Hi- Question about terrible situation

[apostle]

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Hi guys Im new here~

Hi I have a pretty damn depressing story for you

So I probably will get kicked out of an undergraduate engineering program (at least top 10, well known school in engineering).
I was in my junior year,
I was too stubborn to quit so I paid for it with a little over a 1.5 GPA....I had documented medical problems and other personal problems

I may have a chance to appeal the decision, but expecting the worse and assuming that does not go the way I want it to:

Is there any chance/way I can start pre med? I am very persistent and hard working; I believe that this field is the right one for me; engineering was a big long mistake

Are there any options for me? What would be some of the shortest/most feasible ways?

BTW i did take 2 intro bio courses in freshman year and i think I got Cs in them, i took them cause they were requirements; does this work against me? My engineering was kind of related to biology, and I got almost 70 credits.

what would be the process for the quickest way to start over? Can I just transfer some of my credits over to another school; is it possible to go to a decent state school where I can transfer my credits? OR do I have to go to community college to do a post bacc? Will explaining the medical and personal problems help me?


thank you so much

Edit: unfortunately, I did fail a bunch of classes to have a gpa that low, but they were all general math for engineering, computer programming courses.

 

[LifeTake2]

Hi guys Im new here~

Hi I have a pretty damn depressing story for you

So I probably will get kicked out of an undergraduate engineering program (at least top 10, well known school in engineering).
I was in my junior year,
I was too stubborn to quit so I paid for it with a little over a 1.5 GPA....I had documented medical problems and other personal problems

I may have a chance to appeal the decision, but expecting the worse and assuming that does not go the way I want it to:

Is there any chance/way I can start pre med? I am very persistent and hard working; I believe that this field is the right one for me; engineering was a big long mistake

Are there any options for me? What would be some of the shortest/most feasible ways?

BTW i did take 2 intro bio courses in freshman year and i think I got Cs in them, i took them cause they were requirements; does this work against me? My engineering was kind of related to biology, and I got almost 70 credits.

what would be the process for the quickest way to start over? Can I just transfer some of my credits over to another school; is it possible to go to a decent state school where I can transfer my credits? OR do I have to go to community college to do a post bacc? Will explaining the medical and personal problems help me?


thank you so much

I won't say anything is impossible....but an academic dismissal will be about as close as you can get.

Unfortunately you won't ever get the chance to explain WHY unless it is 5+ years down the road, you have a BS with a very high GPA and strong MCAT performance. Otherwise, you will never get past the screening process.

That said if you really want this then:

1) take a break, figure out what is going on and fix it.
2) Find a new program, at a 4-year school and enroll and earn a BS with A/B's.
3) Start working on EC's now and building exposure to medicine to show you are serious.
4) In about 5-6 years apply DO and give it 100% and if you have done 1-3 then you will have a shot.

Good luck in whatever path you choose.

 

[0919mmk]

Hi guys Im new here~

Hi I have a pretty damn depressing story for you

So I probably will get kicked out of an undergraduate engineering program (at least top 10, well known school in engineering).
I was in my junior year,
I was too stubborn to quit so I paid for it with a little over a 1.5 GPA....I had documented medical problems and other personal problems

I may have a chance to appeal the decision, but expecting the worse and assuming that does not go the way I want it to:

Is there any chance/way I can start pre med? I am very persistent and hard working; I believe that this field is the right one for me; engineering was a big long mistake

Are there any options for me? What would be some of the shortest/most feasible ways?

BTW i did take 2 intro bio courses in freshman year and i think I got Cs in them, i took them cause they were requirements; does this work against me? My engineering was kind of related to biology, and I got almost 70 credits.

what would be the process for the quickest way to start over? Can I just transfer some of my credits over to another school; is it possible to go to a decent state school where I can transfer my credits? OR do I have to go to community college to do a post bacc? Will explaining the medical and personal problems help me?


thank you so much

Can't really say much without more info. Is your cumulative GPA 1.5, or just that semester? If not, what is your GPA? What state are you living in? And, most importantly, how do you know medicine is for you? Give us this info, and we can give you more informed feedback. However, either way, you need to get a BA (doesn't matter where from as long as its a 4 year college in the states), and you need to get your GPA up above a 3.5. Getting kicked out of school is going to be a major road block (if that's what's happening, I'm not sure if that's right), but most likely, there is a path forward if this is really what you want to do. More info please!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

If your cumulative is 1.5 at 70 semester hours, it will take you about 280 more at a 4.0 to bring it up to a 3.5 (not worth it). So D.O. and the grade replacement policy would be the best route here, or wait 10 years and move to Texas.

