Any advice appreciated
- Thread starter UCSB2004
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CaptainZero
Well...if you can just about double your MCAT - putting in effort this time, then you can enroll in Post back and work on the GPA. It's not impossible, however you probably will have a hard time getting into a Medically oriented Post-bacc with that MCAT score, so focus first on the MCAT. Take a year to study for it...do really well. Shoot for high twenties, low thirties. That will show post bacc programs that you can handle upper level sciences, and then you should be able to get into one. And from there, you will get into med school.
don't give up...
don't give up...
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UCSB2004 said:
You could think about taking some of the science classes at a CSU campus to bring up your GPA. Once you had done some coursework you could re-take the MCAT. You definitely need to bring up your GPA to be a competitive candidate for allopathic schools. But if you could get it up to a 3.0 or better, and then do really well on the MCATs the second time around, you'd have a chance to get in. Good luck 🙂
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You could also do an informal post bac (take science classes on your own) or go for a master's degree while at the same time studying for and retaking the MCAT. Then after a good year (or ~24+) more credit hours of coursework and a solid MCAT, you could apply to med school and post bac programs simultaneously.
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As long as you're taking at least 6 credit hours, and file a FAFSA, you can get financial aid. Unfortunately, if you already have a degree, as most of us do, you only qualify for loans. I'm pretty sure that's accurate, if I'm mistaken, anybody feel free to correct me. Just have FAFSA send your student aid report to the school that you plan on doing it at.
First of all, I really appreciate your comments and feedback! You guys are much more helpful than my pre-med advisor that told me to forget about med school.
As of now I am planning on taking more science classes at the same UC I'm graduating from. The question now is... what kind of classes should I take? Should they all be upper division? some or no lower division? all bilogy (medically-oriented), or some math/chem?
Thanks again!
As of now I am planning on taking more science classes at the same UC I'm graduating from. The question now is... what kind of classes should I take? Should they all be upper division? some or no lower division? all bilogy (medically-oriented), or some math/chem?
Thanks again!
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UCSB2004 said:
Yes, they should ALL be upper division science courses. Try to take upper-division science courses that are typically taken by medical students (i.e., immunology, endocrinology, biochem, anatomy, microbiology, etc.) to prove that you can handle these courses. Don't give up hope...there are always ways to improve your credentials if you have the determination. If you are rejected by postbac programs, pick yourself up and do a DIY postbac. Prove to everyone and yourself that you can do it. Good luck!
Remember, you HAVE to get all A's from now on. Getting B's will get you nowhere and getting C's is the kiss of death for postbacs.
The other thing to think about, and really figure out, is WHY do you have a 2.48 GPA? Was it your study habits? Did you get in over your head or schedule too much and then not know when to bail out? If it's your study habits, did you not put in enough time, or did you simply not study effectively? What would you do differently?
Don't just take more classes to get into a postbacc or med school. Figure out exactly what went wrong and exactly how you'll fix it, because you WON'T get into med school with the numbers you've got now, and you've got an uphill battle to turn those numbers around. You SHOULD think about whether there is any other career that will make you happy, because this is going to be hard.
Once you figure out what happened, and how you'll get better grades in the future, then you can retake any prereq courses in which you got poor grades, study for the MCAT and kick its little MCAT butt, and start taking advanced sciences to slowly pull up your grades and show you can do this stuff. And look at DO schools, which may be a little more forgiving about the lower GPA you'll still have at the end of this road.
Good luck! It's kind of a fun journey, even though it's hard. (I'm in the middle of a homemade postbacc, myself.)
Don't just take more classes to get into a postbacc or med school. Figure out exactly what went wrong and exactly how you'll fix it, because you WON'T get into med school with the numbers you've got now, and you've got an uphill battle to turn those numbers around. You SHOULD think about whether there is any other career that will make you happy, because this is going to be hard.
Once you figure out what happened, and how you'll get better grades in the future, then you can retake any prereq courses in which you got poor grades, study for the MCAT and kick its little MCAT butt, and start taking advanced sciences to slowly pull up your grades and show you can do this stuff. And look at DO schools, which may be a little more forgiving about the lower GPA you'll still have at the end of this road.
Good luck! It's kind of a fun journey, even though it's hard. (I'm in the middle of a homemade postbacc, myself.)
