Looking for redemption...

[Tennis Guy]

So, I have been out of school, since last May. I have been improving my resume since then for med school. I work part time, volunteer, study for the MCAT and do a lot of shadowing! My undergrad cGPA was around a 3.04 and my science GPA is probably between a 2.7 (which is a B minus) and a 3.0 (from 80-82%.) I know that this is not a great cGPA (around a B), about an 83% to be exact. I made a lot of B minuses in my undergrad career and a few Cs unfortunately but not many. I decided to do a post bacc from 2013-2014 Fall and Spring, in order to get my GPA up from about a 2.9ish to a little above a 3.0, in order to be considered for SMPs and to avoid not having my application at least opened.


I know that if I apply to DO school, after improving my resume, then I would have a good shot after taking more classes and possibly retaking a few classes. However, would I possibly have a shot at applying to MD school? I have no problem applying for SMPs and doing that before getting an interview, since I have been out of school for almost a year. I've also had extenuating circumstances in my undergrad career, such as having both of my paternal grandparents dying exactly a month apart, the Spring of my junior year and my house getting hit by a lightning bolt and my house catching on fire that Summer. Not to mention the issues I had with depression that year because of those situations and other personal problems. Depression affected me big time 2011 and quite a bit of 2012 and with all of these other previously mentioned situations caused my grades to drop for those times.


I'm not trying to make a lot of excuses for my performance and know that I need to improve myself and show that I can handle the rigors of med school. I know that I can do better and want to know how I can show that? There are many times where I've had tough breaks and miss cutoffs for more than a B grade in classes, which was frustrating. I believe that I suffer a lack of confidence in knowing that I can do better and get quite discouraged because I couldn't make A's that much in science classes. I let fellow students get into my head with their competitive nature and got disheartened and depressed because of it many times because I always tried so hard and didn't always get the results I wanted. Sometimes, I felt like I let them make me feel I was incompetent, but I should never have listened.


I do know that I will do whatever it takes to get to where I need to be and persistence is my best quality because I never give up. If it takes me a long time, then I'm all in and will give it everything I've got for as long as it takes! However, I want to know how can I redeem myself and where do I go from here? Thank you all for all of your advice and insight!!!!!

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[Goro]

Ace the post-bac and MCAT and yes, there are MD schools that reward reinvention. However, words are easy, and doing is hard.

I know that if I apply to DO school, after improving my resume, then I would have a good shot after taking more classes and possibly retaking a few classes. However, would I possibly have a shot at applying to MD school?

 

[Goro]

Comes from being a parent!

Truer words are rarely spoken.

 

[Tennis Guy]

Ace the post-bac and MCAT and yes, there are MD schools that reward reinvention. However, words are easy, and doing is hard.

I know that if I apply to DO school, after improving my resume, then I would have a good shot after taking more classes and possibly retaking a few classes. However, would I possibly have a shot at applying to MD school?

Ok, is there anything else I can do to reinvent myself besides doing an SMP? Some graduate level program or more high level undergrad science classes? I know it will be tough, how hard will this journey be most likely and how much of an uphill battle are we talking here? I'm ready for whatever it takes!!!

Truer words are rarely spoken.

Ha ha ha, true true...

 

[ski89]

Ok, is there anything else I can do to reinvent myself besides doing an SMP? Some graduate level program or more high level undergrad science classes? I know it will be tough, how hard will this journey be most likely and how much of an uphill battle are we talking here? I'm ready for whatever it takes!!!


Ha ha ha, true true...

Hi there.
I was in a similar situation in that I had dug myself a nice GPA hole that I needed to climb out of to be considered. Since you have already completed your degree and have a lot of credits weighing down your GPA, a SMP is the only viable option. More UG courses might lack the vigor that ADCOMs are looking for and graduate school course grades are often inflated.

how hard will it be? That's an interesting question. When I was in the thick of my "comeback", I was taking 17 credits, doing research, volunteering, raising my first child, and working. It was a lot! But at the same time I was following my passion and my dream and was confident in my ability to succeed. It was trilling seeing those A's come in one after the other, my hard work paying off, it only made my drive stronger. The statement, "if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life" rang true for me and still does. So on many levels it's was not as hard as you might think. Now will that be the case so you? Maybe. It depends on your personal motivation.

Lastly it is way too premature to be making DO/MD distinctions. You want to be a physician and you have a lot of work to do to get there no matter the degree. Take one step at a time and go crush an SMP, then go crush the MCAT. Then you can evaluate your competitiveness for certain programs.

If you want it bad enough I think you can absolutely do it.

 

[Goro]

One can do a post-bac, whether a program, or DIY. The key is that it should be about a year's worth of classes and they should mimic medical school coursework (Anatomy, Histology, Physiology, Micro etc), and ace them.

In short, you need to demonstrate that you can handle medical school.

Ok, is there anything else I can do to reinvent myself besides doing an SMP? Some graduate level program or more high level undergrad science classes? I know it will be tough, how hard will this journey be most likely and how much of an uphill battle are we talking here? I'm ready for whatever it takes!!!


Ha ha ha, true true...