Need some advice - took 4 sciences, sub 3.0 gpa

[latetooearly]

Long Long LONG LONG time lurker on this forum for over 7 years... never had to guts to make an account.

Currently 27, barely making enough to pay rent each month (started a startup), paid all undergrad debt, 0 clinic hour (will try to improve that over the next 2.5 years)

graduated in 2012 with Economics major, 2.75 cGPA, 2.57sGPA:
undergrad grades
Chem 1 B+ (got A in most lab grades) (2009)
Chem 2 C+ (2010)
Orgo 1 - C- (2010)
Bio 1 - D+ (2010)
Bio 1 repeat - B (2011)
Physics 2 - withdrew (2012)
Anatomy - B (2012)

I talked to a few post bacc schools and went to their open house for the post bacc program, and the program directors told me straight that they will not accept me because my GPA is much below their 'auto-filtering' system.

still need to take:
bio 2
physics 1, 2
orgo 1(repeat), 2

So I think I'm going to do a non-trad route of taking loosies at community colleges.

Current plan is
spring 2016: physics 1, and microbiology (if i can for this one).
summe 2016r: chemistry 2
fall 2016: biology 2, organic chemistry 1
spring 2017: physics 2, organic chemistry 1 prep for mcat

then with all those classes complete, take mcat, get a decent score, and apply for med school and do schools. Do you guys think this is possible for med schools to accept a student with a weird track?

or should i try to take more science classes like molecular cell biology, etc.

Thank you so much in advance for any advice!

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[Seattle Mariners Fan]

Weird tracks are fine for some schools, but as you're aware your grades may be an issue mate.

MD will be a very, very tough road with those grades. https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

FWIW, m'm not sure I'm even going to bother to apply to MD.

 

[DrMidlife]

People get into med school on weird tracks all the time. But in general those weird tracks have to include a multi-year, mostly science, mostly undergrad very strong academic performance, just like the normal premeds do. You shouldn't want to go to med school without producing that multi-year, mostly science, mostly undergrad very strong academic performance. Doesn't matter if you're thinking MD or DO or Carib or Poland or Mexico or whatever.

There are three basic problems with your plan:
1. It doesn't include multiple years of full time study, with great grades, to show med schools that you won't fail out. Those Carib schools that are easier to get into? They fail out more than half of their students. It's their business plan. No refunds on those student loans.
2. It adds doubt to your academic credentials with repeats of science classes at a community college. It says you need to take hard classes twice to get good grades. It says you're looking for an easier way to med school than university science.
3. It doesn't include a fresh demonstration of great grades in hard sciences that you haven't taken before. Like biochem.

So: search SDN for "low GPA" and spend a boatload of time absorbing what you need to do to get where you want to go. If you're smart you'll at least be willing to be talked out of it.

Best of luck to you.

 

[latetooearly]

@DrMidlife I love your response! tis quite helpful!

1. It doesn't include multiple years of full time study, with great grades, to show med schools that you won't fail out. Those Carib schools that are easier to get into? They fail out more than half of their students. It's their business plan. No refunds on those student loans.

I havn't taken classes since I finished my initial undergrad. been working on startups and websites the past few years. I'm trying to register for sciences as a non-matriculated student for the spring semester that is to come at CCNY, and will test the waters with Physics I.

2. It adds doubt to your academic credentials with repeats of science classes at a community college. It says you need to take hard classes twice to get good grades. It says you're looking for an easier way to med school than university science.

Many schools won't allow me to take organic chemistry 2 with a C- in organic chemistry 1, so I am stuck in having to repeat organic chemistry 1, I don't plan on repeating biology 1 again, but I do aim to get A in biology II because I have honestly never studied.

3. It doesn't include a fresh demonstration of great grades in hard sciences that you haven't taken before. Like biochem.

So the plan is to now add bio chem and molecell in for fall 2017

If you're smart you'll at least be willing to be talked out of it

I have been talked out of it twice now actually, this is my 3rd time going back into this exact same plan I had in my head and written down in notes for the past two years. I originally was going to commit to this plan immediately after graduating college, but I ended up doing tech support because it was easier and more immediate. This time, I will not be persuaded to not even try, or give it a start, come Jan 28th when registration opens.

