I have 284 credits - What do I do now?

[LJA1]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I had quite the surprise this morning when I read on the AACOMAS website that they now factor in all course attempts into GPA. Grade forgiveness was going to be my saving grace, or so I thought. I've been getting ready to apply next cycle (2018) and had no idea they had changed their policy.

With grade forgiveness I would have been 3.1c 3.3s. With all course attempts 2.73c 2.98s.

What do I do now?

I have literally 284 college credits. I was in undergrad for 9 years since I graduated high school, always working full time. During this time I got married, had children, dealt with family sickness, the death of my father and earned an AA, AS, paramedic license, and BS Interdisciplinary Science with minors in biology and psychology. I made some poor academic choices; including taking 29 credits one semester between my paramedic program and university classes. For the past 4 years I've been working as a paramedic in two emergency departments as well as volunteered with fire rescue.

What do I do now? Even if I took two more years of undergrad courses and got all A's I wouldn't even raise my cumulative GPA above 3.0.

I absolutely do not want to do anything else. Before becoming a medic I worked retail and worked my way up to general manager of a busy national chain store. I've considered nursing, PA school, and also the military as a career. The only thing I want to do is be a physician but I'm truly at a loss for how to make this happen. What do I do?

 

[giguerex35]

I feel for you. Your case is the BS side of the policy change becasue there was no transition period or anything. As far as what to do.....its tough. Your gpa is even too low for DO schools and way to far out for MD schools. So the way i see it theres two ways you can go about this. 1. I believe AZCOM is still honoroing the grade replacemnt for this year only if you meet certain criteria which you have to look up on their website because i dont remeeber offf hand what it is. 2. I really hate saying this but the carribean schools are a last case scenario. You can look around for why these schools are so bad on these forums but to sum up they are very expensive, have low pass rates, and is hard to get a residency. Only do this if you really want to be a physician over anything else and are willing to go through hell for it. Otherwise there are always other jobs out there that im sure you will like. Sucks to say but sometimes its better realize that it sucks and move on. Best of luck to you. Post what you end up doing.

 

[Major]

Have you taken the MCAT yet?

A SMP linked to a DO school might be the way to go, in your case.

 

[LJA1]

Have you taken the MCAT yet?

A SMP linked to a DO school might be the way to go, in your case.

I have not taken the MCAT yet.

Are there any DO-linked SMP's that don't require the MCAT?

 

[Major]

I have not taken the MCAT yet.

Are there any DO-linked SMP's that don't require the MCAT?

There is an entire sub-forum that has links and reviews of all the DO-SMPs

Postbaccalaureate Programs

Make sure you do your research before you decide where to apply and attend. SMPs are expensive and can be a big risk. If you don't perform well then most likely kiss med school goodbye.

Perform well and you'll have more than enough options. Treat the SMP like med school. Full time job and more.

I STRONGLY Recommend that you do NOT attempt to study and take the MCAT while in the middle of a SMP. Take the MCAT before or after. Not during.

Best of luck.

 

[djtallahassee]

How were you applying without an mcat? Did you have a planned date this summer?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[LJA1]

How were you applying without an mcat? Did you have a planned date this summer?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I just started purchasing some study material with plans to take the MCAT early 2018, and apply June 2018.

 

[LJA1]

There is an entire sub-forum that has links and reviews of all the DO-SMPs

Postbaccalaureate Programs

Make sure you do your research before you decide where to apply and attend. SMPs are expensive and can be a big risk. If you don't perform well then most likely kiss med school goodbye.

Perform well and you'll have more than enough options. Treat the SMP like med school. Full time job and more.

I STRONGLY Recommend that you do NOT attempt to study and take the MCAT while in the middle of a SMP. Take the MCAT before or after. Not during.

Best of luck.

Is an SMP my only option? Would taking a year of DIY post-bach work be a viable alternative? I've already taken all prereq's and a good number of upper level science courses but some of my prereq's are C's and retakes. Also, some of my pre-req courses were from almost 10 years ago.

BIO1- A
BIO2 - B
GCHEM1 - B
GCHEM2 - C
OCHEM1 - C
OCHEM2 - C
PHYS1 - B
PHYS2 - B
BIOCHEM -C

DEV BIO - A
CELL BIO - B
MAMMALIAN PHYS - A
IMMUNOLOGY - B
GENETICS - B
MICRO - A

I really hate to devote more time and money to undergrad courses especially since I won't get the benefit of grade forgiveness. Is SMP the way? How do I overcome being automatically rejected with a below 3.0 GPA?

