Is it time to walk away?

[metoo]

Hi Everyone,

So I just got my grades for this semester of my MS program.

Pathology C+
Physiology B
Biochemistry C
Pharmacology C

This brought my GPA down from a 3.35 to a 2.89.

My undergraduate GPA is terrible. So bad that I'm embarrassed to say. I was accepted to the MS program because they allowed grade replacement for admissions purposes. I retook all my undergraduate classes and even upper division classes and got A's and B's. But the damage was done.

I have a good story. I was the first person in my family to even graduate high school and I was homeless for a time during my undergraduate. I'm also an URM.

I have really good EC's and a 22 MCAT. I only have one 2 credit hour class left in my MS. If I get an A, my GPA will only increase to a 2.99. I'm willing to retake the MCAT if you guys think I still have a chance. But I'm also 32 years old with a family. I'm willing to walk away from medicine if everyone thinks I've run out of luck. I emailed admissions at all 9 schools. I'm still waiting to hear back.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the help.

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[dr.phoot]

Mr. Metoo:

(1) Keep calm, and do NOT give up!

(2) Believe it or not, you actually have a shot. There are 9 schools and I'm willing to put money up that at least one will take you.

(3) I believe the bare minimum for schools are around the 2.5 mark, and you're way above it. It's established here that Temple screens and even their screen is believed to be set around 2.7 and again, you're above that.

Don't let your "investment" go to waste. At least apply and get turned down by all schools before giving up; at least then you can say you really tried. But I'm confident you'll get in.

(4) 22 MCAT sounds about average for podiatry school, I think.

(5) So you repeated a bunch of classes and got As and Bs? That sounds like an upward trend to me! Which is very good.

(6) How do you stay in grad school if your overall is below 3.0?

(7) Check your PM!

 

[Weirdy]

Hi Everyone,

So I just got my grades for this semester of my MS program.

Pathology C+
Physiology B
Biochemistry C
Pharmacology C

This brought my GPA down from a 3.35 to a 2.89.

My undergraduate GPA is terrible. So bad that I'm embarrassed to say. I was accepted to the MS program because they allowed grade replacement for admissions purposes. I retook all my undergraduate classes and even upper division classes and got A's and B's. But the damage was done.

I have a good story. I was the first person in my family to even graduate high school and I was homeless for a time during my undergraduate. I'm also an URM.

I have really good EC's and a 22 MCAT. I only have one 2 credit hour class left in my MS. If I get an A, my GPA will only increase to a 2.99. I'm willing to retake the MCAT if you guys think I still have a chance. But I'm also 32 years old with a family. I'm willing to walk away from medicine if everyone thinks I've run out of luck. I emailed admissions at all 9 schools. I'm still waiting to hear back.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the help.

Did you switch careers from something else to pre-med track?
Any chance you'd have the time/budget to retake the Cs and pass with a B?

Your course load was not easy by any means. There will always be someone younger and smarter who can take the same load and get all As with minimal effort, but case by case basis.

I believe if you can retake MCAT and get a 498+, as well as Bs in Patho, Biochem, and Pharm, you're bound to see at least 2-3 acceptances.

This however will take another year.

Gonna ask questions so you can think about it out loud:

Do you like podiatry enough to take another year and fix it? Finish school? Pass boards? Do a residency?
Do you have another fallback career that you can make decent money with and still enjoy it?
Does your family understand the level of focus and space you need in order to do well academically?

And most important of all, do you believe in yourself? Do you realize you have what it takes to do whatever the hell you want, make money, and still be happy raising your family no matter what your career is?

You have what it takes. You're a hard worker. Toss you into the den you'll figure a way out. But right now you need to sit down and do some self-reflecting.

What are your abilities? What are you doing wrong? Do you have the time and resources to fix it? Are you balls deep and ready to commit whether it be podiatry or another career?

We can't give you that on an internet forum. I'm sorry man.

 

[metoo]

Mr. Metoo:

(1) Keep calm, and do NOT give up!

(2) Believe it or not, you actually have a shot. There are 9 schools and I'm willing to put money up that at least one will take you.

