Help ME Out Please

[cmluther10]

Hi everybody,
I am new here this is my first post. I know everyone gets questions like mine all the time so I appreciate any help. I am in my second year of college at a junior college. My grades are decent and I have an overall gpa of 3.3. This is because of and f in a 1 unit P.E. course my freshman year and an F in a philosophy course this semester. The F in philosophy was a result of first time online classes (never again) and I missed one of the exams. I am inteligent, had above a 4.0 in high school and had a full ride to University of California Davis but got married and divorced at the age of 17 and did not go. I have been working about 40 hours a week in construction but now will be working less and will definitely be lifting my GPA. My science GPA will easily be over a 3.5 if I continue doing well (such as a 3.7 or so) and so will my other grades. I plan on transferring to UC Davis after junior college. Ultimately, did I screw up my chances for an allopathic medical school? If I still do well on my MCATS and have a good GPA will some lower tier schools overlook the F's since they are not science related and should I bother retaking the courses to replace the F on my school GPA? Sorry for the long post, once again any help would be appreciated.
P.S. Would I have a good shot at a DO school?

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[Catalystik]

You should retake the Fs, as AACOMAS, the DO application service, only uses the most recent grade in figuring your application GPA. Those courses need not be at the same school, or even have the same coursename, so long as the content is demonstrably similar via the course catalogs, and the credit hours are the same or greater.

You're not out of the game for MD schools if you can avoid further academic blips, start getting near-straight As in everything, and score strongly on the MCAT.

For either path, start strategizing about how you'll develop the usual and cutomary ECs to form a strong application. If you haven't met with an advisor about this, read these forums widely and get a feel for what other applicants are involved in.

 

[cmluther10]

Thank you for responding to my question. Your answer was very helpful. As far as extra curriculars my sister is an ER nurse and her husband an ER doctor and have already set me up for a reserach position at the hospital. I will also try and do other volunteer work as well. I know I may be getting a little too caught up in the details but when you say near straight A's does that mean that with a B or two in there would I still have a shot at some MD schools in the U.S.? I am not worried about top med schools just getting into one would be a relief to me. Thank you in advance if you reply.

 

[Catalystik]

When I say near-straight As, I meant that an A- or two wouldn't hurt much. But a rare B won't kill your chances. Mean MD school acceptee GPA is 3.66, so get as close to that as you can by the time you apply.

You might want to get started on some nonmedical, noncampus community service that you can continue when you get to Davis. Volunteer clinical research would cover clinical experience if you work directly with sick people, but it won't be considered community service