Just Give Me Some Hope (But don't hold back) - Horrendously Low cGPA and sGPA, Med-school possible?

[PleaseHelpMeDoc]

Hi everyone,

It is the first time I ever post on a forum website, much less a forum site dedicated to aspiring professionals. Let me just start my story, and say that I will be overwhelmingly honest.

I started community college back in 2015, I stayed for a few semesters in college but quickly after first attending, my GPA took a massive dive. I thought at the time that college was not something that I was looking forward to because I was immature and dealt with personal issues. I don't ever want to use that as an excuse because clearly I am trying to push myself to be the best person that I can be.

To make long story short, I took on full-time jobs and thought that I would be able to handle work with full-time classes. Big mistake. I wasn't able to handle them but solely because I was not motivated enough to focus on my schoolwork. I even tried lowering my course load to part-time. I clearly just wasn't in it. Being young as I was, I was unhappy. As work progressed from retail to working in a big corporation, I realized, I hated it all. I wanted more meaning in my life. I wanted to help people but I also wanted to work on bettering my mental-self. I was also going through health problems where it would periodically result me in missing class as well. I did not have insurance or money to go see doctors. I didn't know what to do with my life, I didn't know how to progress forward. At this point in time, all I wanted to do was hide in my room and never come out. My last final the last semester of sophomore year. This is where everyone will go, "YIKES!".

I took Calculus and got a D. I took organic chem 1 and Physics 1 w/ Lab TWICE and received F's. I even took a film class and got an F. After several attempts, I knew that I was not mature enough to take on college.

A year later, I quit my full-time job with the big corporation and spent most of the year trying to figure out how I can march back into school full throttle. My credit went to s*** because I couldn't afford to pay my car loan anymore. It got re-poed and I downgraded to a payment-free 1991 Corolla (Couldn't be any more happy!). I was motivated, I didn't want to live my life being unhappy forever. I knew that I wanted to help people like I mentioned before, and my purpose became to give back to the under-deserved community. Considering that I had no insurance to help me through my health struggles, I dream of opening a clinic in the future that will target low-income families that need help. I would love to also eventually work in charity hospitals to help anyone I can. I'm not doing it for the money, and if I ever do receive money, I only want to help my family so that they never have to struggle again with financial issues.

Now, I am back in school doing my B.S. in Biology, and do an accredited Medical Assistant program (doing this for clinical exposure and to serve as a financial cushion for when I do my SMP) at the same time. Full-time for my bachelor's and Part-time (1 class or two) to do my medical assisting program. First semester back for Junior year I received a 4.0 and the second semester 3.14. During the second semester, I also juggled a part-time 15hr/wk job on campus (I need money to help expenses!) and volunteering weekly at a local children's hospital.

I am going through a hard-time wondering if in the long-run I'll be able to achieve my dream in making it into medical school. I know it's a long and hard struggle. The competition is fierce but I really am trying here. My expected outcome in the end after retaking my failed classes and doing a 1 year SMP is to obtain a cGPA of 3.0 and sGPA roughly around the same range. Mathematically speaking, my GPA cannot go any higher than that. I just hope admissions will look at my end trend and not focus specifically on my first two years of college.

So what are my chances? Any advice?

Also, if anyone knows, will my accredited medical assistant program help with my overall GPA in the end?

Thank-you so much and sorry for the long/sob story! I just really need help.

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[deleted1001426]

I’ll save everyone else the trouble of typing this. Take the mcat, do well in a post bac and come back here with your updated stats

 

[Goro]

I’ll save everyone else the trouble of typing this. Take the mcat, do well in a post bac and come back here with your updated stats

This, and read my post on reinvention for premeds

 

[DocOrBust2019]

Yep. Complete your B.S., need to get at least a 3.6, but ideally get a 4.0 finishing it up. Then do a DIY post-bacc with more upper level science classes. Take classes that mimic med school curriculum. Do well on the MCAT... And you probably have a shot at DO school. Depending on how much GPA repair you can do, MD school is also possible but unlikely.

 

[PleaseHelpMeDoc]

Yep. Complete your B.S., need to get at least a 3.6, but ideally get a 4.0 finishing it up. Then do a DIY post-bacc with more upper level science classes. Take classes that mimic med school curriculum. Do well on the MCAT... And you probably have a shot at DO school. Depending on how much GPA repair you can do, MD school is also possible but unlikely.

