Need advice with very low GPA 2.0

[doratomed]

I'm current a senior with biology BS ( graduate in May 2017). During my freshman year and sophomore year at IUB, i didn't know what i want. I had difficulties time transition from Vietnam (where I originally moved from) to US culture, and between high school to college on top of language barrier and i have to work my way through college. there were too many things happen at the same time, and it did reflect on my GPA (very low cGPA is 2.5 and major GPA is 2.1 (but i did retake some of the class and if i get change to do grade replacement then it would be 2.66 -not counting those bad grade i took for the first time but as a science major it would avg out both grades and that brought my GPA down) but i have always dream and passion to become a doctor that would able to help heal other people and make them feel better and its almost relate to my dad disease story too. i know that i would not get anywhere with my current GPA, and the one and only hope that i would able to attend medical school is post bacc or master program to prove the committee i can do it. there is a post bacc program up in Indy (MSMS through IUSM) offer to student with English as second language, i came from a very poor family, Education back home (Vietnam) is no where near what we have in US. But when i look at the admission requirement with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, and my GPA isn’t any where close to that number. i need your advices on what i need to do to bring my GPA (both science and cumulative ) up to 3.0 or 3.1 to apply to this program? and how long this will take? and the DO replacement grade that you are talking about, i think i still get eliminate during the prescreen to apply to DO even if i get my sGPA up to 3.0 by the end of my senior year due to how my school calculate the major GPA with who all science students (they wouldn't do grade replacement and just avg it out). please give me some advice on what i need to do next? thank you so much.


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[meddesire]

I'm current a senior with biology BS ( graduate in May 2017). During my freshman year and sophomore year at IUB, i didn't know what i want. I had difficulties time transition from Vietnam (where I originally moved from) to US culture, and between high school to college on top of language barrier and i have to work my way through college. there were too many things happen at the same time, and it did reflect on my GPA (very low cGPA is 2.5 and major GPA is 2.1 (but i did retake some of the class and if i get change to do grade replacement then it would be 2.66 -not counting those bad grade i took for the first time but as a science major it would avg out both grades and that brought my GPA down) but i have always dream and passion to become a doctor that would able to help heal other people and make them feel better and its almost relate to my dad disease story too. i know that i would not get anywhere with my current GPA, and the one and only hope that i would able to attend medical school is post bacc or master program to prove the committee i can do it. there is a post bacc program up in Indy (MSMS through IUSM) offer to student with English as second language, i came from a very poor family, Education back home (Vietnam) is no where near what we have in US. But when i look at the admission requirement with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, and my GPA isn’t any where close to that number. i need your advices on what i need to do to bring my GPA (both science and cumulative ) up to 3.0 or 3.1 to apply to this program? and how long this will take? and the DO replacement grade that you are talking about, i think i still get eliminate during the prescreen to apply to DO even if i get my sGPA up to 3.0 by the end of my senior year due to how my school calculate the major GPA with who all science students (they wouldn't do grade replacement and just avg it out). please give me some advice on what i need to do next? thank you so much.


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Why don't you create a separate thread in WAMC instead of posting your situation everywhere in a lot of threads?

 

[doratomed]

I don't know how to create a separate threat. I'm very sorry


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[WedgeDawg]

fixed

 

[doratomed]

Please give me some advice on what I need to do next


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[Moose A Moose]

I'm current a senior with biology BS ( graduate in May 2017). During my freshman year and sophomore year at IUB, i didn't know what i want. I had difficulties time transition from Vietnam (where I originally moved from) to US culture, and between high school to college on top of language barrier and i have to work my way through college. there were too many things happen at the same time, and it did reflect on my GPA (very low cGPA is 2.5 and major GPA is 2.1 (but i did retake some of the class and if i get change to do grade replacement then it would be 2.66 -not counting those bad grade i took for the first time but as a science major it would avg out both grades and that brought my GPA down) but i have always dream and passion to become a doctor that would able to help heal other people and make them feel better and its almost relate to my dad disease story too. i know that i would not get anywhere with my current GPA, and the one and only hope that i would able to attend medical school is post bacc or master program to prove the committee i can do it. there is a post bacc program up in Indy (MSMS through IUSM) offer to student with English as second language, i came from a very poor family, Education back home (Vietnam) is no where near what we have in US. But when i look at the admission requirement with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, and my GPA isn’t any where close to that number. i need your advices on what i need to do to bring my GPA (both science and cumulative ) up to 3.0 or 3.1 to apply to this program? and how long this will take? and the DO replacement grade that you are talking about, i think i still get eliminate during the prescreen to apply to DO even if i get my sGPA up to 3.0 by the end of my senior year due to how my school calculate the major GPA with who all science students (they wouldn't do grade replacement and just avg it out). please give me some advice on what i need to do next? thank you so much.



