i need advice, having a hard time finding the right program for me

[determinated]

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okay so before i get flamed for not searching the forums for the answer to this question ill explain why im writting here....

i have a low gpa and ive read through the low gpa threads... ive tried to match my gpa with some of the people on the list and tried to pursue the same paths as them...

for instance, some of the people that match undergrad gpas with me have tended to always done a post bacc at San Francisco State University... but i called SFSU and spoke to a school official who said that the post bac program was no longer in existence due to financial reasons...........

i have no idea what to do i really need to get into a post bac program somewhere but really cant find something that fits MY low gpa....

so here are my stats:

i was an immature and lazy son of a gun and ended up with

Major: BS in Biology
cGPA: 2.67
sGPA: 2.93 (but i interviewd with Ross University and the way that THEY calculated it came out to 2.67 as well. they have their own system of calculating it...

i only had one D and one F in a non science related course.... which i retook and got a B in both....

i have taken the mcat and messed up with a 17R thats cause i got a 2 on VR section...

i have tons of volunteer work and some research experience in college...

i also have great letters of reccomendation... from doctors and professors alike..

i also worked 35+ hours a week during college and lived out of my car for my entire senior year... my junior year was mostly spent in various different places.. which made studying really hard... so i didnt study as much as i should have...

i took some time off during college and attended a community college where i ended up with a 3.5 gpa for the time i was there...

i have applied and been accepted to some medical schools in the caribbean but i have no money to pay for it since there is no federal assistance..

i have absolutely no idea what school/program to turn to i have looked and most of the schools want 3.0/3.2..

i have reached a huge turning point in my life i am currently going through chemotherapy and being this close to death has really opened my eyes to what is important and what is not... luckily i will be cured soon and will have another opportunity at doing something with my life...

i just need to know what places will accept me? i cant even make it into the low end of the spectrum that demands a 2.75!

please help, i wanna make the right moves and i wanna have a good list of applications ready before i go bugging my LOR writters again...

any advice is appreciated...

 

[DrMidlife]

My recommendation is to do more undergrad until your cumulative undergrad GPAs (overall and science) are up over 3.0. Then do an SMP. Also double your MCAT score.

If you're willing to go DO, you might be able to cut some corners.

Look into the UC postbacs. See the "gpa enhancement" sticky in this forum to links to those programs and others.

Most likely you'd benefit from moving to another state, such as Texas. Go work there for a year (to get residency), then apply to do a 2nd bachelors (to get financial aid & registration priority), budget time & money to fix your MCAT score, and assume you'll need to move to yet another state to do an SMP.

post bacc at San Francisco State University... but i called SFSU and spoke to a school official who said that the post bac program was no longer in existence due to financial reasons...........

Yep, and California won't be in better financial straits for years yet.

i also worked 35+ hours a week during college and lived out of my car for my entire senior year... my junior year was mostly spent in various different places.. which made studying really hard... so i didnt study as much as i should have...

Your personal statement is going to be more interesting than most.👍

i have reached a huge turning point in my life i am currently going through chemotherapy and being this close to death has really opened my eyes to what is important and what is not... luckily i will be cured soon and will have another opportunity at doing something with my life...

I did chemo too and went back to school in too much of a hurry...and had to drop out. Make sure you don't start taking classes again until you can get A's - you have to be an A student from here on out. You're still young, don't rush. After chemo you can have trouble with your eyes, bad fatigue etc.

Best of luck to you.

 

[NewmansOwn]

I'm not an expert on low GPA admissions, but I think Texas has a policy where you can start over and get a new bachelor's degree, expunging your past academic record, after a certain number of years. There are probably details that make it less appealing than I'm making it seem, but someone more well-versed in this area should chime in.

I think starting over is your best bet after so many mess-ups. A 17 on the MCAT, even with a 2 in VR, still means you received 7-8 in the science portions -- that won't get you into a US school, anyway. Taking time off during college doesn't help either. While your circumstances are unfortunate and understandable, medical schools aren't in the business of sympathy.

 

[Xcited392]

I'm not an expert on low GPA admissions, but I think Texas has a policy where you can start over and get a new bachelor's degree, expunging your past academic record, after a certain number of years. There are probably details that make it less appealing than I'm making it seem, but someone more well-versed in this area should chime in.

