Finish out bad GPA or start over?

[ChicoBlue]

Hi all,

I've been reading the forums for a year, while I got up the courage to actively pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. Quick back story: I left undergrad with six credits remaining for a B.A. in English to pursue a career in media. Ten years later, I'm all set to go back to undergrad, finish out those credits and then go for a postbac. At least, I was until I got a gander at my transcripts. Atrocious! A 2.3 GPA, with plenty of W's and I's sprinkled throughout the letter grades. I'm wondering if it's worth it to finish out the six credits and get my B.A. with the sucky GPA, or should I transfer as a pre-med student to a school in NYC, where I live now. Will it be harder as an older pre-med transfer student to get into med school? Any advice is much appreciated.

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[bioteach]

The bad news is all of those 2.3 credits will count towards your GPA forever. The good news is you haven't taken any of the pre-reqs yet so attaining a high BCPM gpa would demonstrate your abilities. You will need the bachelor's degree, so finish whatever up necessary to do so while taking your pre-reqs. You don't need an official post-bac, just all of the required coursework for med school (chem, ochem, math, physics, bio, etc.) I don't think being a transfer student will affect you at all. Just take all of the prereqs, finish up the BA and do well on the MCAT.

 

[tbo]

The bad news is all of those 2.3 credits will count towards your GPA forever. The good news is you haven't taken any of the pre-reqs yet so attaining a high BCPM gpa would demonstrate your abilities. You will need the bachelor's degree, so finish whatever up necessary to do so while taking your pre-reqs. You don't need an official post-bac, just all of the required coursework for med school (chem, ochem, math, physics, bio, etc.) I don't think being a transfer student will affect you at all. Just take all of the prereqs, finish up the BA and do well on the MCAT.

Agreed, on both the bad news and good news. I should note that an interview with the dean of admissions that I interviewed with said to me "We're not recruiting the you from years back, we're recruiting the you from 2008". While it's comforting to hear that from anyone, it was especially comforting hearing it from a dean. So work hard at showing them what your abilities are TODAY, and I suspect you'll be given the opportunity to succeed.

 

[DrMidlife]

Alas, if you lived in Texas, you could apply for a fresh start and wipe out your college record. No other state has a similar program, and arguably this program has enough twists that it's not a sure thing with a goal of medical school.

Look for the "I have an epic number of transcripts" threads to see that multiple schools, and multiple degrees' worth of classes without multiple degrees, don't hurt med school chances. Putting a hard break between your unsuccessful first attempt at a degree, and your new shiny attempt where you're wildly successful, helps adcoms see your positives.

The I's on your old transcript are bothersome. I'm worried that these are turned into F's come med school app time. I suggest you dig into the AAMC rules, and look at the admissions sites for some med schools you like.

If you still love English, there's nothing wrong with completing that degree. You'll find that there's much more than 6 credits to complete, if you've been gone 10 years - degree requirements change a great deal over time. And you have about 2 full time years of science to take for the med school prereqs.

If you don't want to finish the English degree, it doesn't matter what you major in. Some people find bio to be convenient and noncontroversial. Do Eastern Comparative Biocultural Mandolin Anthropology if it's something you'd enjoy.

Lastly, do enough math to see how much additional undergrad work you need to do to get your cumulative GPA over 3.5. (You have to include every grade on every transcript you ever got.) If it's not possible to get over 3.5 in a couple of years, full time, then focus on (A) finishing a bachelors, (B) getting insanely great grades in the prereqs, (C) doing whatever you need to do to get over 3.0, and (D) do well enough on the MCAT to get into an SMP. Or look into DO.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Law2Doc]

The bad news is all of those 2.3 credits will count towards your GPA forever.

Yep. It doesn't matter whether you start over or not. You carry that baggage with you through eternity. It's a hole you are going to have to dig out of whether you continue or start someplace fresh.

 

[ChicoBlue]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I guess I should be happy that after all these years I still only have six credits left to complete my degree, LOL! I'd like to finish what I started in undergrad (it's one of my great regrets that I can actually rectify), especially since those marks are the proverbial Scarlet Letter on my academic record either way. I knew this would be hard work, but I'm ready to dive in.

 

[Papillon1]

I agree with the above comments especially the idea that there might be new graduation requirements. However what you might try and do since you only need a few credits, is to retake the classes you received the worst grades in. At my school when you re-do a class they do indicate you've redone it but the new grade will count towards your GPA not the old one. You might want to find out what your school's policy is on re-doing classes.

 

[bioteach]

However what you might try and do since you only need a few credits, is to retake the classes you received the worst grades in. At my school when you re-do a class they do indicate you've redone it but the new grade will count towards your GPA not the old one. You might want to find out what your school's policy is on re-doing classes.

This would potentially bump up the school's calculation of your GPA but it would not affect the only calculation that matters - AMCAS GPA calcuation. AMCAS still includes all courses. AACOMAS (osteopathic schools) replaces the old grade with a new, improved one but AMCAS counts them both.