Getting your **** together too late?

[nwh170412]

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If a premed student was very lazy and unmotivated their first two years and then decided to work harder, would this hold them back? I know if you have a decent upward trend, it's positive but I have been premed and not undecided for the last two years (EC's) but I was so laaaaaazy. I also lost 90 pounds in just a few months which I don't know is a positive thing because "why would I be overweight in the first place", right?

 

[justAstudent]

Depends what your GPA looks like.

 

[Alucard6]

You can turn anything around, people even do it after graduating. You might have to take a year off to finish all your requirements and to take the MCAT, but it is certainly possible. As long as you did not dig yourself a huge hole with a low GPA.

 

[el_duderino]

I failed out of undergrad 13 years ago.

Your concern is invalid.

 

[Catalystik]

I also lost 90 pounds in just a few months which I don't know is a positive thing because "why would I be overweight in the first place", right?

I've read some very effective med school essays incorporating this theme, so it has the potential to be a major positive.

 

[baxt1412]

Yeah why would weight loss ever be a negative assuming you had the extra weight to lose?

Basically, there are only a few things that most people would find it near impossible to come back from. Depending on the severity of your GPA, it's very possible to make up for a bad year or two. It just will most likely be longer than just your junior and senior year... you will likely have to do a post bacc, smp, etc.

 

[DylanE]

I failed and withdrew from a few classes my first couple years at city college. I transferred and got it together, including losing a bunch of weight and running a marathon, and finished with a 3.3 with a big upward trend. The turn around and lifestyle changes definitely took up a chunk of my PS and ECs. I had quite a successful cycle and am starting this school year.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

Yeah why would weight loss ever be a negative assuming you had the extra weight to lose?

Whenever you talk about how you improved in something, you are admitting that you began at a relatively lower level (e.g. weight loss means you were fat at one point, which can be considered a weakness by some). In the medical school application business where there are 1,000 other applicants who look exactly like you, it's usually better not to point out a possible negative that would otherwise not be known by the schools.

 

[DylanE]

Whenever you talk about how you improved in something, you are admitting that you began at a relatively lower level (e.g. weight loss means you were fat at one point, which can be considered a weakness by some). In the medical school application business where there are 1,000 other applicants who look exactly like you, it's usually better not to point out a possible negative that would otherwise not be known by the schools.

This isn't true. I was told at multiple interviews that the fact that I significantly improved my grades and health made my application impressive.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

This isn't true. I was told at multiple interviews that the fact that I significantly improved my grades and health made my application impressive.

You are misunderstanding. Given a specific GPA, it is preferable for there to be an upward trend. However, given that your final semester GPA was a 3.9, it might be seen as a negative if your previous semesters' GPA were lower.

Ideally, you would be perfect at everything from the start. Next up, would be that you are perfect now, but were imperfect before. Even further is that you were perfect before, but are imperfect now. And lastly, is that you were imperfect before and imperfect now. So if a medical school only knows that you are perfect now at a given area, it might be a negative to bring up that you were imperfect before.

I'm not saying that bringing up your weight loss would be a bad thing. Personally, I would view it as a strength. I'm just saying that there is a risk to it if you tell it to the wrong person. Probably a small risk though.