LF Career Change to medicine, low gpa, need advice

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

Greetings,

I'm looking to overcome a low gpa and make it into medical School. I'm 29 y/o, I make around 130k per year working in chemistry in the oil industry, I have no family, no student loans left. I virtually have unlimited resources to play with and an abundance of free time.

My stats:

Undergrad Cumulative GPA: 2.53, 193 quarter credits
DIY post-bac: 3.69, 15 semester credits
Community college: 3.2, 20 semester credits

Experience:

75 Volunteer hours in the ER
300 Volunteer research hours at a top 5 medical school
3 days shadowing primary care physicians
6 months tutoring in underserved communities

LORS:

1 MD LOR from a professor of medicine
1 DO LOR from a primary care physician.

I applied to a post bac near me and was rejected due to not being competitive. I calculated that I would need 102 semester hours of A work to bring that GPA up above a 3.0.

Right now I'm debating either

A. actually doing the 102 credit hours of work at a local community college, which would take a few years. Use this time to become really well versed in the MCAT, take the test, and apply

B. attempt to get into a post bac preferably one with a bridge program. This is kind of impossible though because my low GPA

C. Caribbean medical school, which scares the **** out of me. On top of the 50 percent match rate, I'd be taking a huge financial gamble that could absolutely destroy me if something doesn't work out, say if I get a disease or something and have to leave. It's safe to say that I'm probably not going to do this.

I don't really want to explain my motivations for why I want to go into medicine, as it is irrelevant. Suffice to say, that simply making a lot of money is just not enough for me in this life. I want to be doing a job that I find valuable.

Any suggestions?

also, I don't want to piss anyone off, but I am, in the purest sense, a URM. I'm a really ethnic looking latino who grew up in a poor area, If that qualifies.

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[DrMidlife]

1. Years. At least 3 of them. In undergrad.
2. Texas. Has oil. Has academic fresh start.

Years+Texas = maximized chances at med school for you.

Faster ways: exist. Will not set you up to succeed. You have to get through 7-10 years of mostly academic work in medical training. Cut corners on your foundation at your peril.

More specifically, get an industry job in TX, move to TX, live and work and volunteer in a clinic or hospital, start taking a class or two such as math, get legal domicile, get a part time gig consulting or whatnot, start your bachelors over, kill it, do interesting clinical things on the side, get A's or go home. Now you're a normal premed. During your 3rd year take the MCAT in April or May and apply in May or June, finish 4th year, start med school.

Best of luck to you.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Dr. Midlife is da bomb. Listen to her.

Where do you live? With a chemistry/oil background Texas should be a great place for you to move to.

Greetings,

I'm looking to overcome a low gpa and make it into medical School. I'm 29 y/o, I make around 130k per year working in chemistry in the oil industry, I have no family, no student loans left. I virtually have unlimited resources to play with and an abundance of free time.

My stats:

Undergrad Cumulative GPA: 2.53, 193 quarter credits
DIY post-bac: 3.69, 15 semester credits
Community college: 3.2, 20 semester credits

Experience:

75 Volunteer hours in the ER
300 Volunteer research hours at a top 5 medical school
3 days shadowing primary care physicians
6 months tutoring in underserved communities

LORS:

1 MD LOR from a professor of medicine
1 DO LOR from a primary care physician.

I applied to a post bac near me and was rejected due to not being competitive. I calculated that I would need 102 semester hours of A work to bring that GPA up above a 3.0.

Right now I'm debating either

A. actually doing the 102 credit hours of work at a local community college, which would take a few years. Use this time to become really well versed in the MCAT, take the test, and apply

B. attempt to get into a post bac preferably one with a bridge program. This is kind of impossible though because my low GPA

C. Caribbean medical school, which scares the **** out of me. On top of the 50 percent match rate, I'd be taking a huge financial gamble that could absolutely destroy me if something doesn't work out, say if I get a disease or something and have to leave. It's safe to say that I'm probably not going to do this.

I don't really want to explain my motivations for why I want to go into medicine, as it is irrelevant. Suffice to say, that simply making a lot of money is just not enough for me in this life. I want to be doing a job that I find valuable.

Any suggestions?

also, I don't want to piss anyone off, but I am, in the purest sense, a URM. I'm a really ethnic looking latino who grew up in a poor area, If that qualifies.

 

[esob]

The only caveat is that at 29, only the grades you got up until you were 19 will be wiped out with TX AFS; if you've got crappy grades after that age you are better off waiting.

 

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

1. Years. At least 3 of them. In undergrad.
2. Texas. Has oil. Has academic fresh start.

Years+Texas = maximized chances at med school for you.

Faster ways: exist. Will not set you up to succeed. You have to get through 7-10 years of mostly academic work in medical training. Cut corners on your foundation at your peril.

