MD & DO What are my chances MD or DO

[VictoriaXxXROse]

Hello, I am currently a sophomore in my undergrads. However, I really messed up my Freshman year and received an "F" in Biology and Alegbra. I did very poorly and was placed on academic probation with a horrific 1.4 GPA. I did so poorly because of issues I was having at home with a depressed mother who I was taking to counseling and such because she lost her job of 25 years and also just because I thought I didn't need to study because in high school I never studied and got A's. (My Mistake of Course)
I got out of academic probation with a 3.8 GPA my second semester of my freshman year. I am now retaking my biology and algebra class and doing well. I am expecting another high GPA bringing up my cuGPA to a 3.0.

I am also behind on my sciences. My freshman year I also dropped chemistry, but stayed in chemistry lab and got a B in that. So I have a W in chemistry.

So basically at the moment I am looking at about a 3.0 cuGPA, 3.0sGPA.
No MCAT of course.
I have done some shadowing and volunteer experience at radiation oncology at my local hospital. I plan to do more.

Should I take an extra year to help my gpa, take a summer class, or am I tough out of luck?
Does my upward trend help at all or did i just really mess up that badly?
Be brutally honest! I need you to be.

What are my chances for MD or DO?
Any other advice?
Thanks!

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[Germanicus89]

How many credit hours do you have, roughly?

 

[VictoriaXxXROse]

How many credit hours do you have, roughly?

I have roughly 36 credit hours as of now.

 

[Germanicus89]

But you've still got credit hours from this semester in the works, after which you expect a 3.0 cGPA? So basically after this semester you're at around 50 hours with a 3.0, is that right?

 

[VictoriaXxXROse]

But you've still got credit hours from this semester in the works, after which you expect a 3.0 cGPA? So basically after this semester you're at around 50 hours with a 3.0, is that right?

The 36 will be how many I have after I complete this semester, actually. So 36 credit hours in 3 semesters. I am in the first semester of my sophomore year.
Sorry I am being confusing!
So I am expecting a 3.0 cuGPA after this semester.

 

[Germanicus89]

Na, I'm being dense and just want to make sure I understand. That's great. I think you have room to get your cGPA up into a more competitive range for MD admissions (say, between 3.6 and 3.7+, preferably 3.7+) if you work really hard from here on out and get pretty much all "A"s. Even a cGPA between 3.5 and 3.6 makes allo admissions possible if coupled with a really good MCAT (you don't want to bank on that of course). If you take advantage of DO grade replacement you would probably see a dramatic improvement very quickly.

In my opinion, it would probably be wisest to take an extra year to fit in all the prereqs before taking the MCAT and applying MD, since you want to apply with the best possible application (with sustained clinical volunteering etc.). Slow and steady...

 

[VictoriaXxXROse]

Na, I'm being dense and just want to make sure I understand. That's great. I think you have room to get your cGPA up into a more competitive range for MD admissions (say, between 3.6 and 3.7+, preferably 3.7+) if you work really hard from here on out and get pretty much all "A"s. Even a cGPA between 3.5 and 3.6 makes allo admissions possible if coupled with a really good MCAT (you don't want to bank on that of course). If you take advantage of DO grade replacement you would probably see a dramatic improvement very quickly.

In my opinion, it would probably be wisest to take an extra year to fit in all the prereqs before taking the MCAT and applying MD, since you want to apply with the best possible application (with sustained clinical volunteering etc.). Slow and steady...

This is good news! So you do not recommend summer classes then, just another year to get everything up to par?
Thanks so much! I have been stressing.

 

[Germanicus89]

If you can take summer classes and get a 4.0 then do it. If not then don't. Work the numbers yourself, see how many credit hours you need to accumulate at what score (like 80 hours with an average 3.9) to reach a target competitive gpa that you want. Make a plan. Execute.

 

[Goro]

You have plenty of time and many MD schools value good performance in the last two years (provided you have a good MCAT). Ditto for DO, but you have more leeway with the MCAT.

 

[medhopeful297]

You have a lot of time to bring up your GPA and a great chance of showing an upward trend in terms of your GPA and MCAT. Don't give up hope on MD schools, keep working at it! It seems like you have the ability to do so Work hard on your prerequisite classes now - that'll only help you on your MCAT.