My Rugged Path To Medicine [Need Advice]

[IssaDream]

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Hello everyone on studentdoc! This is my first time posting (after months of ghost spectating the forums) here, and I was hoping to gain some insight/advice from any non-trad MD applicants about my path to an MD school. It has been my dream since childhood to become a doctor (as I'm sure you guys all share in this dream), but I have fallen off the path somewhere along the way. As of recent, however, I've gathered the courage to stick with this dream all the way until I fail and have all doors closed. Here, I will briefly share with you my stats and the 2-year plan I have in mind until I apply to medical school in 2020. I'd appreciate any feedback/insight/advice from those who have been involved in this forum and in the med school process (accepted or applicant), as I write this post. Just a warning: this may get long 😉

I am:
- Asian American (24)
- Graduating B.A in the spring from top #1 public university

Education:
- (Straight out of high school) Mid-tier public university [2012-2014]
- Pre-med at the time, majoring in general biology
- GPA: 2.93
- During this time, family went through a financial crisis, so I worked two jobs while attending school full time.
- Volunteer / Shadowing experience amidst this crisis.
- Completed half of medical school pre-reqs, but mediocre grades

- BIO 1/1L (B-/A) | BIO 2/2L (A-/B-) | BIO 3/3L (A/C-)
- CHM 1/1L (B-/A) | CHM 2/2L (B/F: Retook, got A) | CHM 3/3L (C/B)
- PHY 1/1L (B-/B)
- STAT (B)
- C/D/F's on upper division science courses, due to the circumstances at the time

At this point in my life, I dropped out of college for two reasons: (1) I couldn't keep up the grades with courses getting harder while working 2 jobs, and (2) I was extremely depressed, thinking that my chances of getting into a medical school was shot down.

I then later enrolled into community college, where I then sought to pursue a different academic path that was extremely helpful to me during my difficult times.

- [2014-2016] Community college, majoring in Philosophy
- High involvement in student community, organizations, clubs, and etc.
- GPA: 3.84 | Did not take any science courses

I then transferred to a top 1 public university as a philosophy major
- [2016-2018] Philosophy major
- GPA: 3.62
- Private hospice work
- Took a biochemistry course P/NP my 2nd semester to 'test the water' of getting back into the sciences and did not pass, due to taking graduate level philosophy courses while working on an undergraduate philosophy publication at the time.
- Musician during this time
- Now, in my last semester, I am retaking this class (letter grade this time) with high hopes to get an A.

Currently, I am studying for the CPC exam and am planning to work as a medical coder for about a year from May 2018 ~ July 2019. During this time, I will be self-studying the MCAT as I prepare for post-bacc schools to take a few pre-req courses that I did not complete during my first university. So to sum up this two year plan:
[2018~2019] Work in the medical field as a CPC
[2019~2020] Post-bacc, take MCAT
[2020~ ] Medical school! (hopefully).

I know medical school for me is a long shot, but it's a dream that I will see achieved someday--there is no backing out for me at this point. For those of you reading this, (and if you are non-trad like me) I'd appreciate any thoughts/feedbacks concerning this path and perhaps any advice as to how I can better improve my chances at medical school. Thank you all for sticking with this looong post!

 

[Robin-jay]

I then transferred to a top 1 public university as a philosophy major
- [2016-2018] Philosophy major
- GPA: 3.62
- Took a biochemistry course my 2nd semester to 'test the water' of getting back into the sciences and failed, due to taking graduate level philosophy courses while working on an undergraduate philosophy publication at the time.
- Musician during this time
- Now, in my last semester, I am retaking this class with high hopes to get an A.

1.) The major advice I can give you is to keep on keepin' on. Take the remaining pre-reqs and do well, and also do well on the MCAT. If that fails, maybe do an SMP.

2.) The real reason why I commented, what do philosophy publications consist of? I'm curious.

