Any 5th 6th 7th 8th year seniors out there?

[PreMedJunkie]

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I am wondering how long you expect your undergrad years to last. I met with my advisor and he basically told me I need to take four more years worth of classes to boost my GPA. Mind you, I'm starting my sixth year, including a one year break and multiple half-time enrollments. I'm apprehensive any medical would even look at someone who took 8 years to finish one degree. Yes now I have my life together and have deticated myself to my course load, but I am able to graduate in 1 year and then go back for a post-bac! What do you think?

 

[CatchingUp]

So um...how low is your GPA?

 

[PreMedJunkie]

2.8

 

[EricH]

I started college in 1994 and finished in 2008. 3/4 of the coursework was completed from 2005 - 2008. It came up in my interviews, but only as an aside.

 

[raebear]

In my opinion I would imagine finishing the degree and doing a post-bac might be a better option. It's really difficult to raise an undergrad GPA, and I wouldn't think it was worth the time. As long as you are prepared to discuss the low GPA in interviews and prove that you have what it takes to rock med school by doing awesome in your post-bac you should be alright.

 

[MalachiConstant]

If you want it bad enough, you can do it. When I went back to school in 2005, I had 33 credit hours on my transcript with a gpa of 0.0. I got accepted this year, so don't let anyone tell you it's not feasible. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

I started college in 1994 and finished in 2008. 3/4 of the coursework was completed from 2005 - 2008. It came up in my interviews, but only as an aside.

Damn I thought i was the only one. 98-2010/2011.🙂 OP, if you do a year of retakes coupled with some upper division classes, I'm sure you will be ready to apply by the end of your 7th year lol. Good Luck😀

 

[PunkmedGirl]

If you want it bad enough, you can do it. When I went back to school in 2005, I had 33 credit hours on my transcript with a gpa of 0.0. I got accepted this year, so don't let anyone tell you it's not feasible. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

Damn..Congrats!!!!!🙂

 

[tndoc12]

If you want it bad enough, you can do it. When I went back to school in 2005, I had 33 credit hours on my transcript with a gpa of 0.0. I got accepted this year, so don't let anyone tell you it's not feasible. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

Shows that hard work and determination pay off! Job well done btw!

 

[tuffguy13]

what if you are a non-trad major and you decide to take your pre-reqs, which end up being like 2 years, all before you graduate? would that be bad?

EDIT: the reason i ask is because i changed majors twice, finally picked a major, did well, then decided i wanted to go into medicine and tacked on all the extra prereqs. I'm already past the 4 yr mark. Does this "time spent in undergrad" really factor heavily into their admissions, even if you do well grade wise, test score wise, and do extra-curriculars?

 

[PunkmedGirl]

what if you are a non-trad major and you decide to take your pre-reqs, which end up being like 2 years, all before you graduate? would that be bad?

EDIT: the reason i ask is because i changed majors twice, finally picked a major, did well, then decided i wanted to go into medicine and tacked on all the extra prereqs. I'm already past the 4 yr mark. Does this "time spent in undergrad" really factor heavily into their admissions, even if you do well grade wise, test score wise, and do extra-curriculars?

No, you're fine.

 

[Dross]

Going on 5 years here. I started off poli-sci back in the (or so it seems) changed to bio, got burnt out on plant science, changed to english with a creative writing emphasis after speaking to a doc in the office I work in that went to harvard with a BA in english. I have a ton of ECs let me tell you. I just started my english major this past year, tacking on pre-reqs in the next year..I am HOPING to graduate in a year and a half that includes summer classes and maybe online and CLEPs. I have to work my ***** off for the next year to try and matriculate in 2012. On top of all that my GPA isn't great...2.0. No one has ever told me its impossible and no one can ever convince me it is! I want it so bad that I will do whatever it takes tog get into school. I will be a physician.

ooo.. and on top of that I will be taking the MCAT for the first time this coming April while going to school full time and work full time. I think half the battle is having the confidence and desire(work ethic)

Good luck to all those in similar situations.

 

[ShyRem]

A GPA of 2.0 won't get you into any medical school. You have to get that to around 3.0 to even have a chance. I'd plan on some retakes and get A's in those courses to get that GPA to where it needs to be. If you want a sure thing and don't want to take the time to get your GPA up, look into the caribbean. Even that may be a difficult journey with a GPA of 2.0.

