Where do I stand?

[JShel585]

I graduated high school somewhat young (2 weeks after my 17th bday) and was unprepared for college in regards to maturity. I "wanted" to be a doctor, but was not driven by any means. In summary- I was enrolled from 2007-2010. In that time, I completed minimal coursework with moderate to poor performance, I dropped plenty of classes, I had a hardship withdrawal from an entire semester, and I had 2 incomplete grades which defaulted to F's. My GPA at this point was something around a 1.7, if I recall correctly. I also had 2 deaths in the family which affected my performance as a student. But truly, my performance was reflective of my efforts.

Since 2007, I was working part-time in a pain clinic. After I left the university in 2010, I began working full-time in the same pain clinic, which was now an operating surgery center (ASC). I worked full-time there until 2013. During this time, I met my wife, gained invaluable wisdom and life lessons, and found purpose for going back to school.

I went back to school in summer 2013 with a mission to prove myself and make it to medical school. I essentially started back at the beginning. Since coming back to school, I have earned a 4.0 in everything (that includes gen chem I and II, gen bio I and II, gen phys I and II, and orgo I). A lot of these classes I actually earned A+, but as I understand it, AMCAS GPA doesn't factor in the '+' in that situation. Come application time (early decision), my stats will be something like this...

26 yrs old
Bio major / spanish minor

MCAT: 28 overall 10P 10V 8B (not having taken orgo killed me here!)

(per AMCAS) Cumulative GPA~ 3.2
(per AMCAS) BCPM GPA~ 3.6

(per institution) Cumulative GPA~ 3.6
(per institution) BCPM GPA~3.9

I have thousands of hours of clinical experience in multiple settings, I have been overseas twice volunteering on missions, translated directly for a physician on a medical mission (I speak Spanish). Also, my wife is finishing up PA school this year and is extremely supportive and understanding of what it takes to succeed in medical school.

I know that my GPA and relatively low MCAT limit my options, but I have been told that adcoms view each application holistically. Please note, I have done a lot of research on the numbers/statistics. I am only intending to apply to low- and middle-tier schools. With all things considered, where do I stand?

Any words of direction/advice/encouragement from experience would be greatly appreciated!

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[gyngyn]

From the sticky on the front page of this forum, you can see that you are right at a 23% chance of MD success with your current stats. Unless you have an especially forgiving home state (e.g. AL, ND), you need to do some serious re-tooling of your application.

You are a good candidate for many DO Schools. Have you calculated your AACOMAS gpa's?

 

[Goro]

Strongly concur with my learned colleague.

From the sticky on the front page of this forum, you can see that you are right at a 23% chance of MD success with your current stats. Unless you have an especially forgiving home state (e.g. AL, ND), you need to do some serious re-tooling of your application.

You are a good candidate for many DO Schools. Have you calculated your AACOMAS gpa's?

 

[jbuc1081]

I graduated high school somewhat young (2 weeks after my 17th bday) and was unprepared for college in regards to maturity. I "wanted" to be a doctor, but was not driven by any means. In summary- I was enrolled from 2007-2010. In that time, I completed minimal coursework with moderate to poor performance, I dropped plenty of classes, I had a hardship withdrawal from an entire semester, and I had 2 incomplete grades which defaulted to F's. My GPA at this point was something around a 1.7, if I recall correctly. I also had 2 deaths in the family which affected my performance as a student. But truly, my performance was reflective of my efforts.

Since 2007, I was working part-time in a pain clinic. After I left the university in 2010, I began working full-time in the same pain clinic, which was now an operating surgery center (ASC). I worked full-time there until 2013. During this time, I met my wife, gained invaluable wisdom and life lessons, and found purpose for going back to school.

I went back to school in summer 2013 with a mission to prove myself and make it to medical school. I essentially started back at the beginning. Since coming back to school, I have earned a 4.0 in everything (that includes gen chem I and II, gen bio I and II, gen phys I and II, and orgo I). A lot of these classes I actually earned A+, but as I understand it, AMCAS GPA doesn't factor in the '+' in that situation. Come application time (early decision), my stats will be something like this...

26 yrs old
Bio major / spanish minor

MCAT: 28 overall 10P 10V 8B (not having taken orgo killed me here!)

(per AMCAS) Cumulative GPA~ 3.2
(per AMCAS) BCPM GPA~ 3.6

(per institution) Cumulative GPA~ 3.6
(per institution) BCPM GPA~3.9

I have thousands of hours of clinical experience in multiple settings, I have been overseas twice volunteering on missions, translated directly for a physician on a medical mission (I speak Spanish). Also, my wife is finishing up PA school this year and is extremely supportive and understanding of what it takes to succeed in medical school.

I know that my GPA and relatively low MCAT limit my options, but I have been told that adcoms view each application holistically. Please note, I have done a lot of research on the numbers/statistics. I am only intending to apply to low- and middle-tier schools. With all things considered, where do I stand?

Any words of direction/advice/encouragement from experience would be greatly appreciated!

I have a similar story, coming from a 1.6 to a 3.58 GPA with a lower MCAT score, and received plenty of interest from DO schools and one MD school. It should be noted that my MD interest was based on two things: 1. It was an instate school, and 2. I have a cool story of playing with some Grammy award winning musicians that I masterfully told like Bob Ross painting a picture. Goro and Gyngyn are about as knowledgeable as anyone you could hope to ask so I would take their advice and go with DO!

 

[JShel585]

Have you calculated your AACOMAS gpa's?

AACOMAS gpa would be around 3.5 and sGPA ~4.0

 

[gyngyn]

AACOMAS gpa would be around 3.5 and sGPA ~4.0

You are golden.