Does my plan sound okay?

[GR114228]

Im going back to school next month, and will enroll as a sophomore. I’m a transfer student from a state college, where my GPA was 3.43. I majored in pre nursing which did nothing for me besides help get some of my pre-reqs out of the way. I haven’t been to school since December 2013. With my GPA and the fact that I took such a long break before going back to school, is that okay?
I’m planning to major in biology (possibly biomedical biology) for nothing more than the fact that I love the study of life, and I really feel like the courses required would help me immensely prepare for the MCAT.
I’m going to school full time, and will not be taking a break, so I’ll be going all three semesters every year until I’m done, unless something comes up or my grades start to suffer. So this would mean that I should be done around January 2020.
So my plan is as follows:
-hoping to talk to a premed advisor ASAP to get as much advice as possibl
-look for/Apply to clinical and non clinical volunteer work
-apply for shadowing opportunities
-find some research programs(I have no idea anything about this)

Should I be doing anything different? I will add that I’m extremely self conscious of my reasoning behind going to med school and wanting to be a doctor. Like I know it’s what i want to do, but sometimes I worry if school interviewers won’t be impressed with my answer.

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[bubba21]

Hi! Here's my thoughts:

- You are definitely okay! You have plenty of time to bring that GPA up! You'll likely be asked in secondary applications and interviews about the gap in your education, but as long as you can explain it logically, I don't think it will be a problem (from what I've read on this site).
- What will you do with your biology/biomedical biology degree if you don't end up going to medical school? It's a long, hard journey, and many people end up deciding medicine is not for them (especially after some shadowing/clinical experience) and many others don't get in to medical school. It's important to choose a major that you'll be happy with if medical school doesn't work out. You can major in anything you want as long as you take the pre-reqs.
- You mentioned you plan on meeting with your pre-med advisor for as much advice as possible. Definitely do this, but keep in mind that a lot of pre-med advisors have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and give false information. The advice on this site, especially the advice from the adcoms, is much more reliable.
- Your plan looks like a great start. You mentioned you have no idea about research--- Just go on the website for your school's biology/chemistry/psych/anything department, and you should find information about the research different professors are working on. Find some that interest you, and send e-mails to those professors asking about ways to get involved!
- Don't worry about your reasons for wanting to be a doctor being "good enough". It doesn't need to be impressive, just "logical," and it will likely develop through your shadowing and clinical experiences.

Good luck!

 

[GR114228]

Hi! Here's my thoughts:

- You are definitely okay! You have plenty of time to bring that GPA up! You'll likely be asked in secondary applications and interviews about the gap in your education, but as long as you can explain it logically, I don't think it will be a problem (from what I've read on this site).
- What will you do with your biology/biomedical biology degree if you don't end up going to medical school? It's a long, hard journey, and many people end up deciding medicine is not for them (especially after some shadowing/clinical experience) and many others don't get in to medical school. It's important to choose a major that you'll be happy with if medical school doesn't work out. You can major in anything you want as long as you take the pre-reqs.
- You mentioned you plan on meeting with your pre-med advisor for as much advice as possible. Definitely do this, but keep in mind that a lot of pre-med advisors have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and give false information. The advice on this site, especially the advice from the adcoms, is much more reliable.
- Your plan looks like a great start. You mentioned you have no idea about research--- Just go on the website for your school's biology/chemistry/psych/anything department, and you should find information about the research different professors are working on. Find some that interest you, and send e-mails to those professors asking about ways to get involved!
- Don't worry about your reasons for wanting to be a doctor being "good enough". It doesn't need to be impressive, just "logical," and it will likely develop through your shadowing and clinical experiences.

Good luck!

Thank you! I stopped going to school because i moved across the country with my active duty military spouse, and after that I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So it didn’t make sense to me to waste time and money going to school when I didn’t know what to go for. Now that I’ve decided, I’ve never been so sure. I hope they don’t see that negatively.
If i don’t go to medical school, I’ve thought about becoming a PA or an NP. I know I want to work with patients in a hospital setting but I’d much rather be a physician.
Thank you for the advice! I’m going to look into the research for sure.