Ok Thanks for reading....here is my story...I am 26 year old male....when I started college I was immature and stupid so I failed many courses and got bad grades. There is something here in Texas its called fresh start or option II which erases your old grades and allows you to start new, so I did that. I love the health-care field and decided to pursue nursing. I took all my pre-reqs for nursing school at my local community college. My science GPA is a 4.0 there. I am about to graduate nursing school with a 3.75 gpa. I also work as a tech in a Level 1 trauma center/emergency room in West Texas bordering Mexico. I have been working here for a year. I was thinking about completing Biology II, Ochem II, Physics II and Genetics at my university to finish up my med school pre-reqs. Like I said the others were completed at a community college. What are my chances of getting into a med school this is my dream and I would do anything to achieve this lifetime goal of mine . I have not taken the MCAT but I plan to start practicing after nurwsing school while I work in the ICU. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
advice for non-trad :)
- Thread starter gj47479
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Try: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=418
Being in TX, it sounds like you're set pretty well as long as you continue doing well and score well on the MCAT. I'm a premed like you though and there are better qualified people on SDN to advise on how you're doing. Try a practice MCAT and see how you do on it at some point.
Also, I've never heard of "option II" and how that relates to med school admission process.
Being in TX, it sounds like you're set pretty well as long as you continue doing well and score well on the MCAT. I'm a premed like you though and there are better qualified people on SDN to advise on how you're doing. Try a practice MCAT and see how you do on it at some point.
Also, I've never heard of "option II" and how that relates to med school admission process.
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Because texas recognizes the fresh start program, but no other states do. So if you do the texas med school application, as I said, they will look at the fresh start as exactly that. But if you do AMCAS or AACOMAS you will need to report your poor grades which will be figured into your overall GPA.
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Several medical schools and the state law saying that 90% of the class has to be Texas residents. Don't forget dirt cheap tuition (not really applicable to applying, but a benefit of Texas)
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I can only speak to my experience, but here you go...
I graduated from high school with 28 hours of college credit (with a good GPA) from a community college nearby. I then went to my state school, where I had a couple of abysmal semesters (one with a 0.86 gpa, the next with a 1.43). I turned my back on the idea of medical school (who gets in with that low of a gpa?). I bummed around in undergrad for 8 years total. I kept working toward a major, only to find that it wasn't what I thought it would be like - so I'd switch. My grades were alright - mostly B's. I did this until I found respiratory therapy. I transferred to the medical center to finish out my last 2 (of 8) years there. After starting RT school, it all made sense. I loved what I was learning and my grades went to almost straight A's.
After I graduated, I took one semester off and then enrolled in some post-bacc classes (while working full time - thank god for 3 12hr shifts). I ended up taking: Chem II, Organismal Biology, Genetics, Organic I and II, and Biochem... and I got A's in almost all of them (damn B in Orgo II!). I also took the MCAT, and did well. These classes were taken at a total of 3 schools - with one being a community college (albeit a very good one). The reason for the many schools was that I had to find a class schedule that would fit into my work schedule. By this point my overall gpa was only a 3.12 with my AAMCAS BCPM at a 3.10. I also did quite a bit of volunteering, and had many leadership activities in my job (I think that these things were key).
I'm tied to Kansas City, so I only applied to the schools in the city (3). I had to withdraw my application from one, because they required a class that I didn't have, and I wasn't able to take it that semester. I got my application in late to the DO school, and I think that I missed my chance there because of my timing. I only had one chance left... and I got lucky!
My advice to you is as follows (take it or leave it!):
1) Really make sure that you want to be a physician (I'm not judging, but I know that I really had some "soul-searching" to do). There are a lot of good options with a nursing degree - much more than an RT degree! I personally am interested in anesthesia, so I was looking at either the physician route, or the anesthesiologist assistant route. I finally decided that I would not be happy with myself unless I did the physician route. Not everybody feels the same way, once you get into the hospital more you will see what it is like.
2) Finish up your pre-reqs, does your job have tuition reimbursement? I was able to take all of my classes for free through this program at my job. Do very well in these classes, make them your priority.
