Wonderful community you guys have here! I've been lurking for awhile and have been considering pursuing my medical field. It seems like a great fit for me, except I'm a little discouraged to apply due to my grades in college.
I just finished college with an sGPA of 3.19 with a cumulative 3.29 at a very competitive and rigorous private institution in a pretty difficult major. I had a slight upwards trend, however. My GPA at the end of freshman year was only a 2.95, after sophomore year it rose to a 3.10, and I ended up with a 3.29 after a difficult year of coursework. My GPA from earlier years was mostly due to lack of motivation and personal issues.
Should I be discouraged to apply due to these statistics? Currently, I just started full-time and the most I can do to help this is probably take a few evening courses via tuition remission but I can't seek out a Masters or similar because of the overwhelming cost associated with it. Furthermore, I need to work full-time to sustain my own expenses.
I plan on taking the MCAT this winter and racking up some additional volunteering/shadowing on weekends on top of a few I already have. I have a few great EC's from college (very involved with several meaningful things to me) and I can work on getting some good recommendations.
Thank you for any advice you may have. The process is extremely daunting for me and my current situation.
I just finished college with an sGPA of 3.19 with a cumulative 3.29 at a very competitive and rigorous private institution in a pretty difficult major. I had a slight upwards trend, however. My GPA at the end of freshman year was only a 2.95, after sophomore year it rose to a 3.10, and I ended up with a 3.29 after a difficult year of coursework. My GPA from earlier years was mostly due to lack of motivation and personal issues.
Should I be discouraged to apply due to these statistics? Currently, I just started full-time and the most I can do to help this is probably take a few evening courses via tuition remission but I can't seek out a Masters or similar because of the overwhelming cost associated with it. Furthermore, I need to work full-time to sustain my own expenses.
I plan on taking the MCAT this winter and racking up some additional volunteering/shadowing on weekends on top of a few I already have. I have a few great EC's from college (very involved with several meaningful things to me) and I can work on getting some good recommendations.
Thank you for any advice you may have. The process is extremely daunting for me and my current situation.