Is it smart to reapply to programs later on?

[thatkidavid]

Hello SDN!

A little backstory, I have always wanted to become a physician, but never really took the notion seriously. Hung by a thread the last 2 years of high school and this continued onto community college where I took classes, did terribly (2.98 GPA) but then moved away from home and did extremely well (was able to raise it to a 3.2GPA in less then two years for my school, but overall 3.1) and just graduated with a B.A in Psychology. This little victory (albeit small) awoke this confidence in me and I seriously started to take the notion of becoming a doctor more seriously. Looking back I should have stayed an extra year or 2 to take the necessary classes, but too late now! Moved back home and started researching post bac opportunities.

I have no clinical / hospital or shadowing experience (have started researching, and applied to some programs) but have tons of leadership experience through work, but that probably wont count for much. I believe I have a compelling personal statement for my poor performance and or wanting to pursue a degree in medicine.

So my question is, some applications are going to be opening up in September if I am not mistaken. Would it be wise to apply to these programs now with these minimal experience accumulated so far and take my chances that maybe I can get into a less competitive program and do well there? If I don't get in, take those next 6 or so months and gather as much experience as I can and possibly shadow (if I can find it) and reapply to the same programs later on? Would it reflect poorly on me to do so and it would be wiser to just not apply? Or will it not affect and or reflect poorly on me later on?


I do apologize, ive done my best to research the topic.

Any help in the matter is appreciated.

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[RubicStorm]

With a 3.1, you'll probably need a SMP of some sort. That's generally a last ditch effort so you really want to be sure of medicine to pursue that route. SMP is like a 90-95% worthless career degree if you don't go to medicine. The lack of clinical exposure makes your pursuit of medicine suspect and you'll want everything taken care of before you take a SMP and then apply right after the program. Your work might be one of your strong suits if you end up applying as non-trad. Employment is excellent for showing maturity, growth and one of the best ways to mitigate poor undergrad from years before.

My take is that you should wait, get clinical experience, take MCAT and then apply to post bac. Realistically, you're not and should not expect to get into medical school soon.

 

[thatkidavid]

From my understanding an SMP requires some science background? Or am I mistaken in that?

I do plan to get clinical experience and dip my feet into that realm and I agree it isn't realistic to want to rush this, but it was a suggestion my friend who is in the process of applying to med schools suggested (to apply post bacs this cycle). And it got me thinking if that was a possible cycle.

But would it be wise to take the MCAT so early in the game before I take the prepatory BIO and CHEM classes?

 

[Akech]

I'm not trying to be mean, but how do you figure that you did extremely well after community college? Raising your grade by .1 after two years of coursework doesn't seem like you've figured out what you were doing wrong.

I think the best option for you would be to try and sign up as a non-degree seeking student at the college you went to and take the pre-reqs that way instead of at a formal post-bacc. With your grades being the way they are, there's serious reason to believe that you might not be able to handle a rigid, fast-paced schedule slamming you with hard sciences, and having the ability to create your own schedule in any way you want will be a good way to test the waters. Take the pre-reqs, and retake any F's or D's you might have gotten along the way. It's most likely too late to start this Fall semester, but you can probably start in the Spring, so spend this time fleshing out the other parts of your application like volunteering and shadowing.

Assuming you don't have any pre-reqs completed already, doing everything along with retaking coursework you didn't do well in will take you at least two years if you don't do summer and winter courses. After this, take whatever time off you need to study for the MCAT and continue volunteering and researching lightly on the side. Your aim is to get to the point where you have at least a 3.4 cGPA and sGPA with the retakes, as well as a 27+ on your MCAT score. With that, you have a pretty good shot at most of the DO schools.

An SMP is a program that has you taking medical school courses and being graded against the University's medical class. Not recommended unless you already have at least 2 years of strong upwards trend to show that whatever was holding you back was gone now, and even then it's extremely risky. You bomb an SMP, and your medical school aspirations are done for good.

 

[thatkidavid]

It isn't anything to brag about, heck nothing to be proud about. But at least for me it signaled that I was capable of achieving "better" then I had thought I was capable of.

Maybe "extremely well" was a poor choice of words on my part.

 

[Akech]

It isn't anything to brag about, heck nothing to be proud about. But at least for me it signaled that I was capable of achieving "better" then I had thought I was capable of.

Maybe "extremely well" was a poor choice of words on my part.

Again, I didn't say that to rag on you or anything. Its good to be proud of improvement, but even more so it's very important to manage your expectations as to where you're at and how far you have to go. It's definitely possible for you to get into medical school; your grades aren't as bad as some people who have successfully done SMP's or non-trads that didn't do so well in undergrad but have turned it around. But it's going to be an uphill battle to prove yourself; these people almost always either have years of fantastic grades and a high MCAT score to show they've genuinely fixed their problem, or EC's that really shine. Generally, it's a bit of each, but the former is easier to control for.