I don't really have a shot, do I?

[mister pointy]

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The idea occurred to me over the last couple days to consider medical school. I'm currently working as a software developer, and realizing more and more that, while I'm good at it by all accounts, I just don't find it satisfying.

I'm 31, graduated from undergrad (finally) in 2008, after a very long time -- seven years. I was not in a great place during a lot of my undergraduate career, in large part because I spent far too long trying to get a degree in a major I hated (plus I had a bad episode of depression during 2003 which resulted in failing almost all my classes).

I graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.15, which I thought was at least theoretically doable, but recalculating it by AMCOS standards, it looks more like a 2.9. I failed a lot of classes -- five during my really bad period, but looking at my transcript, it appears I failed two more subsequently. It wasn't until my last three semesters that my grades were more steady. The last couple I never retook, as I gave up on the idea of even trying to get that degree. (But I understand that wouldn't have replaced the old grades anyway, in contrast to how my school calculated GPAs.)

My grades show an upward trend by the time I graduated -- after 7 years and a total of 198 credits (including 37 AP credits from entering).

My degree was in linguistics (and I got 4.0s in most of my linguistics classes), and I have almost no science, except for one 4.0 in Calculus 2 and one 2.5 in Organic Chem II (I took it, unprepared, without having taken Organic Chem I, after being pushed to by a chem professor.)

I am highly confident in my aptitude for science (though I admit I currently have nothing to prove that). I've found a new nearby postbac program that I might plausibly be able to get into (it's this one) and I know I'm much more ready to study now (especially given that I wouldn't be attempting to force myself to study something I hate). I also have a history of being great at standardized tests. I know I have a ton of potential and it kills me to think that my anomie during my undergraduate years may simply make it impossible for me to do this.

So is this something that I could possibly do? I know there's no salvaging that undergrad GPA, but I also know I could get a straight 4.0 if I got into the postbac program I was considering, and a great MCAT score. Would my undergrad GPA from years ago make that totally futile?

 

[deleted480308]

for MD, you are probably sunk

for DO (which allows retakes) you could do it if you are right about your aptitude for science and you are willing to put in the time

 

[Goro]

Yes, OP, it's doable.

 

[Gurby]

You can do it. Just be aware that time is not on your side. You'll be starting med school at around ~35 years old, which is 10 years older than average matriculant age. Get to work on your classes, shadowing, volunteering, other ECs, etc, ASAP.

Goro is fond of posting that some of his best students have been in their 30's and 40's. But the older you get, the less sense it makes financially (as opposed to going PA or something else), and the more limited your options become (beginning a surgery residency at 40 years old might be unwise or even impossible).

 

[candbgirl]

It's probably doable but what makes you think you want to be a doc or be happy being a doc? You said you just decided this over the last couple of days. Maybe spend some time volunteering at a hospital or hospice, shadow some docs in several specialities and then reexamine what you want to do.

 

[DrMidlife]

where's the part where you got exposed to the practice of medicine? what activities brought you to a reality-based understanding of a job that will take you 7-10 years of training and likely $250k to get into?

have you ever been happy in a job?

 

[mister pointy]

It's probably doable but what makes you think you want to be a doc or be happy being a doc? You said you just decided this over the last couple of days. Maybe spend some time volunteering at a hospital or hospice, shadow some docs in several specialities and then reexamine what you want to do.

That's a fair point. Medicine has always been fascinating to me, in the academic sense -- I find myself reading about it a lot, and I also find the thought of working in a care profession really appealing.

It's true I don't have concrete experience, but I think there's a something to my fascination with the subject matter. I had faintly considered premed as an undergrad but didn't feel confident that I could manage anything that tough and competitive then. Now in hindsight it seems like a really obvious career path. I grew up pretty poor, and then made a lot of bad decisions as an undergrad based around trying to avoid my fears rather than pursuing my interests.

 

[bbbaaa]

I was in a pretty similar boat regarding experience or lack thereof when I started considering doing a postbacc. Get some of that concrete experience that you realize you lack, maybe take a pre-req class or two at your local university, and see how you feel afterwards. Don't go quitting your job because of a thought that's been floating around your head for a few days. Others can comment more specifically, but it seems to me if you did well in a postbacc and on the MCAT and gathered the requisite EC's and LOR's then DO is a realistic option.

 

[mister pointy]

have you ever been happy in a job?

The truth is, no, I haven't. I take that to be dissatisfaction with the field I work in, but I can't claim I know for sure that that's it.

 

[LingoLaine]

You would have to want it more than ANYTHING else.

 

[IlDestriero]

Your GPA will soar when you replace 5 Fs with 5 As. You can always take a few classes for grade replacement while you figure out your plan. A post bac for 2nd career non science students is what you need. And the grade replacement.

 

[mister pointy]

Your GPA will soar when you replace 5 Fs with 5 As. You can always take a few classes for grade replacement while you figure out your plan. A post bac for 2nd career non science students is what you need. And the grade replacement.

I've only got two grades I haven't replaced, and I don't think it's plausible to replace them -- they're upper level classes in the major I stuck with for way too long; I'd have to become an undergrad in that major again to even take them, and given that I abandoned the field, it's not likely I'd do better now almost ten years later. Plus, at least for MD school, you can't "replace" bad grades.

My GPA was a low but at least imaginable 3.15 according to my university's GPA calculation, with grade replacement. According to AMCOS calculation, it's a 2.9, as I posted.

 

[DrMidlife]

AMCOS isn't a thing.

AMCAS is the MD app service.

AACOMAS is the DO app service.

TMDSAS is the Texas app service.

 

[mister pointy]

AMCOS isn't a thing.

AMCAS is the MD app service.

AACOMAS is the DO app service.

TMDSAS is the Texas app service.

Ack, thank you. I've been trying to learn a lot in the last couple days and obviously some of it has not stuck properly.

 

[mw18]

You've had some people who are intimately involved with admissions tell you that it's doable. MD is highly unlikely. The Caribbean just isn't wise. I think most people would say that you have an outside chance at DO if you really step your game up and run the table toward the end. Whenever I help people who are applying to med school, I only have two main tenets. 1. Don't have a dream school. 2. Nobody is going to make it happen, but you.

In your case, don't have a dream type of school (MD instead of DO), and number 2 is as is. You can make it happen but you are going to have to find a program that allows you to work hard and have a stellar post-bacc gpa. You are going to have to immerse yourself in the profession to make sure it's something you're truly interested in.

It's not a sure thing, and that is scary, I'm sure. But it's really not a sure thing for anyone.