D.O. school -Psychology Major -Junior in college - w/ low gpa and a lot of volunteer work

[K223K]

Hello Everyone!
I came on this site because I'm really starting to have doubts that I can raise my GPA in these last 2 years of college that I have left. My dream is to eventually go to D.O. school after finishing my bachelors (most likely after finishing post- bacc as well). Here's my back story...
I am half-way done with my degree. I've been out of school since 2014, due to my GPA dropping extremely low. I decided to give myself time to mature and come back to try again with a different mindset. I am a whole different person, all A's this far and very determined! The grades on my past transcript are mostly A's (from the classes I actually tried in) and the rest are C's (the classes I just showed up to and put little effort in). I was 18 when I started, dumb, working full time, and didn't take school serious Now I'm dealing with the consequences 4 years later.
I guess my question is what are some recommendations that you would give someone like me? I was thinking of switching my degree over to a science degree but decided to do pre-reqs after finishing my degree. Also, can you take pre-reqs during your degree?
My GPA is pretty low at 2.85, but if I get all A's in the 4 classes that I'm taking this semester it will be at a 3.03. Should I reconsider re-taking classes I got a C in? Also, I have taken only 2 science classes and those were A-'s. Should I consider post bacc also, or do I have time to redeem myself? I don't want to leave out that I am also a Medical Assistant/Xray tech with 3 years office experience (Dr. willing to write a letter of recommendation). I also have around 122 volunteer hours so far, hoping to get more experience.
I am wanting to go the D.O. route and hope I still have time to redeem myself. Thanks to all who reply in advance, and good day!
Here's a breakdown just because I did write a lot and some information can get lost up there...
Major- Psychology (half way through degree)
GPA- 2.85
Volunteer hours- 122
Experience/related- 3 years
Have not taken MCAT
-Do I still have what it takes to make it into D.O. school with hard work put forward?
-What do you recommend would be the best steps to get there?

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[keepItReal17]

You'll be alright if you really have matured and are consistently getting A's. If you make all A's from here on out (IDK how many hours you have right now but I'm guessing somewhere around 60) you could end up with like a 3.3ish.. This is a total ball park guess but it doesn't sound like you've taken too many classes. You also have a long way to go in your science classes if you have only taken 2.. which is a good thing because you have the potential to end up with a really good science GPA that can help offset a bad GPA. My advice -- Make all A's from here on out and FOCUS on making it a top priority with your science classes. Also I recommend looking into building the rest of your resume. Start thinking about shadowing and doing some different volunteer work to add diversity to your application. 122 hours isn't a whole lot and I believe adding to this can help. Hope this helps.

 

[K223K]

Thank you keepitreal17 for all the input. All the advice you gave was very much appreciated. I'll take what you said and do my best to aim for A's this next 1.5 yr that I have left. I'll also go ahead and do my best in adding more hours along the way as well. Thanks again

 

[sab3156]

Get all A's from now on. Crush the MCAT, and I mean crush it (use berkeley review). Continue your clinical work because I think that's far better than volunteering and shadowing, since you already have volunteering, and shadowing is quite possibly the weakest part of a medical school application.

You'll get there. Your story isn't far from mine (but I had grade replacement on my side). Without grade replacement, I was looking at a 2.6 cumulative and something like 2.9 science. With grade replacement, which won't benefit you since it is not done anymore, I had a 3.0 cumulative and 3.6 science. I did decently on the MCAT though (36) and had a lot of clinical research related experience. I think MCAT and work/research experience, as well as straight As in all my science classes after doing poorly in some of them early on in college, was what got me in (I had multiple Fs in several classes, and I really had to pimp up the story in my personal statement that I am not the same person as several years ago). No one seemed to care about my volunteering or shadowing. Honestly, if you do well on the MCAT, gets strong grades from now on, and have a good personal statement, I don't see many DO schools turning you down.

 

[K223K]

Get all A's from now on. Crush the MCAT, and I mean crush it (use berkeley review). Continue your clinical work because I think that's far better than volunteering and shadowing, since you already have volunteering, and shadowing is quite possibly the weakest part of a medical school application.

You'll get there. Your story isn't far from mine (but I had grade replacement on my side). Without grade replacement, I was looking at a 2.6 cumulative and something like 2.9 science. With grade replacement, which won't benefit you since it is not done anymore, I had a 3.0 cumulative and 3.6 science. I did decently on the MCAT though (36) and had a lot of clinical research related experience. I think MCAT and work/research experience, as well as straight As in all my science classes after doing poorly in some of them early on in college, was what got me in (I had multiple Fs in several classes, and I really had to pimp up the story in my personal statement that I am not the same person as several years ago). No one seemed to care about my volunteering or shadowing. Honestly, if you do well on the MCAT, gets strong grades from now on, and have a good personal statement, I don't see many DO schools turning you down.

Ok great, so what I'm getting is that I need all A's which I will be trying to aim for, but if I end up with (let's say) 3 B's along the way will that hurt my chances? Also you said there isn't grade replacement anymore So are you saying D.O. medical schools not offering grade forgiveness?If so, atleast it will push me into trying harder. Hoping I won't need to do post bacc. I'll be working full time at a physician's office (MD) along the way, so hope that helps with that adding more years of clinical experience to my application..

Also, thank you for your input! So much help!