Almost an official Non Trad

[Desperate]

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I'm almost 24 and in my first semester of grad school (business). Long story short, I hate it. In fact I just quit my job in sales today. I am at rock bottom and completely depressed. I have posted many times on the regular premed forums, but my plans have never worked out. I was a horrible student. Received a History degree in 2010 with a 2.7 gpa (2.8 aacomas.) 2.5 sgpa (3.0 sgpa aacomas). And double digit W's with only 2 premed classes. I suck, I know so there's no need to remind me. I royally screwed my life. I am now completely unhappy. I envy my medical student counterparts, all I think about is being a doctor, and I realize how pointless my degree is. I caved in to the crowd that said I needed to establish myself, put on the suit and work in a cubicle, get married, buy a home, and start an IRA... So unlike me... I just want to get into ANY medical school, but it seems like it would be a complete waste of time and money. My past is a huge albatross around my neck. How in the world would I ever convince a medical school admissions committee to choose me over a younger, more qualified applicant with stellar credentials? I hate the thought of destroying my entire future in just 4 years... I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread. Be honest with me people. Is it even worth it. I mean really worth it, or would it just be an expensive lesson in futility.

 

[UpwardTrend]

Nowhere to go but up. It sounds like you knew to take W's instead of D's or F's so what are your grades exactly? Mostly C's? If you have 2 premed classes done then you need 6 more. You need all 6 of those lectures and labs to be at 4.0. That is around 30 hours of 4.0 then maybe retake a couple of non-sci D's/F's and get a good MCAT score. You should be above 3.0 cgpa and above 3.5 sgpa by then (AACOMAS). Plan on going DO and you have a good shot with those stats. People have made it starting with worse. Nobody here can tell you if its worth it. I can tell you it won't be easy.

 

[kraskadva]

Step 1: Breathe.

Step 2: Breathe some more. Chill out a bit. Go on, keep breathing. Put your head between your knees if you're feeling faint.


Now....

I'm almost 24 and in my first semester of grad school (business).

You're still really young. You have lots of time. I'm not saying this in any kind of condescending way at all, I'm only a few years older myself. But take a quick troll around this board, especially the ages thread. Many people on this board are decades older than you and they're going for it.

My past is a huge albatross around my neck. How in the world would I ever convince a medical school admissions committee to choose me over a younger, more qualified applicant with stellar credentials? I hate the thought of destroying my entire future in just 4 years... I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread. Be honest with me people. Is it even worth it. I mean really worth it, or would it just be an expensive lesson in futility.

Again, breathe. Chill. Take a gander at old threads.
In answer to the line in bold, you do it with hard work. By polishing the credentials you have and adding ones that the trads don't.

I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread.

If you're just being hyperbolic, well, that's fine. Everybody's allowed to once in a while.
If you really feel this way, then go talk to a warm body with a degree, not an online forum.

 

[theseeker4]

I'm almost 24 and in my first semester of grad school (business). Long story short, I hate it. In fact I just quit my job in sales today. I am at rock bottom and completely depressed. I have posted many times on the regular premed forums, but my plans have never worked out. I was a horrible student. Received a History degree in 2010 with a 2.7 gpa (2.8 aacomas.) 2.5 sgpa (3.0 sgpa aacomas). And double digit W's with only 2 premed classes. I suck, I know so there's no need to remind me. I royally screwed my life. I am now completely unhappy. I envy my medical student counterparts, all I think about is being a doctor, and I realize how pointless my degree is. I caved in to the crowd that said I needed to establish myself, put on the suit and work in a cubicle, get married, buy a home, and start an IRA... So unlike me... I just want to get into ANY medical school, but it seems like it would be a complete waste of time and money. My past is a huge albatross around my neck. How in the world would I ever convince a medical school admissions committee to choose me over a younger, more qualified applicant with stellar credentials? I hate the thought of destroying my entire future in just 4 years... I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread. Be honest with me people. Is it even worth it. I mean really worth it, or would it just be an expensive lesson in futility.

Before you answer the last part I bolded, the real question is CAN you do it? Or more accurately, are you willing to do what it takes to get the A's you need? It is a rare person who averages a C+/B- with double-digit withdraws and turns it around to a 4.0, especially without a solid plan, good motivation and determination, and most of all, knowing why you did poorly before and what you are going to do to change it.

If you know what you did wrong and why, and have a solid plan to get A's, take one class. Get an A in it, then take two classes and get A's in both of them. Proceed from there, very slowly with a lot of self-analysis. If you jump in, you will most likely end up with even more poor marks. Approach each class with a plan of how, exactly, you will correct your past mistakes and get an A this time. Don't start a class and then begin thinking about what you need to do for the A. Have that plan in hand before you attend your first lecture, and repeat for each and every class.

