Hi everyone,
I have a similar question but alot more complicated! Here goes: I am 34 years old. I hold a BS in Computer Science, and I pursued an MS also in CS. I decided to not finish my thesis so I don't have a degree, but still have good GPA for my grad school. My undergrad GPA is not so great, 2.9 something. I had all As and Bs in math and Science classes, more As than Bs. What really brought my undergrade GPA down was the Computer Science classes. I am now just starting to prepare for medical school. For my undergrade, I took Physics I and II, Cal I, II, II, Probably and Stats, Discrete Math, and Differential Equations. Also took Chem I.
All was done at a university.
My question is, would it take me more than a year to prepare for the MCAT? I do know I need to take Biology and Chemistry classes. I think I might want to take Chem I again. Any one with similar experience please let me know about your experience.
I took a Sample MCAT, I answered the science and reasoning correctly, so I feel really encouraged.
I am in a way very non traditional, since I will be starting pre med at the earliest age 35, and I am a naturalized citizen. I didn't go to high school in the USA, but all of my college career has been here.
Thank you for all of your posts, its very encouraging to know that there are many people in my age range looking to start med school.
Do you think med schools will look at my undergrad GPA negatively? Will my graduate GPA of 3.8 help? and the fact the all of math and science classes had decent grades?
And should I enroll in a post bacc program? how long would it be for?
Hi and welcome to SDN.
You should really have created your own individual thread for this or made this post in the low GPA thread that is already created. Either way I'll try and take a stab at answering your questions. Your situation is
not unique and many others have been in it, but as always, the plan thaty ou should undertake is the one that fits you best. I bolded the statements that will be the most important for other members to give advice.
First off, your Masters should not play a substantial role in any future medical endeavors that you choose to undertake as it is an "unrelated" field apart from the biomedical sciences that are relevant to the medical field. It might be a point of focus in the future during your personal statements or interviews where the question may be raised why you decided to switch fields or directions and it may also be seen as a point of strength that you did excel in academic matters (though unrelated) for a more recent period of time than your troubled undergraduate studies.
To take the MCAT as you probably know, you need physics, orgo, gen biology, and gen chem. You have completed the physics series and are lacking a semester of gen chem, the entire organic chemistry series and the gen bio series as well. It is not out of the question for you to take the MCAT prior to this by self teaching from textbooks or ExamKrakers or a TPR/Kaplan course but I really don't recommend it. To gain a really solid base you need to go through the actual course which you will need to do anyway prior to applying to medical school.
You have two options at this point as I see it.
option 1: If money and relocating is not a problem for you, you can consider formal post-bacc programs that are catered towards students who have completed
some but not all the pre-reqs as well as offering upper division sciences. Univ. of Virginia and UT Dallas are two of such programs that come to mind. I've read somewhere that UT Dallas has been working on finalizing linkages with the states medical schools and UVA has a solid reputation as well. Other formal programs without linkages would be something like SFSU.
option 2: You take the remaining pre-reqs at a local 4 year university. This option would probably save you money and allow you to maybe stay near family, clinical opportunities, etc. It would not have the linkages but if cost or any of the above are issues, why dwell on the impossible? This is what would be considered as an "informal post-bacc".
Medical schools will look at your undergrad GPA negatively. There really isn't any way around it or to hide it, but you
can demonstrate that it was really just in the past for you by demonstrating a strong upward trend in all that you do from here on out in academics. If you finish the rest of the pre-reqs and some upper division science courses with a 3.8 and a good MCAT score of 32+ while maintaining an otherwise complete application with LOR and CV, you should recieve several interviews if you apply early. Have you considered DO as a possibility? If not, then you shouldn't think about retaking chemistry or any classes but on your performance from here on out. Hope this helps.
