Low GPA halfway through college...what are my options?

[ee1025]

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Hi, I am a rising junior at WUSTL majoring in Biology and minoring in English. I've always wanted to be a doctor, specifically a pediatrician, and I have been pre-med throughout all of college. Despite encouragement from my advisors, friends, and family, I feel very discouraged and unsure of how I stand with regards to getting into med school. Right now, I have a 3.2 cgpa and ~3.0 sgpa, and I worry that even though I still have 2 years left of undergrad, I will not be able to increase my gpa, especially my sgpa, significantly enough to be a competitive applicant. My advisor told me that I could probably get into my state school (U of Illinois), but I am still doubting myself.

I have several leadership positions/school involvement, about 300 hours of clinical volunteering so far, and I am starting research in the fall. I feel like I am "checking all the boxes" outside the classroom, but I know that no amount of volunteering can make up for a subpar GPA (have not taken MCAT yet).

I also know that there are Masters programs out there specifically designed for raising one's science GPA, but those are expensive, and there's never a guarantee that I will succeed. If all else fails, Caribbean medical schools are easier to get accepted into but also very very expensive.

I get A's in all my humanities classes, but I only feel passionate about healthcare for a career. I worry that if my grades are not good enough for medical school, I probably won't be good enough for any other kind of pre-professional school either(Dental, PA, Pharm, BSN, healthcare management MBA, MPH). Since I have not started research yet, I'm not sure if a PhD in biology would interest me.

Sorry for the long and whiney post, but I truly do not know if I've been fooling myself and should focus on a completely different career path, or a different career in healthcare, or stick it out and maintain the mentality that if I truly want it and work hard enough, I can accomplish my goals.

Any thoughts or constructive criticism are appreciated! from anyone who has been in my position..did you choose a different path in healthcare? do a Masters?

Thank you!!

 

[Toutie]

Any chance you can switch your major to English and just take the required pre-med courses? How many of them have you done so far?

 

[cactusman]

There are Special Master's Programs (SMPs), which are similar to the first year of med school. They are more expensive than post-bacc upper level science courses, and if you do poorly your app is dead, but they're also higher reward.

WUSTL students tend to score well on the MCAT considering their GPA because of its rigor and student body (@efle has some stats). 3.2 and good MCAT would be competitive for podiatry, which is probably one of the closest professions to MD/DO. And with a bit of an upward trend and good MCAT you could definitely be competitive for DO as well (and MD, but DO is closer).

 

[ee1025]

Thank you @cactusman. @Toutie I could, but it would not raise my science GPA, which is my main problem. I am taking Organic chem right now in the summer and then likely Biochem/other bio classes nest year. I have already done a year of Bio, Gen chem, math, and Physics (&psych).
I'm thinking about double majoring in English for the GPA boost, but I'm also considering taking prereqs for other professional schools in the healthcare field as a backup, like econ and speech which are sometimes pre-reqs for pharmacy and PA (I think?)
or adding a second minor in healthcare management from the business school

 

[eagles22]

Anyone with a pulse and eligibility for loans can get into pharmacy school. New schools are opening everywhere and the quality of matriculants is embarrassingly poor. Chicago has like 5 schools (4 are super easy to get into). That being said, it's a crappy field to go into right now.

There's no easy fix to a low GPA. You know the solution is to study more, so go do it. Go to office hours. Spend the time that it takes to get A's. Med school is hard to get into, and that's the bottom line.