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soolgorae
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I graduated in December 2016 with a BS Biology degree. But throughout my academic career, I wasn't wholeheartedly committed to becoming a physician but I do have interest in becoming one. Whenever I think about it, I honestly only think about wanting to join my uncle in medical missions or volunteering as one under an NGO, so at least I know myself that my intentions of wanting to become one is genuine and I'll be able to achieve those thoughts (goals?) in the long run.
I kind of just forced myself for my parents to study it which can be reflected from my cGPA of 3.10 and sGPA 2.8 (with retakes counted, though the AACOM retake policy probably obliterated that now). On paper, I was a Biology major who sucked at it the most but I want to convince the adcoms otherwise. I did do well in my upper division classes, especially Genetics and Mol Bio classes since I really am interested in them. Plowing through classes just for the sake of completing my degree and appeasing my parents hurt my GPA a lot, but what's done is done.
I need advice on which path to take to make myself competitive for MD and DO schools, though DO primarily now. Should I retake my pre-requisites at community college? If so, I will have 3 or 4 pre-requisites with a C that I'll need to retake. I'm trying to avoid SMP, but if a Post-Bacc program is more ideal I'd be interested in any advice. Or is it even worth it at all to fix my GPA? I do have 1, 500+ patient contact hours from our local hospital, some shadowing/volunteering experiences, and the time. I haven't taken the MCAT yet.
If you can advice me on another route or see a trend that it's probably not my true calling/have no chances of getting accepted to either, I'd also appreciate to know that. I've only been bombarded with negativity from both my adviser and family, with no real advice on alternatives. I don't want to give it up yet when I don't know if I can actually turn my situation around for the better.
Thanks in advance.
I think they meant that, as a physician, they see themselves as doing work with an NGO.Read this:
Goro’s advice for DO applicants in the absence of grade replacement
And just forget about overseas missions. Do your ECs here.
I really appreciate the advice since I've been pretty lost! the first thought I had in GPA repair was retaking prereqs at a community college but it seems like taking upper-level science classes as I read in the post written by @Goro. in regards to post-baccs, I've also been researching on programs I can apply to but most of them require an MCAT score. should studying for the MCAT be my first thing to do then? but the fact that I had Cs in my prereqs is making me feel unconfident, and it might be a sign that I'm not ready for the content and can benefit from retaking classes first.
Retaking your pre reqs that you made a C in will not help much because there is no longer grade replacement. I'm curious as to what your cGPA and sGPA are without grade replacement. Can you calculate them?as of now, my local CC only offers upper level Microbiology for the Fall. I think it would be better at a university, though it's a tough decision financially since I wouldn't be a degree-seeking student anymore and will just be taking specific classes (I won't be covered by financial aid). but I suppose at this point, that's my most viable option to raise my sGPA, right?