- Joined
- Jan 24, 2014
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 37
Hey guys,
So I posted something similar to this several months ago but I wanted to update the numbers now that I am done with the Post-Bac. I know this may be a little lengthy and I apologize, but I want to give all the facts and be completely open. I graduated from Vanderbilt University in the spring 2012 with an awful GPA of 2.31. The second month of my freshman year I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and absolutely no medication I was put on worked. Throughout my four years I stayed in remission maybe 2-3 months out of each year. For those that do not know, Crohn's is a GI autoimmune disorder that causes pain, severe cramping, and, in my case, severe anemia and fatigue. Because of this medical issue my grades dropped fast. I went from all A's on my first few exams to solid C. By my sophomore year I knew it was best to give up on my dream of becoming a doctor and focus on graduating with a degree and focus on my health. I decided to switch my major to political science and miraculously did graduate on time. A week after graduation I was placed on a new drug which has kept my disease in complete remission ever since. I am honestly a completely different person. However, this also caused me to become very depressed; if this drug had only been available 4 years before then, I would likely be preparing to go to medical school. As the weeks went by and my chosen law school's orientation date approached, the more I realized I could not go through with it. Two weeks before moving for law school I withdrew my seat and decided to throw all my chips in one more ditch effort to go to med school.
I enrolled in a local state school with a good science rep in order to do a do-it-yourself post-bac (there are no schools around that offer true post-bacs). I had only had a handful of hard sciences (Gen chem and 1st semester bio) before I swapped my major at Vandy. I am now finished and have done everything I can do to repair my grades. Since being on this medication and going back to school I have a 3.82 after finishing. This also includes several upper division classes such as Cell & Molec, Biochem, Organic Spec, and Micro. I have roughly 100 hours of shadowing, over 7 years of community service and volunteer experience, and will have almost a year of research with the possibility of a publication. Finally, I plan to take the MCAT June 5th and apply this coming cycle. I have been prepping with TPR and my practice scores have been between 35-41. However, despite my obvious upswing and stark difference between my grades before/after I was on proper medication, I will only be able to increase my overall GPA to 2.86. My sGPA should be very similar to my Post-Bac GPA.
Again, any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated. I just really hope I haven't done all of this recovery for nothing. I feel that I have a fairly unique situation and I think the last two years show I am competent, I'm just concerned about getting passed the screens.
Sorry it was so long but thank you for reading!!!
So I posted something similar to this several months ago but I wanted to update the numbers now that I am done with the Post-Bac. I know this may be a little lengthy and I apologize, but I want to give all the facts and be completely open. I graduated from Vanderbilt University in the spring 2012 with an awful GPA of 2.31. The second month of my freshman year I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and absolutely no medication I was put on worked. Throughout my four years I stayed in remission maybe 2-3 months out of each year. For those that do not know, Crohn's is a GI autoimmune disorder that causes pain, severe cramping, and, in my case, severe anemia and fatigue. Because of this medical issue my grades dropped fast. I went from all A's on my first few exams to solid C. By my sophomore year I knew it was best to give up on my dream of becoming a doctor and focus on graduating with a degree and focus on my health. I decided to switch my major to political science and miraculously did graduate on time. A week after graduation I was placed on a new drug which has kept my disease in complete remission ever since. I am honestly a completely different person. However, this also caused me to become very depressed; if this drug had only been available 4 years before then, I would likely be preparing to go to medical school. As the weeks went by and my chosen law school's orientation date approached, the more I realized I could not go through with it. Two weeks before moving for law school I withdrew my seat and decided to throw all my chips in one more ditch effort to go to med school.
I enrolled in a local state school with a good science rep in order to do a do-it-yourself post-bac (there are no schools around that offer true post-bacs). I had only had a handful of hard sciences (Gen chem and 1st semester bio) before I swapped my major at Vandy. I am now finished and have done everything I can do to repair my grades. Since being on this medication and going back to school I have a 3.82 after finishing. This also includes several upper division classes such as Cell & Molec, Biochem, Organic Spec, and Micro. I have roughly 100 hours of shadowing, over 7 years of community service and volunteer experience, and will have almost a year of research with the possibility of a publication. Finally, I plan to take the MCAT June 5th and apply this coming cycle. I have been prepping with TPR and my practice scores have been between 35-41. However, despite my obvious upswing and stark difference between my grades before/after I was on proper medication, I will only be able to increase my overall GPA to 2.86. My sGPA should be very similar to my Post-Bac GPA.
Again, any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated. I just really hope I haven't done all of this recovery for nothing. I feel that I have a fairly unique situation and I think the last two years show I am competent, I'm just concerned about getting passed the screens.
Sorry it was so long but thank you for reading!!!