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You're better off doing a post bacc program than heading off to get a master's degree. A post bacc would also trump trying to go about battling classes over with grade replacement for that matter. By crushing the classes, you will prove to ADCOMs that you have the grit to conquer their coursework at a professional level.

How long will it take? As long as it needs- maybe two years, perhaps three. If you want it badly, that shouldn't be a deterrent. Especially since you're young.

What you need to do next, in my opinion, is this: finish our your year and graduate as best you can. Find post bacc programs and apply. Matriculate into them and do well (while prepping for the MCAT). Take your MCAT- which you'll need to do well on to offset your undergrad performance as well.

 

[doratomed]

Most of post bacc program required GPA 3.0 to apply


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[doratomed]

Or they will pre screen off the list. I'm from Indiana, and really to stay in Indy for post bacc program but they are all require 3.0gpa to apply


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[Moose A Moose]

Yu

Or they will pre screen off the list. I'm from Indiana, and really to stay in Indy for post bacc program but they are all require 3.0gpa to apply


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You may have to go the long route of total grade replacement. It doesn't matter what your school does with GPA when you retake a class- what matters is how medical schools view the new mark. For example, you will get a complete replacement for a redone class if you apply the osteopathic route.

It will be expensive and time-consuming, but it sounds like your only option is to retake [a lot of] courses.

 

[meddesire]

It doesn't matter how your school calculates your GPA, the DO program allows the grade replacement. Just retake those that you need to improve your grade.
But if you have problems with English too and if that affects your GPA a lot like this, you'll have to try to fix it first. English as a second language will also affect your MCAT tremendously and you'll have to work really really hard, like at least twice as much as other people, in order to get a good score, due to the short timing and difficulty of the exam.

 

[iqq2much]

Fellow Vietnamese Premed here ^^. I'm sorry to hear how things are going for your right now but its definitely not the end of the road for getting into medical school.

Advice for GPA

Maybe try to get into an SMP (Special Masters Program) or a Post-Bacc that will let you in with your current GPA. If you end up getting into such a program you will need to do very well in the program to show that you are ready for medical school.

If there is not a program that will admit you, you will have to retake all your coursework where you did poorly (C or worse) in at a college/university. DO will do grade replacement which will help you a lot. They will replace the poor grade with the grade you got from retaking the class (assuming you do better). That poor grade will not be included in your GPA when you apply to DO school, it is kinda of like that grade never existed. The GPA DO medical schools will see will be different than the ones you see from your schools transcripts if you do this, since they do not include the bad grades you got when you took the classes your first time.

I think this is how DO grade replacement works, but i'll let someone like Goro be the go to for this.

For MD schools, they will average the two grades similar to what your school does.

Advice for MCAT

Just like you my English is not really the best thing in the world, but I was still able to get a good score on the MCAT. In your situation you will need to give yourself a lot of time (months to years) to study and practice for the exam. You want to practice, practice, practice a lot of passages so you can learn how to take the exam as well as improve your performance. After that take lots of full length practice exams until you are consistently scoring where you want to score at.

Advice for extracurricular activities

Shadow some doctors (shadow a DO for DO schools because you will need a letter of recommendation)
Volunteer in a clinical setting (hospital, nursing home, etc.)
Also have volunteering and activities that are outside of school and healthcare (soup kitchen, church youth group, etc.)

Choose activities that you are genuinely interested in and are able to reflect on it. Don't overload yourself for the sake of a "better application" since schools can tell if you are doing that or not. Medical schools are more interested in why these activites will make you a better candidate for med school but also a better physician/person in general.

 

[shopsteward]

Firstly the OP needs to have permanent residence or US citizenship: an international student with that GPA is getting nowhere.

Secondly, a formal SMP is a very bad idea until OP has demonstrated a turnaround to a consistently high performance - failing to get an A average in an SMP is a final stop to med school application.

OP needs to -
1) sort out their study habits and start getting consistent A grades. Without that, nothing will work.
2) look at delaying graduation or graduate and do an informal post-bac as an alternative to the formal post-bac. Finances are important here: starting med school with a lot of student debt is not a good idea, so if finances are tight running up student debt while paying for further full-time tuition and not working is a bad platform from which to go to med school. If time needs to be taken off to earn money and apply later as a non-trad that could work well for giving OP wider experiences in the US and gathering the necessary ECs.
3) Check out the AACOMAS way of calculating GPA for DO school, as this is what matters, not how the current school calculates it. Plan retakes and new classes around improving the AACOMAS GPA.
4) Not take the MCAT until GPA is over 3.0 (preferably higher, at least 3.2) and until a good score is guaranteed.

All that will take time. Probably several years. Trying to do it too fast will probably mean more failure.