In need of advice going into senior year of Undergrad

[Wahoo1125]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello everyone,
I am a pre-med student at UVA and I am seeking advice on what I should do for this year and for the year after I graduate.
First I will give a little background. I never anticipated going into medicine before I came to college. I was planning to major in Econ for my first year of school and I took basic classes such as econ, Psychology, English, calculus, and non science major science classes like environmental science and astronomy to fulfill my requirements. I started to have health problems my first year and ended first year with around a 2.85 cGPA and a W on my transcript from a psychology class I fell behind in. That summer my health worsened and I was diagnosed with a chiari malformation and syrinx cysts in my spinal cord. I reduced my credit load in the Fall and had brain surgery. After going through the surgery and recovery process I fell in love with medicine. As a child I never went to the doctor and never had much contact with healthcare due to not having health insurance until I was required to have a policy when I entered college. I made the choice to pursue medicine and signed up for a heavy science course load for the spring semester. I was still recovering and soon I was way in over my head in my science classes and ended up making Cs in both intro chem and intro bio. I assured myself that I wouldn't let it happen again and signed up for another science heavy semester. After missing and being in a bad psychological state from a death in my immediate family the next fall I did very poorly in my science classes making a D in Chem 2 and a D+ in Bio 2. I bounced back last spring, however, making a 3.3 semester GPA and retaking Chem 2 to get a B. My cGPA is now up to a 2.799 and I just finished Orgo I in a summer session. Unfortunately I could not keep up with the fast paced 4 week Orgo class and I made a D+ in lecture and a B- in lab. I now have around a 2.7 cGPA. I am taking another Summer course starting next week in Anatomy and I expect it to go much better as I have had the same professor for the first half of the A&P series.
My biggest questions are regarding what should I do to improve my situation in my last year of undergrad and what post bacc/SMP options would best fit these circumstances. I am currently signed up to take 2 upper level bio courses, physics, and biostats in the fall and plan on finishing physics, 2 more upper level bio classes and some electives in the spring. I have tried meeting with UVA prehealth advising but they are not available in the summer months. Would it be wise to go ahead and retake Bio and Orgo in the fall or would I be better off taking physics and retaking elsewhere after I graduate. I ultimately would like to stay in Virginia after graduation and complete an SMP but I do not seem to meet the grade requirements for most of them.

I am attaching an unofficial transcript to the post in case anything above is confusing. As far as ECs go I have just become a certified EMT and will start volunteering soon, I do fungus research in the UVA biology department, worked in patient transport for over a year now, and I have shadowed in many specialty areas where I am sure I will have great LORs. I have thought of taking my MCAT this winter or spring but I'm not sure anymore if it is a good idea.

I also want to clarify that I understand that I dug this hole and I am not looking for any sympathy. I am just determined to make it into med school somewhere and achieve my dream to become a doctor.

Thank you for your time and advice!

 

[DocJanItor]

First off, Go Hokies!

Secondly, I'm sorry to hear about all that issues that you've been having during school. It's never easy to deal with health and family issues while trying to study. I hope everything is going well for you now.

After looking over your story and your transcript, my first advice to you is this: slow down. It feels like you're trying to fit everything in by your expected graduation date. You're going to need time to adjust your study habits to more science based courses. A 4 week course in Orgo I is, honestly, pretty insane. Many students struggle even with the normal semester course, so cutting the time down to 25% makes it almost impossible. It's still going to take about 3 more years for you to get into med school so don't try to rush things.

As for the MCAT this fall, I think it would be unwise. You need to show full dedication to getting as close to a 4.0 as possible for the rest of your collegiate career to show that you have righted the ship. If you can do well in your courses this fall and next spring then I'd advise you to study and take the MCAT in the summer well after courses are over. ONLY take the MCAT when you have taken several full length practice tests which show you're scoring in your target range. The median accepted MCAT for MD schools is around 511, the median for DO schools is around 503.

I ran some rough numbers of your GPA (I assumed you got a B in Intro Psych this summer, so apologies if that's low). You now have 90 credits and a 2.72 GPA. If you take another 30 credits at a perfect 4.0, you'd have a 3.04 GPA. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it shows that you have fixed your academic issues and are now performing at the top of your game. Second, 3.0 is generally the cut off for acceptance into most graduate/SMP programs.

