need help assessing my chances

[joeshmome]

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Hello fellow SDNers... I graduated university in 2013 with a degree in biology. My stats are 2.91 cgpa and 2.76 sgpa. I started out very well in college however my last 2 years I really didn't focus nor care much about school and was content with just getting by. I want to go back so that I could repeat courses so that I could apply for DO school. I will be repeating 10 science classes which would bring up my gpas to 3.45 cgpa and 3.65 sgpa. The majority of my retakes will be at a university with 2 being at a CC. Would this raise red flags to schools being that I'll be repeating a high volume of calsses? Also I've been reading that only in classes that one receives a C and lower in should be repeated however I would like to repeat ochem 2 and biochem both of which I received a B- in but have forgotten virtually everything from because I wasn't really focused in them and as I said was just trying to get by. Would it look bad if I do repeat them?

My initial intentions when I was in school was to attend optometry school but I lost interest in that. However, I've been working for a DO the past 6 months which is what brought me back to going to school. Looking forward to your responses.

 

[kelminak]

I'm going from a 1.8 -> <3.0 so I can apply with literal years of retaking classes. Do what you need to do to have a competitive GPA, destroy the MCAT, and get some good ECs. Start volunteering NOW if you have nothing. Retake anything C or below. If you're retaking a prereq course, don't do it at a CC. The B- isn't that bad considering how hard those two courses are.

 

[Yahyaprotein]

I'm going from a 1.8 -> <3.0 so I can apply with literal years of retaking classes. Do what you need to do to have a competitive GPA, destroy the MCAT, and get some good ECs. Start volunteering NOW if you have nothing. Retake anything C or below. If you're retaking a prereq course, don't do it at a CC. The B- isn't that bad considering how hard those two courses are.

Good luck man hope it all works out for you as well... I have a breadth of experience in retail being that I've owned businesses and sold them for high profit so it's not as if I've been floundering my years away. I got a few things under my belt that make me stand out but I do have to work on the traditional volunteering part. I really want to retake those B- because I'm postitive I could excel in them and because as I said I really don't recall much from them. I know for a fact that they weren't easy courses at my university. I didn't put the effort the first time and from what I know the new mcat is heavy on biochem. I'm just a little hesitant because I've read goro and others in the past recommend not doing so.

 

[kelminak]

Good luck man hope it all works out for you as well... I have a breadth of experience in retail being that I've owned businesses and sold them for high profit so it's not as if I've been floundering my years away. I got a few things under my belt that make me stand out but I do have to work on the traditional volunteering part. I really want to retake those B- because I'm postitive I could excel in them and because as I said I really don't recall much from them. I know for a fact that they weren't easy courses at my university. I didn't put the effort the first time and from what I know the new mcat is heavy on biochem. I'm just a little hesitant because I've read goro and others in the past recommend not doing so.

Typically when people say "ECs" they're referring to clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, shadowing, and research. Obviously there are exceptions, but these are the things that are going to be looked at heavily on your application. Your business experience, while unique, doesn't really fall into "what would make this applicant a good doctor" kind of material. You'll want to make sure you have a good amount of time invested in these things to prove that you have enough experience in the healthcare field that you're not walking into a profession you know nothing about (I'm not implying anything about you of course, that's from the adcom perspective).

I would only retake the B-s if you have the time to do so. You'll need to do the MCAT, so it wouldn't hurt you in any regard as long as you do better, but definitely prioritize the Cs and below. It sounds like you're probably ~2 years out to apply to med school if you want to do retakes and spend the appropriate time studying for the MCAT.

 

[Yahyaprotein]

Typically when people say "ECs" they're referring to clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, shadowing, and research. Obviously there are exceptions, but these are the things that are going to be looked at heavily on your application. Your business experience, while unique, doesn't really fall into "what would make this applicant a good doctor" kind of material. You'll want to make sure you have a good amount of time invested in these things to prove that you have enough experience in the healthcare field that you're not walking into a profession you know nothing about (I'm not implying anything about you of course, that's from the adcom perspective).

I would only retake the B-s if you have the time to do so. You'll need to do the MCAT, so it wouldn't hurt you in any regard as long as you do better, but definitely prioritize the Cs and below. It sounds like you're probably ~2 years out to apply to med school if you want to do retakes and spend the appropriate time studying for the MCAT.

Thanks for the input I'll try to get my volunteering down asap... And yes I'm most likely going to retake classes for the next three semester and have 4-5 months study time for the mcat... That's the plan.

 

[kelminak]

Thanks for the input I'll try to get my volunteering down asap... And yes I'm most likely going to retake classes for the next three semester and have 4-5 months study time for the mcat... That's the plan.

You're welcome. Be sure to start early when looking for doctors to shadow so you can get a letter of recommendation too. You definitely don't want to leave those until the last minute! 🙂

 

[Goro]

The whole purpose of grade replacement is to do exactly what you're planning on doing.

If we look down upon it then osteopathic schools with graduate maybe 20 people per class

Hello fellow SDNers... I graduated university in 2013 with a degree in biology. My stats are 2.91 cgpa and 2.76 sgpa. I started out very well in college however my last 2 years I really didn't focus nor care much about school and was content with just getting by. I want to go back so that I could repeat courses so that I could apply for DO school. I will be repeating 10 science classes which would bring up my gpas to 3.45 cgpa and 3.65 sgpa. The majority of my retakes will be at a university with 2 being at a CC. Would this raise red flags to schools being that I'll be repeating a high volume of calsses? Also I've been reading that only in classes that one receives a C and lower in should be repeated however I would like to repeat ochem 2 and biochem both of which I received a B- in but have forgotten virtually everything from because I wasn't really focused in them and as I said was just trying to get by. Would it look bad if I do repeat them?

My initial intentions when I was in school was to attend optometry school but I lost interest in that. However, I've been working for a DO the past 6 months which is what brought me back to going to school. Looking forward to your responses.

 

[TUVIX]

Do well in your retakes but know that your MCAT is going to be the biggest determining factor at this point I think. If you can do really well on it then it totally changes the outcome.