- Joined
- Feb 26, 2018
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 7
I need some advice. I currently have a 3.0 cumulative gpa and a 2.6 science gpa. I entered school full of motivation and overconfidence, and started out my first couple semesters alright. But that quickly dropped when I got hit by illness that kept me bedridden, and a bad breakup after being cheated on by my gf of 3 years. I got some B's and a C, which demotivated me way more than it should have since I had never gotten a bad grade. I realized that I didn't know if this path was what I really wanted. I went on taking the premed prereqs halfheartedly, deluding myself into believing it would all be fine.
Depression took a hold of me. I started smoking weed, and not just a little bit, but all day everyday. Then, I was arrested for possession of marijuana, which is something (Schedule I substance) you want to avoid at all costs if your goal is to become a physician. With that charge on my record my scholarships also disappeared. I felt like I was at rock bottom with nowhere to go, there was no way I would get into medschool. I didn't have much of a support structure, and ended up caring minimally about school and putting the most of my effort into finding friends. The friends that I found, though, were not the best influences, and I became involved in many things I shouldn't have. This included many, many drugs, from molly to cocaine to unknown powders from strangers. I was an addict, and the substance abuse quickly took a toll on my grades. But I couldn't stop, my priorities were out of whack. That semester I had to withdraw from a class because I couldn't get myself out of bed, got an F in another for the same reason, along with a D in orgo. My gpa was shot by the end of sophomore year.
The pattern and my substance abuse problems continued until the summer of my junior year. I thought I was having the time of my life with friends, going to music festivals, exploring and traveling, not caring of the future. Then, in an instance of sobriety, I was thinking about my past, my present, and my future, and realized I was full of regret. I didn't have any dreams any more, my passions had been erased and replaced with drugs, my best friends were all drug dealers, and the only experiences I would seek were those that involved being intoxicated in some form or other. So.. I got help. I started going to counseling sessions, and slowly, things began to change.
At the end of that summer, I interned at a psychiatric hospital in my hometown, which turned out to be what may have helped me the most. I saw a whole other world there, and people who had it so much worse than me. They had a child ward, and the some of the children there had gone through things you wouldn't believe. I would be there for the intake interviews and the daily updates with them, and got to learn their stories. One boy, 8 years old, was there for threatening to kill his sisters, among other behavioral issues. He was a ward of the state after his parents had been arrested for sexually abusing him, making him watch as they abused his sisters, and keeping him and his sisters locked in a small windowless room where the parents would feed them through a slit in the door. It was clear why he had problems. They also had a geriatric unit, where I became (I think) friends with a man diagnosed with schizophrenia who would tell these amazing stories about how he was a prison mafia boss and best friends with Donald Trump, amongst other fantastical tales. He was trapped by his mind, and very much non-functional. I also gained a deep respect for the doctor there, he could get anyone to open up to him, and you could tell how much he cared. While I was there he even had threw a surprise birthday party for a girl who had been stuck there for a few months, even though her behavioral issues had been cleared up, because her mom would always call and tell her she'd come pick her up, but not show up. The entire staff knew that her mom was never coming. She didn't even call on her birthday. That day the doctor even went out and bought her favorite food (McDonalds lol) because all they got to eat at the hospital was its ****ty cafeteria food. It made me want to help people like he did. So many people were in ****tier situations than I was, and I was doing nothing with my privileged life but wasting it away. I had found part of my motivation for becoming a physician. I decided I would turn my life around, despite how hopeless it seemed with my then 2.4 gpa (1.9 sGPA) and extremely limited extracurriculars.
Losing friends was not easy but, in an effort to stay sober, the next semester (senior year) I distanced myself from all the friends who I used to be close to. Saying no over and over again was one of the hardest things to do, but eventually there was no longer anyone asking me to go out to party, no one wanting to come over and smoke weed all day, no one to distract me from my goals anymore. I got my possession charge expunged. I became an RA at a great research lab, surrounded by other motivated lab mates, who became my new friends. I moved out of the party house I used to live in and got a single apartment, with my dog as my companion. I formed new habits and my drug problems completely disappeared. Things had completely flipped. I got near a 4.0. One professor even offered to write me a recc without me even asking! That was my senior year though, and just two semesters of a 4.0 wasn't near enough to dig me out of the hole I had made. I hadn't even taken the mcat. So, I delayed my graduation, I picked up some upper level sciences, and I studied my ass off for the mcat. This current year as a super senior, I made all A's again the first semester, got my name as an author on a publication, and I believe I'll get all A's this semester as well. I also took the mcat in January and scored a 519! It all feels good, but not enough, since my current gpa is still 3.0 cumulative and 2.6 science.
I started this post intending to post a brief question about what to do next, but I ended up digressing way too long into my life story, so I apologize for that. If any of ya'll are still reading, here's my original question. Should I apply to official post baccs, or should I do a diy post-bacc instead? Or should I delay my graduation even more to a sixth year to raise my gpa and graduate with an additional science major? I realize I should have applied earlier but I was too busy and scared of rejection, so I continued pushing it off until I got my mcat score. Finally, I have one more question. Would it be a mistake to mention my issues with substance abuse in my personal statement? It feels weird to not talk about it, as it was perhaps the greatest obstacle I had to overcome to find my drive to become a physician. Any advice you are willing to give is welcomed!
