Career Changer Seeks Advice

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scottm

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A bit about me: I currently hold a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design. I completed it about a year and a half ago and found that the game industry is definitely not for me. I had considered a career as a medical doctor (a psychiatrist, to be exact) before but was swayed by the promise of the game industry. I am now setting my sights on going back to school to take the proper pre-requisites for medical school.

My main problem is that my undergraduate cumulative GPA was 2.9. This was due to the fact that I concentrated nearly all my time on my art portfolio because I was told that it was far more important to have a strong portfolio than a good GPA for the game industry... I know, I feel stupid for having made that decision. I am actually a very dedicated ans hard-working individual but I put my efforts in the wrong places.

I would appreciate it very much if anyone could give me some pointers on the best way to go about getting my pre-reqs done, strengthening my GPA and getting into medical school. I have been researching options such as post-baccalaureate programs and SMPs. I am also working on getting a volunteer gig at a hospital so that I can gain experience. I am open to any and all suggestions, especially about pre-req programs that would accept me even with my low-end GPA.

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I can't say too much about post-bacc or SMP programs. But, I returned to school after completing my first bachelor's and an MBA. I was told that the graduate GPA will not play a role in the interview selection process, but will come into play during final selection. Therefore, I needed to bring my undergrad GPA up.

For a number of reasons, I decided to pursue a 2nd bachelor's degree. That decision actually worked out better to raise my undergrad GPA. With the amount of undergraduate credit hours already under my belt, the 32-40 credit hours of pre-med coursework would not have raised my GPA that much.

Additionally, I've been advised that medical schools like to see that applicants have taken additional upper-division coursework outside of the pre-med courses. Finally, I was advised that as a non-trad with a lower GPA, the best thing I could do was to succeed in school while maintaining a heavy courseload. Basically, my schedule needed to show that I can handle a lot of science classes. This wasn't hard for me since all I needed to complete my 2nd degree were science courses. I usually did about 15-17 credit hours (with the exception of a couple of semesters) of straight sciences and made nearly all A's (one B :mad:).

Extra-curriculars are important - shadowing, volunteering, etc. Finally, a solid performance on the MCAT is key for those of us with lower undergrad GPA's.

This is the route I took. I have one acceptance, another 1st round interview scheduled, and hope to land a 2nd round interview at another school. If you care to know any specifics about my app, just PM me and I'd be glad discuss further. Good luck to you.
 
Your low GPA might not be a death sentence if you can get high marks in your pre-reqs (bonus if you take them from a university with a tougher reputation) and if you rock the MCAT 32+.

If you want to take the time, I would definitely recommend taking upper level science courses as well. Getting a second degree is not a bad idea, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary.

Get some good clinical experience, not just shadowing. Go volunteer at a hospital, hospice, or nursing home. Get a job in a hospital as an ER scribe or something. You will need leadership experience and volunteer work galore.

When you apply you will probably get the opportunity to file an addendum to your application. In that I would explain why your marks were so low exactly the way you did here, and then emphasize that your grades since deciding to pursue medicine have been stellar.

Finally apply broadly. MD and DO. Possibly consider moving to Texas for a year before you apply and get your residency.

On another note. Medicine is a long hard expensive road. You are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and 7+ years of your life to do a job that is constantly under attack by people who believe that you are a greedy SOB. Sometimes I think I am crazy for doing this, but I can't picture being happy doing anything else and i am willing to take the bad with the good. All I am saying is think it through, if you have a family, make sure they are 100% on board. If you can picture yourself being happy doing anything else then I would probably do that.

Good luck.
 
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