Is this possible?

[twelveyrs]

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So here it is...

30 yr old non-trad. Been in corporate America, (nothing related to medicine) for 8 years working for "the man" and also owning my own business and have been considering a change for a while now. I have 111 credit hrs from a state university which means that yes, I never officially graduated. I am 9 hrs short of my business degree from 8 years ago. The biggest problem that I see for my chances is the fact that my uGPA for these 111 hrs is 2.8. However, the upside is no physical sciences to date. I also have one semester of calc (B) and one semester of stats (B). After researching the site it seems that my only real option is finishing my 9 hrs to get my bac degree and simultaneously do informal post bac route since I don't have the undergrad degree yet and my gpa is below 3.0. So the question is, assuming I go back and get my business degree and approx. 40-50 hrs of science prereqs, do I have shot with a projected gpa slightly over 3.0 and a science gpa of 3.6+? Will the fact that I never graduated over 8 yrs ago hurt my chances? I know DO is more likely then MD but as a non-trad how much is the 2.8 gpa from almost 10 years ago discounted? Is this a total waste of time and money for me, my wife, and children or should I follow my dream? I appreciate all the guidance.

 

[DrMidlife]

Hi -

If it's what you want, and you have the capability, then it can be done.

First thing to do is get into clinical volunteering. Pick up a 4 hr/wk gig in an ER etc. Get exposed to the daily grind (and smells) and get access to physicians. Ask questions. Introspect. Get some experience that validates your ambition.

Second thing to do is take a night class, math or English, and get an A. There's nothing in your record, so far, that demonstrates you're an A student. We see a lot of folks here (I'm one) decide they're A students all of a sudden because they really want to be doctors, and it simply doesn't happen that way. If you can get an A in one class, on top of your job & family commitments, in my view that's permission to take next steps.

Third thing to do is consider what you're willing to do to get into med school, and whether your family supports you or not. Mostly likely you'll need to move. Most likely you'll need to be very broke and very much in debt. Most likely you'll struggle with time commitments. Undoubtedly there will be some hating it.

Two pieces of advice that helped me, considerably, during the over-30 GPA comeback planning stages:
1. If you'd be happy doing anything other than medicine, for the love of all that's holy do the other thing.
2. Once medical training starts, having doubts isn't an "if", it's a "when". For the sake of planning, assume that every other day you'll question whether you chose wisely in pursuing medicine.

Take a look at Texas Fresh Start. You can wipe out your transcript and start over, after establishing TX residency (only useful if you stay in TX for med school). There are innumerable risks in pursuing this, but you ought to know of it as an option.

I understand the urge to do a responsible quantitative analysis with pros and cons by which you can make a commitment. But what you'll find is that there's no dividing line - it's a series of small steps, where you're either successful or not. You can always find an anecdote of somebody in your situation (or a more difficult one) who made it through med school. Whether it's right for you isn't a yes/no question, it's a continuum on which you'll drift back and forth.

One last thing: don't watch any TV shows about doctors anymore. Get any fictional influence out of your way.

Best of luck to you.

 

[twelveyrs]

I greatly appreciate the insight. I did briefly look into the Texas Fresh Start program, and as you said, it looks like an 'all or nothing' approach. Additionally, about half of my undergrad work falls short of the ten year mark that is required, (I was enrolled in 98-02). For those reasons, I think that is not an option for me.

I'm hoping that raising my cGPA to 3.1 w/ science GPA in the 3.7+ range, along with my background of forgoing a well paying job to pursue my ambitions at the 30 + range will help in my quest.

I am enrolled in chem and bio this summer and will begin volunteer work asap. I'm thinking this should be good to get my feet wet.

 

[BennysBlanco]

So here it is...

30 yr old non-trad. Been in corporate America, (nothing related to medicine) for 8 years working for "the man" and also owning my own business and have been considering a change for a while now. I have 111 credit hrs from a state university which means that yes, I never officially graduated. I am 9 hrs short of my business degree from 8 years ago. The biggest problem that I see for my chances is the fact that my uGPA for these 111 hrs is 2.8. However, the upside is no physical sciences to date. I also have one semester of calc (B) and one semester of stats (B). After researching the site it seems that my only real option is finishing my 9 hrs to get my bac degree and simultaneously do informal post bac route since I don't have the undergrad degree yet and my gpa is below 3.0. So the question is, assuming I go back and get my business degree and approx. 40-50 hrs of science prereqs, do I have shot with a projected gpa slightly over 3.0 and a science gpa of 3.6+? Will the fact that I never graduated over 8 yrs ago hurt my chances? I know DO is more likely then MD but as a non-trad how much is the 2.8 gpa from almost 10 years ago discounted? Is this a total waste of time and money for me, my wife, and children or should I follow my dream? I appreciate all the guidance.

Go for DO, you can do it. Apply MD but better chances with DO.

Dude, I have a similar story, a bit higher GPA. I went back pulled 4.0 through nearly 50 units, all science. Applying soon.

You can do it. Kill the MCAT.

It will be hard with a family though, pre-med is more time demanding than a job because there are so many small ECs and stuff.

Honestly, if I had a family I would think twice about it. The money will be a killer unless she is bringing home some $. Its pretty tough road without all the extra stuff (family, bills, etc).