3.5 GPA, 521 (expired) MCAT, but a closer look at my transcript makes me worry

[Voskei]

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[Goro]

You could have failed several courses and still be competitive. It's not about individual course grades it's the entire transcript. What are your year by year gpas?

 

[Voskei]

You could have failed several courses and still be competitive. It's not about individual course grades it's the entire transcript. What are your year by year gpas?

3.3
3.7
3.7
[Gap]
3.3

Again, planning for 2 semesters full time and one semester part time for a total of ~35+ credit hours

 

[Voskei]

You could have failed several courses and still be competitive. It's not about individual course grades it's the entire transcript. What are your year by year gpas?

I cannot understate again my concerns that 1. A T50/MD would not accept me (Even after reinvention) when more reliable applicants exist who got it right the first time and 2. A lower ranking med school/DO would make matching into competitive specialties far more difficult. I do not know if competitive specialties are what I want, but I certainly do not want them off the table.

 

[LunaOri]

You do not need to go to a top medical school to match into a competitive specialty. You may not be competitive for CA schools, but staying stable and completing a few semesters of GPA repair should give you a shot at some MD schools.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Why would a medical school take me in when they have swaths of students with straight track records, good numbers, and a reliable shot at completing medical school compared to the story my transcript tells? ... But schools care about the numbers - even if I can reclaim that MCAT score, wouldn't there be loads of *reliable* applicants who completed school in four years and had better numbers than me? It just makes me wonder whether this endeavor of reinvention is worth it.

I don't know. You've focused on all the reasons why you can't get into medical school in this post. I have no idea why you want to be a doctor, and you don't give me confidence you can. Fixation into a top specialty and fretting over B's to the point of "reinvention" plus excessive anxiety over perfectionism is a very bad recipe. Your list of challenges makes you sound like a student who will require more resources to pass than most that I would be very hesitant to recommend advancing your file or admission.

You took an MCAT before you were ready to apply? That shows poor judgment and lack of using trusted advisors or resources to prepare a solid application. Now you are panicking because your "ace" in your hand is losing its power to get you into medical school. IMO, you are not doing a real reinvention unless you had an overall GPA below 3.0 one semester.

We have so many examples of successful applicants who started at a more difficult GPA than you. Yet you don't believe.

We first see your application GPAs by year before seeiing specific grades. (If you did have a 3.8x overall, I won't go into your CAS transcript to see where your A-minus or B-plus course is. I'm not that reviewer. )

Have you talked to your prehealth advisors? Admissions recruiters? Where are your thoughts about T50 or failure coming from?

 

[RoamingTexan]

I cannot understate again my concerns that 1. A T50/MD would not accept me (Even after reinvention) when more reliable applicants exist who got it right the first time and 2. A lower ranking med school/DO would make matching into competitive specialties far more difficult. I do not know if competitive specialties are what I want, but I certainly do not want them off the table.

1. What is with the fixation on T50 medical schools? Basically any MD can match competitively if you get a high Step score and do well in your rotations (which you will need even if you do get into a top school). Additionally, you are really downplaying the value of nontraditional experiences that can really pique the interest of reviewers and interviewers. Do you have a job? Have you done any interesting research or other extracurriculars? You are spending more time on your school than a traditional student yes, but that also generally means you have more time to spend on the other stuff that goes into an application.

2. This one really bothers me. You don't even know if you have a passion for any competitive specialties, but you're terrified about not getting to do them??? I'm all for giving yourself as many options as possible, but buddy, you have no options right now. This reads like someone that doesn't know if they want to be a doctor. Part of your clinical experiences/shadowing/etc should be used in determining whether or not you actually want to be a doctor, and if you aren't sure, don't do it. The mental and financial burdens are not worth the risk for someone that does not have the passion.

I'm just a lowly non-trad applicant with moderate success this cycle so maybe I'm off-base here, but you need to make sure that the "worst case scenario" of having to be a FM/EM/IM doctor is something you truly want to do.

 

[Voskei]

I don't know. You've focused on all the reasons why you can't get into medical school in this post. I have no idea why you want to be a doctor, and you don't give me confidence you can. Fixation into a top specialty and fretting over B's to the point of "reinvention" plus excessive anxiety over perfectionism is a very bad recipe. Your list of challenges makes you sound like a student who will require more resources to pass than most that I would be very hesitant to recommend advancing your file or admission.

You took an MCAT before you were ready to apply? That shows poor judgment and lack of using trusted advisors or resources to prepare a solid application. Now you are panicking because your "ace" in your hand is losing its power to get you into medical school. IMO, you are not doing a real reinvention unless you had an overall GPA below 3.0 one semester.

We have so many examples of successful applicants who started at a more difficult GPA than you. Yet you don't believe.

We first see your application GPAs by year before seeiing specific grades. (If you did have a 3.8x overall, I won't go into your CAS transcript to see where your A-minus or B-plus course is. I'm not that reviewer. )

Have you talked to your prehealth advisors? Admissions recruiters? Where are your thoughts about T50 or failure coming from?

I didn’t know that…I feel like I read a lot of threads or talked to people who say that LoR from high ranking schools are so vital to getting matched into competitive specialties. I do want to have *access* to competitive specialties in case I find that one of them calls to me once I enter medical school. For example, pathology seems the most interesting to me right now based on doctors I have shadowed and my own clinical experience.

Yes, right now I am working a full time clinical job (PCA), and I am pursuing volunteering options as well. You’re also absolutely right in that I have a lot of issues over perfection and fixation. A big reason that I am taking this extra time is to work on my mental challenges and self, too. I would like to be confident and active, rather than reactive, upon entering (and interviewing for) medical school. But I am worried that my dip in performance after my junior year will raise eyebrows that I am not a reliable student to admit into medical school. That's why I want to spend a year patching up my health and doing consistent, good work in extracurriculars and a DIY post-bacc.

