Fantasy vs. Reality

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I personally never faced this but I have known a few people who faced similar circumstances and overcame them. Just one example a guy a year ahead of me came in and absolutely bombed his frosh year, he was having trouble at home and definitely couldn't handle his new found freedom. He got tanked every night had a great time but pulled below a 2.0 cumulative GPA, and got put on academic probation. After realizing this he went on a complete tear the remaining four years...overloaded every term and raised his GPA past a 3.5 took the MCATs and got into medical school with C's in intro bio and chem. I mean it is all about your personal motivation...you still have two years left and if you put the pedal to the metal and go above and beyond to make up for some lackluster years and can explain your upward trend I don't think you have any reason to give up the dream... Now I think if you really bust your butt and you aren't making all A's and A-'s you are going to need to look at the feasibility again...look at it this way the first half is almost over go in the locker room get a game plan together and come back out and kick some **** in the second half and you'll be fine...I would probably say though you are going to want to think about taking a year off just so you have your senior year grades in and have bulked up on research, clinical and volunteering experiences before applying.
 
1) Retake all prereq classes where you received less than a B/B+
2) Get at least a 10 in each section of the MCAT, shoot for a 31 total though

If the above doesn't work out, then I would suggest a Post-Bacc program or going to a Caribbean school. Good luck!
 
Dr Trek 1 said:
1) Retake all prereq classes where you received less than a B/B+
2) Get at least a 10 in each section of the MCAT, shoot for a 31 total though

If the above doesn't work out, then I would suggest a Post-Bacc program or going to a Caribbean school. Good luck!

If the OP can do #2, that's fine, but perhaps unrealistic at this juncture. I actually suggest not taking any more sciences until the OP can figure out what he/she is doing wrong. Then start retaking them, one at a time, with a relatively light load and tutoring as necessary. If the OP isn't done with the prereqs by graduation, he/she should continue taking them in a 5th or even 6th year or informal postbac. Then (after all the prereqs are finished, some years from now), spend ample time studying for the MCAT, and take a prep course if possible. Once getting a competitive score on multiple full length practice MCATs, and only then, should the OP take the actual test, as a high score will do a lot to overcome the GPA issues and a low MCAT score will basically dig a deeper hole. In the meantime, the OP should work in some good health related ECs (continuing the shadowing and maybe something else clinical), and maybe some research. It may be a longer road than some, given the starting point, but can be done. Good luck.
 
Your words give me great confidence. However, my school has a policy agasint letting me take classes that doesnt have a D or lower. but still, i think i'll bite the bullet and punch through.
 
lhereIaml said:
Your words give me great confidence. However, my school has a policy agasint letting me take classes that doesnt have a D or lower. but still, i think i'll bite the bullet and punch through.

Then retake them at other schools/CCs. In the end, the way AAMCAS calculates your GPA is all that matters.
 
Tell us why you did so poorly, and tell us what you have now realized that you will do differently to prevent that from happening again.
 
my freshman year gpa was 2.4, and like you i had some problems with core sciences. my advice is, keep trying, i've gotten interviews but no acceptances yet. work hard to raise your grades, do well on the mcats, research, volunteer...do everything that everyone else does. you're not getting into HMS, but you can still shoot for something
 
I don't think it's unrealistic to think you have a chance at being accepted at a med school. Clearly, something needs to change, but I pulled a 2.0 science GPA my sophomore year, and I've had interviews and acceptances.

Start by getting a few A's and building your confidence.
 
Top