Demoralized Beyond Belief

[PreMedEngineer]

2

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[PreMedEngineer]

Does anyone have any suggestions..... I am sorry, but I am really freaking out here, I just don't know where to go from here....

 

[avatarftw]

How many science credits can you repeat that are NOT engineering classes? If there are any C's or B-'s, I would recommend retaking them and applying DO. Its unfortunate that engineering messed up your GPA but its a hard field of study. Even if you do super well on your MCAT I don't think you have a great shot at MD. Your extra curriculars look good, however.

I am a Biomedical Engineering Student, I didn't really see myself in medicine until a couple of years ago (2) and that is only when I really started trying to pull my grades up, However much of my science courses were already done, many credits under my belt, and the courses to come were all engineering courses (which are extremely difficult). Here I am in my senior year, peering at what little is left of my life, what could've been,and what should have been; being backed into a situation where my heels are hanging over the cliff. Wishing I had taken more theoretical physics courses so I could manufacture a time machine to bring what I know now to a time where I could do something about it, alas can not.

I have now have a cgpa of 3.08 and somehow a sgpa of 2.77. I have been taking more higher level bio and chem courses getting all A's and B's, but there simply too many credits and I feel quite overwhelmed. My main faulters include a D in Organic Chem for Engineerings (which I plan on taking again, I took Regular OChem for the first quarter and got a B+) and Calc IV/Analytical Geometry (Initially got a D but I retook it and got an A) along with other C to B grades for my many initial science grades (which finding out the person whom I was going to marry, I found out she was cheating on me, on facebook non the less, and I tried committing suicide 3 times (I know sounds stupid now, but giving everything to a person and having them do something to that made me completely and utterly distressed, and yes I have parentheses within parenthesis))

I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but been getting 38-40 quite consistently, however I do know I can't assume that I will get that because its different to actually take the test under those situations, but thats all I have at this point.

My EC's include volunteering for the past 9 years at 4-1week camps a year being a counselor and teaching music. I have done some volunteering at hospitals also. I also play the sitar and I am a professional tabla (Indian drums) player (I say professional because I have been paid to play tabla many times for many groups and I have been flown to places in the US and internationally to play tabla). Also I am a film-maker also, my most recent film (a documentary on understanding won first place a couple film festivals and I was selected at Cannes Film Festival in France (the largest international film festival in the world) and got offers for positions at many large production firms. I denied all of them because medicine is what i really wanted to do then, and still now. I have done extensive research at Cleveland Clinic, worked at Oracle for Hospital data basing systems (which I still consult for them), and I worked for an additional 6 months at the NIH in Bethesda,MD on their lab on chip and HIV vaccine projects in tandem. Right now I am working at a NIH center lab for Nanomedicine for the phi-29 nanomotor for about the past year.

Question is.... what are my chances? My main dream is to be in MD/PhD, I love research also, but I also love working with people. However, I know my gpa makes me less than non-competitive for being accepted into an MD/PhD program.... However I really want to be part in developing the medicine for the future (I truly believe nanoscale is the way to go for many treatments). However, I feel that there is too much gap between the lab and clinics, with alot of lag time of treatments, and being able to apply the data in a lab to work in treatment is not easy, and from my experience takes alot of critical thinking and sometimes even more so, creativity.

I apologize for the length of this message, I am really stressed, I am really frazzled, and I don't know what to do. I am really at the point of breaking down into tears.... again......

What options, if any, do I have?

Summary:
-2.77 sgpa
-3.01 cgpa
-Biomedical Engineering
-Volunteering (Clinical and Non Clinical)
-Possible 38-40 MCAT
-Research (Cleveland Clinic, NIH (Main Campus; Bethesda,MD), NIH Nanomedicine Center)
-Professional Tabla (Indian Drums) player
-International Filmmaker (Cannes Film Festival Official Selection)

Thanks for reading this, I apologize for the length...... Thanks....

 

[wolverinepwns]

Honestly, due to your cGPA being below 3.0, I think you won't make it past the first cut off for many schools! Honestly the only option I see is if you land a 40+ MCAT, and hoping to get past the first series of cutoff to the point where medschools actually take a look at your application! if you can get there you might have a chance!

 

[pennstate4life]

Hope you are a good test taker because you need an MCAT score that will give others a heart attack (in a good way).