 

[IssaDream]

1.) The major advice I can give you is to keep on keepin' on. Take the remaining pre-reqs and do well, and also do well on the MCAT. If that fails, maybe do an SMP.

2.) The real reason why I commented, what do philosophy publications consist of? I'm curious.

Thanks for the good advice Robin 🙂 Usually, philosophy publications are essays on pre-existing philosophical discussions/problems, or new and original ideas. For instance, Thomas Nagel's publication 'What It Is Like To Be A Bat' explores the idea that a materialistic theory of the mind (say, 'the mind derives from the brain, which is a physical organ that functions as X) leaves out the qualitative components involved in the mind (ex. what it feels like to have this organ). Philosophical topics branch out almost infinitely, and academic philosophers never seem to run out of things to talk about lol. My paper, in particular, was about Confucian ethics on the idea of 'losing oneself.'

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

I'm pretty worried about your science GPA. If those are all your grades I can't see it being higher than 2.5. I'd guess you're gonna need some serious grade rehab before you'll get looks, especially since you didn't pass your science course on the second go-around (nobody's going to accept the philosophy excuse-plenty of people publish during undergrad and they won't see this as any different). I think growing your experiences is great but you have to figure out a way to make people look past that number. Is there a way to take night science classes while you're working? Any way to get a few A's in the sGPA?

 

[Robin-jay]

Thanks for the good advice Robin 🙂 Usually, philosophy publications are essays on pre-existing philosophical discussions/problems, or new and original ideas. For instance, Thomas Nagel's publication 'What It Is Like To Be A Bat' explores the idea that a materialistic theory of the mind (say, 'the mind derives from the brain, which is a physical organ that functions as X) leaves out the qualitative components involved in the mind (ex. what it feels like to have this organ). Philosophical topics branch out almost infinitely, and academic philosophers never seem to run out of things to talk about lol. My paper, in particular, was about Confucian ethics on the idea of 'losing oneself.'

Seems fairly interesting. What are good philosophy journals that you know of?

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

2.) The real reason why I commented, what do philosophy publications consist of? I'm curious.

I think they just publish a blank paper (I kid)

OP I saw a lot of numbers but couldn’t really sort through your GPA and EC situations. What is your current sGPA and cGPA? I might have missed it but I didn’t really see any voluenteering that might be something you can work on.

Have you checked out the nontrad forums here and goros thread on reinvention?

 

[IssaDream]

I'm pretty worried about your science GPA. If those are all your grades I can't see it being higher than 2.5. I'd guess you're gonna need some serious grade rehab before you'll get looks, especially since you didn't pass your science course on the second go-around (nobody's going to accept the philosophy excuse-plenty of people publish during undergrad and they won't see this as any different). I think growing your experiences is great but you have to figure out a way to make people look past that number. Is there a way to take night science classes while you're working? Any way to get a few A's in the sGPA?

Thanks for your reply! I am living in a world of (suppressed--but this is a secret shh) worries myself about my sGPA. Hence I plan to attend post-bacc in 2019 and really kick ass during my time there; but taking night classes while working during 2018~2019 before post-bacc would also be a great idea to consider as well. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[IssaDream]

I think they just publish a blank paper (I kid)

OP I saw a lot of numbers but couldn’t really sort through your GPA and EC situations. What is your current sGPA and cGPA? I might have missed it but I didn’t really see any voluenteering that might be something you can work on.

Have you checked out the nontrad forums here and goros thread on reinvention?

I can tell you, philosophy publications are sometimes drier than the sahara desert (not a joke xD)
My sGPA might average out to somewhere around the low 3.0. cGPA might be somewhere around a 3.5. I volunteered and shadowed multiple physicians during 2012~2013, and also did some private hospice work as well in 2016.

 

[IssaDream]

Seems fairly interesting. What are good philosophy journals that you know of?

You might want to check out the journal of the american philosophical association. This is one of the most famous (and forward) journals, though I think you need a subscription to access their publications. If you are just looking to browse/read interesting philosophical ideas (still professionally written and published), you can try the ergophiljournal. Tons of great stuff there!