I think starting over is your best bet after so many mess-ups. A 17 on the MCAT, even with a 2 in VR, still means you received 7-8 in the science portions -- that won't get you into a US school, anyway. Taking time off during college doesn't help either. While your circumstances are unfortunate and understandable, medical schools aren't in the business of sympathy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Texas Academic Forgiveness policy can be used 10 years after graduating?

 

[DrMidlife]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Texas Academic Forgiveness policy can be used 10 years after graduating?

Correct, no less than 10 years after graduating. http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/texasAcFrshStrt.html

 

[jslo85]

okay so before i get flamed for not searching the forums for the answer to this question ill explain why im writting here....

i have a low gpa and ive read through the low gpa threads... ive tried to match my gpa with some of the people on the list and tried to pursue the same paths as them...

for instance, some of the people that match undergrad gpas with me have tended to always done a post bacc at San Francisco State University... but i called SFSU and spoke to a school official who said that the post bac program was no longer in existence due to financial reasons...........

i have no idea what to do i really need to get into a post bac program somewhere but really cant find something that fits MY low gpa....

so here are my stats:

i was an immature and lazy son of a gun and ended up with

Major: BS in Biology
cGPA: 2.67
sGPA: 2.93 (but i interviewd with Ross University and the way that THEY calculated it came out to 2.67 as well. they have their own system of calculating it...

i only had one D and one F in a non science related course.... which i retook and got a B in both....

i have taken the mcat and messed up with a 17R thats cause i got a 2 on VR section...

i have tons of volunteer work and some research experience in college...

i also have great letters of reccomendation... from doctors and professors alike..

i also worked 35+ hours a week during college and lived out of my car for my entire senior year... my junior year was mostly spent in various different places.. which made studying really hard... so i didnt study as much as i should have...

i took some time off during college and attended a community college where i ended up with a 3.5 gpa for the time i was there...

i have applied and been accepted to some medical schools in the caribbean but i have no money to pay for it since there is no federal assistance..

i have absolutely no idea what school/program to turn to i have looked and most of the schools want 3.0/3.2..

i have reached a huge turning point in my life i am currently going through chemotherapy and being this close to death has really opened my eyes to what is important and what is not... luckily i will be cured soon and will have another opportunity at doing something with my life...

i just need to know what places will accept me? i cant even make it into the low end of the spectrum that demands a 2.75!

please help, i wanna make the right moves and i wanna have a good list of applications ready before i go bugging my LOR writters again...

any advice is appreciated...

Shoot me a PM btw, I wouldn't mind telling you my story and see if any of that is any help to you.


That said, I think Dr. Midlife offers the best advice in the Texas plan. Texas is ideal for many reasons for medical school applicants and in your particular case, it's 10 year policy of white washing your entire academic background would probably be your best bet realistically in going at medical school admission. The state heavily favors Texas residents and there are 8 (correct me if I'm wrong) medical schools in the state alone. Tuition will be much cheaper and you will find the application process far less stressful by competing mainly with in state residents for a vast majority of spots at all 8 schools.

The other option of course is I suppose to go back to undergrad as an informal post-bacc and take a regiment of upper division science courses (microbiology, toxicology, biochemistry etc) part time while recuperating from your chemotherapy. Another option is retaking past troubled courses that you haven't done so already and start making mental notes of which D.O. SMP programs will take repeats as your final grade when doing GPA calculations. As Dr. Midlife said, your performance is key in these classes and in your situation, your health (physical and mental) is crucial. Afterward, if you can get it to 3.0 or at the very least close to with a very high upward trend, you can take 2-3 months off to register for the MCAT and take it right before the application cycle so can apply to SMP programs. I strongly advise linkage programs and DO programs if you want to be pretty realistic. Maybe it's a false stereotype but I truly feel that they do consider the whole applicant more than their allopathic counterparts but again, I could be very wrong.