 

[DoctorKazefa]

Ah man, that really sucks. I've read of a few other people who tried to escape a low GPA by taking a lot of time off after graduation, doing more worthwhile things, perhaps pursuing a master's... maybe you could try that, to escape the automatic cutoff somehow.

Or try to retake old science courses?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Well your gpa isn't extremely bad. However its good enough to get you into a SMP. If you receive a 30+ on the mcat ( higher is better) you'll be able to enroll into a SMP, which will help medical schools forgive your undergrad gpa. With a 3.5+ in the SMP you'll probably be able to land a medical school acceptance MD or DO.
However if you don't wish to spend a year or so in the SMP program and spend a lot of money( SMP's are very expensive 30-50k/y) You can go ahead and and take advantage of you DO school grade replacement policies which will significantly boost your gpa with even 2 or 3 retakes.

Good luck.

 

[pennstate4life]

Well your gpa isn't extremely bad.

Are you serious? This is medical school admissions. I cried for weeks when I got a 3.5 one semester.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Are you serious? This is medical school admissions. I cried for weeks when I got a 3.5 one semester.

I'm sorry? Think of the glass half full not half empty? And if you cried for weeks when you got a 3.5. I'm sincerely doubtful that you can handle working in the highly stressful environment that is a hospital. Yes this is medical school admissions, but thankfully there are many methods to obtain an acceptance and manage. So honestly as long as there is hope to obtain an acceptance then be polite and reinforce their hopes.

 

[pennstate4life]

I'm sorry? Think of the glass half full not half empty? And if you cried for weeks when you got a 3.5. I'm sincerely doubtful that you can handle working in the highly stressful environment that is a hospital. Yes this is medical school admissions, but thankfully there are many methods to obtain an acceptance and manage. So honestly as long as there is hope to obtain an acceptance then be polite and reinforce their hopes.

Don't reinforce false hope.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Don't reinforce false hope.

And who are you to say its false hope? Hope is between the hopeful and the laws of the universe ( God, Karma, Luck, Etc.). You are not involved in deciding and judging if that hope is true or false.

 

[muhali3]

Your best option for MD is doing an SMP and getting a 3.5+
For DO, just retake the classes you've done the worst in, and get your GPA up to 3.4+. (not including the original grades but only the retake grades)

Your GPA is the only thing that is bringing you down.

 

[pennstate4life]

And who are you to say its false hope? Hope is between the hopeful and the laws of the universe ( God, Karma, Luck, Etc.). You are not involved in deciding and judging if that hope is true or false.

Lol god.

 

[Chevy Chase Fan]

Good luck.

 

[orionarmdoc]

I fretted about grades, made huge sacrifices in order secure a high g.p.a. and MCAT scores. Got into lots of medical schools including an M.D.-PhD. program and some with full scholarships. The people I attended medical school with for the most part had similar credentials.

Then I got to residency and guess what I learned? They are recruiting and accepting residents from all over the world and American students who studied medicine at international institutions, some with much lower standards for acceptance than U.S. medical schools. There are also lots of osteopaths in allopathic residency programs.

And guess what else? At the end of the day, it mostly requires endurance to complete residency. A warm body to show up on time and get the work done. I've seen the completely dumb and clueless succeed just by being at the right place at the right time.

Furthermore, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction brewing amongst U.S. doc's right now. There is already worry the best and brightest will seek more lucrative careers that don't require the time and sacrifice that medicine does. So the applicant pool to U.S. medical schools is or likely will be less competitive. There is also a looming world wide physician shortage. Presently I believe 25% of U.S. doc's are IMG's. That number will likely increase in the future.

So go have a beer. Chill. It's really not that bad a situation that you're in.

Good Luck.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

i fretted about grades, made huge sacrifices in order secure a high g.p.a. And mcat scores. Got into lots of medical schools including an m.d.-phd. Program and some with full scholarships. The people i attended medical school with for the most part had similar credentials.

Then i got to residency and guess what i learned? They are recruiting and accepting residents from all over the world and american students who studied medicine at international institutions, some with much lower standards for acceptance than u.s. Medical schools. There are also lots of osteopaths in allopathic residency programs.

And guess what else? At the end of the day, it mostly requires endurance to complete residency. A warm body to show up on time and get the work done. I've seen the completely dumb and clueless succeed just by being at the right place at the right time.

Furthermore, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction brewing amongst u.s. Doc's right now. There is already worry the best and brightest will seek more lucrative careers that don't require the time and sacrifice that medicine does. So the applicant pool to u.s. Medical schools is or likely will be less competitive. There is also a looming world wide physician shortage. Presently i believe 25% of u.s. Doc's are img's. That number will likely increase in the future.