 

[Major]

Is an SMP my only option? Would taking a year of DIY post-bach work be a viable alternative? I've already taken all prereq's and a good number of upper level science courses but some of my prereq's are C's and retakes. Also, some of my pre-req courses were from almost 10 years ago.

BIO1- A
BIO2 - B
GCHEM1 - B
GCHEM2 - C
OCHEM1 - C
OCHEM2 - C
PHYS1 - B
PHYS2 - B
BIOCHEM -C

DEV BIO - A
CELL BIO - B
MAMMALIAN PHYS - A
IMMUNOLOGY - B
GENETICS - B
MICRO - A

I really hate to devote more time and money to undergrad courses especially since I won't get the benefit of grade forgiveness. Is SMP the way? How do I overcome being automatically rejected with a below 3.0 GPA?

I wouldn't say a SMP is your ONLY option. That is a little strong, but I think it might be your best option for multiple reasons.

1. Your GPA is below the cut-off for many DO schools, so your app will get screened out by the computer systems before anyone ever reads your story.

2. You are correct, you have too many credit hours built up, and any As you earn at this point will have little impact on moving your GPA up.

3. The grades in those classes you just posted above aren't stellar. Too many Cs and not enough As.

4. No more grade replacement

5. A SMP would allow you to get a fresh start, obtain a graduate GPA, and divorce yourself from your undergraduate GPA (even though it will still be seen on your AACOMAS).

6. Doing well at a respected SMP can show a lot about your ability to succeed in Medical School. An Admissions Committee would feel much more confident about admitting you knowing you crushed a SMP. It will prepare you well for that 1st year of med school in many different ways.

7. Some SMPs at some DO schools still act as a feeder, providing a backdoor way into the school. Earn the GPA required, get the MCAT scored needed, get the faculty on your side, and do well in the interview.

Hope this helps. There is plenty of information about SMPs in the subsection I posted, and plenty of other SDN posters that went through a SMP and are very helpful. Best of Luck.

 

[LJA1]

I wouldn't say a SMP is your ONLY option. That is a little strong, but I think it might be your best option for multiple reasons.

1. Your GPA is below the cut-off for many DO schools, so your app will get screened out by the computer systems before anyone ever reads your story.

2. You are correct, you have too many credit hours built up, and any As you earn at this point will have little impact on moving your GPA up.

3. The grades in those classes you just posted above aren't stellar. Too many Cs and not enough As.

4. No more grade replacement

5. A SMP would allow you to get a fresh start, obtain a graduate GPA, and divorce yourself from your undergraduate GPA (even though it will still be seen on your AACOMAS).

6. Doing well at a respected SMP can show a lot about your ability to succeed in Medical School. An Admissions Committee would feel much more confident about admitting you knowing you crushed a SMP. It will prepare you well for that 1st year of med school in many different ways.

7. Some SMPs at some DO schools still act as a feeder, providing a backdoor way into the school. Earn the GPA required, get the MCAT scored needed, get the faculty on your side, and do well in the interview.

Hope this helps. There is plenty of information about SMPs in the subsection I posted, and plenty of other SDN posters that went through a SMP and are very helpful. Best of Luck.

Thank you very much.

 

[kelminak]

Also wanted to agree with some of the others, don't do any more retakes or GPA repair. It won't budge very much and just isn't worth your time and money. A postbacc/SMP program will give you the key because they'll essentially view that GPA as it's own separate thing and evaluate it as a clean slate in a way. If there's a linkage then you're golden (provided you do well in the program). Now you just have to research and see which SMP/Post baccs will accept you in the upcoming year. There's some good ones out there but unfortunately they seem to be moving up their benchmarks as well, and I believe some won't be doing grade replacement either. (VCOM has a great guaranteed linkage, but from what I understand they may not be doing grade replacement for their post bacc program, and I believe they upped their minimum from 2.75 to 2.9 GPA. But it wouldn't hurt to reach out and ask, I believe they do take the time to review each application to their post bacc program)

I have also heard that this was the last year they were doing grade replacement for the graduate certificate at VCOM. I just skirted by because my GPA without retakes was a 2.4 :S

 

[Asiago]

How's your grade trend? With that many credits and that amount of time passed, I'd assume adcoms would look more heavily at your GPA over your last 50-100 credits or last 2-4 years. Like others have said, SMP would help a lot since you'll prob get auto-screened by some schools.