As for the reinvention bit, I did have a couple of quarters that were below 3.0, and if you see the second post I made in response to Goro I note my GPA by year and overall GPA. I hope that taking a year of classes will bolster my application and show medical schools that I have done the work to handle a full course load.

I took the MCAT about ~1.5 years before my plan to apply. However, some mental health and personal problems came up at that point and I hit a really low point in life. That lead me to put off my application, and in the meantime the MCAT expired.

I don't have prehealth advisors. I should reach out to admissions recruiters, I'm sure they give solid advice as well. Thoughts about T50+Failure just come from the people around me - like I said, people saying that getting into comp. specialties is heavily influenced by LoRs and connections found at top schools, and also just the fact that I don't know people who have hesitated/dropped the ball late into undergrad who ended up clutching an acceptance. I am mostly surrounded by people who didn't express similar setbacks or hesitation.

 

[Voskei]

1. What is with the fixation on T50 medical schools? Basically any MD can match competitively if you get a high Step score and do well in your rotations (which you will need even if you do get into a top school). Additionally, you are really downplaying the value of nontraditional experiences that can really pique the interest of reviewers and interviewers. Do you have a job? Have you done any interesting research or other extracurriculars? You are spending more time on your school than a traditional student yes, but that also generally means you have more time to spend on the other stuff that goes into an application.

2. This one really bothers me. You don't even know if you have a passion for any competitive specialties, but you're terrified about not getting to do them??? I'm all for giving yourself as many options as possible, but buddy, you have no options right now. This reads like someone that doesn't know if they want to be a doctor. Part of your clinical experiences/shadowing/etc should be used in determining whether or not you actually want to be a doctor, and if you aren't sure, don't do it. The mental and financial burdens are not worth the risk for someone that does not have the passion.

I'm just a lowly non-trad applicant with moderate success this cycle so maybe I'm off-base here, but you need to make sure that the "worst case scenario" of having to be a FM/EM/IM doctor is something you truly want to do.

1. Gotcha. Thank you for this. Yes, I have a clinical (PCA) job. Yes, I am trying to pursue volunteering, some non-clinical with disadvantaged children and I wish to get into some clinical as well.

2. Makes sense. My fixation is something that needs to change if I want to be flexible in MS. I definitely do want to be a doctor - I just feel a bit defeated right now.

Your words about the 'worst case scenario' definitely resonate. I don't think you're off-base and your position as a non-trad does help, since I'm in a similar boat.

 

[Goro]

3.3
3.7
3.7
[Gap]
3.3

Again, planning for 2 semesters full time and one semester part time for a total of ~35+ credit hours

Do well in these last two semesters and you'll be fine.

Stop worrying about getting into Harvard. Your job now is to get into A medical school.

What will you do if the only school that accepts you is Drexel or Rosy Franklin???

You will need to get your mental health issues under control completely, or medical school will destroy you. It can break even healthy students. The perfectionism that you're displaying here and the anxiety is not healthy.

 

[Voskei]

Do well in these last two semesters and you'll be fine.

Stop worrying about getting into Harvard. Your job now is to get into A medical school.

What will you do if the only school that accepts you is Drexel or Rosy Franklin???

You will need to get your mental health issues under control completely, or medical school will destroy you. It can break even healthy students. The perfectionism that you're displaying here and the anxiety is not healthy.

Thank you for the honest words and thank you to everyone else in this thread who helped me clear up the unhealthy nonsense about low-ranking schools not getting competitive specialties.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You’re also absolutely right in that I have a lot of issues over perfection and fixation. A big reason that I am taking this extra time is to work on my mental challenges and self, too. I would like to be confident and active, rather than reactive, upon entering (and interviewing for) medical school. But I am worried that my dip in performance after my junior year will raise eyebrows that I am not a reliable student to admit into medical school. That's why I want to spend a year patching up my health and doing consistent, good work in extracurriculars and a DIY post-bacc.

I applaud you for working on this, but realize that going to medical school will expose any additional weaknesses you haven't worked on, and it could blow up any effort you are currently making. @Goro notes medical school is a mental health crucible. Things are much more intense.

 

[Voskei]

I applaud you for working on this, but realize that going to medical school will expose any additional weaknesses you haven't worked on, and it could blow up any effort you are currently making. @Goro notes medical school is a mental health crucible. Things are much more intense.

The ‘current’ issues ought to be resolved, and I ought to condition myself to be ready to accept unknowns and sacrifices when they present themselves. Yessir

 

[Mr.Smile12]

The problem with those options, in my eyes, is that it would make competitive residencies much harder to get into. I wouldn't want to be half way into my time at DO school, find that I have an incredible passion for Derm or Radiology or oncology or some other specialty, only to realize that those doors are much more open to people who ended up at nice MD schools and can get solid LoRs into said residencies. I want to keep my options open by going to a T-50 medical school, and preferably returning to the state where I attended undergrad (California) rather than staying in my state of residency (Ohio).

I'm still working through your OP.

I presume you are shadowing, including the specialties of derm, rad/onc. Even if you did find your passion from shadowing, things change when you are a student doing rotations. Your CNA work should get you access that most applicants don't have.

You know that getting into a CA program is really difficult, right? I don't know where you are working, but you need to immerse yourself on the community issues. Regardless, many UC need schools favor applicants who grew up in their regional area. Ohio med schools have a lot of seats set aside for in-state applicants (with some preference for regional applicants too), especially OUHCOM (a DO program with three campuses and I think the largest graduating class of physicians in the state).

So your own mindset of CA or bust is serving to self-sabotage your chances of admission and becoming a doctor. Please slow down and reflect on why being a physician with your specific caveats is so important to you.