new to the board wondering my chances

[turtleturtle123]

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I was just wondering what my chances are considering my situation.

I have read many posts on this board and have seen alot of situations and alot of you seem very knowledgable.

Well heres my story🙁its really long, so sorry)

I have always wanted to go to medical school since elementary school. And I kept on track throughout high school. With a 1360 SAT and a 3.8 in high school. I felt I was on my way , but then the worst thing happened. I started getting stomach aches and loosing an excessive amount of weight. Then I started seeing blood in my stools, excessive amounts. (graphic i know , sorry) And a couple of weeks and a colonoscopy later I was diagnosed with crohns disease. I didnt think it would be a big deal, but I was wrong. The toll the disease took on my body and life was something that I could have never imagined. I have had 3 surgeries to remove polyps and diseased colon. And going to have another polyp removal surgery very soon. On top i know that this will not be my last. I have had to change my diet numerous times and am always near a bathroom.
The ordeal has also put a large gaping hold in my GPA. I will graduate with probably a 2.8. I wish I could go back and try without the crohns but Ive realized that this is apart of my life. The worst however was during my sophmore year when my GPA plummetted to almost a 2.15, and at that point I thought my dreams were over. But I worked hard with the crohns and tried to pull it up as much as I could with what I was given.
And finally this past year I was put on a medication called remicade (after everything else i.e. prednisone, budesonide, 6mp, asacol) all failed. And I finally feel like my old self again.


I am starting to do volunteer work and am planning to go to Bangladesh to do humanitarian work soon. Overall, at this point I am trying to create a application that will try to bolster my GPA.

Now to make a long story not longer..

My questions are:

1) How do medical schools look at chronic illnesses?
2) I have taken a practice MCAT and recieved a 31, will a great MCAT score i.e. 38 be the only way I can give myself a chance?
3) Ever since that fateful sophmore year my GPA has only increased every semester and finally was over a 3.5 this semester as I completed my first 2 rounds of remicade. How do medical schools view progressive semester improvements?
4)Pretty much do I even have a shot or should I go to grad school then take a stab at it in 2 years?

all responses are appreciated!

 

[JDOC13]

I think as long as you explain your situation (ie. GPA) in your PS and score high on your MCAT (33+), then you should be okay. Also, schools like upward trends in GPA so that will help you, especially if you tell them that your success was dependent on taking the right medication (that actually worked) and that your low sophomore GPA was not a result of your inability to handle the material, etc. Also, do your research and don't apply to schools with automatic GPA cutoffs.

 

[Mobius1985]

I wouldn't be as optimistic as JDOC. I think you'll need a much higher MCAT than he suggests and some additional time to resuscitate your low GPA. It's good you have an upward trend, but adcomms will expect to see near-4.0 GPAs to prove you can handle upper-level coursework. You aren''t there yet. I don't think your chronic illness will be an issue once it's under control, but you aren't there yet, either. If you have a major flare in med school, and do poorly in one course, you can remediate over the summer, but if you do poorly in two, you have to repeat the year. Thus more debt.

Personally, I think you need more time to stabilize your condition and prove you have the intellectual horsepower to produce sustained excellent grades. Grad school is one way of doing this. Two years of unofficial post-bac work WITH STRAIGHT As, is another. Recall that a GPA of 3.6 is the mean of all accepted students.