In need of some advice.

[chicalatina06]

Since I can remember my dream was to become a physician. Since I have entered University, I have hoped to be able to pursue this dream and keep my GPA high. Unfortunately, my gpa is currently sitting at a 2.48 and by seeing it being so low, it has discouraged me from taking the MCATs and pushed me further away from my dream. I am going to be entering my senior year of my undergrad studies and am looking for some possible way of perhaps even coming close to being competitive enough for Med schools. I would love to be able to get into a Med school in Canada (as that is where I'm from) even if it takes me a few more years than what I would have hoped for. I have gotten some encouragement from my family to attempt the MCATs and perhaps find another route to reach my dreams, perhaps a Master's program. Am I a lost cause? I really could use the advice.

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[lrkoehle]

With you entering your senior year, it will be very difficult to raise that GPA, even with a few semesters of straight A's the AVERAGE won't change much. I had to learn that the hard way in high school. The other thing to consider is if those low grades that resulted in your low GPA are in pre-med classes, then you will have to work incredibly hard to do well on your MCAT.

Do your best to stay positive and work hard, because you have dug yourself such a deep hole that it may take a while to get out of it. Perhaps you can consider the D.O. route too, actually that is likely your best bet. Good luck!

 

[WannaBePreMed]

I feel your pain.

I really don't know what you could do in your situation.
The only advice I can give you is, what ever you do, work
your ass off.

Btw your situation reminds me of a friend at school, is your
name Stephanie

 

[AlanAlanine]

I would not attempt the MCAT if you did poorly in your pre-reqs aka (o)chem, bio, physics. Even if you did well on the MCAT, it would not negate your gpa. You should look into post-bac programs.

 

[chicalatina06]

Do your best to stay positive and work hard, because you have dug yourself such a deep hole that it may take a while to get out of it. Perhaps you can consider the D.O. route too, actually that is likely your best bet. Good luck!

With a D.O. would it be easy enough to practice across Canada? If not, are there any other routes that I could take to get into an allopathic med school and earn the M.D.?

 

[chicalatina06]

I would not attempt the MCAT if you did poorly in your pre-reqs aka (o)chem, bio, physics. Even if you did well on the MCAT, it would not negate your gpa. You should look into post-bac programs.

Are there any post-bac programs in Canada? I'm willing to go to the states if need be.

 

[lrkoehle]

With a D.O. would it be easy enough to practice across Canada? If not, are there any other routes that I could take to get into an allopathic med school and earn the M.D.?

I am not at all familiar with Canadian schools/mediccal stuff, sorry. To be totally realistic, I highly doubt your GPA would get your passed most cut offs at any allopathic medical school, unless you have a super good MCAT. Even with a super good MCAT it is likely you would only receive some further consideration, at which point your extra curriculars might be considered. I know it sucks, but with the huge number of applications medical schools get, they pretty much have to whittle down the number of applications by looking superficially at only GPA and MCAT. If you are truely dedicated to becoming a physician, then you CAN make it happen, but it will require even more hard work in your very difficult situation.

 

[Jonnymed]

As people have stated, it will be very hard to bring your GPA up enough to have a good shot at an allopathic school. Your best bet is DO, and I'm not too familiar with Canadian DO programs, or how the DO will transfer. If you're serious about your commitment to medicine, you will not only get all A's in your final year, but get involved with some serious extra curriculars that make you stand out above and beyond the rest. (I'm talking well beyond the required hospital volunteering and shadowing). Getting a stellar MCAT will also be a nice bonus, as well as a post-bacc program to boost the GPA over that 3.0 mark.

I know this is going to sound harsh, but hear me out.

Were there any reasons that led you to get a low GPA? Hopefully not lack of focus / dedication / ability / having better things to do, as I hear medical school is rather rigorous. If your goal has been to be a physician "since you can remember" were you aware of the competitiveness of your preferred field? As your past GPA can no longer be changed, you'll need to make up for it in the ways that people have been suggesting. I'd also consider taking at least a year off in order to focus on rocking those extra curriculars. Trying to jam everything in as well as getting that needed 4.0 and awesome MCAT will be tough. If you really, really want medicine, you'll go out and grab it. However, there are many aspects of medicine that are found in many other fields, and possibly all this time spent going for medicine just isn't worth it. I'd say make sure medicine is what you really want, and go from there.

Lastly, unless you are talking about taking more than one MCAT at a time, you will be taking your MCAT, not MCATs.

 

[stixx]

If you have any intention of returning to Canada to practice, do not get a D.O. Yes, the climate may have been getting nicer for osteopaths recently but it's still not pretty. It's not worth the risk, in my opinion, when you could take a few years to either get a graduate degree (if you want a Canadian MD) or at least a post bacc (if you want an American MD).

 

[daniellema13]

If you are serious about medicine then my personal advice is to forget about the MCAT for now and focus on a flawless senior year + great ECs (go for quality over quantity...pick some things you're passionate about and are willing to devote long term time to). Spend next summer studying for MCAT and continuing ECs, take the MCAT at the end of summer then enroll in a post-bac program (not sure how this works in canada but if you couldnt do it there maybe you could here?) for 1-2 years. Work your arse off for GREAT grades. Research will help your cause also. THEN consider applying. This gives you plenty of time to retake MCAT if you didnt do so hot the first time, but if you did, even better, plus one less thing to worry about. It may seem like a lot, but pace yourself. It will all be worth it if medicine is your dream. In this scenario, provided you put in the time/effort, you could have 3 great years to make-up for your first three at UNI = nice upward trend.

 

[chicalatina06]

Thanks daniellema13, I will definitely keep that in mind. It has been a help to me and an encouragment.

Thanks to everyone else as well.

Any other advice would be welcome as well.