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Yeah many schools seem to autoscreen people with below a 3.0 on either gpa.
Good news is that several schools reward reinvention. So keep working hard in a post bacc and show what kind of student you can be. Also dont discount going DO at the end of the day a Dr is a Dr and DO schools are, on average, more forgiving and have lower average stats.

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

Just a little about myself so you know I understand your situation. Asian american myself and graduated undergrad with a 2.95 and it then it took me >5 years after undergrad to get into med school in the states.

Long story short, you need to go to a post bac program that makes you take medical school level curricula with you being graded against the medical students and do very very well in them. And you need to do well on your MCAT. From your story you seem unable to do well on the hard science courses which is concerning for the admissions committee because that just tells them you will struggle in pre-clerkship. You need to decisively prove you can handle the course load, and the only way to actually do that is to fork over the $70k to a special master's program (SMP) and take 1st year medical school classes.

People do poorly in college because they cannot do well or will not do well. The former is a death sentence to becoming a doctor. The latter situation, with enough suffering and pain, leaves the door to medicine open. Over the next few years you will have to figure out if you can do well. For me, my MCAT score kept on rising despite all odds, going from 80th% percentile to 90th% and finally 99th%, so I kept on walking. I finally got in after completing a SMP.

I'm sure your extra curriculars will be pretty good, keep those up as you have time.

good luck

 

[Robin-jay]

Just a little about myself so you know I understand your situation. Asian american myself and graduated undergrad with a 2.95 and it then it took me >5 years after undergrad to get into med school in the states.

Long story short, you need to go to a post bac program that makes you take medical school level curricula with you being graded against the medical students and do very very well in them. And you need to do well on your MCAT. From your story you seem unable to do well on the hard science courses which is concerning for the admissions committee because that just tells them you will struggle in pre-clerkship. You need to decisively prove you can handle the course load, and the only way to actually do that is to fork over the $70k to a special master's program (SMP) and take 1st year medical school classes.

People do poorly in college because they cannot do well or will not do well. The former is a death sentence to becoming a doctor. The latter situation, with enough suffering and pain, leaves the door to medicine open. Over the next few years you will have to figure out if you can do well. For me, my MCAT score kept on rising despite all odds, going from 80th% percentile to 90th% and finally 99th%, so I kept on walking. I finally got in after completing a SMP.

I'm sure your extra curriculars will be pretty good, keep those up as you have time.

good luck

I'm guessing you went MD?

 

[persistenceofmemory]

I'm a DIY 24 yo post-bacc student... I also graduated from #1 public uni in 2016, I thought they only allowed a second bachelors degree in Chemistry at Cal?

I did fairly decent in Psych, also 2 jobs, and similarly, a serious medical crisis during one semester that dropped my GPA. I transferred from cc with a lot of units... and I've been doing all my premed prereqs at cc, have about 1 year left. Been doing clinical work & research/volunteering. I am also considering a formal post-bacc program at UCSD...or open university options after my prereqs.

From what I've read on SDN, you can prove your redemption by taking a heavy load of upper div science courses (through a post-bacc or extension etc.) with an upward trend, and also doing very well on the MCAT. I think the farther you trail off the path, the more of an interesting story you'll be able to tell during your interview! 🙂

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

I'm guessing you went MD?

yup

 

[Goro]

Read this:
Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

Hello everyone on studentdoc! This is my first time posting (after months of ghost spectating the forums) here, and I was hoping to gain some insight/advice from any non-trad MD applicants about my path to an MD school. It has been my dream since childhood to become a doctor (as I'm sure you guys all shar
I know medical school for me is a long shot, but it's a dream that I will see achieved someday--there is no backing out for me at this point. For those of you reading this, (and if you are non-trad like me) I'd appreciate any thoughts/feedbacks concerning this path and perhaps any advice as to how I can better improve my chances at medical school. Thank you all for sticking with this looong post!