 

[apostle]

Can't really say much without more info. Is your cumulative GPA 1.5, or just that semester? If not, what is your GPA? What state are you living in? And, most importantly, how do you know medicine is for you? Give us this info, and we can give you more informed feedback. However, either way, you need to get a BA (doesn't matter where from as long as its a 4 year college in the states), and you need to get your GPA up above a 3.5. Getting kicked out of school is going to be a major road block (if that's what's happening, I'm not sure if that's right), but most likely, there is a path forward if this is really what you want to do. More info please!

Thank you for being willing to help!
Yes. Unfortunately, my gpa is a little above a 1.5. I live in NY. Honestly, I will take some time off to give it some thought, cause I am not 100% sure. But I will say that I love helping people, and makes me feel good about myself. I am a good teacher (worked as a tutor for a while), and like to meet people who look up to me for help, lol I like to feel important, to put it bluntly. But I want to do more than just teach math, and would like to really make a difference.
I would like to start this process in another state, possibly texas, cause I have close relatives there.

Also, I am stubborn as hell, and it took me a while to realize that engineering is not for me. I hate math, differential equations hate theoretical subjects, hate mechanics (solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, etc.). I am not a numbers guy. I have no patience for that. But I was always interested in Biology. I even interned at a medical school/research hospital, Microbiology department when I was in HS, also entered a few biology research project competitions back then. But I didnt enjoy being isolated in a lab, not talking to people.

I believe that I am good at dealing with memorizing and connecting concepts. I did get 740 on SAT II bio in HS, if that means anything. Also took AP bio. In engineering, you have to constantly apply theories to problems over and over again, and if you make a numerical mistake, you have to start over. I have no patience for that. I rather learn something that I can easily see the significance of. Again, I believe I am more of a right-brained person, and rather deal with concepts over numbers.

would i be able to transfer my credits elsewhere, get a BS or BA in something else, and do a post bacc? If so, what schools would take someone with my gpa; would explaining my situation (medical/personal) help? Or is there a faster way to do this in your opinion?

thank you

 

[DrMidlife]

There's definitely not a quick way to fix this.

Transferring credits from a 1.5 effort means the 1.5 comes with those credits. Which would be bad. Your undergrad effort so far is a liability, not an asset.

Before you take any more coursework, address issues of discipline and endurance and patience that keep you from getting straight A's in difficult coursework. If you have a learning or attention disorder, own it and deal with it. You don't get to vote on the quality or quantity of work. You don't get to vote on how good the instruction is. You don't get to only do stuff you like. Assume you need to swallow a planet-sized, hot-'n-juicy humble pie to get into med school from here. You have to get A's in difficult coursework, period, no matter what life throws at you, no matter what anything, to get into med school. And then med school is more difficult. Make sure you want this.

I suggest that you could consider moving to Texas. Start a career there that you'll keep up for 6-10 years, and then use TX fresh start to wipe out your undergrad record. Only Texas allows this. Start undergrad over from scratch. Yes, that decade is likely the fastest way for you to get into med school without being utterly foolish.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Law2Doc]

There's definitely not a quick way to fix this...

Before you take any more coursework, address issues of discipline and endurance and patience that keep you from getting straight A's in difficult coursework. If you have a learning or attention disorder, own it and deal with it. You don't get to vote on the quality or quantity of work....

Best of luck to you.

agreed. OP, the most troubling part of your original post is your focus on the shortest and quickest ways to right the boat. This is going to take you many years, if at all. No short, quick ways. If it's something you really want, you can get there but you are going to have to fix a lot of things first, stop looking for excuses, and look at medicine as something you will take a shot at much much later down the road, after you have laid a ton of ground work and exorcised all your demons.

