Career changer seeking fresh advice

[HopefulMarine]

I apologize in advance for this post being long. I feel like I have a complicated story to tell and want to give as many details as possible. I am looking for opinions from forum members on my two plans described below (affectionately called Plan A and Plan B).

First off, I am a 26 year old white male currently working as a Network Consulting Engineer for Cisco Systems. I make good money, at least good enough money to know that my interest in medicine is not driven by finances. I graduated in 2011 from San Jose State University with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have spent the past 6 years (including my entire time at SJSU) in the USMC-reserves as a reconnaissance operator (I say this to point out that I am a school-trained 0321, if that matters). I have spent the last year deployed, and it was during this deployment that my decision to switch careers really took hold.

I am unhappy with my current job and want to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. I have decided not to re-enlist in the Marines, in favor of pursuing a different form of service: medicine. To this end, I have spent the past few months diligently researching every option from community college to post-baccs to SMPs. I have started volunteering and shadowing at my local hospital. I am also going to start a course, "Medical Terminology", at a local community college later this month.

The main problem I face is overcoming my mediocre under-graduate grades. Here is everything relevant I can think of:

SJSU B.S. Mechanical Engineering
M.D. cGPA/sGPA = 2.90 / 3.10
D.O. cGPA/sGPA = 3.18 / 3.52
SAT = 1370 (taken in 2005)
GRE = 560 verbal / 780 quantitative / 4 writing (taken in 2011)

As far as pre-reqs, I have only taken physics and one semester of chemistry. My M.D. GPA is calculated with 170 total units (yes, I had A LOT of retakes). My undergrad was very unpredictable because of my simultaneous commitment to the Marines and several high-level ECs I was involved in. I point out the high number of units to emphasize that it would take several semesters to get my M.D. GPA in the competitive range.

I live in the Philadelphia area and am heavily considering applying to local post-bacc programs. I believe that I am uncompetitive to Temple because of their guaranteed linkage, and am not sure what to think about UPenn and Drexel. I know that I have an unconventional, possibly appealing background given that I am changing from a moderately successful career that includes military service and I have a history of testing well. My grades are the big concern, obviously.

The two plans of action I am considering, and in this post seeking guidance on, are as follows:

Plan A – attend a local post-bacc pre-health program, spending 1-2 years studying part-time while maintaining my job with Cisco (saving up for medical school). This is obviously contingent upon me gaining acceptance to a program. I can fund my studies OOP. I have no doubt that I will attain A's in every class that I take.

Plan B – attend a local post-bacc undergrad program in biology, chemistry, or similar. If I am unable to secure a spot in any local post-bacc program, I can accomplish this goal using the state school system or, worst-case scenario, community colleges. Again, I would fund my studies OOP and have no doubt that my grades would be impeccable. This plan is largely a back-up plan in my mind (hence the term ‘Plan B'), in case a pre-health post-bacc is just too far-fetched given my grades. The positive thing about this plan is that taking enough courses to complete a new B.A. degree in one of the sciences would definitely help me to raise my GPA. It could also be a stepping stone to Plan A (i.e. it would help me gain acceptance to a solid post-bacc program).


Either way, I am fully committed to starting this transition. I want to continue working at my current job until I am closer to medical school, but will definitely leave when needed. I know that my GPA is low, so I am not interested in hearing how M.D. is out-of-the-question for me or how I should start planning on Caribbean schools. I just want straight advice on what I should do from here to better myself as much as possible. One way or another, I am going to be a doctor. I don't care how long it takes.

Any and all advice, thoughts, concerns, prayers, and wisdom is/are appreciated. Thank you.

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[Patassa]

Bon soir,

A little about me.

Graduated mechanical engineering with a 2.88. Worked in the oil industry for a few years, quit to pursue a career change to medicine. A year and a half ago I enrolled at my alma mater, took 44 hours of science + language and got a 4.0. Took the MCAT this past june, got the score I needed, applied early decision two months ago, got accepted two weeks ago. MD program, my state school of choice.