My main problem with your post is what I highlighted in bold above. You state that money is an issue (assuming from the no loans comment and living out of your car) then why would you send applications to schools that you realize you cannot even attend because of financial issues? Why spend money on an MCAT that you just took on a whim? I apologize if this is a false "accusation" on my part but these questions just puzzled me when reading your post but a 2 on verbal seems very difficult to do. Anyway if you don't feel like answering these questions (they're just curious) then you have absolutely no need to.

Oh yes, please also post what is financially acceptable for you in terms of tuition as it would benefit in what programs to start aiming for should you decide to pursue the undergrad workup and SMP route.

 

[DrMidlife]

That said, I think Dr. Midlife offers the best advice in the Texas plan. Texas is ideal for many reasons for medical school applicants and in your particular case, it's 10 year policy of white washing your entire academic background would probably be your best bet realistically in going at medical school admission. The state heavily favors Texas residents and there are 8 (correct me if I'm wrong) medical schools in the state alone. Tuition will be much cheaper and you will find the application process far less stressful by competing mainly with in state residents for a vast majority of spots at all 8 schools.

Don't get too excited about fresh start - the 10 years refers to how much time has passed since you finished undergrad and you have to start college over as a freshman. So if determinated graduated in 2008, then he/she would have to wait until 2018 to start over. I don't advise it.

 

[determinated]

The other option of course is I suppose to go back to undergrad as an informal post-bacc and take a regiment of upper division science courses (microbiology, toxicology, biochemistry etc) part time while recuperating from your chemotherapy. Another option is retaking past troubled courses that you haven't done so already and start making mental notes of which D.O. SMP programs will take repeats as your final grade when doing GPA calculations....

...Afterward, if you can get it to 3.0 or at the very least close to with a very high upward trend...

...You state that money is an issue (assuming from the no loans comment and living out of your car) then why would you send applications to schools that you realize you cannot even attend because of financial issues? ...

Oh yes, please also post what is financially acceptable for you in terms of tuition as it would benefit in what programs to start aiming for should you decide to pursue the undergrad workup and SMP route.

well.... i dont think i want to wait 10 years until 2018 to restart my bachelors degree and such.... ill be in my mid 30's by then... but its definitely something new that i learned about and thank you guys for that...

im having a hard time understanding what it means to go back as an undergrad and take an informal post-bacc........ undergrad is pre-bachelors and post-bacc is done after bachelors right?... if you could elaborate on this it would be huge...

and as far as retaking past troubled classes... so basically your saying i go and just attend classes at say, a community college? or take classes as a student at-large somewhere?

im also having difficulty understanding how my GPA is to be raised in anyway since i have already graduated.... are you saying that they will look at all the GPAs and then calculate a new cumulative based on what they see?

getting it to 3.0 or showing a high upward trend is definitely not going to be an issue... ive learned my lesson and will definitely get a 4.0 (or close to that) because i know im capable of it... and i know im capable of it because i have been told my whole entire life that i am intellegent and i have also seen that when i try hard i do get A's even in difficult classes... my problem during undergrad was that i was a drunkard and a pot head and i wanted to party more than study... just being honest... and i think part of the reason why is because i had a very unstable upbringing.. and by that i mean i moved around alot and lost many friends and i was young and wanted .... well... friends.... for example, my parents moved me around SO much during my high school years that i went to FIVE different high schools on THREE different continents.... just an example... before that is another story in itself...

well honestly, the whole living in the car situation is a little lengthy to explain... i went to a very expensive undergraduate school and i took private loans to fund it... now those private loans are back, i have cancer, no job, and cant keep up with it.... the reason why i applied to those offshore schools was because they have loan companies but now my credit is in the garbage so i dont qualify anymore, also my father who was willing to help (and had a good job) just was recently laid off... and hes old... so i dont think hes getting a job anytime soon, if at all... he is willing to put up the house for my education but i dont agree with it because its not like these are US schools that have GREAT track records and stuff... my only hope in that case is that one of the schools that interviewed me that DOES have Title IV loans accepts me.... which i dont think is going to happen....

as far as what is financialy acceptable to me.... regarding the undergrad workup and SMP route (which im not entirely clear about yet, maybe once i start looking at actual programs i will be more sure)... it doesnt matter because i will have to take loans and look for assistance from the government anyway...

