Hello every one, I am new on this site, and I am seeking advice from my peers. Here I go (I'll try to make it short). I started out at a very small private college (that my mother forced me to go to). I wasnt ready to start college, at the time, I did not have any career path in mind. I wasn't doing well in my classes, and after a year and a semester, I was asked to leave....in other words dismissed. After I got the news, I enrolled at the local community college, and started changing my life around, and I found that I liked the idea of medicine. That idea, pushed me to get a 4.0 GPA for the two years I attended that college. Now that I am at a New 4year college, I have continued to maintain my 4.0GPA, I am very involved on campus (the list is too long for this post), and I am about to go to West Africa to volunteer with an independent organization, to educate and treat the sick in villages along the coast. I am yet to take the MCAT, but I have been studying and taking practice tests for about two years now. Ok now that you have a bit of my background... Its obvious I made a HUGE mistake when I first started college, but it is also obvious that I completly turned that around. I am on the Dean's list every semester, I have a job, and still find time to study volunteer at the hospital, food bank, and the local hospice. In your opinion, is there still a glimmer of hope for Med school??? Please be honest with me.... And secondly do you suggest a post-bacc or Masters program at this point?
You should get help from an advisor who knows how to handle this situation. Any advice you get from SDN should be taken with a pound of salt as they will mostly be conjectures from individuals who have the same amount of experience in these matters as you.
I know a few people that have had a bad first year of college and still get into medical school. It sounds like you're doing all the right things since then. I don't know your stats or situation directly, so it is very tough to give you exact advice on where you stand. However, it seems that if you were to throw in a good MCAT and a well written Personal Statement (which it seems you could do), medical school isn't out of the question. Like migm said, all we can do is give you a best guess from our opinion. Meeting with your advisor would be best. Good Luck.
Thanks for your input, Like, I do want to sound looney or anything, but, I know that if I continue doing well, and getting experience and stuff, a medical school....somewhere on this planet will take me, I'm sure I'm not the first person in this situation....and i definetly wont be the last. So, yea....I have talked to my advisors, and we are going to figure this out in the new year.....I just wanted to know what you all though about it take care
How many hours of classes have you taken at the three schools? Can you figure out your combined GPA from all the schools? Have you repeated any classes? What are your practice MCAT scores so far? To give you an opinion, it would help to have more data.
Were you formally required to quit the private school (ie is this on your transcript or something)? If so, you NEED to explain that this wasnt because of academic dishonesty or anything, but rather because of poor scholastic performance.
Look, it's simple. Most schools screen people out for some combination of GPA and MCAT because they get an overwhelming number of applications and that screen can be done by computer. So, in order to have a viable application, your GPA has to be over a certain level, your MCAT has to be over a certain level, or the combination of them has to be over a certain level. After you have made the initial screening, then your ECs and personal statements decide whether or not you have an interview. Obviously, personal intervention on the part of someone at the school (due to your impassioned letters of intent, legacy status, etc.) could also leapfrog you into the pile of applications someone reads. No-one can tell you what the cutoffs are for any particular school, and in fact, they likely vary from year to year depending on the size and quality of the applicant pool. If your stats are lower than average, apply early and broadly, and select schools for whom your EC's make you an excellent fit. If you post your uGPA (from all schools attended) people might be able to give you help with calculating how many credit hours will be required to bring you into a reasonable area.
