MD & DO Help me push forward

[habeebalahad]

Hello SDN,

This section is called "what are my chances" so just as a fair warning, I know my chances suck and its bad. What I'm looking for is constructive criticism so that I can continue my goals and make it to med school. My first 3 years of college were very bad for me as such my grades suffered. The end of my third year, I was at a 2.48 GPA and absolutely disgusted with myself for wasting 3 years of college and doing poorly. I sat with a bunch of counselors as well as talk with a lot of the doctors in the ED that I work at and I told myself I am going to drop everything else in my life and give this a 200% effort. As a senior, my first semester of this year I got straight A's with a full load and raised my GPA to about a 2.71. The second semester I got near straight A's with a full load again and I am at a 2.9 GPA about to graduate. I'm kind of in a bind because immediately after graduation, my parents are planning their big move to Florida in a few months. I did the math anyway, I needed 3 extra courses with high grades to get a 3.0 so that's not realistic at this point. When I arrive in Florida, my plan was to study and take the MCAT through Fall 2018 cycle and also look for Post Bacc programs. I don't live in denial anymore and I faced the reality to start digging myself out of a very deep hole, but I'm still knee deep in stool. My parents are pushing Caribbean as post baccs are not even a guarantee but holy god I spent 3 hours on this forum reading about it and yall scared the hell out of me. After my last year, I am very confident to say I have the work ethic to succeed in a post bacc since a majority of these A's were in rigorous classes, but it still isn't a guarantee admission upon completion. Any and all comments are welcome, I can only look forward at this point and not back.

Stat Summary:
2.9 GPA
2.4 Science GPA
MCAT Not Taken
3 Years EMT (1 year in the ED)
Independent research work with professor (made a small publication but it's something to show)
3 years volunteering as an EMT Educator
1 year volunteering at a Latino clinic

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[Obstacle1]

There are no guarantees period especially for the situation you are in now. I’m glad you did the due diligence and know going Caribbean will make becoming a licensed doctor in the US very difficult and financially risky.

I had a 2.9 science and overall GPA when I graduated. I did a DIY post bac and I had already completed my prerequisites so I redid the ones I got a C in and took other upper level science courses. I did classes while working full time.

I got my GPA up to a 3.2 ish and did well on the MCAT- post bac was 3.95. This process took me about three years from when I graduated college to get accepted a couple weeks ago.

I would advise you to post bac before the MCAT since you may need to take classes for a couple years and you don't want your score to expire until you are ready to apply. Also you will have a more sound science base.

I'm not sure if you took all prereq yet but still aim to do upper levels. If you want to PM me that's cool. Good luck




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[habeebalahad]

There are no guarantees period especially for the situation you are in now. I’m glad you did the due diligence and know going Caribbean will make becoming a licensed doctor in the US very difficult and financially risky.

I had a 2.9 science and overall GPA when I graduated. I did a DIY post bac and I had already completed my prerequisites so I redid the ones I got a C in and took other upper level science courses. I did classes while working full time.

I got my GPA up to a 3.2 ish and did well on the MCAT- post bac was 3.95. This process took me about three years from when I graduated college to get accepted a couple weeks ago.

I would advise you to post bac before the MCAT since you may need to take classes for a couple years and you don't want your score to expire until you are ready to apply. Also you will have a more sound science base.

I'm not sure if you took all prereq yet but still aim to do upper levels. If you want to PM me that's cool. Good luck

Are there some sort of Post baccs that are linked to the med school? That way at the end of the journey you are at least in their radar for admission?

 

[candbgirl]

Although your cGPA is closing in on 3.0 your sGPA is 2.4. That is worrisome. It will take more than three classes to get your sGPA to 3.0 +. Don’t take the MCAT yet. You aren’t ready to apply and won’t be for a couple of years at least. With a 2.4 sGPA you probably have serious gaps in knowledge so holding off until you complete upper level science courses or even retakes of the prereqs can only help you. Your ECs are very weak.
You show good sense in not fleeing to the Caribbean.

 

[habeebalahad]

Although your cGPA is closing in on 3.0 your sGPA is 2.4. That is worrisome. It will take more than three classes to get your sGPA to 3.0 +. Don’t take the MCAT yet. You aren’t ready to apply and won’t be for a couple of years at least. With a 2.4 sGPA you probably have serious gaps in knowledge so holding off until you complete upper level science courses or even retakes of the prereqs can only help you. Your ECs are very weak.
You show good sense in not fleeing to the Caribbean.

Yeah I figured higher education such as post bacc was needed to demonstrate knowledge. Thanks for the input.

 

[jkmnop]

Get your GPAs to beyond a 3, retaking any courses that you didn't get an A or B in, also you're going to need to knock your MCAT out of the park to be considered, after that I would apply to MD, DO, and one of the three major Carib schools. I would also look to see if your school offers a freshman forgiveness because at least then it will show that you had issues in the beginning and they aren't ongoing. Keep the hope up, plenty of people got into med school with a rocky start in the beginning of undergrad.


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[Dr. Meliodas]

Are there some sort of Post baccs that are linked to the med school? That way at the end of the journey you are at least in their radar for admission?

There are one that comes to mind is the one at drexel that is a one year masters degree with early assurance of entrance into their medical school the following year. However, with your stats I do not believe you would be competitive enough. After a 1 year post back where you get straight A's maybe you could apply to it then I believe they say they like to see a minimum of 2.9 for both science and cumulative. But if not accepted then you should continue with a second year of post bacc and then you might be able to apply to DO/lower tier & state medical schools. Depending on how high your MCAT possibly mid tier as well.

 

[Goro]

Hello SDN,

This section is called "what are my chances" so just as a fair warning, I know my chances suck and its bad. What I'm looking for is constructive criticism so that I can continue my goals and make it to med school. My first 3 years of college were very bad for me as such my grades suffered. The end of my third year, I was at a 2.48 GPA and absolutely disgusted with myself for wasting 3 years of college and doing poorly. I sat with a bunch of counselors as well as talk with a lot of the doctors in the ED that I work at and I told myself I am going to drop everything else in my life and give this a 200% effort. As a senior, my first semester of this year I got straight A's with a full load and raised my GPA to about a 2.71. The second semester I got near straight A's with a full load again and I am at a 2.9 GPA about to graduate. I'm kind of in a bind because immediately after graduation, my parents are planning their big move to Florida in a few months. I did the math anyway, I needed 3 extra courses with high grades to get a 3.0 so that's not realistic at this point. When I arrive in Florida, my plan was to study and take the MCAT through Fall 2018 cycle and also look for Post Bacc programs. I don't live in denial anymore and I faced the reality to start digging myself out of a very deep hole, but I'm still knee deep in stool. My parents are pushing Caribbean as post baccs are not even a guarantee but holy god I spent 3 hours on this forum reading about it and yall scared the hell out of me. After my last year, I am very confident to say I have the work ethic to succeed in a post bacc since a majority of these A's were in rigorous classes, but it still isn't a guarantee admission upon completion. Any and all comments are welcome, I can only look forward at this point and not back.

Stat Summary:
2.9 GPA
2.4 Science GPA
MCAT Not Taken
3 Years EMT (1 year in the ED)
Independent research work with professor (made a small publication but it's something to show)
3 years volunteering as an EMT Educator
1 year volunteering at a Latino clinic

Read this:

• Goro's Advice for DO Applicants in Absence of Grade Replacement (2016-17 cycle)

 

[habeebalahad]

Read this:

• Goro's Advice for DO Applicants in Absence of Grade Replacement (2016-17 cycle)

This thread is really well put together. Nice job