Any luck with questionable past?

[J.Rom]

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Has anyone had any luck (getting in, or even getting secondaries this year) with a checkered past similar to mine? e.g.:

Failed out of undergrad after 3 years with a 1.28
Went back to school 5 years later and graduated Summa Cum Laude (3.9) from a better school (B.S. in Biology)
Cumulative GPA still only 2.9, though. 🙁

MCAT = 12, 11, 10.

I have not received secondaries from any of the UC's (I am a CA resident) and have heard that others have.

I thought that I would have a chance if schools looked closely at my transcripts, but now I am not so sure.

So does anyone else have experience applying with a questionable background like this? What was your experience?

Thanks.

 

[Lab-Rat21]

Suggestion: do a post-bacc. I know of several people with low undergrad GPAs and they got high MCATs and a good post-bacc with research experience and they got in! If your scores are recent, then take the time to do a brief post-bacc and reapply...good luck.😀

 

[Amy B]

Did you deal with this topic in your essay. I would hope that if you explained in detail as to the situation, they would at least give you a look over, Especially considering your MCAT score

I think I would write an additional letter and send it directly to the dean of admissions at all the schools you applied to asking them to really look at just how much you improve yourself and how much your grades improved.

Good luck

 

[chapinsita]

I don't think you should do a post-bacc. You basically did another 4 years of post bac by getting a degree all over again. I think that you have a tough chance at UC's because unfortunately, they cannot afford to look too much beyond grades (heard this from the UCI dean of admissions yesterday). But, I hope you applied to Stanford, Harvard, and other schools like that. They have the prestige and actually look past the #'s. If not, why do you think Harvard's avg MCAT is 33, while for UCI it's 34? Note: Columbia, with a 37 MCAT is the exception.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

Due to your "questionable" past, be a little flexible. You might have to settle for other than UC. I have a questionable past as well, and now I'll pay for the play... I'll probably have to move out of Cali to a not so prestigous school, but at the end, we'll be MDs practicing in CA, so if at all possible, try to be flexible. If not, then do a post-bacc and wait it out. I'd go with route 1. Best of luck whatever you do.

 

[kendall]

i am in a very similar situation. failed out, moved to california (from kentucky), eventually got my head on straight, came back, started school over (academic bankruptcy), and graduated with good grades and tons of healthcare experience. amcas, of course, will include all of my previous grades. this will undoubtedly hurt me, but all i can do is try. there is a section on the primary app. for just this sort of thing. I made use of it; no excuses, just to the point: I am an A student, regardless of what I did as an 18 year old.
Anyway, heres a story that might cheer you up. The husband of a nurse I used to work with in cincinnati had the exact same circumstances. He got accepted somewhere (Cincy maybe, I don't recall), and wound up doing neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic. Not bad, huh!?! I think you'll get in somewhere if you applied widely. Your mcat and gpa are higher than mine, and I still have faith. Good Luck!!!👍 👍 👍

 

[kmnfive]

what happens if you just turn in your current school GPA and "forget" about the other.

do med schools check your past to see if you have been to any other school? (high school community college, summer community college, schools out of state... etc..)

i know someone who flunked out of west point but went to a JC and then transferred into U of M twin cities. then onto med school.

the thing is, he never put on his app that he had failed out of any place.

do med schools have access to your past records? it doesnt seem so.

 

[jenni4476]

I suppose you could do that if you wanted to but I think most schools have a clause that allows them to rescind your admission or expel you if they find that you falsified any information. I'm not sure about if they can yank your license later but I sure as heck wouldn't want to chance it.....imagine the lack of respect alone that would happen when everyone else found out you "cheated" the system, let alone all the other possible consequences.

I'm in a similar situation but I have documented extraordinary circumstances and I'm currently appealing to my undergrad institution to have those grades changed to W's. Apparently, at least at U of WI, you can do this even years after the fact IF you have a demonstrable reason for both the bad grades and for waiting so long to address it....don't yet know whether it's been approved or not. That might be an option for you to check out-I don't know whether your school allows this.

