Didn’t finish college...advice?

[Tway85]

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Hi all,

Great forum with good information. However, I am seeking some advice - I stopped going to college my after Fall of my Junior year. Now at 33, I am ready to go back for my BA and attend medical school.

The thing is - I don’t know exactly where to start. My major was in Design, so I did not take too many Science classes. I suppose upon re-entering college, I can take those courses. That leads me to my next issue...which is, can I even get back into a University? I attended Howard University, but I am not sure if they would take me back because I defaulted on a loan with them afterwards. Also, my GPA was a 2.8...not very good for med school or any University as a non-traditional student right? With these considerations - would it be better for me to attend community college to improve my grades and/or take science courses there? That way, I can work up my GPA and look better when I apply?

Any advice or tips wouls be appreciated. Thanks for listening!

 

[Fall_of_Dorian_Gray]

Hmm... I'm glad to hear that you've decided to go back to get finish your degree but let me give it to you as straight as I can. Things to consider:

1) You're going to have to reinvent yourself (look at Goro's guide to reinvention somewhere on these forums). You are not alone in terms of being a "career changer" but it's gonna be a long road and you must be prepared for it.

2) Taking prerequisites in a community college has a bit of a stigma to it when applying to med school. I guess it's something along the lines of they don't think it's reflective of your ability to succeed in medical school. I recommend you look at Post-bacc programs (formal if you can afford it) but they usually have a GPA cutoff of ~3.0. If not feasible, then you can DIY post-bacc (but it's going to be a lot of credits)

3) You will need to take the MCAT, which is... going to be difficult for someone in your situation that has no background or foundational knowledge. Not impossible, but very difficult.

4) You should get along with ECs, clinical experience, research and the whole shabang.

5) Med schools will ask you about why you dropped out WITHOUT A DOUBT so make sure you have a good answer for that when the time comes. (both in secondaries and interviews)

I'm not going to lie to you, even after doing all of this... it will STILL BE DIFFICULT to get into a med school (you may look at DO schools instead of MD schools given your situation). I don't know why you suddenly decided you wanted to be a physician but I would suggest you research other ways into healthcare (i.e. PA, RN, Podiatry, Dental). These are by no means easy to get into, but they will prove less challenging to get your foot in than med school (or so I'm told).

Good luck! You are going to need that along with some hard determination and perseverance.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Above advice is a bit off. OP never graduated so post-bacc isn’t possible. And OP only did two years of college so has lots of time for grade remediation.

OP- I’d give Howard a try. Default may or may not affect admissions but it’s common enough that they’re used to dealing with it. Call and ask for an advising appointment. You’ve paid the default -yes? Otherwise you’ll have trouble getting loans in med school.

Yes it’s true that community college credits aren’t accepted by some schools but what you need now is a degree plan for your BS and a premed plan. CCs have advisors who can help.

Also, since you've been out of school for so long you might be rusty. Taking some lower level math, psychology or sociology might be a way to get up to speed. The last thing you want to do is to go back and flunk or get Cs - all your premed work from here on out should be As if possible. After that start taking science prerequisite classes.

So get a plan, talk to advisors, start classes and work on volunteer hours, shadowing doctors and other things so you can prove that you know what you’re getting into.

Good luck!

 

[Fall_of_Dorian_Gray]

Above advice is a bit off. OP never graduated so post-bacc isn’t possible. And OP only did two years of college so has lots of time for grade remediation.

Thanks for this clarification haha. I must not have been clear that I was talking about after they got their diploma.

 

[Tway85]

Thanks to you both! I really appreciate your responses!

Above advice is a bit off. OP never graduated so post-bacc isn’t possible. And OP only did two years of college so has lots of time for grade remediation.

OP- I’d give Howard a try. Default may or may not affect admissions but it’s common enough that they’re used to dealing with it. Call and ask for an advising appointment. You’ve paid the default -yes? Otherwise you’ll have trouble getting loans in med school.

Yes it’s true that community college credits aren’t accepted by some schools but what you need now is a degree plan for your BS and a premed plan. CCs have advisors who can help.

Also, since you've been out of school for so long you might be rusty. Taking some lower level math, psychology or sociology might be a way to get up to speed. The last thing you want to do is to go back and flunk or get Cs - all your premed work from here on out should be As if possible. After that start taking science prerequisite classes.

So get a plan, talk to advisors, start classes and work on volunteer hours, shadowing doctors and other things so you can prove that you know what you’re getting into.

Good luck!

Thank you again! Definitely agree with taking lower level classes and the other courses. I took Psychology and Sociology while at Howard but, it won’t hurt to do it again. I WANT to take refreshers!

My initial plan was to enroll in community college, take some refreshers, then transfer all my credits to a University for my Bachelors - and go for pre-med from there. But then my thought is, why go to community college if I can just enroll back in the school I left? Well there is always the possibility that they won’t accept me back, so I have to think of other options. I will definitely meet with some advisors that can help me sort this out.

 

[Crayola227]

I did community college first for financial reasons, but was pretty savvy about making sure it transferred, grades, and how I split up the credits between CC and uni. But my app was more traditional all around in other ways (GPA, MCAT, etc)

 

[precisiongraphic]

I did community college first for financial reasons, but was pretty savvy about making sure it transferred, grades, and how I split up the credits between CC and uni. But my app was more traditional all around in other ways (GPA, MCAT, etc)

Good advice.

OP, you may not need to go to the CC but you need to talk to the University where you intend to get your degree, and see what courses transfer from the CC and which from your prior schooling will map into requirements for your bachelors and what medical school prereqs you still need. Beware, some counselors aren't very good at med school application advice but most should be good to help you craft a plan to get all your degree requirements met.

I don't think you necessarily need to repeat psych or sociology - just don't jump into calculus or physics in your first semester back at school. Ya gotta learn to walk again before you run. The general wisdom is not to repeat a general class unless you got a D or an F. And if you can afford it and they'll let you in, try to do your prereqs at a four-year uni not a CC. It's unlikely that you'll be denied admittance to a uni because of a 12-year old initial college record. You might be provisionally admitted (say, successfully complete two classes before you'll receive full admittance, for example) or if you take a class or two at a CC you can show that you're ready to handle college again.

Also, you're really lucky that you don't have many math/science classes (known here as BCPM for bio, chem, physics, math) so your science GPA is not ruined and if you do well, your science GPA may be a lot higher than your overall GPA.

 

[Tway85]

Good advice.

OP, you may not need to go to the CC but you need to talk to the University where you intend to get your degree, and see what courses transfer from the CC and which from your prior schooling will map into requirements for your bachelors and what medical school prereqs you still need. Beware, some counselors aren't very good at med school application advice but most should be good to help you craft a plan to get all your degree requirements met.

I don't think you necessarily need to repeat psych or sociology - just don't jump into calculus or physics in your first semester back at school. Ya gotta learn to walk again before you run. The general wisdom is not to repeat a general class unless you got a D or an F. And if you can afford it and they'll let you in, try to do your prereqs at a four-year uni not a CC. It's unlikely that you'll be denied admittance to a uni because of a 12-year old initial college record. You might be provisionally admitted (say, successfully complete two classes before you'll receive full admittance, for example) or if you take a class or two at a CC you can show that you're ready to handle college again.

Also, you're really lucky that you don't have many math/science classes (known here as BCPM for bio, chem, physics, math) so your science GPA is not ruined and if you do well, your science GPA may be a lot higher than your overall GPA.

Your advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much, it is helping me ALOT.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Your advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much, it is helping me ALOT.

Go get 'em!