Next step?

[deleted580758]

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Short time lurker, first time poster. I'm very impressed with the non-trad forum here... hopefully you guys can help me out!

About me: I'm 26 and finished a BA in Art History in 2009. I fooled around with some sciences during my undergrad, got mediocre grades (including one D in Bio, ugh), and decided art history was easier/more fun, but I knew I didn't want to work in that field. Three years of an awful desk job later, I got my EMT-B license and have been working for an ambulance company providing private and 911 transports for over a year. I've discovered a real passion for medicine and now I'm shooting for MD or DO. In February 2013 I started picking up some prereqs at a local CC while working more than full time, and so far I have a 4.0 and am expecting As in both of my classes this semester (including Anatomy).

I'm working on getting my AMCAS GPA together and will update with it in a bit. Undergrad GPA 3.1, CC GPA 4.0.

I know my GPA needs some serious help, and besides working as an EMT I don't have any volunteer experience (medical or otherwise, no time). I applied to a couple of carefully selected career-changer post-bacs and got rejected from both without interviews - I assume my poor science performance during my undergrad is to blame. Now that I'm doing some additional research and re-evaluating my path forward, I'm a little confused about what my next step should be. Medicine is a new thing for my family and my CC focuses on nursing advising, not pre-med, so I'm having a hard time getting good advice that isn't "Why don't you go to nursing school?"

So. Finish pre-reqs at my CC, rock my MCAT, and apply straight? Keep pursuing post-bacs, maybe programs that don't have reputations as good as the ones I applied to? Keep proving I can handle the CC sciences and reapply to the good post-bacs next year? SMP/graduate work? Some awesome thing I haven't even heard of??

Thanks so much for your time.

 

[DrMidlife]

If "CC" means community college, that's contentious/controversial, and not the best choice to show your capabilities for med school. Do at least some hard science coursework at a 4 year university. Look at programs like Harvard Extension and Berkeley Extension. More to the point, you may be accidentally taking pre-nursing coursework instead of premed classes. There's no traditional "anatomy" prereq for med school - it's just part of the biology sequence.

You can't go to a regular postbac like Bryn Mawr/Goucher/Scripps if you've completed any of the prereqs, and you can't get into those programs if you haven't already proven you're a rock solid student. Let those go and find a cheap state school or reputable evening/extension program. Consider a 2nd bachelors degree. Consider doing an SMP after you complete the prereqs and do well on the MCAT to improve your chances. See the postbac forum for the gory details on all these options.

Best of luck to you.

 

[deleted580758]

Yes, CC=community college. I'm working on PA and medical school pre-reqs at the same time, hence Anatomy (BIOL 200) this semester, but I'd rather go to med school. I'm keeping PA open as an option if med school turns out to be impossible.

Let those go and find a cheap state school or reputable evening/extension program.

Meaning post-bacs at a state school or evening/extension program? Or just enrolling to work on my prereqs? I'll definitely check out Harvard Extension and Berkley Extension, I've run across those before but I wasn't sure if they were legit or not. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

AMCAS GPA including post-bac work is 3.21, math/science GPA is 2.83 with recent upward trends to both, but I haven't re-attempted any of the math/science classes I didn't do well in during undergrad yet. I had bad sophomore/junior years.

 

[TLAD123]

Keep at it - the EMT job is great clinical experience (which you already know), and that's what they're looking for from volunteer experience. A lot of applicants are straight out of high school college kids, so they don't have clinical experience other than volunteer/shadowing, or a scribe job/similar if lucky... so the EMT is great clinical (it doesn't have to be free). Try to retake your lowest science courses and hopefully that'll replace your current ones in the AMCAS calculator (I don't know how it works).

 

[DrMidlife]

AMCAS does not replace grades. AMCAS is for MD schools. DO schools replace grades.

Please don't spread bad info by guessing.

 

[hawkbit]

You know MD is going to be an uphill battle, good. You have healthcare experience/patient contact, good. You don't have any volunteer activities, bad.
Here's my advice: If you need to continue taking CC for your prereqs due to cost/availability, just realize that some schools look down on CC courses. With a non-science background and a low gpa/sgpa, you will need to eventually transfer to a 4 year and knock out some upper division biology courses (biochem, genetics, immunology, ect); this will show you can handle the med school coursework (assuming you keep that gpa up!). Start volunteering right now, one or two hours a week and keep it up during your pre med journey. If you are willing to go DO, retake the D and C classes to boost your gpa (grade replacement).

 

[hawkbit]

To condense, start a volunteer activity. Finish prereqs, then do some upper division biology courses (at a university). Do awesome on the MCAT. Apply to DO and widely to MD. Be a doctor.
Do your Best!

 

[deleted580758]

This FEELS like a stupid question, but there are no stupid questions, right? (Wrong, I know, but oh well). How do I do upper divisions at a university without having to do lower divisions there? Transfer with my CC credits? Go back to the school I did my undergrad at? Extension programs?

 

[DrMidlife]

Your homework assignment: pick a university, get on their website and do 2 things:
1. Find their premed advising page which specifies the exact classes required for premeds
2. Find their admissions page which describes the various options for transfer, postbac, ala carte, extension, non-matriculated, low residence and 2nd bachelors.

For extra credit, and for the sake of your career, do the same thing at a few more school websites. Then for bonus points look at the Bennington and GSquared postbacs, for contrast.

You have to be the one in charge of this, because it varies by school. Use the premed advising page to start to better understand the prereq coursework for med school. You're responsible for knowing what's on the MCAT, and that means you have to know which science classes are designed to prepare you for the MCAT and which ones are not.

Best of luck to you.

 

[deleted580758]

Awesome, thank you. I didn't even know that was a resource that existed. Clearly I came to the right place.