And in that time come up with a much less cliche reason for why medicine than "helping people". You can help people at any job. And for a decade or so you probably will need to.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I don't know. I also don't want to say it is impossible, but basically 2 1/2 four year degrees for MD would suck so your only option is DO. They utilize grade replacement so you could retake the classes you did bad in, but with a 1.5 that is basically all the classes you have already taken which (based on your post) would be worse than 280 credits. Having a reason may get you places, but you still need to raise your cGPA over 3.0 regardless or you will get auto rejected. And a 3.0 will only be acceptable if we are talking 3 years of near perfect grades. Sorry about the situation. It is possible, but maybe it would be better to find another career. Again, it is possible, but the question is, is it going to be worth it?

 

[poppie910]

There's definitely not a quick way to fix this.

Transferring credits from a 1.5 effort means the 1.5 comes with those credits. Which would be bad. Your undergrad effort so far is a liability, not an asset.

Before you take any more coursework, address issues of discipline and endurance and patience that keep you from getting straight A's in difficult coursework. If you have a learning or attention disorder, own it and deal with it. You don't get to vote on the quality or quantity of work. You don't get to vote on how good the instruction is. You don't get to only do stuff you like. Assume you need to swallow a planet-sized, hot-'n-juicy humble pie to get into med school from here. You have to get A's in difficult coursework, period, no matter what life throws at you, no matter what anything, to get into med school. And then med school is more difficult. Make sure you want this.

I suggest that you could consider moving to Texas. Start a career there that you'll keep up for 6-10 years, and then use TX fresh start to wipe out your undergrad record. Only Texas allows this. Start undergrad over from scratch. Yes, that decade is likely the fastest way for you to get into med school without being utterly foolish.

Best of luck to you.

Actually, my school has an academic fresh start program. I live in Missouri...

 

[LifeTake2]

Actually, my school has an academic fresh start program. I live in Missouri...

Actually that will have NO impact on getting into medical school.

The ONLY way to get rid of a bad transcript is to be TX resident, wait 10 years and then only apply to TX schools.

AMCAS and AACOMAS could less what your school does with your GPA.

 

[DrMidlife]

GPA calculations do not belong to your undergrad school.

GPA calculations belong to application services and to med schools.

More specifically, a GPA on a transcript, as reported by your college, which maybe refreshes or enhances or forgives, has no effect on your med school GPA calculation. Generally, a college is required to show every course you ever took and the grade you got - regardless of any subsequent refresh/enhance/forgive - or that college risks its accreditation. Med school app services get those transcripts, and your reporting of your coursework is verified against your transcript.

Why? Because if school A forgives/enhances/refreshes, and school B does not, then school A students have an unfair advantage over school B students. It may not seem like it, but fairness is actually a priority for med school admissions.

Best of luck to you.

 

[rrt]

Actually, my school has an academic fresh start program. I live in Missouri...

Yes, but do all the medical schools in your state use the fresh start from your school in their gpa/admissions process??

In Texas, you can elect to fresh start at any public school, and state medical schools in Texas (we have over a handful just in this state) will take your fresh start GPA.


To the OP,

This is what I suggest, as it would be the quickest way if you decide to move to Texas. The only reason I even suggest it is because in all reality, it is not quick, and I am sure if you dedicate yourself, you will learn at the very least something about yourself you do not know now.

You can move to Texas tomorrow (hypothetical) and start to work here, because you need Texas residency. Get some bill in your name, a DL here, and start voting/registry/rent here for at the very least a year. During this time you CAN start taking classes all over again, as if you are starting as a freshman for the first time. But DO NOT finish your degree what ever you do, because one you have a degree, you cannot opt for the fresh start program.

The problem I see with starting now though is even if you are going to elect for the fresh start program in 2022, you would have 10 years between some important pre-reqs and application time/mcat time. So perhaps getting into a degree that doesn't include your pre-reqs is the best idea. Something you enjoy that you can finish.

