MASSIVE upward trend, but abysmal start

[lohwey1210]

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Long story short:
Went to community college right out of high school; made about 9 Fs, because I dropped out and didn't withdraw. I was not ready for school.
7 years later: I go to art school, make a 2.0 for 2 years, then drop out.
8 years after that: re-enter school, earn a 4.0 (90.0 credits)

Current GPA 2.4
GPA for last 2 years: 4.0

I have about 60 more credits to go to earn a BS in psych. Plan on making all A's.

BOTTOM LINE: I will work myself to the bone, to the BITTER end to make it into medical school and become a doctor. My grades for the last 2 years have been perfect. But 9 Fs 15 years ago? That's bad, bad bad.

Can I get into medical school?

 

[Forever Geebs]

Have you taken all prerequisites for medical school, and if so, which and what did you earn?


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[lohwey1210]

Only taken three pre-reqs, got A's in all of them... I will get As in all of the pre-reqs from here on.

Informationally, with my GPA, it will take me 140 more credit hours of perfect, 4.0 work to raise my GPA to a 3.3... (to paint cha a picture.) Pretty bad, yes, but after 200+ credits of 4.0? Would I not at least appear motivated?

 

[Forever Geebs]

No one will doubt your motivation, but unfortunately due to the sheer volume of applicants not having a baseline GPA may not give adcoms an opportunity to see how far you’ve come. You need to get as close to 3.0 as possible.

You will also need to make sure other areas of your app shine. A high MCAT score and demonstrating a commitment to service through ECs will be necessary. What do your ECs (shadowing, clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, research, leadership roles, etc.) look like now?


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[lohwey1210]

Appreciating your wisdom, Forever Geebs! Thanks for talking to me about this.

I am only now transferring into a preMed program (just accepted!). I'm a second semester sophomore. I begin pmed in mid-september. When I called my advisor to ask her about getting the ball rolling in terms of shadowing/ clinical experience she told me I needed to "hold my horses," and that I needed to "not get ahead of myself." I will be calling the advising office again on Monday to speak specifically with someone else, so as to see how I might be able to begin the EC accumulation immediately (if not sooner).

I did some math, and it seems that I would indeed be able to achieve above a 3.0 within 2 years, if I made straight A's in every class taken. By the end, I will have 4 years of straight A's.

If I am able to graduate with a uGPA of 3.0-3.2 in 2 years time (with a continued GPA of 4.0 in those two years) what MCAT scores would I need in order to be viable for acceptance to an MD program? Would a DO acceptance be a safer bet? Assuming I don't first have to complete post-bacc work or an SMP....?

 

[Goro]

Long story short:
Went to community college right out of high school; made about 9 Fs, because I dropped out and didn't withdraw. I was not ready for school.
7 years later: I go to art school, make a 2.0 for 2 years, then drop out.
8 years after that: re-enter school, earn a 4.0 (90.0 credits)

Current GPA 2.4
GPA for last 2 years: 4.0

I have about 60 more credits to go to earn a BS in psych. Plan on making all A's.

BOTTOM LINE: I will work myself to the bone, to the BITTER end to make it into medical school and become a doctor. My grades for the last 2 years have been perfect. But 9 Fs 15 years ago? That's bad, bad bad.

Can I get into medical school?

The you of then is NOT the you of now. That's what Adcoms are looking for. We love come-from-behind stories.

 

[lohwey1210]

Cheers, Goro! Change is good. I am very excited to agree with you. Also excited to know that admissions crews are willing to vest interest in people like me.

I suppose I represent an anomalous (and small) portion of the applicant population; it's not easy to gain insight into how one might approach the future from a position like mine. From what I have gleaned from you (because I have indeed read many-a-thread in which you feature and present advice) and other SD experts, my case is atypical. The problem is that people assume that they will never succeed, and, damningly, do not emerge from said assumptions. Encouragement inevitably becomes salvation during these questing moments of self-doubt.

Any advice AT ALL that you or Forever Geebs (or anyone else) might have for me will be printed, blown up, and tacked to my wall as reference... Or, at least, extremely appreciated. I humbly await anything you have to offer. Thanks again.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

The you of then is NOT the you of now. That's what Adcoms are looking for. We love come-from-behind stories.

Can someone get through with a 517+ MCAT, killer ECs like Peace Corps, and a sub-3.0 GPA?

 

[lohwey1210]

Yes.

People change. They grow up; they heal.

My sub-3.0 is not an indicator of my intelligence, nor my current motivation; it's a dead horse I have to drag around until I am able to prove myself to the ADCOMs. Whether it takes me 2 years or 10 years.