I'm not really sure what I should do or if I have a chance at medical school and I'm hoping to gain some insight. I'll start with my background:
I began college in 2008 with the intention of going to nursing school; I was accepted to a nursing program which started in the Spring of 2011 - at that time my cumulative gpa was 3.96 and 4.0 for all science courses. During the entire time I was in the nursing program (Spring 2011 to Spring 2012) I was in an abusive relationship in addition to issues going on within my family (my grandmother was in the ICU a few times and my parents divorced). I ended up failing a course my first semester (by less than 1% - I needed to receive at least 73% on the final and I received a 72.something but they do not round even if it was 72.9) and ended up failing that course. I was able to repeat the class the following semester and earned a passing grade. The semester after that I was still dealing with the same stressors with the addition of financial hardship, I ended up failing a second course in a similar fashion and earned a C+ in another. I was unable to return to the program after this.
The following semester I switched my major to Nutrition and eventually graduated in 2014 with a cumulative 3.67 gpa and a constant upward trend in my courses - I made Dean's honor list my final 3 semesters. After this I went on to a Masters of Public Health Program at The University of Southern California which I completed in 2016 with a 3.4 gpa. I also completed some post-bacc courses in science - with an overall gpa of 3.8.
I left my abusive relationship a long time ago, my family has stabilized, I have gotten married to another man and am more financially stable now.
My issue is that when I calculated my gpa with an AMCAS gpa calculator, it is significantly lower because the repeat course isn't replaced - both are counted. My AMCAS gpa is 3.34, BCPM is 3.91
I also received my MCAT score of 505 (126/127/123/129).
I have over 300 hours volunteering in a clinical setting - 200 in the ICU and 100 in Labor and Delivery.
I have close to 60 hours volunteering on the suicide prevention crisis line (plus 60 hours of training).
I have been an intern for the WIC program, worked as an office assistant for the county children's mental health clinic, worked as a program associate for the California Immunization Coalition, and currently work as a Health Educator for the county Public health department in the Emergency Preparedness Program. I also know I will get 5 great letters of recommendation.
While I have started a great career in public health, I have always felt that I was missing that clinical piece that I really loved. I am also very interested in primary care medicine and possibly rural health; I'm also looking into a military career (possibly applying for HPSP)
Should I even consider applying this year or in the future? If so, which schools should I target? (I'm open to MD and DO).
Thanks!
I began college in 2008 with the intention of going to nursing school; I was accepted to a nursing program which started in the Spring of 2011 - at that time my cumulative gpa was 3.96 and 4.0 for all science courses. During the entire time I was in the nursing program (Spring 2011 to Spring 2012) I was in an abusive relationship in addition to issues going on within my family (my grandmother was in the ICU a few times and my parents divorced). I ended up failing a course my first semester (by less than 1% - I needed to receive at least 73% on the final and I received a 72.something but they do not round even if it was 72.9) and ended up failing that course. I was able to repeat the class the following semester and earned a passing grade. The semester after that I was still dealing with the same stressors with the addition of financial hardship, I ended up failing a second course in a similar fashion and earned a C+ in another. I was unable to return to the program after this.
The following semester I switched my major to Nutrition and eventually graduated in 2014 with a cumulative 3.67 gpa and a constant upward trend in my courses - I made Dean's honor list my final 3 semesters. After this I went on to a Masters of Public Health Program at The University of Southern California which I completed in 2016 with a 3.4 gpa. I also completed some post-bacc courses in science - with an overall gpa of 3.8.
I left my abusive relationship a long time ago, my family has stabilized, I have gotten married to another man and am more financially stable now.
My issue is that when I calculated my gpa with an AMCAS gpa calculator, it is significantly lower because the repeat course isn't replaced - both are counted. My AMCAS gpa is 3.34, BCPM is 3.91
I also received my MCAT score of 505 (126/127/123/129).
I have over 300 hours volunteering in a clinical setting - 200 in the ICU and 100 in Labor and Delivery.
I have close to 60 hours volunteering on the suicide prevention crisis line (plus 60 hours of training).
I have been an intern for the WIC program, worked as an office assistant for the county children's mental health clinic, worked as a program associate for the California Immunization Coalition, and currently work as a Health Educator for the county Public health department in the Emergency Preparedness Program. I also know I will get 5 great letters of recommendation.
While I have started a great career in public health, I have always felt that I was missing that clinical piece that I really loved. I am also very interested in primary care medicine and possibly rural health; I'm also looking into a military career (possibly applying for HPSP)
Should I even consider applying this year or in the future? If so, which schools should I target? (I'm open to MD and DO).
Thanks!