Finally, don't be afraid to use community college credits during the summer. I have found NVCC professors to be much more engaged and helpful than many university professors. I think a large part of that is because teaching is all they do whereas university professors have so much more going on (research, grad students, etc.).

Hope this helps, and feel free to reach out.

 

[Wahoo1125]

First off, Go Hokies!

Secondly, I'm sorry to hear about all that issues that you've been having during school. It's never easy to deal with health and family issues while trying to study. I hope everything is going well for you now.

After looking over your story and your transcript, my first advice to you is this: slow down. It feels like you're trying to fit everything in by your expected graduation date. You're going to need time to adjust your study habits to more science based courses. A 4 week course in Orgo I is, honestly, pretty insane. Many students struggle even with the normal semester course, so cutting the time down to 25% makes it almost impossible. It's still going to take about 3 more years for you to get into med school so don't try to rush things.

As for the MCAT this fall, I think it would be unwise. You need to show full dedication to getting as close to a 4.0 as possible for the rest of your collegiate career to show that you have righted the ship. If you can do well in your courses this fall and next spring then I'd advise you to study and take the MCAT in the summer well after courses are over. ONLY take the MCAT when you have taken several full length practice tests which show you're scoring in your target range. The median accepted MCAT for MD schools is around 511, the median for DO schools is around 503.

I ran some rough numbers of your GPA (I assumed you got a B in Intro Psych this summer, so apologies if that's low). You now have 90 credits and a 2.72 GPA. If you take another 30 credits at a perfect 4.0, you'd have a 3.04 GPA. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it shows that you have fixed your academic issues and are now performing at the top of your game. Second, 3.0 is generally the cut off for acceptance into most graduate/SMP programs.

Finally, don't be afraid to use community college credits during the summer. I have found NVCC professors to be much more engaged and helpful than many university professors. I think a large part of that is because teaching is all they do whereas university professors have so much more going on (research, grad students, etc.).

Hope this helps, and feel free to reach out.

Thanks for your reply. I actually replaced Psych with the A and P class I’m starting on Monday that I feel very good about. I just had a few quick questions for you. Looking at my planned courses for the fall, would it be wise for me to go ahead with physics or would I be better off taking that post graduation and retaking bio or orgo I to improve my low grades? In order to graduate I need 3 core bio classes ( genetics, cell bio, and evolution ecology), bio stat, and 1 bio elective that would be fulfilled with neurobio in the fall. I am having trouble deciding if I should pack premed retakes/prerequisites around these or to pack in gpa boosters. Thanks for the advice again!

 

[DocJanItor]

Thanks for your reply. I actually replaced Psych with the A and P class I’m starting on Monday that I feel very good about. I just had a few quick questions for you. Looking at my planned courses for the fall, would it be wise for me to go ahead with physics or would I be better off taking that post graduation and retaking bio or orgo I to improve my low grades? In order to graduate I need 3 core bio classes ( genetics, cell bio, and evolution ecology), bio stat, and 1 bio elective that would be fulfilled with neurobio in the fall. I am having trouble deciding if I should pack premed retakes/prerequisites around these or to pack in gpa boosters. Thanks for the advice again!

If I were you, I'd take only as many courses as you need to graduate plus whatever GPA boosters you need to maintain your full course load. I'd save the pre-reqs for post-graduation and take them at a CC. It's cheaper, there are more class options, and you can get better professors. Right now your focus should be on getting the best grades and graduating.

 

[Wahoo1125]

If I were you, I'd take only as many courses as you need to graduate plus whatever GPA boosters you need to maintain your full course load. I'd save the pre-reqs for post-graduation and take them at a CC. It's cheaper, there are more class options, and you can get better professors. Right now your focus should be on getting the best grades and graduating.

Last ? Do you think taking any of these courses online through the Virginia community college system would be a bad idea?

 

[DocJanItor]

I think taking them through VCCS is fine. I took all of mine from NVCC (which is part of VCCS) and I felt like they prepared me well for the MCAT. A word of caution though: since I had been out of school a long time and these grades were significantly better than my previous grades, some schools advised me that they would want to see some upper level coursework as well. This would prove that I could handle the academic rigor of "real" university courses.

So my advice to you is to do very well in your last 2 semesters at UVA. This will make is clear that your performance improvement is a result of hard work and not just taking easier courses at a CC.