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Do I honestly stand a chance?
- Thread starter Nooarah
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If you apply to MD programs, your "F" grades will all be on your transcripts. If you retake these classes, you will have both your first F and the subsequent grade factored for your AMCAS (MD program application) GPA. For DO programs, if you retake the classes your second grade will replace the first, which would be much better for you as multiple F's are difficult to explain away, no matter what the circumstances.
Oh also, DO programs are also "med school," I am sure that was probably just an accident on your part. Good luck.
Oh also, DO programs are also "med school," I am sure that was probably just an accident on your part. Good luck.
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It's nice that you have all these fun excuses (stress causes meningitis??) but med school will need to see you bounce back & overcome -- not get derailed and then blame the accident on anything-but-the-driver.
You can get into an MD school, but it's far from you at this point. Shadowing is good, prepping for the MCAT is good, and yes, if you do everything right from here on out, you definitely stand a chance.
As for telling people you're going to be a doctor -- I wouldn't. It creates a lot of unnecessary pressure and the back-lash you've already experienced. Tell people you're going to be a doctor when you have an acceptance in hand.
You can get into an MD school, but it's far from you at this point. Shadowing is good, prepping for the MCAT is good, and yes, if you do everything right from here on out, you definitely stand a chance.
As for telling people you're going to be a doctor -- I wouldn't. It creates a lot of unnecessary pressure and the back-lash you've already experienced. Tell people you're going to be a doctor when you have an acceptance in hand.
HeatherMD-
I don't mean to be defensive but stress causes a weakened immune system which makes you suseptible to several illnesses, in my case it was meningitis. Others can get strep, a cold, lupus, etc. But I've doing my best to "bounce back" per se and I'm not using them as excuses but rather giving you insight on my background.
Rzarecta-
Yes it was a mistake on my part I meant allopathic schools as "Med school" not homeopathic.
Also on this forum I've been reading a lot about research and clinical trials and publications. How does one get around to doing this? Is this vital to the Med School (MD and DO) application process?
I don't mean to be defensive but stress causes a weakened immune system which makes you suseptible to several illnesses, in my case it was meningitis. Others can get strep, a cold, lupus, etc. But I've doing my best to "bounce back" per se and I'm not using them as excuses but rather giving you insight on my background.
Rzarecta-
Yes it was a mistake on my part I meant allopathic schools as "Med school" not homeopathic.
Also on this forum I've been reading a lot about research and clinical trials and publications. How does one get around to doing this? Is this vital to the Med School (MD and DO) application process?
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DO is osteopathy, not homeopathy.
Research is something that one finds opportunities to do in college (usually a four-year uni). The typical route (well, at least how I did it) is to look up faculty and read about their research, find some that interests you, and email them asking about any opportunities to work in their labs. For you, I think that looking into research opportunities is a long way off. Currently, you need to take and succeed in premed classes. Honestly, you have quite a difficult path in front of you, and the best way to approach it is a step-wise plan. Grades have to be your FIRST priority, and until you are more stable in this realm (at least a B in every class, with A's being preferred) stop any other extracurriculars. Shadowing, research, and looking at MCAT books will not be beneficial until you are sure you can handle the premed coursework.
Do well in your current classes. Your next step is to make a plan on retaking all of those classes you failed. Bio and math are generally prereqs for med school. After this consider transferring to a four year if possible. You need to sit down and make a realistic plan to succeed in your undergraduate education.
Good Luck.
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While HeatherMD's advice is what I would call "tough love" (something many premeds are in need of), her point remains valid. While you have mitigating circumstances and "stress", medical schools want to see that you've moved passed them. Because medical schools know that medical training is stressful and life doesn't stop just because you've been accepted to medical school. You have to erase the doubt from their minds that when you're "stressed" in medical school (and beyond) by life, long-hours, copious study loads, lack of sleep, etc. that your body isn't going to break down again and hinder your performance. Stress is part of life. Bad things interjecting when you don't want them to is a fact of life.
