I am a 25 year old student who received his bachelor's degree in Arts Management, and was a musician for a couple of years out of college (violinist). Right after college, I was a travelling musician, playing with professional orchestras around my home area and playing weddings. I also taught violin classes in inner city schools in my hometown as well, enriching the lives of underpriveleged children. At one point I considered getting my masters degree in music performance, but recently decided that I would prefer to a career in a field that is a little more promising in terms of stability, so I decided to pursue the medical route. I just started my post-bac program at my university, and have been doing pretty well so far (have an A in chem and a B in Bio). I have always been interested in medicine, in how a substance heals a certain illness, and to have the knowledge of helping others get well. The reason for my low GPA was because I was practicing violin all the time(3-4 hours a day for four years straight), since that was my career focus(been playing since I was 8). Due to the competition, and the lack of work though, I decided that I did my best in becoming a musician, and now I have to focus on something else. I am constantly worrying about my chances of getting in to a US medical school after I finish my pre-med courses and the MCAT. I study all the time now, and I am about to start volunteering in the ER next week. What does everyone think? Should I attempt this new life path? I hope my story doesn't sound too crazy..
Cum GPA 2.9, Started Post Bac
- Thread starter rdgoldma
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I think it would be rough for you to raise your GPA enough to get into an MD program. DO on the other hand if you can raise your GPA by a bit (it is going to take essentially a 4.0 to raise your GPA by enough). Granted you do have a skill that makes you pretty unique.
If it something that you really feel that you NEED to do in life, and not so much that it is "cool", then you will be able to find a place in the medical community.
For future reference, try using the enter button so it isn't just 1 blob of text.
Disclaimer: I, and most people on this forum, do not have the answers. This is just my relatively ignorant opinion.
If it something that you really feel that you NEED to do in life, and not so much that it is "cool", then you will be able to find a place in the medical community.
For future reference, try using the enter button so it isn't just 1 blob of text.
Disclaimer: I, and most people on this forum, do not have the answers. This is just my relatively ignorant opinion.
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I'll have to respectfully disagree with the above post. Many schools will just look at your post-bac GPA and forgo the undergraduate one. Some schools for example look at the last 32 credit hours. It varies by school for sure. If you do well in your post-bac and do well on the MCAT, I do not see any reason why you wouldn't get into a M.D. school. Granted you have all the other stuff (LoRs, ECs, etc.)
I think that volunteering in the ER is very important to your decision of whether to pursue medicine. You need to experience sick people and the medical milieu before making up your mind. One of my relatives was a pre-med until he discovered he had a germ phobia, the sight of blood made him light-headed and the smell of vomit made his want to retch. Job stability isn't worth that.
I think it will be difficult for you to get into an MD program and that you should be open to/explore the option of DO med schools. Even with a two-year, full-time, straight A postbac, your highest uGPA will be 3.26. You would need an MCAT score of ~34-35 to offset that for MD schools. There are some med schools that give less weight to your first year of college, and all give you credit for a steep upward grade trend, but my experience has been that most have cutoffs to sort through their vast pile of applicants and they won't further evaluate your transcript if you don't have a certain minimimum overall GPA.
DO med schools have a grade forgiveness policy if you repeat a class, so that only the most recent repeat is included in their GPA calculation. If you have a couple of Fs that are dragging down your GPA, you can repair it quickly by this means, if the credit hours for the class are the same or greater. You would not need to get as high an MCAT score to be competive. MCAT of 28-29 would be sufficient with a 3.26.
If you really need to be a doctor to be happy, you can make it with determination and high grades/MCAT score. It isn't an easy path, and it will be a long time before you make more than minimum wage (after residency, which is another 3-5 years) and don't forget you'll have to start paying back your enormous med school debt while in residency. There are other careers out there that couldl become financially rewarding much sooner.
I think it will be difficult for you to get into an MD program and that you should be open to/explore the option of DO med schools. Even with a two-year, full-time, straight A postbac, your highest uGPA will be 3.26. You would need an MCAT score of ~34-35 to offset that for MD schools. There are some med schools that give less weight to your first year of college, and all give you credit for a steep upward grade trend, but my experience has been that most have cutoffs to sort through their vast pile of applicants and they won't further evaluate your transcript if you don't have a certain minimimum overall GPA.
DO med schools have a grade forgiveness policy if you repeat a class, so that only the most recent repeat is included in their GPA calculation. If you have a couple of Fs that are dragging down your GPA, you can repair it quickly by this means, if the credit hours for the class are the same or greater. You would not need to get as high an MCAT score to be competive. MCAT of 28-29 would be sufficient with a 3.26.
If you really need to be a doctor to be happy, you can make it with determination and high grades/MCAT score. It isn't an easy path, and it will be a long time before you make more than minimum wage (after residency, which is another 3-5 years) and don't forget you'll have to start paying back your enormous med school debt while in residency. There are other careers out there that couldl become financially rewarding much sooner.
Well currently I'm just trying to do the best I can in my current courses, now that my focus is completely on these premed classes. I was a premed student a couple years ago, but my grades in some of the science classes weren't good, so I am repeating these classes to boast my GPA. All I can hope to is that my GPA improves and that I do well on the MCAT. I took a practice MCAT exam, even without taking ochem or physics
Compared to me five years ago and now having been through college, plus having the music career, I definitely have a different outlook on life in terms of what I need to do to accomplish a lot. It definitely feels weird that I am taking classes with freshman college students, but oh well..
Compared to me five years ago and now having been through college, plus having the music career, I definitely have a different outlook on life in terms of what I need to do to accomplish a lot. It definitely feels weird that I am taking classes with freshman college students, but oh well..