 

[aqs200]

I'm also in the same boat. I went from a straight A student w/ 5-6 academic awards to getting 3 F's one semester(one of the classes being Physics I) because of the emotional/financial stress of my mother being diagnosed with breast cancer that semester. Lost my dad to cancer 10 years ago as well. I tried to withdraw but it was too late and I passed the deadlines.

To make a long story short, I had to take a leave of absence for ~2 years because my mom was too sick to work and I had to work full time to pay for rent and food plus take care of her and my little brother. Came back to school after my mom thankfully got better and after we saved up some money, got A's in those classes I failed and graduated 3.82 GPA Magna Cum Laude(F's got excluded in GPA). I talked about it in my personal essay and my premed committee is going to explain it to them but still not sure if the 3 F's will be held against me. If they are going to, nothing I can do. But My Amcas GPA fell from a 3.9 BCPM /3.82 Overall GPA to a 3.50 BCPM GPA / 3.49 Overall GPA(all grades are included). I'm hoping and praying for the best and that schools will understand.

 

[HollyJ]

I agree with chapinsita -- I don't think that you need to do a post bac to prove that you can do the work. I think that you have done a good job redeeming yourself and now you just have to roll the dice. Will you get into a UC? I don't know -- none of us really have a 100% lock on getting in anywhere. But I think that you have a good shot.

I have a friend who flat-out failed 68 hours his freshman and sophmore years in college. Seriously, 68 hours of Fs. He took a year off, got serious, and got a 4.0 in a degree in neurobiology. He's now at a top-20 school. Anecdotal evidence, so take it for what it's worth, but it can be done.

By the way, chapinsita, Columbia's average MCAT is a 35.4, not a 37. I still agree with your point, though. 🙂

 

[DocileMD]

This post cheered me up a bit.
I am an undergrad and have just switched to pre-med. In my first two years I have made one F, one D, two C+'s, and two C's(none of which were in science courses btw), the rest all B's and B+'s.
I have more than above average intelligence but just had no motivation whatsoever, I was planning on going into business like the seemingly 200+ million other students out there.
Over the past several months the idea of practicing medicine has struck me in countless ways and I have become obsessed with it. I am incredibly motivated now and know that from here on out I will be an A student, however I still have much concern over these past grades. From what I have read on this forum, adcoms can look past this if my grades from here on out are superb but it would still be great to hear more feedback on this topic or even on my situation.

 

[kendall]

yes, docilemd, this thread should give you some hope b/c it is possible, but you have to be, in your own words, superb from here on out. please, please, please get some experience in the health care field before you make your decision. medicine is not something to enter into blindly. sure, some people do, but they are royally sh*tting their pants the first time they have to actually DO something to a patient. b/c my situation is similar to yours, i cannot say really whether or not you have a shot, but i do believe that sincere ball busting effort pays off in the end. good luck!!!

 

[DocileMD]

kendall,
Unfortunately due to recent changes in privacy laws in SC one cannot even shadow a dentist. I tried very hard to shadow someone while I spent my summer in SC and even a friend of mine practicing anesthesiology could not get me in.
So all summer I was looking forward to coming back here to school to take part in the shadowing program but it appears privacy laws have changed in TN as well. I have spoken with a friendly local radiologist and he is trying to get me in sometime in the next month or so.
So I have yet to have any clinical experience but I am scheduled to start volunteering at a local hospital. Also, a pre-med friend of mine has started up a nursing program to serve underpriviledged schools in the area and he wants to train and certify me get active in that as well.
I have also began a weekly Intro to Health Care Delivery class at our school's teaching hospital and am very excited about it so far.
So all that I really know is what I have been told, what I have read day after day about the responsibilities and duties involved with practicing medicine and what I watch on the Discovery Health channel and I truly am fascinated so I feel that I am not beginning this new curriculum blindly.

