Need Some Deep-Rooted Advice

[HopefulPremed4]

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Hi everyone,
I need some serious advice from someone that may have been in the same situation as I am. My story is a little different than the traditional applicant, but I really am at a loss of what to do and don't know if I should just walk away or actually try to get into medical school. So basically here is my plan and story:

-current junior at top rigorous university (average pre-med gpa is ~3.5 from my school)
-registered for May 2013 MCAT
-supposed to be applying to medical school this summer (2013) for enrollment in Fall 2014

Okay so that was my plan but here's the issue. I transferred to my current university after my freshman year at a small, fairly rigorous liberal arts school that was close to home and gave me a full ride. My GPA at this school was ~3.85. I wanted to go to a school with a bigger name so I reapplied to my current school which I had denied as a freshman.

I don't know if its because this school is THAT much more rigorous, I've grown to be dumber, or this school is that distracting (I'm now in Greek life, big party school which sucks, hard to find a quiet place to study, etc etc.) but my cGPA at this school is a 3.05 which is not representative of my intelligence at all. Some credits also didn't transfer and courses which I had already taken i.e. Molecular Biology I received an A in at my first school and now have a C+ in at my current school.

I just received my grades for this past semester today and was hoping to do much better and have a nice turnaround for my junior year, but I did not do better and now I'm afraid my chances of going to medical school are gone. So, essentially I am on a downward spiral that seems to have no positive light at the end of the tunnel.

Basically the only reason my parents allowed me to transfer to a school with zero scholarship, after coming from a full ride, was because they knew I would get into medical school and get a ROI, but they were wrong because now I've just blown $150K+.

I UNDERSTAND that I am by no means a competitive applicant for MD schools, but I can't figure out what else I would do with my life (and Biology degree) if I don't go to medical school. I need some advice on what I should I do:
-Do I try to ace my next few semesters and the MCAT and apply for the 2015 cycle?
-Retake courses that I didn't do well in the first time around (Does this even help, really?)
-Apply for SMP or post-bacc programs after next year?

Sorry for the novel, but I do have various leadership positions, volunteer hours, and research. So I have a fairly good resume and that's the least of my worries at the moment. I'm also half Puerto Rican.

Please actually offer me some decent advice, hope, or personal experience. Don't just tell me I'm not competitive because I already know that. Thank you and I appreciate it!

 

[Goro]

I think you're going to ned to start over. First, think about an SMP. At the minimum, start retaking your C (ir worse) science classes. You say you're smarter than your transcript implies, well, now you have to prove it. Being URM (or 1/2 URM) may not be be as big a help with your record as it is. However. you're ot dead yet.

If you can get your GPA up to, say, 3.2 for AACOMAS' grade replacement policy, you may be fine for DO schools.

I UNDERSTAND that I am by no means a competitive applicant for MD schools, but I can't figure out what else I would do with my life (and Biology degree) if I don't go to medical school. I need some advice on what I should I do:
-Do I try to ace my next few semesters and the MCAT and apply for the 2015 cycle?
-Retake courses that I didn't do well in the first time around (Does this even help, really?)
-Apply for SMP or post-bacc programs after next year?

Sorry for the novel, but I do have various leadership positions, volunteer hours, and research. So I have a fairly good resume and that's the least of my worries at the moment. I'm also half Puerto Rican.

Please actually offer me some decent advice, hope, or personal experience. Don't just tell me I'm not competitive because I already know that. Thank you and I appreciate it

 

[Chuchunezumis]

Few things frustrate me more than parents encouraging their kids to take on $150K+ in non-dischargeable debt.

Why do you think a 3.05 GPA is not representative of your intelligence? Are you just trying to protect your ego? The reason why I am asking is because they've done many studies regarding intelligence, and just about everyone thinks they're significantly smarter than they are. You may be really smart, but what makes you think this? Many people try very hard to get into medical school each year and fail. There shouldn't be anything wrong with this, but it's very risky when you're taking on massive debt.

I highly doubt your chances for medical school are gone (they especially aren't for DO schools), but you either need to try harder if you're not giving it your all (study more, don't make silly excuses as if are no places to study, etc) or if you are giving it your all and it's still not working out and need to come up with Plan B. Again, don't let your ego get in the way and try to cut into the heart of the problem so you can fix it.

If I were you I would be studying for the MCAT like crazy, studying for my classes like crazy, and hope my schools reputation/MCAT score/URM status (I think you get URM status? I'm not sure) will go a long way.

Best of luck

 

[HopefulPremed4]

I appreciate the responses.

-The reason I believe a 3.05 is not representative of my intelligence is because I had a 3.8 at my first institution so I know I can obtain a decent GPA. I haven't been struggling since the start. If I had been struggling since the beginning then yes maybe I would reconsider my future plans, but I know I am capable of more than a 3.05. Maybe this is an egotistical complex of mine. I assume I can do better because I have in the past so I get continually beaten down every time I perform poorly.

-I am currently studying for the MCAT and can hopefully obtain a good score.

-I personally know that there are several distractions in my life that I wish weren't there, and you're right I cannot use these as excuses. I have to work around them or get rid of them.

-I'm going to work my ass off this next semester and hopefully pull off a good enough gpa to boost me up to a 3.2-3.3. I'm probably going to need a post-bacc program or something which is more money to dish out, but I brought it upon myself.

Thanks for the responses guys. Just wondering, is retaking classes at this point even useful?