Also, you might have to check to see if any of the schools have a time limit on when they accept pre-req credits. I know my SO had to retake a gen chem class for DPT school since too much time had passed since she took it.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Plan for another career because medicine is unlikely with that GPA

 

[LJA1]

Plan for another career because medicine is unlikely with that GPA

I'm going to prove you wrong. 🙂

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I'm going to prove you wrong. 🙂

Go ahead. I'll be happy for you. I don't take any joy in people failing, but I want to be honest in my assessment.

 

[GypsyHummus]

OP, with that GPA, you might be able to get past the Podiatry screens at some schools (Kent, New York, Maybe Chicago). Depending on your MCAT, you might be able to earn an acceptance, but the MCAT would have to be pretty impressive for pod schools (500+)

Podiatry is still medicine, and it is deff surgery. If you can deal with gross feet all day every day, you will find it is actually a really sweet gig, much more so than other alternatives like pharmacy or optometry.

The only other career I could see with that GPA is maybe pharmacy.

 

[738177]

Optometry?
Optomcas allows grade forgiveness given you retook the courses at the same institution. Not sure if they still do it though.
If you're insistent on Medicine, then yes you must do a SMP/post-bacc.

 

[GypsyHummus]

The only problem with OD is that it is super saturated.

Optometry?
Optomcas allows grade forgiveness given you retook the courses at the same institution. Not sure if they still do it though.
If you're insistent on Medicine, then yes you must do a SMP/post-bacc.

 

[738177]

The only problem with OD is that it is super saturated.

Perhaps. Just thought i'd throw it out there for those people shafted by the grade replacement policy change. The Optomcas option doesn't seem to be brought up a lot.

 

[MusicDOc124]

I don't know if this was already said, but please verify it... I've heard that although AACOMAS doesn't have the policy for grade replacement anymore, some schools are individually offering grade replacement, but you have to contact them first. I do not know which schools though. Search this forum and maybe make some calls! Good luck!

 

[THEBACKANDFORTH]

Is an SMP my only option? Would taking a year of DIY post-bach work be a viable alternative? I've already taken all prereq's and a good number of upper level science courses but some of my prereq's are C's and retakes. Also, some of my pre-req courses were from almost 10 years ago.

BIO1- A
BIO2 - B
GCHEM1 - B
GCHEM2 - C
OCHEM1 - C
OCHEM2 - C
PHYS1 - B
PHYS2 - B
BIOCHEM -C

DEV BIO - A
CELL BIO - B
MAMMALIAN PHYS - A
IMMUNOLOGY - B
GENETICS - B
MICRO - A

I really hate to devote more time and money to undergrad courses especially since I won't get the benefit of grade forgiveness. Is SMP the way? How do I overcome being automatically rejected with a below 3.0 GPA?

First, I want to say that I wish you the best... secondly, awesome SPS reef. Definitely do a post-bac thing and and DO WELL and you will get into medical school I think. I know it's purely anecdotal, but I have a cpl of friends with ****ty undergrad GPAs who got into med school doing that (both allopathic btw).. it's not impossible. But yes, I think it's your only option.. your late grades suggest you will do well in one if you attack it 100%

 

[SpoiledMilk]

I had quite the surprise this morning when I read on the AACOMAS website that they now factor in all course attempts into GPA. Grade forgiveness was going to be my saving grace, or so I thought. I've been getting ready to apply next cycle (2018) and had no idea they had changed their policy.

With grade forgiveness I would have been 3.1c 3.3s. With all course attempts 2.73c 2.98s.

What do I do now?

I have literally 284 college credits. I was in undergrad for 9 years since I graduated high school, always working full time. During this time I got married, had children, dealt with family sickness, the death of my father and earned an AA, AS, paramedic license, and BS Interdisciplinary Science with minors in biology and psychology. I made some poor academic choices; including taking 29 credits one semester between my paramedic program and university classes. For the past 4 years I've been working as a paramedic in two emergency departments as well as volunteered with fire rescue.

