those who are going for second degrees. God, I have a lot to deal with.[/quote]