Depression took a hold of me. I started smoking weed, and not just a little bit, but all day everyday. Then, I was arrested for possession of marijuana, which is something (Schedule I substance) you want to avoid at all costs if your goal is to become a physician. With that charge on my record my scholarships also disappeared. I felt like I was at rock bottom with nowhere to go, there was no way I would get into medschool. I didn't have much of a support structure, and ended up caring minimally about school and putting the most of my effort into finding friends. The friends that I found, though, were not the best influences, and I became involved in many things I shouldn't have. This included many, many drugs, from molly to cocaine to unknown powders from strangers. I was an addict, and the substance abuse quickly took a toll on my grades. But I couldn't stop, my priorities were out of whack. That semester I had to withdraw from a class because I couldn't get myself out of bed, got an F in another for the same reason, along with a D in orgo. My gpa was shot by the end of sophomore year.
The pattern and my substance abuse problems continued until the summer of my junior year. I thought I was having the time of my life with friends, going to music festivals, exploring and traveling, not caring of the future. Then, in an instance of sobriety, I was thinking about my past, my present, and my future, and realized I was full of regret. I didn't have any dreams any more, my passions had been erased and replaced with drugs, my best friends were all drug dealers, and the only experiences I would seek were those that involved being intoxicated in some form or other. So.. I got help. I started going to counseling sessions, and slowly, things began to change.
At the end of that summer, I interned at a psychiatric hospital in my hometown, which turned out to be what may have helped me the most. I saw a whole other world there, and people who had it so much worse than me. They had a child ward, and the some of the children there had gone through things you wouldn't believe. I would be there for the intake interviews and the daily updates with them, and got to learn their stories. One boy, 8 years old, was there for threatening to kill his sisters, among other behavioral issues. He was a ward of the state after his parents had been arrested for sexually abusing him, making him watch as they abused his sisters, and keeping him and his sisters locked in a small windowless room where the parents would feed them through a slit in the door. It was clear why he had problems. They also had a geriatric unit, where I became (I think) friends with a man diagnosed with schizophrenia who would tell these amazing stories about how he was a prison mafia boss and best friends with Donald Trump, amongst other fantastical tales. He was trapped by his mind, and very much non-functional. I also gained a deep respect for the doctor there, he could get anyone to open up to him, and you could tell how much he cared. While I was there he even had threw a surprise birthday party for a girl who had been stuck there for a few months, even though her behavioral issues had been cleared up, because her mom would always call and tell her she'd come pick her up, but not show up. The entire staff knew that her mom was never coming. She didn't even call on her birthday. That day the doctor even went out and bought her favorite food (McDonalds lol) because all they got to eat at the hospital was its ****ty cafeteria food. It made me want to help people like he did. So many people were in ****tier situations than I was, and I was doing nothing with my privileged life but wasting it away. I had found part of my motivation for becoming a physician. I decided I would turn my life around, despite how hopeless it seemed with my then 2.4 gpa (1.9 sGPA) and extremely limited extracurriculars.
Losing friends was not easy but, in an effort to stay sober, the next semester (senior year) I distanced myself from all the friends who I used to be close to. Saying no over and over again was one of the hardest things to do, but eventually there was no longer anyone asking me to go out to party, no one wanting to come over and smoke weed all day, no one to distract me from my goals anymore. I got my possession charge expunged. I became an RA at a great research lab, surrounded by other motivated lab mates, who became my new friends. I moved out of the party house I used to live in and got a single apartment, with my dog as my companion. I formed new habits and my drug problems completely disappeared. Things had completely flipped. I got near a 4.0. One professor even offered to write me a recc without me even asking! That was my senior year though, and just two semesters of a 4.0 wasn't near enough to dig me out of the hole I had made. I hadn't even taken the mcat. So, I delayed my graduation, I picked up some upper level sciences, and I studied my ass off for the mcat. This current year as a super senior, I made all A's again the first semester, got my name as an author on a publication, and I believe I'll get all A's this semester as well. I also took the mcat in January and scored a 519! It all feels good, but not enough, since my current gpa is still 3.0 cumulative and 2.6 science.
I started this post intending to post a brief question about what to do next, but I ended up digressing way too long into my life story, so I apologize for that. If any of ya'll are still reading, here's my original question. Should I apply to official post baccs, or should I do a diy post-bacc instead? Or should I delay my graduation even more to a sixth year to raise my gpa and graduate with an additional science major? I realize I should have applied earlier but I was too busy and scared of rejection, so I continued pushing it off until I got my mcat score. Finally, I have one more question. Would it be a mistake to mention my issues with substance abuse in my personal statement? It feels weird to not talk about it, as it was perhaps the greatest obstacle I had to overcome to find my drive to become a physician. Any advice you are willing to give is welcomed!
Last edited:
