I feel as though I am lost, please help!

[blaque1703]

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Ok here goes, I am desperately seeking a post bacc program that will guarantee me a spot into medical school as long as I do well in the program. I am determined not to screw up this time around. I am going to kick butt if given the chance. Problem is my scores are very poor. My undergrad was a 2.4ish and I got a 13 on the MCAT. I know, it's terrible. But I'm not going to give up. I was reading about Rosalind and Franklin University and it sounds great, but do I have a chance in getting in. I'm 23 and really want to get started on getting towards my career. Please help me. Is there anyone who is in my position and accomplished their goals or does anyone know how I can?

 

[Tommyk7]

Hmm... I'm not the expert on this but I'll try to give you some advice. First of all, the Rosalind Franklin Applied Physiology progam is no more. There's actually a thread on here dedicated to the extreme anger caused by this, but nevertheless the program does not exist anymore.
You are going to have to pull that MCAT up maybe through a prep course or buying prep course books and studying hardcore on your own. Even programs geared towards helping people who have a low UG GPA and low MCATs have cutoffs (For example, Georgetown SMP 3.0 GPA 27MCATs; UofCinn 3.0/27; Drexel IMS: no specified GPA, 27) and I think you're probably on the low side for both.
You might want to look into a post-bacc. that allows you to retake some of the core pre-med courses to show you can perform well on those subjects. Other than that, all I can say is if this is your passion, don't give up. If you work for it, you can get it!! There's always a way to get to your goal, if you take the time, and put in the effort to look for those paths! Good luck! 👍

 

[zookeeper]

Ok here goes, I am desperately seeking a post bacc program that will guarantee me a spot into medical school as long as I do well in the program. I am determined not to screw up this time around. I am going to kick butt if given the chance. Problem is my scores are very poor. My undergrad was a 2.4ish and I got a 13 on the MCAT. I know, it's terrible. But I'm not going to give up. I was reading about Rosalind and Franklin University and it sounds great, but do I have a chance in getting in. I'm 23 and really want to get started on getting towards my career. Please help me. Is there anyone who is in my position and accomplished their goals or does anyone know how I can?

You should consider looking into MEDPREP AT SIU. I am currently a student there. The applications for this year is complete but you might want to consider applying next fall. They only accept 36 students a year. This is a two year program. The first year is geared to help you prepare for the MCAT and the second year is used to build your science knowledge so you will be successful in medical school. Out of the 36 students usually like 90% end up getting accepted into medical school. This is good considering the fact that some (but not all) of the students have low gpa's going into the program. Two of my classmates have 2.0 gpa's. I also know a student who came in the program with a 2.0-2.2 gpa. Last year she got accepted into 4 different schools each offering her a full ride. In addition, the program as an alliance with the medical school so if you have atleast a 2.7 science g.pa. (after your first year) and get atleast a 7 in verbal and a 6 in bio on the MCAT you automatically get in.

 

[relentless11]

Just curious were there any circumstances that caused you to get a low GPA and MCAT? Although the reason may not play a big role, it might play some small minute role in your personal statement.

In regards to your MCAT, you will need to do some deep soul searching and figure out why you got a 13, and how you are going to get a higher score. It will be rough, since on average, retaking the MCAT will only improve your score by 1-2 points. But thats an average, people have done significantly better and worse when retaking it. You will have to gauge when you are ready to take it. I don't know what your situation was when you took the MCAT, but i recommend you take practice exams (AAMC, etc) to see where you are at. If you are getting 13's one month before the real exam, I would suggest you defer to the next testing cycle. To be in a relatively OK place for MCAT scores, you will need to have AT LEAST a 15 point improvement to reach the national average of 28. Of course that is also an average, but the higher you are, the better.

Your GPA is something "easier" to deal with, since there isn't a VR section involved. Just do post-bacc. In your case, grad school, even if allowed to take upper div undergrad classes would not be a good idea. You will need to do some kind of post-bacc official or unofficial, and boost your GPA up by taking upper division science classes, and even non-science classes if you are low in that area too. Retake all classes that you got a D or F in, retaking classes that you got a C in can go either way. If you are going to apply to DO schools than that is fine, since they take the better of the two grades. While MD schools will take both classs. Be warned, MD schools will EXPECT that you get an A in these classes since retaking a course SHOULD give you an advantage. Pretty much you will need to show the adcoms that you can do about 3.5+ per quarter/semester of challenging classes at a relatively moderate to high workload. Taking 1-2 classes per semester isn't too good because they'd expect you to have plenty of time to study and do well in those classes anyway. Even those that have to work, should try to take a good balance of classes to show adcoms you can handle the workload.

Yea, its NOT IMPOSSIBLE, but I really suggest that you ask yourself, why you want to be a physician, and what can you change in your lifestyle to start churning out high GPA's and MCAT scores. I'm not trying to be mean, since it took me about 3 months of realizing what I had to do to acheive the GPA and MCAT scores I needed. I went from <3.0 as an undergrad, to a 3.4 post-bacc, and now cumulative 4.0 in grad. On my MCAT, i went from 24 to a 36. Now I just have to finish my degree before I apply to med school. Sad part is, if i don't finish my PhD in time, i'm gonna have to take the MCAT again..lol So yea, you can jump in GPA and MCAT scores by a lot, just takes a change of attitude and discipline in your life. Hope that helps!

 

[blaque1703]

You should consider looking into MEDPREP AT SIU. I am currently a student there. The applications for this year is complete but you might want to consider applying next fall. They only accept 36 students a year. This is a two year program. The first year is geared to help you prepare for the MCAT and the second year is used to build your science knowledge so you will be successful in medical school. Out of the 36 students usually like 90% end up getting accepted into medical school. This is good considering the fact that some (but not all) of the students have low gpa's going into the program. Two of my classmates have 2.0 gpa's. I also know a student who came in the program with a 2.0-2.2 gpa. Last year she got accepted into 4 different schools each offering her a full ride. In addition, the program as an alliance with the medical school so if you have atleast a 2.7 science g.pa. (after your first year) and get atleast a 7 in verbal and a 6 in bio on the MCAT you automatically get in.

That sounds great but too bad the application deadline has passed. But I'll see about next year.

 

[blaque1703]

Just curious were there any circumstances that caused you to get a low GPA and MCAT? Although the reason may not play a big role, it might play some small minute role in your personal statement.

In regards to your MCAT, you will need to do some deep soul searching and figure out why you got a 13, and how you are going to get a higher score. It will be rough, since on average, retaking the MCAT will only improve your score by 1-2 points. But thats an average, people have done significantly better and worse when retaking it. You will have to gauge when you are ready to take it. I don't know what your situation was when you took the MCAT, but i recommend you take practice exams (AAMC, etc) to see where you are at. If you are getting 13's one month before the real exam, I would suggest you defer to the next testing cycle. To be in a relatively OK place for MCAT scores, you will need to have AT LEAST a 15 point improvement to reach the national average of 28. Of course that is also an average, but the higher you are, the better.

Your GPA is something "easier" to deal with, since there isn't a VR section involved. Just do post-bacc. In your case, grad school, even if allowed to take upper div undergrad classes would not be a good idea. You will need to do some kind of post-bacc official or unofficial, and boost your GPA up by taking upper division science classes, and even non-science classes if you are low in that area too. Retake all classes that you got a D or F in, retaking classes that you got a C in can go either way. If you are going to apply to DO schools than that is fine, since they take the better of the two grades. While MD schools will take both classs. Be warned, MD schools will EXPECT that you get an A in these classes since retaking a course SHOULD give you an advantage. Pretty much you will need to show the adcoms that you can do about 3.5+ per quarter/semester of challenging classes at a relatively moderate to high workload. Taking 1-2 classes per semester isn't too good because they'd expect you to have plenty of time to study and do well in those classes anyway. Even those that have to work, should try to take a good balance of classes to show adcoms you can handle the workload.

Yea, its NOT IMPOSSIBLE, but I really suggest that you ask yourself, why you want to be a physician, and what can you change in your lifestyle to start churning out high GPA's and MCAT scores. I'm not trying to be mean, since it took me about 3 months of realizing what I had to do to acheive the GPA and MCAT scores I needed. I went from <3.0 as an undergrad, to a 3.4 post-bacc, and now cumulative 4.0 in grad. On my MCAT, i went from 24 to a 36. Now I just have to finish my degree before I apply to med school. Sad part is, if i don't finish my PhD in time, i'm gonna have to take the MCAT again..lol So yea, you can jump in GPA and MCAT scores by a lot, just takes a change of attitude and discipline in your life. Hope that helps!

Thank you for the advice. I know that I need to go for a post bacc but I just don't know who will accept me. Would you have an idea?

I know why I had bad scores. It's because I thought that I could use my high school study methods that gave me honor roll. I see now that that doesn't work for college. So I will be changing my study methods and cracking down on my work. I am determined to make it. It's all I want right now.

 

[relentless11]

Thank you for the advice. I know that I need to go for a post bacc but I just don't know who will accept me. Would you have an idea?

I know why I had bad scores. It's because I thought that I could use my high school study methods that gave me honor roll. I see now that that doesn't work for college. So I will be changing my study methods and cracking down on my work. I am determined to make it. It's all I want right now.

As stated, you can do an official or unofficial post-bacc. If you can't find an official program, then just find schools that allow you to take courses. Extensions, or taking classes as course-work only (e.g.: non-degree earning program) at any university. This is an expensive method, and you may have to pay per unit. The post-bacc program at my school wouldn't have taken me because I did not match the student group they were targetting, so I had to take courses via extension and it cost me close to $1300 for 6 units of classes (2 classes). I'm sure its more now though.

Although I did say grad school might not be a good option, this is the route I went because tuition is essentially free. But I am limited by time, in regards to how many undergrad classes i can take as electives, since I have to work on my thesis, and core classes. So could consider that, but you will also have to find a program that will overlook your GPA as well. Its possible if you can find a faculty sponsor, and a program that is willing to give you chance.

 

[iapplehead]

i had a question too... does it matter where you do post-bacc work at? for instance, i want to take classes that i did not finish for my prereqs and also may want to take some of my other science classes over... so should i look at post-bacc schools from AAMS websites or stay at my own university? whats the difference? and do med schools prefer that you do a post-bacc at a diff university from your own? need advice soon bc if i don't have to leave to go somewhere else i would like to know before i waste money on applications! thanx

 

[WBGIII]

I would also consider the carribean schools, such as sgu (www.sgu.edu), ross (www.rossmed.edu), saba (www.saba.edu) and auc (www.aucmed.edu). They are much easier to get into, and while you will have to retake the mcat regardless if you go carribean or stateside, the carribean schools tend to be a little more flexible on gpa's. if you study your ass of and rock the mcat, you may be able to get into one of the carribean schools without even having to do a postbacc, thus saving you some $.