carribean or just wait another 2 yrs?

[goldfish85]

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i am a junior in college. i really want to be a primary physician. I have my heart set on family practice or Internal medicine.

but i have a 2.77 cum. gpa. and only half way through college. 60 units done and 60 more to go. Its just im really sad that i have no certain future ahead of me. My bad grades are due to screwing up royally in my first 2 years! i have my reasons but im not going to get into it....

I know that I could do a post bacc, some research, and kill the mcat then apply to a US MD/DO school but that would take another 2 years plus a ton of work during those two years. What do you think about going to a "top 3" known carribean school like AUC or SGU? Would it be tough for me to secure a residency in the US, esp. california?

also from a cost perspective, i think the post bacc + us MD would cost more in the end


I was looking for some pros and cons....

So far i thought:

Pros:
saves me two years of more school work
only the first two years have to be spent on the island.
money is not an issue.
hang out @ beach.
MD

cons:
limits more competitive residencies (but this one doesnt really matter to me much)
Island life could be one (maybe not AUC, since i heard it was decently developed)

I really need some help with this guys. Thanks!

 

[djnels01]

Woh woh goldfish, buddy, pal, SLOW DOWN.

How old are you? You say you are now a junior in college, are you non-traditional or are you 20-21 years old? I'm guessing you are the latter by your screen name. You need to chill out. I mean this in the best possible way. Now listen:

You have LOTS of time to make up ground on that GPA of yours. Considering you can't usually matriculate into Med Schools here in the U.S. without a degree anyway, you'll have to go through your last two years of college no matter what. Do that first.

Look into getting some experience working as a volunteer. It's vitally important to get experience in a health care setting these days, so definitely seek out any opportunities for doing that as well. Do anything you can to "round yourself out" so you don't look like someone that was only concerned with test scores and GPA. You will NOT be accepted anywhere if you are only into science + medicine!

Study for the next MCAT (April 2006). Take a study course if you like, or at the very least get some materials, and make SURE to get exposure to some practice tests (under testing conditions!) before you sit for the real thing. See how you score. If you rock it, great, but if not, re-take that August (or even the following April if you wish).

If you kick ass and score well, then start applying to schools. Hopefully by then your GPA has increased somewhat. Decide if you are applying MD or DO. Whichever you pick, then make sure your GPA(s) at least match the minimum for that type of institution's admissions statistics.

If your GPA is not as high as it should be, THEN consider doing either the post bacc after graduation, OR applying to Carribbean schools if that's what you want. But don't consider doing either until at LEAST your senior year.

You have 2 more years of school left, don't pull the trigger yet! There's still a whole lot to learn and experience. It's good that you have these dreams/convictions at this stage of college. But by no means should you feel that a decision must be made now. You are YOUNG! By the end of 4 years of school you may be ready for a break anyway!

I used to get worked up about not knowing where I was going to apply, how I would get there, would I be good enough on paper, should I apply carribbean, etc... Trust me, those feelings of "inadequacy and uncertainty" pass with time and experience. Just believe in yourself, and your dream of practicing medicine. Show that belief by buckling down, doing well in your classes from here on out, and getting a good MCAT score. A year from now you can start to worry about what to do, but not now, you're still young.

 

[Mike MacKinnon]

I agree

I would guess yer under 25 years old. If thats the case then you need to do 2 things:

1) Stay in the USA and work hard at classes

2) Re-evaluate what your considering.

I dont want to sound disheartening but there are some things you have to ask yourself.

1) Why is your GPA low? Are you slacking off or is it really that hard

2) What classes are you taking that are killing you? What do you need to do to fix that?

3) You have 1/2 yer education left, if you PUT IN THE WORK you can bring your GPA up to a 3.3-3.5

4) If you answered that you didnt put in the work, or slacked off and didnt do well in school you should reevaluate. Can you turn that around? If not med school (regardless of where) might not be the best choice for you.

This isnt to make you feel defeated, but to make you consider and be honest with yourself.

I came to this decision last year at 31 years old. My GPA was 3.0 exactly when I left Nursing school. Why? It was because i was lazy and didnt do the work. I decided that I needed to turn that around with my pre reqs and so far ive been successful.

good luck!