Is there still hope **realistically**?

[Formicity]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Currently at a CC. Had a really rough start due to carrying over bad habits from highschool into my adult life. 1st year had a 3.00 gpa, then it dropped down to a 2.61 in my first semester of my second year (with a dropped science class). And then I ended up dropping out by the second semester of that same year and withdrew from all my classes.


I went back the following semester, (Current), and I am doing well with a clear mind and goals of what I want to accomplish.

My gpa of 2.61 consists of 31 credits taken so far, but I'm worried that I've destroyed my chances before even starting the path. Withdrawing from a science class+dropping out (at a community college at that) for no serious reason looks bad and I have no legitimate reason to explain it.

My goal: To graduate from CC next year and transfer to a local 4 year university. There I plan on taking the premed courses and the necessary ECs, and hopefully do well.

What I am doing to reach that goal: I'm currently only taking 12 credits now, but I'm doing well in 3/4 classes. A's in the 3, while a C in the 4th. I'm still trying to completely get rid of my bad habits, which is the reason for my poor grade in the 4th class. But I'm making a serious effort to bring that grade up.

I plan on completing the rest of the necessary classes I need to graduate, and hopefully bring my GPA up to at least 2.9. I am also starting a volunteer position at a local clinic at the start of November.

Is medical school still a realistic goal despite my very rough start? I'm not an URM, I never faced any hardships, I have the same old bland story of depression as your average guy in his 20s, I was just lazy. Period.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

It's going to be a very tough uphill battle from here on out. Anything less than a 3.5 GPA is lethal for most MD schools, unless you have a killer MCAT score. Continue to ace your courses and you may have a good shot at DO schools.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Just to clarify.. your career is far from over, now it'll just be more difficult. Finish your undergrad career with a bang and proceed with a DIY-Postbacc consisting of upper level science courses to fix your GPA. There are many schools that reward re-invention.

 

[907914]

Currently at a CC. Had a really rough start due to carrying over bad habits from highschool into my adult life. 1st year had a 3.00 gpa, then it dropped down to a 2.61 in my first semester of my second year (with a dropped science class). And then I ended up dropping out by the second semester of that same year and withdrew from all my classes.


I went back the following semester, (Current), and I am doing well with a clear mind and goals of what I want to accomplish.

My gpa of 2.61 consists of 31 credits taken so far, but I'm worried that I've destroyed my chances before even starting the path. Withdrawing from a science class+dropping out (at a community college at that) for no serious reason looks bad and I have no legitimate reason to explain it.

My goal: To graduate from CC next year and transfer to a local 4 year university. There I plan on taking the premed courses and the necessary ECs, and hopefully do well.

What I am doing to reach that goal: I'm currently only taking 12 credits now, but I'm doing well in 3/4 classes. A's in the 3, while a C in the 4th. I'm still trying to completely get rid of my bad habits, which is the reason for my poor grade in the 4th class. But I'm making a serious effort to bring that grade up.

I plan on completing the rest of the necessary classes I need to graduate, and hopefully bring my GPA up to at least 2.9. I am also starting a volunteer position at a local clinic at the start of November.

Is medical school still a realistic goal despite my very rough start? I'm not an URM, I never faced any hardships, I have the same old bland story of depression as your average guy in his 20s, I was just lazy. Period.

I had a similar-ish trajectory. 2 years of 3.4, took a year off, 2 quarters of a 3.1 followed by a 2.6. Took 18 months off. Then 2 years of straight 4.0 (really 3.98, but who counts OChem 2?) and have seen a fairly successful cycle.

You are only 31 credits into a 120 credit degree. Theoretically, if you 4.0 those last 90 credits you could have a 3.65.

It is definitely an uphill battle but you are by no means out of the running. Make sure you have at least a C+ in the prereq classes, take upper division classes in place of the prereqs you got a B- or lower in, kill the MCAT, and don’t look back. You got this, OP.

 

[Goro]

Currently at a CC. Had a really rough start due to carrying over bad habits from highschool into my adult life. 1st year had a 3.00 gpa, then it dropped down to a 2.61 in my first semester of my second year (with a dropped science class). And then I ended up dropping out by the second semester of that same year and withdrew from all my classes.


I went back the following semester, (Current), and I am doing well with a clear mind and goals of what I want to accomplish.

My gpa of 2.61 consists of 31 credits taken so far, but I'm worried that I've destroyed my chances before even starting the path. Withdrawing from a science class+dropping out (at a community college at that) for no serious reason looks bad and I have no legitimate reason to explain it.

My goal: To graduate from CC next year and transfer to a local 4 year university. There I plan on taking the premed courses and the necessary ECs, and hopefully do well.

What I am doing to reach that goal: I'm currently only taking 12 credits now, but I'm doing well in 3/4 classes. A's in the 3, while a C in the 4th. I'm still trying to completely get rid of my bad habits, which is the reason for my poor grade in the 4th class. But I'm making a serious effort to bring that grade up.

I plan on completing the rest of the necessary classes I need to graduate, and hopefully bring my GPA up to at least 2.9. I am also starting a volunteer position at a local clinic at the start of November.

Is medical school still a realistic goal despite my very rough start? I'm not an URM, I never faced any hardships, I have the same old bland story of depression as your average guy in his 20s, I was just lazy. Period.

Read this:

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[Tennisgirl92]

Absolutely there is hope. But the further you dig the hole, the harder you will have to work to dig yourself out of it.

 

[Ben2019]

It's going to be a very tough uphill battle from here on out. Anything less than a 3.5 GPA is lethal for most MD schools, unless you have a killer MCAT score. Continue to ace your courses and you may have a good shot at DO schools.

Just out of curiosity, what is considered as a killer mcat? As my gpa is not high as well.

 

[Jeremy Bearimy]

It's going to be a very tough uphill battle from here on out. Anything less than a 3.5 GPA is lethal for most MD schools, unless you have a killer MCAT score. Continue to ace your courses and you may have a good shot at DO schools.

Just out of curiosity, what is considered as a killer mcat? As my gpa is not high as well.

Lethal is definitely a strong word. For what it's worth, I have below a 3.5 cGPA and below 3.4 sGPA with no SMP/post bacc and have been very grateful to secure some MD interviews. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to convert them to As yet, but I've been able to get a foot in the door in a few places, which is more than I expected. To @Ben2019, the higher MCAT the better of course, but I've seen the most success from people of my GPA who have MCATs of 514/515 and up, and a broad/smart school list.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Just out of curiosity, what is considered as a killer mcat? As my gpa is not high as well.

I'd say 514 and above

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

This data is a few years old but the average MCAT score for DO matriculants in 2016 was 502.17 and the average GPA was 3.56 (compared to 510.4 and 3.79 for MD matriculants). (about the same in 2017) Looks like you could definitely be in range for Do school.

Someone yell at me if this is bad advice but (assuming you don't turn out to be Einstein's reincarnation and walk out of here with a 518+ MCAT) as it stands, you will have a hard time making your app competitive for MD admissions, not such an uphill battle for DO though. However, this is just on the academic side. So you should not let nothing get in your way when it comes to getting the strongest app possible on every other front. What if you took classes part-time which would leave you time for a clinical job and research and a hell of a lot of clinical/unverserved volunteering over the remaining 4 years?

Also, you should look into how DO schools view taking science pre-reqs at community colleges. Could be totally fine for all I know.