Need Advice... desperate

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Clarus

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  1. MD/PhD Student
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I did undergrad in the US and a post-bacc. I did okay in undergrad but not great with two sciences degrees with a cGPA of 3.18 and a sGPA of 2.9. My post-bacc GPA was 2.7 at LECOM and MCAT was below average as well. I know I need to retake the MCATS if I'm applying for schools but its tough getting back into the studying mindset and having that stress of "making/breaking" medical school admissions.

On top of that, my sisters need to get into residency/pass step 3s and are at home, my mom is a single mother working as a doctor and getting older now. I feel extremely bad just living at home and not being able to provide results for her to allow her some peace of mind.

It's a total mess. At some point now, my mom just wants me to pick a career path and do it well. I really want to go into healthcare and after doing my medical post-bacc I still want to do medicine. I was considering studying medicine abroad like in the Caribbean or Europe.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? (I know people will **** on me already for my stats, so please don't rub it in.... thanks)
 
I think you know how much of an uphill battle you have to get into medical school. It's going to be even harder since you are already burned out on studying. And don't think the making/breaking is over once you get an admission either; the only difference is the stakes are higher.

My advice: take some time off from school, get a job, reset. If, after a couple years, you still want to pursue medicine, you can go back to school and try again for DO using their generous grade replacement policy. You will have the added benefit of real world experience, and will have put some distance between you and your previous academic career.
 
Total uphill. If you didn't do well in LECOM's post back program that pretty much is a clincher in my book. That is a great program and gives you a gauge of whether you will be successful or not in medical school (its the same material only watered down). A 2.7 in their program in my mind would be a deal breaker. Time to move on.
 
Not trying to rub things in -- just a calm, clear, uninvolved look at the facts -- certain governmental entities call it,"dispassionate manipulation" ---

cGPA of 3.18 and a sGPA of 2.9. My post-bacc GPA was 2.7 at LECOM and MCAT was below average as well

a 2.7 in a post-bacc is not a good indicator/precursor of future performance in medical school -- you can have all the desire in the world, but if you can't do the work, it's an issue. The school's look at 1) can you handle the work -- that tells them how likely you are to pass boards which affects their standing/desirability/reputation as far as medical schools go and 2) are you cut out to be a doctor -- sounds like you've got some stress in your life which will only increase when you're a physician -- couple that with a low GPA and the package doesn't look good ---

I read something in your post that concerns me --- it's not the gpa/mcat score stuff -- that can be remedied -- take a break for a year or 2 from school, wait till things settle out in your life and then decide if you want to hit it again and focus -- if you improve, great, keep going, if not, well, maybe it's time to call it ---

What concerns me is: Mom's a doctor, sisters are doctors, need to decide on a career to give mom peace of mind ---

Are you 100% sure in your heart that you're doing this because YOU want to, not because it's the family expectation or what they want? If you're not doing it for you, deep down, you'll know that and although on the surface you may be working hard, down inside, you'll never be in 100% committed and won't really be doing your best --- DO NOT BECOME OR WORK TO BECOME A PHYSICIAN FOR ANYONE OTHER THAN YOU --- the career is frustrating as it is -- don't add that to it -- it's harmful both for you and your patients....

Again, just my thoughts on your post -- this and $1.00 will get you a coke out of the machine, no warranties expressed or implied, your mileage may vary, car driven by professional driver on a closed track.
 
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You need to step away and do life for a while IF you want any hope of ever becoming a physician. Right now you've proven you can't do the material so imo no school will touch you. Military, peace corps, desk job, CNA, or wherever is fine for a few years and then go back if you still feel driven to try and retake sciences, MCAT, etc and you might have a shot at claiming reinvention.

PS Don't do Caribbean, as they make lecom look easy, you'd be better off becoming a nurse.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
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Your academic history is consistant of someone who will fail out of med school. You had your chance, and it wasn't good enough.

It is indeed time to do something else. Try nursing school.

And don't even think about Carib diploma mills. You're exactly the mark they prey upon.



I did undergrad in the US and a post-bacc. I did okay in undergrad but not great with two sciences degrees with a cGPA of 3.18 and a sGPA of 2.9. My post-bacc GPA was 2.7 at LECOM and MCAT was below average as well. I know I need to retake the MCATS if I'm applying for schools but its tough getting back into the studying mindset and having that stress of "making/breaking" medical school admissions.

On top of that, my sisters need to get into residency/pass step 3s and are at home, my mom is a single mother working as a doctor and getting older now. I feel extremely bad just living at home and not being able to provide results for her to allow her some peace of mind.

It's a total mess. At some point now, my mom just wants me to pick a career path and do it well. I really want to go into healthcare and after doing my medical post-bacc I still want to do medicine. I was considering studying medicine abroad like in the Caribbean or Europe.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? (I know people will **** on me already for my stats, so please don't rub it in.... thanks)
 
DO NOT GO CARRIBBEAN

DO NOT GO TO 99% of the overseas medical schools

if you did go somewhere decent, say, Australia, that is fine

however, you don't seem like you really want to be a doctor, which is fine, because you just don't have what it takes

I don't know how competitive PA or NP school is

I had to make peace years ago that there were some things I was not born able to do
for you, it's science and school
 
Gotta agree with Crayola227, going to the Caribbean appears to be a huge gamble...too many hurdles
 
@Clarus You should be intelligent enough to know that being a mid-level practitioner is the best fit for your needs currently e.g. successful career track, desire to still practice medicine, more guaranteed success of completion, and adequate money to not continue burdening your mother. We can't drastically change our ability to retain certain subjects or adapt under pressure, however we can choose the volume of subject matter and the level of stress we subject ourselves to in the long-run in order to support ourselves. That's self-selection, a much better alternative than natural selection.
 
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