2nd Bac Degree?

[marukome]

I have a undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Japanese but due to an incredible amount of slacking during my undergrad years, I graduated only barely with a GPA of 2.078. Due to the worthless nature of my degree, I enlisted in the military and became a linguist. My dream has always been to become a doctor, but slacking during college temporarily derailed that hope.

The military sent me to the Defense Language Institute (Regionally Accredited Community College) to learn Korean. I finally applied myself in my studies and graduated with my A.A. degree in Korean with a GPA of 3.9. I'm now 1.5 years from finishing my contract with the military and I've been planning for my academic future.

With the passage of the new GI Bill, it's now financially feasible for me to go back to school for another Bachelor's degree. I originally wanted to apply to attend UCLA and major in Biochemistry. However, upon reading their information page about transfer students, I found out that they don't accept transfer students for 2nd Baccalaureate degrees. I did some more digging and it seems like most halfway decent universities are the same way. They either don't accept students for a 2nd Bachelor's degree or they are extremely restrictive.

I'm currently considering three options:

1. Attend a community college after I separate from the military and apply as a "60 credit hour transfer student" after a year or two. But can your past educational record follow you? If not, I can apply now with just my DLI A.A. degree as a transfer student.
2. Attend a no-name university willing to accept students for 2nd Bac degrees. I really want to go to school in the Bay Area (California) so I think that's the most limiting factor in this case.
3. Attend a Post-Bac program for pre-med. I think this is the least likely option because I think my GPA is irrecoverable from my initial Bachelor's degree and I doubt I'll get accepted into a post-bac program anyways.

What do you guys think? One factor I have to consider is the time limit on GI Bill benefits. The bill will only provide benefits for 36 months of school, no more. If I were to take the community college path, I think I would run out of benefits before I finished my 2nd degree.

I would really appreciate any advice people are willing to offer!

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[Mudfever]

I'm in a similar situation getting my 2nd BS.

Where are you a resident? In your situation, location can be important.

I think your best bet is to find a 4yr university that will let you get a second Bac degree. You should only need sciences with a few fillers. I was told by adcom's that work at CC's isn't that great, and some schools don't even accept CC credits.

Your UG GPA will not come up that much, since I assume you already have 130~ hrs. All UG course work will combine, regardless of finishing a degree or going to different states or schools. I wouldn't worry about bankruptcy, b/c it will still be on your transcripts and you did get the degree.

But, with a 2nd deg with a great GPA and a good MCAT, you could try and get a SMP to let you in.

I think that you are probably going to have to spend more than your GI bill on school to get to med school.

Good luck with your journey.

 

[Salient]

I have an unrelated question for you, Marukome.

I enlisted in the Marines with a contract for intel, and absolutely killed the DLAB. I figured I was a shoe-in for linguistics, but when I got to boot camp I was told that because one of my parents is a Canadian citizen (despite living in U.S. for the past 20 years) I would not qualify for a TS. Is that a bunch of B.S.?

I was told by an intel officer (by billet, not MOS) that it should have been waiverable, but I was wondering if you've worked with any linguists that had a similar situation. It's obviously too late for me and doesn't matter at this point, but my curiosity has been gnawing at me this entire time.

 

[nabeel76]

Well if you’re really determined to get into medical school then here is my advice.

Your primary concern is to now pull up your undergraduate GPA, the more science courses the better. Especially since I am assuming that your science gpa is still largely intact with an undergraduate degree in a foreign language.

Now it doesn't really matter how you do this, as long as it’s at a four year university, CC's are not going to cut it - you now need to show admissions committees that you will be able to handle the academic rigor of med school. Unfortunately community colleges range widely in academic rigor, and medical schools have no way of knowing how difficult or easy it was to succeed at your particular community college. In addition most CC's do not offer higher level courses (300's and above), which is what your going to need to focus on to really alleviate any doubt in your ability to handle a med school curriculum.

So if you’re still determined to be a doctor than you can either (1) enroll in a 4 year school as a non-degree seeking student and just randomly take courses for several years, or (2) you can apply to schools in pursuit of a 2nd BA/BS degree. It doesn't really matter which path you follow because at the end of the day they will all get averaged into your cumulative undergraduate GPA just the same. The advantage of a second degree would be purely personal, medical schools will not care. Although it makes no difference to medical schools, I do still recommend the 2nd degree path for the following reasons:

1. It gives you a more immediate goal; you will receive a 2nd degree upon completion of all that coursework, which is an accomplishment of its own right. You will get something tangible back for all of your hard work and time that you otherwise wouldn't get if you just took random courses as a non-degree student.