What I would do personally if medicine was my end goal and nothing was going to stop that would be:

1. Move to Texas and establish residency.
2. Find out what is holding me back from my true potential
3. Start taking classes 4 years before you want to start the fresh start program if you want to go to school full time, or allow yourself 6-7 years before 10 years from now (so approx. 2015-2016) and start taking classes from scratch if you want to approach at a more part time pace at the start of your come back.
4. the year before you are going to graduate, take a semester off from school to study for the MCAT and during this time take a basket weaving course at a local community college or another university and start the fresh start program. You NEED to time this correctly, because the day you start the program, is the day ALL classes 10 years old or older are effected. Then after that semester, return to the university you will finish at, and get your degree.

Remember all this needs to be done with great grades. On top of that, you will only be able to apply to Texas med schools with this program. If you plan on applying to OOS schools, the program does not apply.

This will take you a MINIMUM of 11 years if you time it just right...

Best of luck.

Read up on the fresh start program.

RRT

 

[0919mmk]

Yeah, above posters have pretty much hit the nail on the head - you are at least 11 years out from getting in to med school. Sorry to give you bad news, but that's the reality. The bottom line is that it's probably not worth it - just financially, you'd be committing to basically a 20 year opportunity cost (lost wages while getting in to med school + while you're in med school and residency) from today. Plus, not to be blunt, but med school is not going to be easier than your undergrad engineering program. And if you are going in to medicine to "be the boss" and have people think you are important, that might not be the best motivation (although thanks for your honesty, it is refreshing lol).

Take some time to think about what end goals you want in your life. Is it money? Is it time with your future family? Is it fame or prestige? Whatever it is that you want in life, there are other, less painful ways of getting it than medicine. Either way, I wish you the best of luck on your journey.👍

 

[TwinsFan]

I don't think OP needs to move or wait a decade but they will need to retake all Ds and Fs and get a high gpa (3.7+) in a bachelors with a good MCAT (30+) over the next 3-4 years to have a shot at osteopathic schools. You need to get to a 3.0+ science and overall. Honestly, right now OP doesn't have anything headed in the right direction so taking some time off to figure it out isn't a bad idea. But with 5 years of hard work (1-2 out of school and working and 3-4 to get their bachelors) they will have a shot. I think this situation is actually worse than most non-trads with 2.x's who need gpa repair because right now the OP doeesn't have a significant work history, life experience from a career, or even a track record of minimal success required to earn a degree (2.x ugpa). Many of these people need 1-3 years to academically straighten things out and they are set to go.

OP I wish you the best of luck, but for now I would figure out what went wrong, take stock of your life, give back a bit through some volunteer work and maybe get a job as a hospital orderly or tech while you decide where to go from here. Starrt taking care of yourself and figure out what makes you happy, that matters a lot more than your career choice and medicine is a long ways off either way.

Also, you will probably need to start at CC for 2-4 semesters to build the academic history needed to transfer to a university..

 

[poppie910]

So the fresh start program in Texas really erases your past academics after a certain time, but everywhere else in the country that has a fresh start program doesn't actually wipe your past out? Im confused, what's the difference, and why is Texas the only state that does it?

 

[Isoprop]

Definitely fixable. 3 years of A's, a high MCAT score, and perhaps even an SMP can net an MD admission. DO could be sooner with grade replacement and requires lower MCAT score. Don't need to wait 10 years.

With 3 years of 4.0 average, some quick GPA math: [(3 years*4.0)+(3 years*1.5)]/6years = 2.75 GPA

You will still be screened at a lot of places, but you will at least have a decent shot if everything else on your application shines.

 

[LifeTake2]

So the fresh start program in Texas really erases your past academics after a certain time, but everywhere else in the country that has a fresh start program doesn't actually wipe your past out? Im confused, what's the difference, and why is Texas the only state that does it?

Because Texas medical schools have their own application system.

They don't use AMCAS or AACOMAS...thus they set their own rules.

 

[DrMidlife]

So the fresh start program in Texas really erases your past academics after a certain time, but everywhere else in the country that has a fresh start program doesn't actually wipe your past out? Im confused, what's the difference, and why is Texas the only state that does it?