Thanks for the input! It's impossible for me to finish undergrad with a 3.6 gpa overall but I can definitely aim high in finishing off my last few semesters. Is doing a DIY post-bacc focused on upper-level sciences better than doing an SMP or Masters in Biology? My only problem with that is that I need to be a degree-seeking for me to be able to obtain federal funding.

 

[DocOrBust2019]

Thanks for the input! It's impossible for me to finish undergrad with a 3.6 gpa overall but I can definitely aim high in finishing off my last few semesters. Is doing a DIY post-bacc focused on upper-level sciences better than doing an SMP or Masters in Biology? My only problem with that is that I need to be a degree-seeking for me to be able to obtain federal funding.

In your remaining term, you want to get as high of a GPA as possible. 3.6 or higher.

Post-bacc to continue raising GPA is probably going to be best for you. A masters in Bio is worthless for med school admissions. SMPs are good, but expensive. They also won't raise your undergrad GPA, a post-bacc will. I wouldn't worry about a SMP until you get your c and sGPA above 3.0.

 

[PleaseHelpMeDoc]

In your remaining term, you want to get as high of a GPA as possible. 3.6 or higher.

Post-bacc to continue raising GPA is probably going to be best for you. A masters in Bio is worthless for med school admissions. SMPs are good, but expensive. They also won't raise your undergrad GPA, a post-bacc will. I wouldn't worry about a SMP until you get your c and sGPA above 3.0.

I don't know. Based on what I read about post-bacc, I do not have the financial capability of paying for school out of pocket for a post-bacc because it is not federally funded. I'd still be considered non-degree seeking student unless I do an SMP. At that point is undergrad GPA really that important if you've shown an upwards trend on your last two years of undergrad and then by doing an SMP? Not only that, I'm also in an accredited medical assistant program.

I really do appreciate your advice.

 

[Goro]

Based on what I read about post-bacc, I do not have the financial capability of paying for school out of pocket for a post-bacc because it is not federally funded. I'd still be considered non-degree seeking student unless I do an SMP.

You're in a marathon now, not a sprint. Work and save up the money for a program.



At that point is undergrad GPA really that important if you've shown an upwards trend on your last two years of undergrad and then by doing an SMP?

Rising GPA trends are always good. Solid JR and SR years would provide enough data points to demonstrate that you can handle med school.

Not only that, I'm also in an accredited medical assistant program.
Won't help your med school app. Finish this program and get the patient contact experience.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Based on what I read about post-bacc, I do not have the financial capability of paying for school out of pocket for a post-bacc because it is not federally funded. I'd still be considered non-degree seeking student unless I do an SMP.

This is not true.

You can declare a major as a DIY post-bac student, and this will allow you to access the same federal loans as any other undergraduate student. This will typically also allow you priority registration which is unavailable to non-matriculated students. You don't actually have to finish the degree. You simply withdraw once you've taken all the post-bac courses you want to take.

Source: was a second-degree seeking post-bac premed student who never finished her "second degree". Paid for it through federal loans and savings.

 

[Medic741]

Hi everyone,

It is the first time I ever post on a forum website, much less a forum site dedicated to aspiring professionals. Let me just start my story, and say that I will be overwhelmingly honest.

I started community college back in 2015, I stayed for a few semesters in college but quickly after first attending, my GPA took a massive dive. I thought at the time that college was not something that I was looking forward to because I was immature and dealt with personal issues. I don't ever want to use that as an excuse because clearly I am trying to push myself to be the best person that I can be.

To make long story short, I took on full-time jobs and thought that I would be able to handle work with full-time classes. Big mistake. I wasn't able to handle them but solely because I was not motivated enough to focus on my schoolwork. I even tried lowering my course load to part-time. I clearly just wasn't in it. Being young as I was, I was unhappy. As work progressed from retail to working in a big corporation, I realized, I hated it all. I wanted more meaning in my life. I wanted to help people but I also wanted to work on bettering my mental-self. I was also going through health problems where it would periodically result me in missing class as well. I did not have insurance or money to go see doctors. I didn't know what to do with my life, I didn't know how to progress forward. At this point in time, all I wanted to do was hide in my room and never come out. My last final the last semester of sophomore year. This is where everyone will go, "YIKES!".