So go have a beer. Chill. It's really not that bad a situation that you're in.

Good luck.

VSPR. I agree with most of this post, but I disagree with the IMG part. It's going to get harder and harder for IMG's to secure residencies.

 

[orionarmdoc]

How do you figure? No residency program wants to go unfilled and currently there aren't enough U.S. graduates to fill all the positions.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

How do you figure? No residency program wants to go unfilled and currently there aren't enough U.S. graduates to fill all the positions.

This year some USMD seniors didn't match even during the scramble. This along with the a popular conspiracy that residency programs will create a new system which will be hell for IMG's.

 

[smq123]

This year some USMD seniors didn't match even during the scramble. This along with the a popular conspiracy that residency programs will create a new system which will be hell for IMG's.

How do you figure? No residency program wants to go unfilled and currently there aren't enough U.S. graduates to fill all the positions.

A couple of things.

- It's not really a rumor that the new scramble system is being put in place; as far as I know, that will be true starting for the class of 2012. And yes, a likely by-product of this new system will be that IMGs/FMGs will have a harder time finding slots.

- There aren't enough US MD graduates to fill all the positions....but if you include DOs in that (who are often considered "preferable" to FMGs since they are US-trained and are all US citizens), then there aren't a lot of slots left for IMGs/FMGs. Since DO schools are expanding, and there already aren't enough spots in the DO match for all the DO students, there will be more DO applicants in upcoming match years.

I have now have a cgpa of 3.08 and somehow a sgpa of 2.77. I have been taking more higher level bio and chem courses getting all A's and B's, but there simply too many credits and I feel quite overwhelmed. My main faulters include a D in Organic Chem for Engineerings (which I plan on taking again, I took Regular OChem for the first quarter and got a B+) and Calc IV/Analytical Geometry (Initially got a D but I retook it and got an A) along with other C to B grades for my many initial science grades (which finding out the person whom I was going to marry, I found out she was cheating on me, on facebook non the less, and I tried committing suicide 3 times (I know sounds stupid now, but giving everything to a person and having them do something to that made me completely and utterly distressed, and yes I have parentheses within parenthesis))

Question is.... what are my chances? My main dream is to be in MD/PhD, I love research also, but I also love working with people. However, I know my gpa makes me less than non-competitive for being accepted into an MD/PhD program.... However I really want to be part in developing the medicine for the future (I truly believe nanoscale is the way to go for many treatments). However, I feel that there is too much gap between the lab and clinics, with alot of lag time of treatments, and being able to apply the data in a lab to work in treatment is not easy, and from my experience takes alot of critical thinking and sometimes even more so, creativity.

Well, for starters, as you already suspect, your GPA for MD/PhD is really bad. MSTP programs are often VERY competitive, and most applicants for those spots have high MCATs (over 35) and very high GPAs (3.7 and up). So, even if you get into an SMP and get your GPA up, I don't think any MD/PhD program is going to take a chance on you.

Further, given the severity of your psych history (3 suicide attempts), medical schools may be wary of taking you. Medical school, and medicine in general, is frequently a high-stress environment. While I understand that finding out that your fiancee was cheating on you is VERY stressful, you've already shown that not only do you not respond well to stress, you REALLY don't respond well to stress.

Finally, you have to sit back and think about what your priorities are. Do you want to do research or medicine? If you come to the conclusion that you would rather just do research, then finding a spot in a PhD program would probably not be impossible. If all you want to do is medicine, then there are ways into that too (although it won't be easy, and will take some time). But you will almost certainly have to make compromises based on your past history and your grades.

 

[PreMedEngineer]

1

 

[Elpenor]

No medical school will accept somebody who tried to kill himself 3 times. I suggest you do everything in your power to prevent any/all schools you apply to from finding out about these "attempts".

With your GPA, you will never get into MD/PHD, sorry.

I suggest the DO / carib route. DO schools forgive poor grades, if you retake them.

 

[Helen Wheels]

No medical school will accept somebody who tried to kill himself 3 times. I suggest you do everything in your power to prevent any/all schools you apply to from finding out about these "attempts".

I agree that you most certainly should not bring this up at any point in the application process. I would add that I hope you have gotten or are currently getting mental health treatment. You want to be sure to get yourself together for your future, especially if you want to end up in a stressful career like medicine.