2. If for some reason medicine does not work out for you, well than that 2nd degree in a scientific discipline will open up a plethora of other opportunities. You can go into graduate school or pursue a career in a scientific field that you otherwise wouldn't have had access to. Also imagine the amount time, effort and money you would have wasted taking several years of post baccalaureate coursework if you didn't get the 2nd degree. Since in your situation your going to need to take at least a full 2 years of course work, I strongly recommend getting something back to show for it - just in case **** happens.

3. Financial aid! As a 2nd degree student you qualify for financial aid. Non-degree students do not; paying up front for classes without access to federal student loans is a nightmare. Trust me, I know! Before I got admitted as a 2nd degree seeking student I was paying about a grand per class - not fun! After your GI bill runs out, you will at least have this option if you’re enrolled in a degree program.

Although it might take you a considerable amount of time, if you can eventually raise your total cum GPA to a 3.0 then that solid upward trend will help you get into med school somewhere. It’s possible, and on the bright side if you do well in your science coursework then you should be able to kick ass on your BCPM gpa, which will definitely help you. Also do well on the MCAT and you’ll be well on your way.

P.S.

I know you want to stay in California, but if you do decide that a 2nd degree path is the way to go, and that moving away might be the only option than check out George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia right outside of Washington, D.C. http://www.gmu.edu They regularly accept 2nd degree students that meet the academic transfer requirements, and have a great reputation as well.

 

[nabeel76]

"I'm currently considering three options:

Attend a community college after I separate from the military and apply as a "60 credit hour transfer student" after a year or two. But can your past educational record follow you? If not, I can apply now with just my DLI A.A. degree as a transfer student. "


I don't believe this will work. I am fairly certain that you will not be classified as a "60 credit" or Associates degree tranfer student at any school that you attempt to transfer to. On the application you are going to have to state any degrees that you already hold, and as soon as you indicate that you already have a bachelors degree they will again classify you as a 2nd bachelors degree seeking student, leaving you right where you started. If you can already get into a 4 year school as a non-degree or 2nd bachelors degree seeking student then do it.

What you want to do is prove to admissions officers that without question you will have no trouble handling the academic rigor of medical school sciences. Getting A's at community college courses is an accomplishment, but it unfortunately doesn't help admissions officers determine where you stand in relation to your potential medical school classmates.

 

[DrMidlife]

How much time has passed since that 2.078? Texas is the ONLY state that offers academic forgiveness to make that "go away." http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm

 

[marukome]

How much time has passed since that 2.078? Texas is the ONLY state that offers academic forgiveness to make that "go away." http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm

I graduated in Dec. 2004. Unfortunately I can't wait till 2014 for forgiveness.

 

[LonghornMD]

How much time has passed since that 2.078? Texas is the ONLY state that offers academic forgiveness to make that "go away." http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm

Looks like DrMidlife beat me to it.....

 

[DrMidlife]

Take advantage of the GI bill, sure, but don't use it to decide too much here. Do you want to be a doctor, or an accountant? You're in for up to $300k for med school, and I don't think you're eligible for military scholarships if you've already served. So figure out if you want to let free money decide this for you or not.

You can get the GI bill to cover 3 years at USC or Scripps or Mills or whatnot, then pay for the rest of it with loans. There are about 100 undergrad schools in California, so don't let UCLA over-define your perspective.

Now, let's do the GPA math. After 4 more years of undergrad, even if you get a 4.0, your cumulative GPA is still maxed out around 3.0. You're not getting into a US MD school with that, much less a UC. Keep this in mind as you reject CA schools that aren't "top tier" for your 2nd degree. You're going to need to look at doing an SMP after your 2nd degree, and/or looking at DO school or the Carib. The good news is that your science GPA could be very, very sweet.

This looks like one hell of a long premed slog to me. The Texas option might make more sense...you don't necessarily have to go to school in Texas, just make sure you have residency...get that 2nd bachelors started, and kill it, and then go work in a lab until 2014 comes. Wipe the old grades, apply to TX schools (sorry, no Baylor) and you're good to go.

Tough situation. For the time being, go look for volunteering and shadowing opportunities, and be willing to let people talk you out of this. If there's anything else you'd be happy doing, then for the love of all that's holy, don't do medicine.

Best of luck to you.