But if you want to apply and spend thousands of dollars, go ahead. For many people money is tight and they can't afford to apply year after year with little to no hope of getting in due to a bad GPA that can be rectified.

 

[mickc]

I am wondering how long you expect your undergrad years to last. I met with my advisor and he basically told me I need to take four more years worth of classes to boost my GPA. Mind you, I'm starting my sixth year, including a one year break and multiple half-time enrollments. I'm apprehensive any medical would even look at someone who took 8 years to finish one degree. Yes now I have my life together and have deticated myself to my course load, but I am able to graduate in 1 year and then go back for a post-bac! What do you think?

Another super senior checking in. I've attended college from 1999 to present-day. I will be graduating in 2010, where I will then apply for DO school. You can do it, just hammer on!

 

[Biology101]

If you want it bad enough, you can do it. When I went back to school in 2005, I had 33 credit hours on my transcript with a gpa of 0.0. I got accepted this year, so don't let anyone tell you it's not feasible. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

which school?

 

[skybliss]

I am wondering how long you expect your undergrad years to last. I met with my advisor and he basically told me I need to take four more years worth of classes to boost my GPA. Mind you, I'm starting my sixth year, including a one year break and multiple half-time enrollments. I'm apprehensive any medical would even look at someone who took 8 years to finish one degree. Yes now I have my life together and have deticated myself to my course load, but I am able to graduate in 1 year and then go back for a post-bac! What do you think?

for DO schools, if you retake a course, they see the new grade to replace the old grade. You could consider retakes rather than taking completely new courses, though I would check up on this policy to make sure.

 

[Pet of the Week]

Your best bet is to retake your pre-reqs and make A's. You could do it in a year with Aacom's neat replace the grade on retakes situation. It's possible that your adviser is thinking of aamc's policy on retakes instead. Either way, I hope you are good at tests. The mcat will make or break your chances given your gpa. Btw, I had 4 years of undergrad (two degrees), 2 years of med school (no degree boo), and back for two more years of undergrad (for a third degree) while trying to get back into med school, so there are more than a few of us out there with weird school situations.

 

[iatros]

Your best bet is to retake your pre-reqs and make A's. You could do it in a year with Aacom's neat replace the grade on retakes situation.

OP- dont know if you're aware... AACOMAS recalculates your gpa based on your latest retake.

so retake all those classes you bombed and make A's. also look into a masters degree in something relevant like biology... NOT some worthless non science degree.

and look into academic reprieve. i had a semester "forgiven" which basically boosted my gpa from 3.3 to 3.4 automatically.

 

[ShyRem]

Academic reprieve does NOT exist on aacomas or amcas. You MUST list every single course you have ever taken for credit anywhere - "forgiven" or not. They must be listed and they count. If you retake the "forgiven" courses, aacomas will replace the grade with the latest retake. If you do not retake the "forgiven" courses, they will definitely count towards your aacomas GPA.

 

[PreMedJunkie]

Thanks for the advice guys! Its duly noted

 

[EricH]

Academic reprieve does NOT exist on aacomas or amcas. You MUST list every single course you have ever taken for credit anywhere - "forgiven" or not. They must be listed and they count. If you retake the "forgiven" courses, aacomas will replace the grade with the latest retake. If you do not retake the "forgiven" courses, they will definitely count towards your aacomas GPA.

It may be that I am an exception, however I received academic forgiveness for two semesters and AACOMAS removed those hours from my GPA calculation (I had to call and ask). For those semesters the college issuing the transcript had 0.0 for completed units and 0.0 for GPA units. My actual grade and attempted units were printed.

Good Luck.

 

[ShyRem]

You are indeed the first I have heard of this being approved for. Others have asked and been denied. I would severely caution the OP on counting on such approval in the future.

 

[Grey Wind]

2000-2007 here, i took some time off and traveled/worked/goofed off here and there.

 

[EricH]

You are indeed the first I have heard of this being approved for. Others have asked and been denied. I would severely caution the OP on counting on such approval in the future.

I agree and I would not count on it at this point. I am sure there is a specific policy that the OP can discover and cite for academic forgiveness. I am certain that it isn't subjective.