More specifically, get an industry job in TX, move to TX, live and work and volunteer in a clinic or hospital, start taking a class or two such as math, get legal domicile, get a part time gig consulting or whatnot, start your bachelors over, kill it, do interesting clinical things on the side, get A's or go home. Now you're a normal premed. During your 3rd year take the MCAT in April or May and apply in May or June, finish 4th year, start med school.

Best of luck to you.

That's a brilliant idea, I think I'm going to do this.

Housing in Texas is probably cheaper than California right? I was originally saving for a house in the East Bay and the minimum price is around 500-600k

 

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

The only caveat is that at 29, only the grades you got up until you were 19 will be wiped out with TX AFS; if you've got crappy grades after that age you are better off waiting.

Well I'm probably going to wait till I'm 31 to move there, and then start school at 32.

This way I lose all my undergrad crap, which is 2.53/193 units.

Everything post that is around a 3.6+.

One question I have though...

Does my biochemistry degree get erased?? Or can I still use it for employment purposes in Texas?

 

[Tony Freeman]

Is fresh start only a Texas thing? This is the first I have ever heard of such a thing.

 

[esob]

Well I'm probably going to wait till I'm 31 to move there, and then start school at 32.

This way I lose all my undergrad crap, which is 2.53/193 units.

Everything post that is around a 3.6+.

One question I have though...

Does my biochemistry degree get erased?? Or can I still use it for employment purposes in Texas?

The courses you took can't be counted toward med school prereqs but as far as your degree and any current employer, it won't impact it.

Is fresh start only a Texas thing? This is the first I have ever heard of such a thing.

There are certainly some private schools that have a "fresh start" initiative where they don't include previous coursework in their institution's GPA but as far as a state sanctioned program, TX is the only one I've heard of.

 

[Goro]

Greetings,

I'm looking to overcome a low gpa and make it into medical School. I'm 29 y/o, I make around 130k per year working in chemistry in the oil industry, I have no family, no student loans left. I virtually have unlimited resources to play with and an abundance of free time.

My stats:

Undergrad Cumulative GPA: 2.53, 193 quarter credits
DIY post-bac: 3.69, 15 semester credits
Community college: 3.2, 20 semester credits

Experience:

75 Volunteer hours in the ER
300 Volunteer research hours at a top 5 medical school
3 days shadowing primary care physicians
6 months tutoring in underserved communities

LORS:

1 MD LOR from a professor of medicine
1 DO LOR from a primary care physician.

I applied to a post bac near me and was rejected due to not being competitive. I calculated that I would need 102 semester hours of A work to bring that GPA up above a 3.0.

Right now I'm debating either

A. actually doing the 102 credit hours of work at a local community college, which would take a few years. Use this time to become really well versed in the MCAT, take the test, and apply

B. attempt to get into a post bac preferably one with a bridge program. This is kind of impossible though because my low GPA

C. Caribbean medical school, which scares the **** out of me. On top of the 50 percent match rate, I'd be taking a huge financial gamble that could absolutely destroy me if something doesn't work out, say if I get a disease or something and have to leave. It's safe to say that I'm probably not going to do this.

I don't really want to explain my motivations for why I want to go into medicine, as it is irrelevant. Suffice to say, that simply making a lot of money is just not enough for me in this life. I want to be doing a job that I find valuable.

Any suggestions?

also, I don't want to piss anyone off, but I am, in the purest sense, a URM. I'm a really ethnic looking latino who grew up in a poor area, If that qualifies.

What enthic group do you represent?

Read this. It's no longer about raising the GPA, but what you can do now. Advice applies to MD or DO.
Goro’s advice for DO applicants in the absence of grade replacement

 

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

The courses you took can't be counted toward med school prereqs but as far as your degree and any current employer, it won't impact it.

So could I potentially move to Texas, gain residency by staying there for a year (which is what a quick google search said), take ONLY the medical school pre reqs and apply? Could this be done at a Junior College?

I'm definitely going to do more digging, but I was just wondering I you knew these answers.

 

[esob]

Yep, 1 year in TX, the caveat being you either need to own a home or be employed full time for that year.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Yep, 1 year in TX, the caveat being you either need to own a home or be employed full time for that year.

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

The only caveat is that at 29, only the grades you got up until you were 19 will be wiped out with TX AFS; if you've got crappy grades after that age you are better off waiting.

Alright, Yo ESOB, I've been stalking your past posts. I have a specific question that I'd like to ask visibly so that others may see the answer.

So in theory, with Academic Fresh Start, Could I spend the next 3 years retaking all the Pre-Reqs at a California community college, move to Texas at 32, work for a year, then apply to a Texas university, invoke academic fresh start, use the transferrable credits from the California school and finish off the remainder of the credits at the Texas university, and graduate.

So say I've got 80/90 credits completed in California at a 4.0 and invoke fresh start at 32 and erase all my **** pre-22, this means that I've got the 20 units of 3.69 and the 80 new ones from California at 4.0. I attend the texas school under fresh start and then finish the degree there, meaning that I only have to spend maybe 2 years in texas total for the pre-med portion of the entire thing?

