Chance question

[nicarao]

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I am contemplating applying to med school possibly in the next two or three years. However, I feel it may be a little too late for me since my grades are below the average applicant. First I must mention I am a non trad student, URM, I do not know if that matters but I throw in there and I been out of school for quite sometime. I decided to back to school and I am entering the fall quarter in a recognized University. Going over my BCPM gpa I have calculated a 3.1 and a cum. gpa of 3.2. All this is including gpa from my technical degree which I received years ago. Most of my grades are predominately A'S and B'S some scattered C's but I received two F'S 1 quarter after another on the same class becuause I was unable to go to school because of work. I would register and because of my ignorance I did not know that you must drop the class your self and that your prof will not necessarily drop you of the class. I went for a combine 5 weeks for both and was given a letter grade. I hate myself for letting that happen but it is my past now. Well I guess my question is how much can I improve on my sci and cum. gpa in the two remaining years left in college if I remain focused and work hard to improve. Can I get close to the statistical average of matriculants? Do I have a chance in the allopathic and osteopathic schools? Would I have to do a post bac after receiving my BS? Your time to answer my questions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all of you who spend some time to answer my questions. Good luck to all of you and God bless.

 

[Stratego]

We can better answer your question if we know how many credit hours you took to earn your current GPAs. Also mention the number of hours from the trade school, vs the number earned in college courses. Did you retake the two classes you got the Fs in? How many of the prerequisites have you taken?

 

[nicarao]

Sorry for being too vague Stratego.
My prereqs taken are... and all from comm. college.
Anat./Physi. A
Gen. Micro. B
Gen. Chem.1&2 A/A
O-Chem. 1&2 B/A
Gen. Bio. 1&2 A/A
Pre-Calc. B
Stats C
Gen Phys. 1&2 will be taken at Univ.
Most transfer units (general Educ.) have been fulfilled with A'S and B'S.

The course which I received the two F'S I have not yet retaken as of yet but plan on doing so in the near future. These two F'S are bringing my BCPM down obviously.

The main reason for my low gpa is because for the first years in community college I was working on obtaining a technical degree and I failed to see the reprecusions of not having great grades will have on me in the future. I never thought I would go back to school to obtain further advanced degrees. As a result I did not foucus and work as hard and received a couple of C'S on my technical classes which are also bringing my cum.gpa down. Total credits finished is huge combined relevant prereqs and tech are 150 units completed and I am barely a JR.

Like I said earlier I am transferring in the fall as a science major and will be taking mostly upper division sciences classes at this point foward.

Since I will be taking upper division science classes at Univ. level I have the oppurtunity to demonstrate to future selection panel that I can excel in the rigors of their curiculum.

So what do you guys think
BCPM 3.1
Cummu. 3.2
I have two years left prior to applying.

I know I can improve my gpa's in the two years while attending Univ. I am going to reduce my work hours to focus on my studies. But is it a little too late for me? Can my academic stats get close to the average matriculant?

 

[Stratego]

I'm assuming you mean semester hours? If so, I think if you do the math, considering you already have so many credit hours, that two more years of classes, or about 60 more hours, will not get you to the statistical median for allo accepted students of 3.65. I think you'll be closer to the average for those accepted to DO schools of 3.4+, if you get high grades, so be open to that possible path to becoming a physician. It's good you're taking lots of upper-level science so your science and BCPM GPA will rise.

Since you are a nontraditional applicant, it will help you in MD school applications that time has gone by since you were an underperformer. It would help a lot if you can manage to get an MCAT score of 33+ if you want to aim mainly for MD schools. A 25+ will be fine for DO schools if your GPA is at their average.

You might want to check out the Nontraditional Forum to get perspectives from other students like yourself.