 

[DocileMD]

kendall,
Unfortunately due to recent changes in privacy laws in SC one cannot even shadow a dentist. I tried very hard to shadow someone while I spent my summer in SC and even a friend of mine practicing anesthesiology could not get me in.
So all summer I was looking forward to coming back here to school to take part in the shadowing program but it appears privacy laws have changed in TN as well. I have spoken with a friendly local radiologist and he is trying to get me in sometime in the next month or so.
So I have yet to have any clinical experience but I am scheduled to start volunteering at a local hospital. Also, a pre-med friend of mine has started up a nursing program to serve underpriviledged schools in the area and he wants to train and certify me get active in that as well.
I have also began a weekly Intro to Health Care Delivery class at our school's teaching hospital and am very excited about it so far.
So all that I really know is what I have been told, what I have read day after day about the responsibilities and duties involved with practicing medicine and what I watch on the Discovery Health channel and I truly am fascinated so I feel that I am not beginning this new curriculum blindly.

 

[kendall]

to be perfectly honest, i don't think shadowing a doc is any way to get clinical experience. it might get you a letter of rec, but what i mean by experience is a jobby job (in a hospital). seriously man, as a doctor you are going to have to DO all kind of things to people who are deathly ill, morbidly obese, mortally wounded, etc... you will have to put your hands places you would never have imagined. all i'm saying is, how can you know that you want to do (or could even deal with doing) that sort of thing without ever having done it. becoming a doctor requires a huge investment of time and money. i cannot imagine starting down that path without knowing how i deal with blood and pus and puke and **** and death. i know it is hard to work and go to school at the same time, but it can be done. i'm not trying to deter you from medicine, just being real.

 

[judoka]

if you don't get in this year, i suggest you move on with your life. apply to some DO schools too now if you can. don't waste time volunteering, as you already decided you want to be a doctor. more experience in medicine won't help you if you can't get in. and it won't help you enough to compensate for poor grades.

 

[thackl]

Fuk the post bac and people on here telling you to try something else. I'm doing the math and it tells me you are about 10 or 11yrs out of your original freshman year. There is a thing called academic fresh start that lets you throw away everything more than 10yrs old. Redo only the required stuff and take it anywhere you want (even cc). You might find that there is very little in those first two yrs required for med school, but the crappy grades will be gone.

You've shown the upward trend, taken upper levels and kicked ass on the MCAT. What you want now is to get past the ADCOM software filters that keep throwing you out for having a 2.9. My brother went to college from 18-20 part/full time and stunk it up (too much partying and other "stuff"). He did fresh start at age 30, found that he only had to retake first yr chem and English Comp. He ended up applying with a 3.78 and got the comp requirement dropped after being accepted.

Good luck and don't quit

 

[DocileMD]

Originally posted by kendall
to be perfectly honest, i don't think shadowing a doc is any way to get clinical experience. it might get you a letter of rec, but what i mean by experience is a jobby job (in a hospital). seriously man, as a doctor you are going to have to DO all kind of things to people who are deathly ill, morbidly obese, mortally wounded, etc... you will have to put your hands places you would never have imagined. all i'm saying is, how can you know that you want to do (or could even deal with doing) that sort of thing without ever having done it. becoming a doctor requires a huge investment of time and money. i cannot imagine starting down that path without knowing how i deal with blood and pus and puke and **** and death. i know it is hard to work and go to school at the same time, but it can be done. i'm not trying to deter you from medicine, just being real.

I understand what you're saying and appreciate the response.
I am actually in need of a part- time job and was planning on talking with the volunteer coordinator at the hospital about what is available there when I see him on Monday.
Could you reccommend some common hospital jobs that would give me good experiencence and are easy to acquire?
I'd be sure to ask about them this Monday while I'm over there.
And I understand your concern about myself making this decision without ever having actually DONE anything hands-on but I am very confident that it will not be a deterrent. I handle those types of circumstances quite well but I am very anxious to get some experience under my belt so that I have a better understanding all around.