GPA, EC, and Essays

[lamberter]

Is it possible to get into med school with a bad first year? Does explaining these grades professionally help? What can I do to help my chances?

This year was my first year as a bio pre-med student. I'm planning on applying to the CLS program at my school next year and apply to med school after I finish the requirements for med school and the CLS program (approximately 5 years in total). So, I've never been a bad student (graduated high school with a 3.87 GPA) and this year ruined me. My father attempted suicide twice and went to jail which ended with me getting a full-time job (pharm tech) in order to pay for school because my father couldn't (still can't) pay child support. Not even two months later, I found my roommate/cousin on the bathroom floor, dying from acetaminophen poisoning. Never have I used my private life to excuse bad grades, however I feel hopeless in this situation. I'm ending this year with about a 2.0. I'm retaking classes this summer to better my GPA and I've created study plans in order to better my chances of getting into med school (leaning towards osteopathic medicine but like anyone else would love to become a MD). I've wanted to do this since I was a in elementary school and I'm not giving up... I just need to know how to get there.
Here are some of the things I do outside of school:
-certified pharmacy tech
-hospital volunteer
-*tentative* trip to intern at a clinic in Vietnam in July.

If anyone has words of wisdom or any success stories please feel free to share.

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[DrHart]

This is what I believe most people would tell you:
If you have any hesitation about school, you ought to take a step back. Given your circumstances, one year of poor grades in college will not kill your chances of medical school. However, every semester of bad grades due to your circumstances will get harder and harder to defend. If you need to take a semester off in order to work full time and save money... do it. If you think you need more time to recalibrate yourself, after your experiences, take the time to do it - but don't try to do this with the stress and pressure of college classes. Everyone is human and adcoms do not expect perfection. They understand that sometimes life happens. But they do expect sound judgement. Don't worry about ECs until your grades are back on track. Don't enroll in classes until you are 100% ready.