Advice on Major Life Change

[dallas_student]

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So here is what is happening. I have been an engineering student for a while (4 years) and I have not felt that it really is what I want to do with my life. I KNOW, this is quite late to come to this realization but please keep in mind not everyone follows the same path. I have taken a hard look at myself and decided that a career in the health field is what I really want to do. Here are some stats about my current academics:

cGPA: 2.56 (I know its low)
sGPA: 4.0 (In pre-med prerequisites excluding engineering sciences)
Volunteer/Community Service: 1000hrs+
Leadership: Executive board member of 4 school organizations, involved with 2 other orgs on campus

I will be taking another year to finish up my prerequisites and make research, shadowing, and experience priorities to help fill out my resume. Do you guys think that im getting into this too late? Do I really have a chance at making it into a medical school in Texas? Any advice is helpful.

 

[janedoe18]

It might be best to look into post bacc programs to improve your GPA, good luck!!

 

[gyngyn]

Calculate your TMDSAS gpas.
TX puts a lot of stock in gpa.

 

[LibBum]

Look into the med-masters program at UNT. Pull a 4.0 with a solid mcat score and you should have a much better chance.

It's a long road, good luck.

 

[dallas_student]

Bio-Chem-Math-Physics GPA is a straight 4.0 if that helps clear things up.

 

[LibBum]

Would only really matter if your last 30-60 hours are a 4.0 - you need to demonstrate a sustained upward trend.

 

[precisiongraphic]

What's your TMDSAS gpa - gyngyn knows Texas and they really like GPA more than anything. I think that you may need more than a year. You will need to ace all classes (A or A-) from now on even if they're not BCPM or especially if they are not BCPM.

 

[dallas_student]

TMDSAS right now is a 2.78, and running some math on my future class load, I could recover to a 3.2 reasonably.

 

[precisiongraphic]

TMDSAS right now is a 2.78, and running some math on my future class load, I could recover to a 3.2 reasonably.

My opinion is that you'll need at least a 3.1 or 3.2 to get any notice for Texas MD and even then it might not be a good result. Texas for some reason values GPA over MCAT and other factors. Unless you're a URM...

And outside of Texas, most MD applicants don't get much love because they are assumed to be headed for cheaper Texas schools.

 

[dallas_student]

In order to increase my chances of being a competitive applicant, would doing a 1yr post-bacc certification program with 4.0 be of any help?

 

[precisiongraphic]

In order to increase my chances of being a competitive applicant, would doing a 1yr post-bacc certification program with 4.0 be of any help?

It might help if it's above 3.0 after more classes. I'm not sure if Texas schools have a GPA cutoff/screen. You may have to look at each school's website and/or call admissions. You might also ask @wysdoc who knows a lot more about Texas (my info is second-hand at best).