I am an older student, low gpa at present

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ROB

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I am a 26 yo Sophomore with about a 2.2 GPA (not too many hours), do you think that med schools will consider that in my earlier college experience I was just young and stupid? I haven't been to college in 5 yrs, but have much better grades.

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You are going to do some serious booking, on top of some self-assessment. I don't mean to sound as if it is not possible, because anything is! However, medical schools have thousands of applications each year, most of which they are not looking for excuses, they are looking for dedicated individuals intent upon studying and practicing good medicine. It appears that you have dug yourself a deep hole, if you are willing to put the work into digging your way out, adcoms will take note of that. BUT, you must get on track and focus 100% on achieving your goals of medicine. You must remember there are many out there who strive their whole collegiate career towards a career in medicine, and in the end, come up short. It is possible, if you really want it you can do it! Keep at it, and perhaps we will see you in medical school in a few years.
 
Don't be discouraged. I was in a similar boat and now I will be starting my first year of medschool in August. There are a few important things to remember:
1) You can't change the grades that you earned 5 or 6 years ago.
2) Since you are only a Sophomore, there is still plenty of time to up that GPA.
3) The courses that you excel in as an upperclassman are much more relevent than the Wester Civ. class you made a C in as a Freshman.
4)There is much more to your application than your overall GPA. Some may argue that a high MCAT weighs more heavily than a high GPA. Whichever philosopy you subscribe to, you will need to perfom well on all other aspects of your application - MCAT, interview, letters of recommendation, etc. (oh yeah - ACE your remaining science and math classes.)

The important thig is this. 5 years is plenty of time to separate yourself now from that person that had a 2.2 GPA before. Use that to your advantage. Good luck!!
 
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Great advice on this thread, wish you guys had been around when I finished high school and thought I was hot stuff because HS was a breeze for me. I blew off college, making the choice to party and go the fraternity route big time, had a ball and make life time friendships, however, however, guess what suffered. Ole Dad tried to tell me engineering was not a piece of cake, I barely made it through. Graduated in a class of 800 bright guys exact for one, me, took me a year to find a job, they must have laughed at my resume big time, finally landed a job through a fraternity brother, did engineering for 3 years and realized this was not for me. I had to go 8000 miles away to get my medical degree,(although I did graduate Cum Laude) but Heck I really screwed-up, so do yourself a favor and fix up those grades, Max the MCAT and beg for mercy... you bet it can be done, but the BIG question is HOW you want to do it. So pick yourself up and listen to these voices of experience, they are not steering you wrong.. JUST DO IT!
 
Much wisdom has been spoken already and I will likely add very little but...

The greatest thing you can do is forget about your overall GPA. There is you now and you 5 years ago. You need to absolutely destroy every class from here until your medical school application is submitted. You also need to get involved in activities (clinical or otherwise). Make yourself stand out with some original activities. Of course, you must do very well on the MCAT, some-how, some-way.

So all of this to say it's definitely possible. Med school admission committees love dedication, hard-work, and anyone who will put their heart and soul into medicine.
 
I finished my first year of college at about a 2.5 GPA, too much young stupid guy stuff. What med schools want to see is IMPROVEMENT. You got a 2.2, now raise it. Study your butt off and ace the science classes. Most undergrad bio/physiology courses are quite doable if you work hard. Organic chemistry is more of an exception but just try really hard and you will make a worthy grade. By the end of college I graduated with a 3.4 (Still below 'average' for accepted med students) and did get into med school on my second try no problem. Anything can be done if you want it, so get after it now and do it. It sounds like you're on the right track you'll do fine.
 
I would say that your best bet would be to make "A"s in your science classes and do WELL on the MCAT.

It is also true that DO (Osteopathic) schools tend to look at non-traditional applicants more favorably, traditionally. (That sounds weird, looking back at this paragraph :wink: ).

Good luck and best wishes. God bless, Frank.
 
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