Help Me! (Long)

[kaoticmarine]

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[dragonfly99]

You should work on getting yourself into college first, and then worry more about a career after that. If you like medicine, biology might be a good major. I found it to my liking and it led me to med school.

Nobody will care about your high school grades once you get into college and no med school will ask for them. However, your performance in college is likely to hurt your chances of college admission.

I think the first thing to do would be study for the ACT or SAT and take that, and then see what kind of colleges you can get into.

I don't think going to community college for a year or so would hurt. I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking premed courses there...you could get some of your general education requirements out of the way, and see how you do. That is what I might do. Otherwise, look for a 4 year school that will take you despite your lower grades in high school.

 

[Mobius1985]

You might consider meeting with your local community college counselor and see what it will take to get accepted there. As a non-traditional-age applicant, you may not need to take the ACT or SAT, just placement exams through the school (every school has their own requirements for acceptance). If you complete two years of CC in good standing with a certain minimum GPA, you may be guaranteed an acceptance at your state university. The counselor could tell you if this is true in your state. I agree with dragonfly to stick to the general education requirements as much as possible at the CC, and save your premed requirements for the university where you transfer eventually. Your high school history will not hold you back from a med school acceptance. You can be successful if you maintain a high GPA in all your post-high-school coursework.

 

[student1799]

Dragonfly99 is right: first things first. You have to turn yourself into viable college material before you can start thinking about premed and med school.

Because of your shaky academic past, I would highly recommend starting at a CC first to get back into school mode. Take basic courses such as English, math and history and see how you do at them. If you are getting A's in those classes, add a basic science course and see how you do with that.

Because your high school GPA is so low, you will probably have to put in a good 2 years at the CC level before a 4-year college will look at you. If you have a CONSISTENTLY good record at the CC (4.0 or close, no F's or withdrawals), then you are probably ready to apply to a 4-year school.

And remember, colleges (and ultimately med schools) will also be looking for evidence of maturity, responsibility and dedication--things that you haven't demonstrated in the past. So get a job (P/T is probably best, so you can have time for school) and stick to it. If you can afford to go to school full-time, then find time for a little volunteer work; this would be a great time to put in a few hours a week in a hospital or community service setting. No matter what you do, you have to DO IT RIGHT and STICK WITH IT. Only by doing that can you put your past behind you and move on to a productive education and career.

It's going to take a few years to get your life on track, but if you're really serious, I'm sure you can succeed. Just keep your goals firmly in mind and get to work.

Good luck.

 

[kaoticmarine]

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[bellakk]

Your number one focus right now should be getting into college. Your high school gpa/ranking is irrelevant for med school, it only affects where you go to college. Because of your rocky finish in high school, it will take a little extra effort to get into college.Honestly, I think if you contact a 4 year university, they will tell you to go to a community college for a year or two and then try to transfer. I would schedule an appt w/ your local community college advisor ASAP because you still have plenty of time to study for your ACT/SAT and then start courses in the fall (or maybe even this summer!).

While it is true that some medical schools prefer coursework from 4 year institutions over comm. college coursework, I believe it would be better to get all A's for two years at a CC and then transfer rather than to get B's and C's during your first few years at a 4 year while you were "adjusting" to college life.

You must also remember that although the required pre-reqs for med school is a short list (a year of general chem, organic chem, bio and physics and sometimes english and math) it is HIGHLY SUGGESTED (and therefore practically an unwritten requirement) to take additional courses such as Biochemistry as well as many other upper division biology courses such as Cell Biology, Genetics, Anatomy, Histology and Physiology. Getting A's in these types of courses at a 4 year university your Junior and Senior year would definately help to balence out any stigma attached with doing pre-reqs at a CC.

An additional reason I think a CC would be a good start is because they are designed to help students that have had academic trouble in the past (for whatever reason). They are a great place to learn how to study and since you have been out of school for a couple years, it would be a great place to ease back into school. The expectations of a 4 year university was kind of a shell-shock even for someone who has a near-perfect GPA from high school and there is no shame in starting out somewhere that is better suited to help you.

I have heard so many times that one of the most important characteristics in a medical school applicant is perserverance. You have a long road ahead of you, but if medicine is truely what you want to do, you'll get there.

I think becoming a CNA would be of great help to you, or preferable a Patient Care Tech (AUA) because a Pt care tech gets to do more. But right now you should focus on getting into college and then once you have that squared away, focus on becoming a CNA or AUA and getting lots of clinical experience.

Ok, right this minute you should go call your local community college! Schedule an appointment for next week! When I check back on this post in a couple days, you should say you've got an advising appt. next week! Good luck!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

concur with points above

another consideration is if you're OK making this type of length of commitment -- 4 yrs med school (yr 3-4 being hell I've heard), residency (probably 4 yrs), maybe a fellowship for 2-4 years..

that's a long time! My impression for admissions offices, and the courses required to be admitted to med school, is that your history of commitment to one thing is being examined. Intelligence is pretty much a given, they're looking for you to prove commitment. Did you spend a dozen plus hrs per week for 4 months to get an A in ochem? And physics? and Gen chem? And spent hundreds of hrs on clinical volunteer experience? and hundreds more on the MCAT?

Took me a decade + after college being OK committing to one thing - in the meantime, I tried different careers, different corporations, etc. for a few years each. Are you ready now to commit to one thing for the next 30 years?

 

[kaoticmarine]

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[MissIrish]

I concur with the other posters; definitely look into attending a local community college and see what the admissions requirments are. Here in California, I attended CC out of high school with no SAT scores and an uninspiring gpa (2.8-ish). CCs are usually open enrollment; they don't really evaluate you and made a decision on your admission the way a university does. Since you graduated high school, you can attend. They also have a ton of resources to help students like you, often including job placement assistance as well.

I would advise taking it slow and trying different classes in different disciplines to see what strikes you. This will also help you build better study habits. Just remember that these grades will now follow you around forever. Med schools (and graduate schools, for that matter) are not going to ask for high school statistics. But every single college course is fair game and will be counted towards their impression of you. So for that reason as well, it would be wise to start out with only a class or two at a time while also taking full advantage of any resources the CC has to help you improve your study habits (often there is a one or two unit course for this specifically).

You are 21 which is really young so don't be in a hurry. Enjoy the view while you can and try different things to truly discover your passion. Maybe it will still be medicine, maybe it won't be, but either way, you can't lose by seeking out an education.

Good luck!

 

[kaoticmarine]

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