What does all this mean? It means that when you present your application to a medical school they should see a clear demarcation line between the "mistakes of the past" and when you charted a successful path. This means a string of academic excellence w/ ECs that clearly shows that despite the difficulties of the past, you've now LEARNED from them, now know how to handle them AND simultaneously excel professionally, academically, and emotionally.
We can all sympathize with hard times. Empathize with feeling overwhelmed. We can all understand that that can contribute to poor performance.
But at some point in your life you have to decide that you are not just going to feel bad about a crappy hand you've been dealt. You are going to learn from your past, KNOW YOURSELF, and WISELY, PRACTICALLY chart a path toward success.
This means being efficient and cutting out the things in our life that impede our success. This means setting ourselves up for success through preparation and an understanding of our limitations. This means asking for appropriate assistance. This means setting up reasonable goals and time tables based on an understanding of our abilities, strengths, weaknesses.
GOOD LUCK. I will be rooting for you. There are plenty of resources for you to take advantage of including SDN, your local pre-med advisor, and internet research.
I think your best first step is to set up a meeting with your local pre-med advisor and map out a plan of attack that ends in you being a competitive medical applicant. (You obviously need to do a little more research given your remarks about DO programs).
And btw the whole "I've wanted to be a doctor since 5" thing while possibly true is a tired cliche that you should avoid saying to medical school people. They've heard it before and it bores them. What does a 5 year old know about being a doctor? You want your path toward medicine to be an evolution based on meaningful experiences throughout your life (your care of your grandparents, patient contact experiences, etc etc), not "I've always wanted to be a doctor".
After you've met with your pre-med advisor and done some independent research on the web, come back to SDN and ask some pointed questions. Be ready to sift and critically analyze any advice you get here like anything else in life.
All this being said. Barring murder, academic fraud, etc. I don't see many things that are absolutely insurmountable as far as getting into medical school. It just takes time, perseverance, and diligence to overcome past indiscretions. The worse the hole, the longer it takes to climb out. But if you're wise and judicious about it, you'll get there alot faster.
What does all this mean? It means that when you present your application to a medical school they should see a clear demarcation line between the "mistakes of the past" and when you charted a successful path. This means a string of academic excellence w/ ECs that clearly shows that despite the difficulties of the past, you've now LEARNED from them, now know how to handle them AND simultaneously excel professionally, academically, and emotionally.
We can all sympathize with hard times. Empathize with feeling overwhelmed. We can all understand that that can contribute to poor performance.
But at some point in your life you have to decide that you are not just going to feel bad about a crappy hand you've been dealt. You are going to learn from your past, KNOW YOURSELF, and WISELY, PRACTICALLY chart a path toward success.
This means being efficient and cutting out the things in our life that impede our success. This means setting ourselves up for success through preparation and an understanding of our limitations. This means asking for appropriate assistance. This means setting up reasonable goals and time tables based on an understanding of our abilities, strengths, weaknesses.
GOOD LUCK. I will be rooting for you. There are plenty of resources for you to take advantage of including SDN, your local pre-med advisor, and internet research.
I think your best first step is to set up a meeting with your local pre-med advisor and map out a plan of attack that ends in you being a competitive medical applicant. (You obviously need to do a little more research given your remarks about DO programs).
And btw the whole "I've wanted to be a doctor since 5" thing while possibly true is a tired cliche that you should avoid saying to medical school people. They've heard it before and it bores them. What does a 5 year old know about being a doctor? You want your path toward medicine to be an evolution based on meaningful experiences throughout your life (your care of your grandparents, patient contact experiences, etc etc), not "I've always wanted to be a doctor".
After you've met with your pre-med advisor and done some independent research on the web, come back to SDN and ask some pointed questions. Be ready to sift and critically analyze any advice you get here like anything else in life.
All this being said. Barring murder, academic fraud, etc. I don't see many things that are absolutely insurmountable as far as getting into medical school. It just takes time, perseverance, and diligence to overcome past indiscretions. The worse the hole, the longer it takes to climb out. But if you're wise and judicious about it, you'll get there alot faster.
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