 

[esob]

Alright, Yo ESOB, I've been stalking your past posts. I have a specific question that I'd like to ask visibly so that others may see the answer.

So in theory, with Academic Fresh Start, Could I spend the next 3 years retaking all the Pre-Reqs at a California community college, move to Texas at 32, work for a year, then apply to a Texas university, invoke academic fresh start, use the transferrable credits from the California school and finish off the remainder of the credits at the Texas university, and graduate.

So say I've got 80/90 credits completed in California at a 4.0 and invoke fresh start at 32 and erase all my **** pre-22, this means that I've got the 20 units of 3.69 and the 80 new ones from California at 4.0. I attend the texas school under fresh start and then finish the degree there, meaning that I only have to spend maybe 2 years in texas total for the pre-med portion of the entire thing?

So the TMDSAS requirements for AFS can be found here: TMDSAS Medical: Texas Academic Fresh Start

Based on your plan, I would say yes, since nothing in those details seems to be out of line with what you are planning. However, my opinion means exactly about as much to TMDSAS as it means to my kids; absolutely nothing The best thing to do is to email TMDSAS directly and ask them this question. If they answer yes, make sure you have the full name and title of the person that told you yes, save the email and print out a hard copy and store it somewhere safe. This sounds overkill but it is exactly what I've done because I'll be damned if at the end of this journey is someone tells me something different then I have evidence to the contrary. If an individual at TMDAS gives you the green-light for that plan and does so in their official capacity as someone in a position of authority with the organization, then that's about the next best thing to a pinky swear that you're going to get, lol.

 

[precisiongraphic]

I'm by no means a Texas expert but I've heard (maybe from @wysdoc ) that Texas looks down on short-term residents who apply instate, like they moved to Texas just to apply. Texas has such a good deal with super low tuition and a huge in-state admission bias that it might be attractive to OOS people looking to move in and take advantage.

I would go ahead and move there and do the classes there.

 

[esob]

I'm by no means a Texas expert but I've heard (maybe from @wysdoc ) that Texas looks down on short-term residents who apply instate, like they moved to Texas just to apply. Texas has such a good deal with super low tuition and a huge in-state admission bias that it might be attractive to OOS people looking to move in and take advantage.

I would go ahead and move there and do the classes there.

I would agree with this as well. You can move, take classes at one university in TX, then declare AFS and enroll at a different university and get the same result and it looks better I think. It also brings up the bigger question of how do TX adcoms actually treat AFS candidates in general. I know someone who used it, was an extremely strong candidate and got interviews at every state school. He said whenever it was even brought up it was always positive, almost like a "we do things better in TX," which is actually something a lot of Texans think To take advantage of that sentiment (and to put an emphasis on your commitment to TX) the longer you are here the better. At the end of the day, TX schools exist to train doctors that they hope will practice in TX, and if there is some question that as soon as you're done with your training you're headed out on the first train, it may weigh negatively on your application.

 

[OgionTheEarthquakeTamer]

I'm by no means a Texas expert but I've heard (maybe from So the TMDSAS requirements for AFS can be found here: [URL='https://www.tmdsas.com/medical/texasAcFrshStrt.html']TMDSAS Medical: Texas Academic Fresh Start[/URL]

Based on your plan, I would say yes, since nothing in those details seems to be out of line with what you are planning. However, my opinion means exactly about as much to TMDSAS as it means to my kids; absolutely nothing :D The best thing to do is to email TMDSAS directly and ask them this question. If they answer yes, make sure you have the full name and title of the person that told you yes, save the email and print out a hard copy and store it somewhere safe. This sounds overkill but it is exactly what I've done because I'll be damned if at the end of this journey is someone tells me something different then I have evidence to the contrary. If an individual at TMDAS gives you the green-light for that plan and does so in their official capacity as someone in a position of authority with the organization, then that's about the next best thing to a pinky swear that you're going to get, lol.

I sent them an email and they said that you could do this.
[QUOTE="esob, post: 18944332, member: 720487"]I would agree with this as well. You can move, take classes at one university in TX, then declare AFS and enroll at a different university and get the same result and it looks better I think. It also brings up the bigger question of how do TX adcoms actually treat AFS candidates in general. I know someone who used it, was an extremely strong candidate and got interviews at every state school. He said whenever it was even brought up it was always positive, almost like a "we do things better in TX," which is actually something a lot of Texans think :D To take advantage of that sentiment (and to put an emphasis on your commitment to TX) the longer you are here the better. At the end of the day, TX schools exist to train doctors that they hope will practice in TX, and if there is some question that as soon as you're done with your training you're headed out on the first train, it may weigh negatively on your application.[/QUOTE]

That's a good point, and I agree. I think I'm probably going to do everything that isn't a science pre req for med (the chem, bio, and physics) and wait till I'm living there to take those classes. Honestly though if I could save time by not doing 3 full years as an undergrad, Im really going to be trying to do this.