It's a state law, not a federal law. You could try to get Missouri to adopt it. (Good luck!)

Some states have income tax, some don't. Some states let you drink while you drive, some don't. Some states do daylight savings time, some don't. Some make MLK day a holiday, some don't. Etc.

 

[DrMidlife]

Because Texas medical schools have their own application system.

They don't use AMCAS or AACOMAS...thus they set their own rules.

It's not specific to med school. TMDSAS respects TX academic fresh start, but TMDSAS didn't start it and doesn't own it.

 

[rrt]

Just to add,

If the OP wanted to attempt strictly DO med school, it would lead to a quicker turn around rate. BUT, that is assuming he wants to finish his current degree and retake ALL his lower than B classes in that field. He already pointed out that the field he is in was a no-go as far as compatible. That would be my first choice as well, but I was giving advice based on what he gave us.

 

[NTF]

DO forgiveness or Texas fresh-start not-withstanding you are still going to have to look at this as a long-term project. This isn't about questioning your intelligence. You got into a good undergrad. You're likely plenty intelligent enough for medical school, but medical school isn't about being smart. It's about consistency, organization and diligence. Any admissions committee regardless if you have a 4.0 because of loopholes is going to look at an academic implosion and ask themselves, "who's to say he doesn't implode in medical school? Do we want to risk one of our spots on him/her?" So this is a problem that a high MCAT or a couple of years of classes isn't necessarily going to fix. The more years of excellence you place between you and your implosion is the only thing that will reassure adcoms.

But this is why I'd caution patience and a slow methodical approach at first. You gotta address your internal issues and external obstacles first before you move too far. For someone like you each additional misstep will set you back years in this process. So once you really get started you want no looking back, a pristine record. Under that circumstance I think 3 years of a 4.0 with great ECs would give you a pretty decent shot (assuming you apply smartly). 2 years and you risk being rejected all around and having to deal with additional issues of being a reapplicant.

So don't rush this thing if it's what you want. Remember you're committing to a 30+yr career. Whether you start at 24, 26, 28 or 30 isn't necessarily going to matter in the long run when you're a seasoned attending in your 50's.

Best of luck.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Definitely fixable. 3 years of A's, a high MCAT score, and perhaps even an SMP can net an MD admission. DO could be sooner with grade replacement and requires lower MCAT score. Don't need to wait 10 years.

With 3 years of 4.0 average, some quick GPA math: [(3 years*4.0)+(3 years*1.5)]/6years = 2.75 GPA

You will still be screened at a lot of places, but you will at least have a decent shot if everything else on your application shines.

OP, This is a route, though higher risk.

 

[TriagePreMed]

You'll have to accept that US MD is likely out of the equation completely. Focusing on D.O. would be the smartest thing to do. But unlike people here, I'll discourage you into going into medicine. You don't sound prepared on what you're doing and are simply jumping to the next thing. Sort yourself out and come back when you know for sure. In addition, don't expect getting into any medical school for about 5 years. It'll take that much distance from a 1.5 GPA. You should also consider withdrawing from the school. You don't want any record of having been kicked out of a school.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

OP, I think the first step should be to put in some serious shadowing and clinical volunteering hours to make sure medicine is the right thing for you. Helping people may seem like a good motive, but you need to keep in mind that you will be helping all kinds of people- sweet old ladies, drug addicts, child molesters, and everyone in between. Lots of them won't be grateful for your help. After you've worked all day for them they won't even give you a thank you, but will instead ask why you didn't do more for them. Others will express their gratitude for you by taking you to court and suing you. Others you will attempt to help, but end up hurting. Only if your motives are strong enough to withstand all this should you consider medicine as a career.

 

[LingoLaine]

OP, I REALLY REALLY encourage you to let go of the MD dream. It just ain't happening. Find something else and move on with your life.

If, in 10 years you're still wishing you could be a doctor, start looking into the Texas Fresh Start program.

 

[MedPR]

Go DO. DOs and MDs are the same except DOs have a harder time getting into the desirable residency programs.