What do I do now? Even if I took two more years of undergrad courses and got all A's I wouldn't even raise my cumulative GPA above 3.0.

I absolutely do not want to do anything else. Before becoming a medic I worked retail and worked my way up to general manager of a busy national chain store. I've considered nursing, PA school, and also the military as a career. The only thing I want to do is be a physician but I'm truly at a loss for how to make this happen. What do I do?

Going to medical school is not entirely dead. However, it will require an open-mind and sacrifice (i.e. a willingness to uproot your entire family and move).

Here is your 2nd chance. If you are not a Texas resident, move to Texas, establish residency and check out the Texas Academic Fresh Start program. College For All Texans: Academic Fresh Start

Go to the nontraditional thread Texas academic fresh start question
You will find there SDNers who are willing to uproot their entire family and move to Texas to chase their dreams of becoming a doctor.

GL to you!!

 

[LJA1]

Thanks to all for the positive thoughts and advice. Not interested in pharm, optometry and I definitely don't like nasty feet enough to do podiatry (seen too many nasty feet working in the ER for the past 4 years to want to look at them full time).

Studying for the MCAT now for a January test date, going to be applying broadly to SMP programs next year. Blessed to have a wife that is 100% on board.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Podiatry is great, but it's not for everyone.

You do know that you have about a 70% chance of taking a look at someone's nasty feet at least once a week in primary care, right? Moreso if you are working with diabetics.

Thanks to all for the positive thoughts and advice. Not interested in pharm, optometry and I definitely don't like nasty feet enough to do podiatry (seen too many nasty feet working in the ER for the past 4 years to want to look at them full time).

Studying for the MCAT now for a January test date, going to be applying broadly to SMP programs next year. Blessed to have a wife that is 100% on board.

 

[LJA1]

Podiatry is great, but it's not for everyone.

You do know that you have about a 70% chance of taking a look at someone's nasty feet at least once a week in primary care, right? Moreso if you are working with diabetics.

Yes, and I currently see nasty feet every day in the ED. Just saying Its not the ONLY thing I want to do.

 

[workaholic181]

Thanks to all for the positive thoughts and advice. Not interested in pharm, optometry and I definitely don't like nasty feet enough to do podiatry (seen too many nasty feet working in the ER for the past 4 years to want to look at them full time).

Studying for the MCAT now for a January test date, going to be applying broadly to SMP programs next year. Blessed to have a wife that is 100% on board.

Good for you man. I look forward to reading your success story thread down the road.

 

[Ag1531]

How about the Polish schools? Jagiellonian seems to be more well regarded than the big 4 carib schools from what i've seen and I think tuition is under 15k a year and has federal loans available. In my area there are 4 respected Jagiellonian grads practicing, 2 independent 2 in the big regional hospital. May be a last chance thing to look into seeing as the cost of taking the risk is much lower. With a great mcat you might have a shot there, they work on a points system and pretty much everyone with above a 54/100 has gotten in.

 

[Goro]

I had quite the surprise this morning when I read on the AACOMAS website that they now factor in all course attempts into GPA. Grade forgiveness was going to be my saving grace, or so I thought. I've been getting ready to apply next cycle (2018) and had no idea they had changed their policy.

With grade forgiveness I would have been 3.1c 3.3s. With all course attempts 2.73c 2.98s.

What do I do now?

I have literally 284 college credits. I was in undergrad for 9 years since I graduated high school, always working full time. During this time I got married, had children, dealt with family sickness, the death of my father and earned an AA, AS, paramedic license, and BS Interdisciplinary Science with minors in biology and psychology. I made some poor academic choices; including taking 29 credits one semester between my paramedic program and university classes. For the past 4 years I've been working as a paramedic in two emergency departments as well as volunteered with fire rescue.

What do I do now? Even if I took two more years of undergrad courses and got all A's I wouldn't even raise my cumulative GPA above 3.0.

I absolutely do not want to do anything else. Before becoming a medic I worked retail and worked my way up to general manager of a busy national chain store. I've considered nursing, PA school, and also the military as a career. The only thing I want to do is be a physician but I'm truly at a loss for how to make this happen. What do I do?

Read this:

• Goro's Advice for DO Applicants in Absence of Grade Replacement