From a horrible inconsistent student to pretty good

[ATX1]

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Quick review about myself. First 5 years of college, I was a total bum and addict. I dropped out as many semesters as I completed during these 5 years. I completed 88 hours with a GPA of 3.2 (a bunch of As and Bs, 2 Cs, and there were 2 F's that were counted into the GPA). I dropped/withdrew 76 hours worth of credit.

Yes...I was a total bum and a loser.

But the last year has been a different story. I took summer, fall, and am just finishing my spring semester. I am about to graduate. I have a perfect 4.0 through these semesters. A few courses that are relevant to medical school during this last year - an year of organic chem and lab, an year of general physics and lab, semester of biochemistry, and a couple of upper division biology and health education classes.

My MCAT score is 36. Just received the scores.

Also in the last year, I have volunteered/worked in an emergency room of a hospital and have experience the medical field close up.

And I have good recommendations.

So, what are my chances? I have had a pretty decent turnaround. Went from a total bum and a horribel transcript to a a great student for an year. During this last year, I have showed that I can handle heavy course load with perfect grades (perfect 4.0 - raised my GPA from 3.2 to 3.45. High MCAT score. Have I proved myself enough to get into medical school? I know that a top 20 school won't look at me...but can I attend a good school and not have to resort to go to the carribeans?

I am also planning on taking the GRE in a month as a backup plan to attend school for becoming a Physicians Asst. If medical schools dont accept me then I can attend PA school...get high grades and then reapply to medical schools again in maybe 5 years.

Any input will be appreciated.

 

[Stratego]

I think all those Ws on your record will scream "don't take a chance with this candidate" to adcomms. Your high MCAT score is theoretically sufficient to compensate for the low GPA, but from what I've read in SDN's mentor forum, adcomms want to see 1.5 to 2.0 years of excellent grades to prove you've turned around, not just one year. Further, the average applicant has a year and a half of clinical experience/community service, a leadership activity, and a year of research (60% of applicants have some). The more time there is between your underperforming years and the time you apply to med school, the more likely adcomms are to give you a chance. I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging, but these are my observations.

 

[Pghboy18]

Quick review about myself. First 5 years of college, I was a total bum and addict. I dropped out as many semesters as I completed during these 5 years. I completed 88 hours with a GPA of 3.2 (a bunch of As and Bs, 2 Cs, and there were 2 F's that were counted into the GPA). I dropped/withdrew 76 hours worth of credit.

Yes...I was a total bum and a loser.

But the last year has been a different story. I took summer, fall, and am just finishing my spring semester. I am about to graduate. I have a perfect 4.0 through these semesters. A few courses that are relevant to medical school during this last year - an year of organic chem and lab, an year of general physics and lab, semester of biochemistry, and a couple of upper division biology and health education classes.

My MCAT score is 36. Just received the scores.

Also in the last year, I have volunteered/worked in an emergency room of a hospital and have experience the medical field close up.

And I have good recommendations.

So, what are my chances? I have had a pretty decent turnaround. Went from a total bum and a horribel transcript to a a great student for an year. During this last year, I have showed that I can handle heavy course load with perfect grades (perfect 4.0 - raised my GPA from 3.2 to 3.45. High MCAT score. Have I proved myself enough to get into medical school? I know that a top 20 school won't look at me...but can I attend a good school and not have to resort to go to the carribeans?

I am also planning on taking the GRE in a month as a backup plan to attend school for becoming a Physicians Asst. If medical schools dont accept me then I can attend PA school...get high grades and then reapply to medical schools again in maybe 5 years.

Any input will be appreciated.

For what it's worth, I'm in a situation similar to yours, although without some of the drop outs/failures. My opinion is that time is your most valuable asset, and going to PA school if you don't really want to be a PA is wasting a lot of it.

I think at this point, you can't lose anything by applying this cycle, and it's the only real way of knowing where you stand. You may be just fine if you're in a state with a generous state school admissions policy. You may be just fine at some of the "less selective" private schools. Take the advice that you get in this forum with a grain of salt - most of the people giving it are premeds (myself included), and they tend to paint an overly harsh picture of the admissions process IMO.

I'm not by any means saying that you're going to have an easy time, but if you go only by what you read on here, you might think that there's no chance. That's certainly not the case. Best of luck.

 

[ATX1]

Just for info's sake, I'm a Texas resident. I'll be applying to all Texas public med schools.

 

[Mobius1985]

I'd agree with Stratego's comments above. I'm not telling you to give up because you'll never get in, but I think you'll need to put in more redemption time. I'd suggest you plan on another undergrad year with similiarly excellent performance. Buff up your ECs so they're really solid, getting in a year of research, continuing with your medical volunteering, doing some shadowing and a leadership activity. Prepare your answer for why all those Ws and address the addiction you mentioned (whether gaming, substances, or other), taking responsibility, tell how you beat it, what you learned from it, making no excuses. The ideal activity for you to get involved in would be as a peer counselor for others with addictions/involvement in support group, preferably in a leadership role. This would speak loudly to adcomms that you're different now.

Don't waste your time and money on PA school, unless that is the career you want. The GPA you earn will not effect the undergrad GPA by which you'd be judged by adcomms. If it turns out you need more time to distance yourself from the past, do a science-heavy masters degree that pays a stipend and gives you research experience while you build community service and clinical experience. Don't do the masters until your undergrad GPA is higher, because grad school GPAs don't help you at allopathic med schools.