i just want to fix this problem of mine (GPA), get done with this cancer garbage, and get on with my life... times are tough for everyone, i understand, but my situation is getting very dire and i will not settle for my almost useless college degree and no real career if i can help it.... i cant do that to myself or my family.... i truley appreciate your help it means alot to me, and i will try harder and harder everyday to improve myself...

i am even already starting to read USMLE books and getting into medical school subject matter so that eventually when i FINALLY make it to med school i will have a head start... i study everyday, i am afraid to go out because the last time i did, i developed a neutropenic fever (cause of chemo) becuase i contracted an infection and had to spend a week in the hospital and came very close to death... so now i just study on my own since no institution so far is seemingly in reach.... once the chemo is over my body will return to normal and i will be able to enjoy all the things i did before this treatment regiment... and i am a very out doorsy person....

anyway... ill be back to check if theres any update on this thread... thanks again... it really really means alot to me...

 

[deleted248403]

im also having difficulty understanding how my GPA is to be raised in anyway since i have already graduated.... are you saying that they will look at all the GPAs and then calculate a new cumulative based on what they see?

Your AMCAS GPA will be any class you have ever taken at a post-HS institution and will include any CC classes or classes you took while in HS but through a college.

Also, something to think about - if you are afraid to go outside then you can't get patient contact, or clinical experience or ECs.

Having a 4.0 and 32+ with nothing in the form of ECs or human contact will never get you into medical school.

 

[determinated]

Your AMCAS GPA will be any class you have ever taken at a post-HS institution and will include any CC classes or classes you took while in HS but through a college.

Also, something to think about - if you are afraid to go outside then you can't get patient contact, or clinical experience or ECs.

Having a 4.0 and 32+ with nothing in the form of ECs or human contact will never get you into medical school.

i dont think you understand what chemotherapy is all about... if you read a little more carefully at my last post you will see that i indicated that this is a temporary thing, and that my immunity will return to normal levels once im done... if you wanna argue this then you will be arguing with the words of a very good oncologist, because i have asked him this multiple times... hodgkins lymphoma is a curable disease... please do more careful analysis next time...when you are on chemo your immune system takes a huge hit... because thats what chemo does... its poison....

secondly, i have lots of Extra Curriculars and many many volunteer experiences.... i also have other clinical experience, for instance i used to work in a pathology lab very closely with the doctors there... in fact those same pathologists are the ones who diagnosed my condition....

im glad that you brought up the point though... thanks...

 

[deleted248403]

Thanks bud - i realize what chemo is, i work for a division of oncology.

I wasn't sure the timeline between when you are scheduled to finish chemo and plan on attending medical school.

And ancient ECs aren't as significant as newer ECs so don't rely on old ones if you have nothing new.

And lose the attitude.

 

[jslo85]

Check your inbox, just PMed you.

 

[determinated]

Thanks bud - i realize what chemo is, i work for a division of oncology.

I wasn't sure the timeline between when you are scheduled to finish chemo and plan on attending medical school.

And ancient ECs aren't as significant as newer ECs so don't rely on old ones if you have nothing new.

And lose the attitude.

i wouldnt catagorize my ECs as ancient, but recent... sorry if your feelings got hurt...

 

[deleted248403]

My feelings weren't hurt, i just didn't need the condescending tone about what cancer or chemo is. It was completely unnecessary.

And I didn't say your ECs were ancient but with a GPA of 2.67 you are looking at 2-3 yrs of solid course work (or however long it takes you to get your cGPA above 3.0) and then an SMP. It sounds like this will commence following your chemo course.

So you are looking at 3-4 yrs before applying to med school and assuming you get a better MCAT.

Therefore, any ECs from like 2yrs ago will be pretty old. Hence my comment.

Think about the age of your ECs by the time you apply.

 

[Flapjacks]

Your second post on this forum would have been a great piece of rhetoric had you used better transition words and sentence structure. It would be a great Personal Statement, if you asked me.

Also, what they mean about "informal post-bacc" is reapplying as a Non-Degree seeking student back at your institution where you graduated from OR a local one and retaking classes you got Cs in and/or taking upper level science classes. I am doing that right now actually.