 

[ZPakEffect]

Here is your plan:

1. Move to Texas if you're not already in Texas. Find a job and save some money.

2. Retake ALL of your pre-requisites for Texas medical schools. Get A's in every class.

3. Wait until 10 years have passed since your last batch of bad grades, then apply for Academic Fresh Start.

4. Ace the MCAT.

5. Get into medical school.

Your only other option is to retake a ton of classes to get your grades up to an acceptable level so that you can get into a SMP program. I think moving to Texas is easier and will end up being much cheaper.

 

[latetooearly]

Here is your plan:

1. Move to Texas if you're not already in Texas. Find a job and save some money.

Your only other option is to retake a ton of classes to get your grades up to an acceptable level so that you can get into a SMP program. I think moving to Texas is easier and will end up being much cheaper.

I should definitely fancy the idea of moving to a cheaper location, because currently, I'm in a decent building in NYC and rent is not cheap at all...

 

[Gurby]

Retake C's, D's and F's, do well on the MCAT, apply to DO schools.

 

[cyang55]

Long Long LONG LONG time lurker on this forum for over 7 years... never had to guts to make an account.

Currently 27, barely making enough to pay rent each month (started a startup), paid all undergrad debt, 0 clinic hour (will try to improve that over the next 2.5 years)

graduated in 2012 with Economics major, 2.75 cGPA, 2.57sGPA:
undergrad grades
Chem 1 B+ (got A in most lab grades) (2009)
Chem 2 C+ (2010)
Orgo 1 - C- (2010)
Bio 1 - D+ (2010)
Bio 1 repeat - B (2011)
Physics 2 - withdrew (2012)
Anatomy - B (2012)

I talked to a few post bacc schools and went to their open house for the post bacc program, and the program directors told me straight that they will not accept me because my GPA is much below their 'auto-filtering' system.

still need to take:
bio 2
physics 1, 2
orgo 1(repeat), 2

So I think I'm going to do a non-trad route of taking loosies at community colleges.

Current plan is
spring 2016: physics 1, and microbiology (if i can for this one).
summe 2016r: chemistry 2
fall 2016: biology 2, organic chemistry 1
spring 2017: physics 2, organic chemistry 1 prep for mcat

then with all those classes complete, take mcat, get a decent score, and apply for med school and do schools. Do you guys think this is possible for med schools to accept a student with a weird track?

or should i try to take more science classes like molecular cell biology, etc.

Thank you so much in advance for any advice!

You should retake all of your science classes that you got a C or lower in and retake them. The schools can still see your previous scores in Ochem, etc etc but if you retake and ace them, they might over look that.

Do well on the MCAT, but to compensate for your low gpa, you have to do EXTREMELY well for the med schools to notice you.

Move to a state like Texas where they have multiple med schools and are REQUIRED to take in a specific amount of in-state students to improve your chances.

 

[Goro]

This.

Retake C's, D's and F's, do well on the MCAT, apply to DO schools.

 

[latetooearly]

Here's a quick update on what I have been doing:

I signed up to take chemistry II and A&P II at hunter college as a non-matriculated student.

Just had 1/4 midterms, and I gotten the class average on both exams for Chemistry & a&P, which are as follows to be: 68 and 65.

I'm considering dropping both classes, but at the same time, it would've been a wasted $8700 from tuition.

I'm confident that I can increase my grades for these two classes from D to at least a B/B+, but not sure where to go from there.

 

[Seattle Mariners Fan]

You need A's mate. Few B's sprinkled here and there are OK, but a D at this stage in either would kill you.

 

[Shotapp]

You need to figure out what went wrong in your initial academic career. Correct it and then begin a postbac. Start off with one science class and work on time management (schedule out your entire day) do not procrastinate at all. Go to your professor's office hours, sit in the front row and always ask questions in class, and make friends with the smartest people in your classes. It is obvious from your recent post that you still haven't corrected the issues that plagued you in the past.

As Goro would say you'd want to demonstrate to adcoms that the old you of then is not the you of now. So far you aren't proving them wrong. Work smarter not harder.