(3) I believe the bare minimum for schools are around the 2.5 mark, and you're way above it. It's established here that Temple screens and even their screen is believed to be set around 2.7 and again, you're above that.

Don't let your "investment" go to waste. At least apply and get turned down by all schools before giving up; at least then you can say you really tried. But I'm confident you'll get in.

(4) 22 MCAT sounds about average for podiatry school, I think.

(5) So you repeated a bunch of classes and got As and Bs? That sounds like an upward trend to me! Which is very good.

(6) How do you stay in grad school if your overall is below 3.0?

(7) Check your PM!

Hi dr.phoot. Thank you for your reply. I'll be responding to your PM.

 

[dr.phoot]

Any chance you'd have the time/budget to retake the Cs and pass with a B?

Let's not forget there is no grade replacement in podiatry so what good will this really do? It will just get averaged. He showed an upward trend and already retook classes for a masters program

 

[SLCpod]

@metoo
The decision to pursue another career is one only you can make. Take some time to clear you head and then make a decision. You don't want to be one who spends 1,000's of hours and go into debt for something that might not be your fit. It's okay to pursue something else if your current plans aren't working out.

Whatever your decision, you're going to make it.

 

[Weirdy]

Let's not forget there is no grade replacement in podiatry so what good will this really do? It will just get averaged. He showed an upward trend and already retook classes for a masters program

GPA is one story, track record is another. GPA will get him in the door, but if they look per semester and see "oh he got Cs the first time but passed with all Bs the second time".

It'll reassure them that he can not only handle the load but do better than passing.

My sGPA was barely there in terms of getting me invites Once I was behind closed doors with them, they had my file open and dissected by semester + class, the heat was really on.

 

[dr.phoot]

GPA is one story, track record is another. GPA will get him in the door, but if they look per semester and see "oh he got Cs the first time but passed with all Bs the second time".

It'll reassure them that he can not only handle the load but do better than passing.

My sGPA was barely there in terms of getting me invites Once I was behind closed doors with them, they had my file open and dissected by semester + class, the heat was really on.

Lol

I hear you... but I think if you can get yourself an interview, you're in good shape. I'll rather get the opportunity to defend myself in-person than to just write my p/s and hope someone reads it and give me a chance. Face-to-face interactions are best when you're trying to convince someone.

OP mentioned he has a homeless story in his history so that could be used to explain some of the low grades. That's much better than "... I was too lazy and drunk 5 days out of 7 to go to class, study for exams and pass".

I'm probably going to have it worse than you when I interview. I don't have a trend. Some semesters I was up, others I was down. No correlation or trend. I plan to go with copies of my own transcripts along with sticky notes for each poor semester with notes on what happen during that time lol

I've had quite the journey, bro. I'll tell my story one day!

 

[dr.phoot]

@metoo
The decision to pursue another career is one only you can make. Take some time to clear you head and then make a decision. You don't want to be one who spends 1,000's of hours and go into debt for something that might not be your fit. It's okay to pursue something else if your current plans aren't working out.

Whatever your decision, you're going to make it.

Solid points. And I'll like to add the link to this post:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/dont-go-into-podiatry-or-medicine-for-the-money.1229953/

^^^^ He got accepted into podiatry and left after his first year to pursue a different career; was an active participant on this forum.

----

OP, you just sound down because of a bad semester and low grades. Your posts didn't suggest you're not sure if this is for you or you want something else but you're unsure.

It's up to you to decide, but your grades aren't bad; don't count yourself out yet

 

[metoo]

Did you switch careers from something else to pre-med track?
Any chance you'd have the time/budget to retake the Cs and pass with a B?

Your course load was not easy by any means. There will always be someone younger and smarter who can take the same load and get all As with minimal effort, but case by case basis.

I believe if you can retake MCAT and get a 498+, as well as Bs in Patho, Biochem, and Pharm, you're bound to see at least 2-3 acceptances.

This however will take another year.