MD is not out of the question for you. You certainly have a hard road ahead, speaking from experience. Call your state schools and set up appointments to talk to the people who actually make the decisions. Talk about your specific situation with them and see what they say. You won't find those kinds of answers on these boards. Then depending on what you are told by the medical schools that you need to do, make your decision about your post-bacc course of action. To me, this is the most efficient and wise path. I can relate to the petition for prayers, I asked for many myself. Let me know if I can help in any other way. Peace.

 

[HopefulMarine]

Graduated mechanical engineering with a 2.88. Worked in the oil industry for a few years, quit to pursue a career change to medicine. A year and a half ago I enrolled at my alma mater, took 44 hours of science + language and got a 4.0. Took the MCAT this past june, got the score I needed, applied early decision two months ago, got accepted two weeks ago. MD program, my state school of choice.

Wow. It's definitely nice to see an inspiring success story. I can't tell from your previous posts, but was there some EC besides your engineering career that really helped you stand out? Either massive volunteering hours or research, etc? Are you a URM? I basically want to take the exact same track that you took to get to an M.D. school.

 

[Patassa]

Wow. It's definitely nice to see an inspiring success story. I can't tell from your previous posts, but was there some EC besides your engineering career that really helped you stand out? Either massive volunteering hours or research, etc? Are you a URM? I basically want to take the exact same track that you took to get to an M.D. school.

Honestly, my life experiences and my goals just happen to really align with what the medical school was looking for. Over two years ago I visited with the Chair of the Admissions committee at my school of interest and he told me exactly what I needed to do to get into medical school there. I set out to do it and made sure I hit every checkbox along the way as well as develope great relationships with my professors. I got the scores that I needed, did all the EC's that were expected of me, and had some just really stellar letters from my professors. Also this state school placed a heavy emphasis on post-bacc work as long as it included a certain number of hours of science credits along with upper level biologies.

So, it wasn't really a massive slanting one way or the other. I think my application was very well rounded and that's what this school said they wanted to see.

I can't over emphasize enough taking a targeted approach to your post-bacc efforts. Find a few schools that sound like good fits, go talk to someone in charge, have that conversation. When I did this, I fully expected the Chair to crush my dreams but instead he gave me a shiny new redo button, in effect. You never know what you'll find, but you have to get out there and make the effort.

Definitely not URM, WASP.

 

[Goro]

First off, many thanks to you for your service to your country. Your GPAs are fine for DO programs but not competetive for MD schools. An SMP will be your best best because it's the backdoor into medical school, especially if given at a medical school like Drexel or PCOM.

Either plan A or B is fine. Post-bacs can be DIY or a formal program.

Just remember that SAT and GRE perfromance means nothing for medcial school admisisons.

Semper Fi!


Plan A – attend a local post-bacc pre-health program, spending 1-2 years studying part-time while maintaining my job with Cisco (saving up for medical school). This is obviously contingent upon me gaining acceptance to a program. I can fund my studies OOP. I have no doubt that I will attain A’s in every class that I take.

Plan B – attend a local post-bacc undergrad program in biology, chemistry, or similar. If I am unable to secure a spot in any local post-bacc program, I can accomplish this goal using the state school system or, worst-case scenario, community colleges. Again, I would fund my studies OOP and have no doubt that my grades would be impeccable. This plan is largely a back-up plan in my mind (hence the term ‘Plan B’), in case a pre-health post-bacc is just too far-fetched given my grades. The positive thing about this plan is that taking enough courses to complete a new B.A. degree in one of the sciences would definitely help me to raise my GPA. It could also be a stepping stone to Plan A (i.e. it would help me gain acceptance to a solid post-bacc program).


Either way, I am fully committed to starting this transition. I want to continue working at my current job until I am closer to medical school, but will definitely leave when needed. I know that my GPA is low, so I am not interested in hearing how M.D. is out-of-the-question for me or how I should start planning on Caribbean schools. I just want straight advice on what I should do from here to better myself as much as possible. One way or another, I am going to be a doctor. I don't care how long it takes.

Any and all advice, thoughts, concerns, prayers, and wisdom is/are appreciated. Thank you.[/QUOTE]