At a crossroads of sort....

[Knit Knots]

So here is the situation. I am currenty a junior studying psychology at UC Berkeley. I really want to go to med school (surprise, right?), but I find myself in a situation where I don't know if going down that road would be worth it anymore. Right now I have a 3.4 GPA that MIGHT go a little lower - I doubt it, but..... Aside from feeling stupid (psychology is supposed to be easy, right?), I am being forced to reconsider med school. My plan was to always go to a post-bacc med program/open university/community college and complete the science requirements there, but I feel if I do it now it will be useless because of my low GPA. If I decide to not go to medical school, my back-up plan was to get a master's in clinical psychology, but I want to avoid that route.

The good news is that next semester I plan on moving closer to school. Since I lived far away to take care of my sick grandma and because I didn't have the funds to live near campus, I wasn't able to partake in study groups or the like. I hope now that our family has found someone to take of her, I can put my focus now on studying, but do you think it would be worth it? I sincerely think that I will do better in the coming semesters, but would it matter? Would I get a chance to explain why I did so bad my junior year (i.e., long commute + taking care of grandma)?

If it helps, I have some decent extra-curriculars. While they aren't science based (it's impossible to get any without being a science major/having science background) I think they can help.What do you think? Realistically, do I still have a shot at medical school?

I really DO NOT want to spend two years after I graduate doing science reqs only to not be accepted all because of my junior year.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

EDIT: Here is a list of extracurricular stuff:

- Treasurer for the largest student organization on campus, by next semester I should move up to VP or even President
- Mentor for transfer students and students considering psychology as a major
- Orchestra Intern, Percussionist, and Pianist
- Tutor at local prison
- Research assistant for my developmental psych professor and for an ear lab
- Next semester I plan on starting and facilitating a class which would help kids of incarcerated folk visit their parents

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[aSagacious]

So is a 3.4 your cumulative GPA or your current semester GPA (in that case, what is your cGPA and sGPA)?

We've seen many individuals with worse GPAs succeed after some GPA repair, so you're certainly not out of the running yet. If you haven't yet taken the pre-reqs, you have presumably done only minimal damage to your science GPA. You could readily demonstrate your abilities over the next two years taking a heavy-science courseload and doing well on the MCAT.

 

[Knit Knots]

So is a 3.4 your cumulative GPA or your current semester GPA (in that case, what is your cGPA and sGPA)?

We've seen many individuals with worse GPAs succeed after some GPA repair, so you're certainly not out of the running yet. If you haven't yet taken the pre-reqs, you have presumably done only minimal damage to your science GPA. You could readily demonstrate your abilities over the next two years taking a heavy-science courseload and doing well on the MCAT.

3.4 is my cumulative GPA. Right now I don't plan on doing any sort of science classes (I haven't done any besides anatomy and basic bio and chem at my community college) , at least not until after I graduate. I feel like doing science courses here (where there is grade deflation, large science classes, and grading curves) would kill my chances.

Would you still suggest I take science courses or can I wait until I graduate to do all my science courses?

 

[aSagacious]

Would you still suggest I take science courses or can I wait until I graduate to do all my science courses?

I guess it doesn't matter where you do them, as long as they're at a four year institution (though sometimes there are exceptions to that rule as well). I'm only suggesting taking a bunch of science classes prior to submitting your application, whether this occurs before or after graduation is not a big issue.