 

[bidiboom]

I'm almost 24 and in my first semester of grad school (business). Long story short, I hate it. In fact I just quit my job in sales today. I am at rock bottom and completely depressed. I have posted many times on the regular premed forums, but my plans have never worked out. I was a horrible student. Received a History degree in 2010 with a 2.7 gpa (2.8 aacomas.) 2.5 sgpa (3.0 sgpa aacomas). And double digit W's with only 2 premed classes. I suck, I know so there's no need to remind me. I royally screwed my life. I am now completely unhappy. I envy my medical student counterparts, all I think about is being a doctor, and I realize how pointless my degree is. I caved in to the crowd that said I needed to establish myself, put on the suit and work in a cubicle, get married, buy a home, and start an IRA... So unlike me... I just want to get into ANY medical school, but it seems like it would be a complete waste of time and money. My past is a huge albatross around my neck. How in the world would I ever convince a medical school admissions committee to choose me over a younger, more qualified applicant with stellar credentials? I hate the thought of destroying my entire future in just 4 years... I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread. Be honest with me people. Is it even worth it. I mean really worth it, or would it just be an expensive lesson in futility.

🙂 I read your post with a smile.. you are really so sweet and honest.. I think you will live a great life, just because of being this guy, yourself 😉

As for "being late", "royally screwing your life".. you sound shaken.. isnt it very much natural, man? I think in such moods we need silence for a moment.. to stop everything, to turn back to ourselves, to leave everything and spare some time only for ourselves.. maybe to have a vacation to Europe (and to see the med schools and US students there) is a good idea, both to be only with yourself, and also to have an idea about the schools, to see them with your own eyes, to listen to other American and European students, and eventually develop your own idea about those school.. there are many Americans, Canadians, English, Scandinavians... and many more students in those schools.. and believe me, 24 is a very very very young age.. actually you are even lucky for seeing your situation and saying a big NO! to go on further in a way you wont be happy in..

Dissatisfaction is the best motive of a satisfactory choice.. its like being a 9 month 9 day-pregnant with a huge discomfort, and trying to get rid of this baby somehow.. you look near to giving birth

Oh, by the way, I have had a little research about some of the med schools in Europe (the international programs in English) and gathered the info in this blog:
http://medical-schools.blogspot.com/
(there are two more schools in the next page of the blog)

Also in ValueMD there is another American, a wise, mature, dedicated non-traditional med student in his last year in Europe, with a username, devildoc8404.. he is very much knowledgable about international med schools and to talk with him may help you develop a much clear picture about those schools.

Dont forget: By the respect of personality, you are so sweet and honest that not to pick you is a loss for a med school and your future patients 😉

 

[LUCPM]

I'm almost 24 and in my first semester of grad school (business). Long story short, I hate it. In fact I just quit my job in sales today. I am at rock bottom and completely depressed. I have posted many times on the regular premed forums, but my plans have never worked out. I was a horrible student. Received a History degree in 2010 with a 2.7 gpa (2.8 aacomas.) 2.5 sgpa (3.0 sgpa aacomas). And double digit W's with only 2 premed classes. I suck, I know so there's no need to remind me. I royally screwed my life. I am now completely unhappy. I envy my medical student counterparts, all I think about is being a doctor, and I realize how pointless my degree is. I caved in to the crowd that said I needed to establish myself, put on the suit and work in a cubicle, get married, buy a home, and start an IRA... So unlike me... I just want to get into ANY medical school, but it seems like it would be a complete waste of time and money. My past is a huge albatross around my neck. How in the world would I ever convince a medical school admissions committee to choose me over a younger, more qualified applicant with stellar credentials? I hate the thought of destroying my entire future in just 4 years... I feel like my sanity is barely holding on by a thread. Be honest with me people. Is it even worth it. I mean really worth it, or would it just be an expensive lesson in futility.

When I left my undergrad, I had withdrawn from two semesters with 11 W's on my transcript. To make things worse, I even went onto a grad school but left the program without completing it. I gave up on my fantasy.

Fast forward 15 years, I only wish I were a bit younger but I can tell you this now, it was all well worth it.

 

[hopeful22213]

Lots of good advice in this thread- take it to heart. Something else to consider I didn't see mentioned: if you're only goal is to become a physician, then an effective way to improve your chance is to take advantage of the grade-replacement policy for D.O. schools. If you got poor grades, you can retake those classes and replace the old grade with the (hopefully) improved new one. The gpa will climb real quickly that way. Unfortunately, MD schools don't operate the same way.

It will take time, but if this is important to you than it'll be worth it.

 

[MD Odyssey]

When I left my undergrad, I had withdrawn from two semesters with 11 W's on my transcript. To make things worse, I even went onto a grad school but left the program without completing it. I gave up on my fantasy.

Fast forward 15 years, I only wish I were a bit younger but I can tell you this now, it was all well worth it.

Agree with this brother. I barely graduated from high school, screwed around a few years in college. Ten years later, I have a physics degree, was nearly at the top of class, work for an engineering contractor, and am applying to medical school June 2013.

You want some insight? Take it away Charles! Pay special attention to 6:15 and following.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM4E04jNigc[/YOUTUBE]