Gonna ask questions so you can think about it out loud:

Do you like podiatry enough to take another year and fix it? Finish school? Pass boards? Do a residency?
Do you have another fallback career that you can make decent money with and still enjoy it?
Does your family understand the level of focus and space you need in order to do well academically?

And most important of all, do you believe in yourself? Do you realize you have what it takes to do whatever the hell you want, make money, and still be happy raising your family no matter what your career is?

You have what it takes. You're a hard worker. Toss you into the den you'll figure a way out. But right now you need to sit down and do some self-reflecting.

What are your abilities? What are you doing wrong? Do you have the time and resources to fix it? Are you balls deep and ready to commit whether it be podiatry or another career?

We can't give you that on an internet forum. I'm sorry man.

Hi Weirdy. I really appreciate everything you said. It's been a long road for me. Yes I'm only 32, but sometimes I feel like I'm 82. I've been married for 7 years and have a 5 year old son. I graduated college in 2010 with a BS in Psychology and took some extra time to fail a few general chemistry classes too. I've worked as a phlebotomist, a research technician for a pharmaceutical testing company, and a teacher for an adult education computer class. I even worked at Ross, my wife loved the employee discount I got. But it has taken me a while to retake all those classes I failed or got D/C's in. I also took cell bio., molecular bio. and genetics. I took gross anatomy at an allopathic med. school as an unclassified grad. student and got a B.

When I applied to this SMP I promised my wife that this would be it. That I would try my best in this program and retake the MCAT and apply summer 2018. I love medicine, but I love my wife more. I made a commitment to her. I've been a Scoutmaster for almost 2 years now. I'm also shadowing a podiatrist. I served a mission for the LDS Church in Guatemala. My Mission President was a podiatrist. I got a really bad cellulitis infection in my foot a month prior to leaving for my mission. I had to have surgery along with being hospitalized for 5 days. My Mission President took great care of my foot. He busted out the scalpel to trim my scar and gave me some orthotics.

I'm sorry for rambling. I appreciate you for listening.

* applying summer 2017

 

[metoo]

@metoo
The decision to pursue another career is one only you can make. Take some time to clear you head and then make a decision. You don't want to be one who spends 1,000's of hours and go into debt for something that might not be your fit. It's okay to pursue something else if your current plans aren't working out.

Whatever your decision, you're going to make it.

You're right. I guess I was just looking for some guidance or maybe a boost of confidence. I know confidence should come from within, but sometimes it's just too hard to find. I appreciate your reply.

 

[Weirdy]

Hi Weirdy. I really appreciate everything you said. It's been a long road for me. Yes I'm only 32, but sometimes I feel like I'm 82. I've been married for 7 years and have a 5 year old son. I graduated college in 2010 with a BS in Psychology and took some extra time to fail a few general chemistry classes too. I've worked as a phlebotomist, a research technician for a pharmaceutical testing company, and a teacher for an adult education computer class. I even worked at Ross, my wife loved the employee discount I got. But it has taken me a while to retake all those classes I failed or got D/C's in. I also took cell bio., molecular bio. and genetics. I took gross anatomy at an allopathic med. school as an unclassified grad. student and got a B.

When I applied to this SMP I promised my wife that this would be it. That I would try my best in this program and retake the MCAT and apply summer 2018. I love medicine, but I love my wife more. I made a commitment to her. I've been a Scoutmaster for almost 2 years now. I'm also shadowing a podiatrist. I served a mission for the LDS Church in Guatemala. My Mission President was a podiatrist. I got a really bad cellulitis infection in my foot a month prior to leaving for my mission. I had to have surgery along with being hospitalized for 5 days. My Mission President took great care of my foot. He busted out the scalpel to trim my scar and gave me some orthotics.

I'm sorry for rambling. I appreciate you for listening.

* applying summer 2017

More power to you.

I know I went a bit personal but its because I see a lot of myself in your story even though we have completely different ethnicities/backgrounds/religions.

But our struggles are the same.

Work hard and trust your training. Trust your discipline and the support of your beautiful family. They believe in you. Its time to believe in yourself.