I took Calculus and got a D. I took organic chem 1 and Physics 1 w/ Lab TWICE and received F's. I even took a film class and got an F. After several attempts, I knew that I was not mature enough to take on college.

A year later, I quit my full-time job with the big corporation and spent most of the year trying to figure out how I can march back into school full throttle. My credit went to s*** because I couldn't afford to pay my car loan anymore. It got re-poed and I downgraded to a payment-free 1991 Corolla (Couldn't be any more happy!). I was motivated, I didn't want to live my life being unhappy forever. I knew that I wanted to help people like I mentioned before, and my purpose became to give back to the under-deserved community. Considering that I had no insurance to help me through my health struggles, I dream of opening a clinic in the future that will target low-income families that need help. I would love to also eventually work in charity hospitals to help anyone I can. I'm not doing it for the money, and if I ever do receive money, I only want to help my family so that they never have to struggle again with financial issues.

Now, I am back in school doing my B.S. in Biology, and do an accredited Medical Assistant program (doing this for clinical exposure and to serve as a financial cushion for when I do my SMP) at the same time. Full-time for my bachelor's and Part-time (1 class or two) to do my medical assisting program. First semester back for Junior year I received a 4.0 and the second semester 3.14. During the second semester, I also juggled a part-time 15hr/wk job on campus (I need money to help expenses!) and volunteering weekly at a local children's hospital.

I am going through a hard-time wondering if in the long-run I'll be able to achieve my dream in making it into medical school. I know it's a long and hard struggle. The competition is fierce but I really am trying here. My expected outcome in the end after retaking my failed classes and doing a 1 year SMP is to obtain a cGPA of 3.0 and sGPA roughly around the same range. Mathematically speaking, my GPA cannot go any higher than that. I just hope admissions will look at my end trend and not focus specifically on my first two years of college.

So what are my chances? Any advice?

Also, if anyone knows, will my accredited medical assistant program help with my overall GPA in the end?

Thank-you so much and sorry for the long/sob story! I just really need help.

Sounds like you're having a hard time with the marathon of this journey. On a rotation rn and pretty tired so this might be too honest but

-If you want to go to medical school you have to be 100% invested. If you can't pull it together enough to get >3.6 GPA semesters from here on out you probably don't have what it takes to be successful in this career path. That's fine, but the reality is that it's grueling and the journey sucks.

-Can you be focused enough to score >3.6 for every semester here on out while working 15 hours a week & volunteering? Awesome you might have what it takes. In the meantime ask yourself: Can I reasonably see myself working this hard for the next 7-8 years (residency + medical school)? Yes - awesome medicine might be a good fit.

-Have seen classmates with 'life experience' struggle and fail board exams because they had academic difficulties and were weak UG students. There's a reason admission standards are high and it's in the interest of weaker students to be screened out to avoid this situation.

 

[Select All That Apply]

@PleaseHelpMeDoc You should consider an alternative healthcare career option. If you tanked your sGPA/cGPA so badly that the highest possible conceivable value is a 3.0, then you're in a ditch. Secondary to this, you are actually pointing out that you're strapped for cash. This means that time is not just an opportunity cost, but it is also a compounding financial income loss. Nobody on this site acknowledges the cost of fed loans, private loans, and credit card loans as a significant monetary burden for those who essentially cannot complete school without maxing almost all of these factors to just make it to graduation.

Third, there is nothing specific in your OP that is exclusive to you having to be a physician in order to fulfill your wish to help the underserved community. Yes, I read that you wanted to open a clinic, but the significance of that became increasingly insignificant when you also typed about "work in charity hospitals" and "I only want to help my family." This along with "opening a clinic in the future" leaves me to assume that these desires are somewhat the product of stream of consciousness that came from you wanting to help underserved populations.

The immediate goal here whether it is medicine or not is to boost that GPA as high as possible and finish strong. Even if you decide to do a program like RN/PA, having below a 3.0 GPA will not get you through even those doors without having to spend money. I also have incredibly conflicting views on whether becoming a certified MA is worth it in terms of outcome v. investment. I feel like there are plenty of other experiences that could offer similar value than having to put in time and income to it as a side project, but you may need supplemental credentials and a history of job experience to have a shot at making a vertical move upwards.