3) Find a study plan for the MCAT (Examkrackers, Kaplan, etc.) and study so as to destroy the MCAT... I wish that I would have done more studying here. I did fine on the test, but I was then always thinking what I could have done if I had studied more (only finished 3 weeks out of the examkrackers 10 week study guide).
4) Find a indigent care clinic that you can volunteer in. I lucked out on this one, as there was one just a few blocks from my house. Put your time in here.
5) Get involved in leadership activities at the hospital where you work. I really got involved in my job - helping some doc's write policies and procedures, serving on committees, etc.
6) Really get connected with some physicians where you work. I got VERY lucky on this one as there are many awesome physicians where I work that were willing to help me out anyway that they could.
7) Gain acceptance to the medical school of your choice!
Remember, this is just what worked for me. Feel free to take/ignore what you want... what worked for me probably won't work for everybody. I truly feel that if I was able to get in with my past, anybody should be able to get in! You just have to want it bad enough!
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!
(By the way, I'm going to be 30 when I start)
I graduated from high school with 28 hours of college credit (with a good GPA) from a community college nearby. I then went to my state school, where I had a couple of abysmal semesters (one with a 0.86 gpa, the next with a 1.43). I turned my back on the idea of medical school (who gets in with that low of a gpa?). I bummed around in undergrad for 8 years total. I kept working toward a major, only to find that it wasn't what I thought it would be like - so I'd switch. My grades were alright - mostly B's. I did this until I found respiratory therapy. I transferred to the medical center to finish out my last 2 (of 8) years there. After starting RT school, it all made sense. I loved what I was learning and my grades went to almost straight A's.
After I graduated, I took one semester off and then enrolled in some post-bacc classes (while working full time - thank god for 3 12hr shifts). I ended up taking: Chem II, Organismal Biology, Genetics, Organic I and II, and Biochem... and I got A's in almost all of them (damn B in Orgo II!). I also took the MCAT, and did well. These classes were taken at a total of 3 schools - with one being a community college (albeit a very good one). The reason for the many schools was that I had to find a class schedule that would fit into my work schedule. By this point my overall gpa was only a 3.12 with my AAMCAS BCPM at a 3.10. I also did quite a bit of volunteering, and had many leadership activities in my job (I think that these things were key).
I'm tied to Kansas City, so I only applied to the schools in the city (3). I had to withdraw my application from one, because they required a class that I didn't have, and I wasn't able to take it that semester. I got my application in late to the DO school, and I think that I missed my chance there because of my timing. I only had one chance left... and I got lucky!
My advice to you is as follows (take it or leave it!):
1) Really make sure that you want to be a physician (I'm not judging, but I know that I really had some "soul-searching" to do). There are a lot of good options with a nursing degree - much more than an RT degree! I personally am interested in anesthesia, so I was looking at either the physician route, or the anesthesiologist assistant route. I finally decided that I would not be happy with myself unless I did the physician route. Not everybody feels the same way, once you get into the hospital more you will see what it is like.
2) Finish up your pre-reqs, does your job have tuition reimbursement? I was able to take all of my classes for free through this program at my job. Do very well in these classes, make them your priority.
3) Find a study plan for the MCAT (Examkrackers, Kaplan, etc.) and study so as to destroy the MCAT... I wish that I would have done more studying here. I did fine on the test, but I was then always thinking what I could have done if I had studied more (only finished 3 weeks out of the examkrackers 10 week study guide).
4) Find a indigent care clinic that you can volunteer in. I lucked out on this one, as there was one just a few blocks from my house. Put your time in here.
5) Get involved in leadership activities at the hospital where you work. I really got involved in my job - helping some doc's write policies and procedures, serving on committees, etc.
6) Really get connected with some physicians where you work. I got VERY lucky on this one as there are many awesome physicians where I work that were willing to help me out anyway that they could.
7) Gain acceptance to the medical school of your choice!
Remember, this is just what worked for me. Feel free to take/ignore what you want... what worked for me probably won't work for everybody. I truly feel that if I was able to get in with my past, anybody should be able to get in! You just have to want it bad enough!
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!
(By the way, I'm going to be 30 when I start)
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Hey! I love your pictures! Great job, it's awesome that you are allowed to do that.
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