Non-Trad Army Vet, Low GPA (but upward trend). Thoughts?

[AdhdVet]

(I posted this in non-trad forums, but figure this might be the better place for it)

Hi All,

I am just going to try to hit the main points. If people are curious and need more background info, happy to help. I just want to get the ball rolling on any feedback to my proposed plan, and if it is worth the shot/risk?

• Age: 30
• Current Occupation: IT Auditor
• Background/history: Currently married. No kids (want kids though). Spent years after high school working and dragging through CC, and of course trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life. Got very inspired in 2010 to join the Army; wanted to be an airborne ranger lol. Enlisted infantry, which kicked my ass, and brought purpose, direction, and discipline to my life. It also helped build up my character. I took community college classes while in, and transferred into Temple University's business school upon exiting the Army.
• Estimated overall GPA (from the AAMC website) is ~2.9
  • Graduated Magna Cum Laude (3.72 GPA) with a B.B.A., thanks to the fact my school didn't keep any of my abysmal grades prior to my Army Enlistment (2010-2014). CC is littered with C's and one F from 2005-2008. I had a pretty dramatic upward trend from 2012 (CC while I was active duty) through graduation from Temple with mostly A's. Lowest grade was B-.
• Estimated science GPA (again, from AAMC website) is ~3.0 with Astronomy+lab from CC days, or ~2.83 without Astronomy+lab.
  • This science GPA is comprised of College Algebra (community college), Pre-Calc with Trig (community college), Business Calculus, Statistics for Business, and the aforementioned Astronomy+lab
• The BEST case scenario (straight A's in Post-Bacc) is that my overall GPA raises to ~3.1 and my science GPA raises to ~3.6.

As of now, no volunteer or shadow hours. I've been brainstorming for a month or so now and here is my current plan:

• Research and plan out finances to present solid business case to my wife
• Begin this summer volunteering and shadowing during my spare hours (Saturday half days and 1 night a week)
• Apply and hopefully be admitted to Seattle U Post-Bacc Pre-Med program, and enroll Fall 2018 (this would obviously mean me quitting my job).
• Complete post-bacc in 12 months, while volunteering/shadowing and studying for MCATs.
• Apply for med school the following year (2019)

So, first off, are my grades too low to even bother with this? I am hoping the post-bacc would help boost my GPA enough to be attractive to Med Schools. Secondly, how does this draft of a plan look? I am concerned about the gap that I will likely have after completing the post-bacc and (hopefully) getting accepted and starting Med School. Any and all advice is much appreciated in advance. Please let me know what questions you have.

Thanks.

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[tarheelpenner]

Your grades are not too low because you have a story to tell, and have obviously changed your life around. Adcoms take this into consideration. The plan looks good to me, although you might also want to add research hours into somewhere.

 

[HopefulSlav]

Do it!