Non-Trad/Reinvention Help! Any advice appreciated <3

[dayako]

Hello everyone!! Longtime lurker, and now I feel like it is my time to post on here. I plan on applying next year in 2026! I'm just getting everything in order. Some stats on myself.

Graduated: 2022 (cGPA: 3.21/sGPA: 2.53)
Volunteering: 100+ hours at local hospital (ongoing w/ hours spanning back to 2016)
Work: 5000+ hours in close clinical role (about 3 years)
Research: 0 hours at an actual lab/school, but I have done many presentations for my hospital if that counts (50+ if it does/ongoing).
Leadership: Picked for leadership conference in undergrad and smaller leadership roles within my unit
MCAT: Planned MCAT date is later this year. 1st FL (super unserious taken at 2am): 500

The massive drop in GPA came from freshmen year following an already bad trend in HS. I ended the year with a 1.52 uGPA/1.70 sGPA. Sophomore year wasn't the best either with a 2.38 sGPA and 3.06 uGPA. After struggling for awhile, I finally got everything together and ended with 4.0s my last years of college. My passion for medicine with rekindled during this time, and I knew I wanted to be a doctor.

I am currently doing a DIY post-bacc at a CC for pre-reqs and a GPA boost. After taking orgo 1 (B) and gen. chem 2 (A), my sGPA has risen to a 2.70. I plan on taking physics 2, orgo 2, and biochemistry in the fall. With straight A's in those courses, I would end up with a 2.95 sGPA. Would med schools automatically weed me out for it? Should I plan on taking a statistics course in the summer to get that 2.95 to a 3.01? Unfortunately, it would be online to cooperate with my work schedule. The class does not require a lab, so I thought I would be in the clear.

If anyone has any advice, school lists, etc., I am open to hearing what everyone has to say. I plan on applying extremely broadly in MD and DO. I understand I have a lot of things going against me right now, but I am ready for the challenge! Thank you for reading <3

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[Faha]

You need to increase your sGPA to 3.0 before you apply. You also need 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including primary care). Accumulate another 100+ hours of clinical volunteering since many schools screen at 150 hours. You also need 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering such as food bank, homeless shelter, etc. .

 

[dayako]

You need to increase your sGPA to 3.0 before you apply. You also need 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including primary care). Accumulate another 100+ hours of clinical volunteering since many schools screen at 150 hours. You also need 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering such as food bank, homeless shelter, etc. .

Thank you for your response!! Do you think the statistics class taken online would be an issue? Also, the hospital I volunteer at considers my volunteering non-clinical, and I do have all those hours in a close patient setting. Would you still suggest finding clinical volunteering?

 

[Faha]

Thank you for your response!! Do you think the statistics class taken online would be an issue? Also, the hospital I volunteer at considers my volunteering non-clinical, and I do have all those hours in a close patient setting. Would you still suggest finding clinical volunteering

It appears your hospital volunteering is clinical if you have some patient contact. You do need more clinical volunteering hours. Taking Statistics online is fine.

 

[esob]

Agree w/ getting the sGPA above 3.0. Also agree with getting in-person shadowing, and I would probably strongly lean into finding some DOs to shadow with the hopes of landing a DO-based LOR. These things will likely prevent auto-screening out at some programs.

 

[unc_jack_of_A]

You need to increase your sGPA to 3.0 before you apply. You also need 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including primary care). Accumulate another 100+ hours of clinical volunteering since many schools screen at 150 hours. You also need 150+ hours of non clinical volunteering such as food bank, homeless shelter, etc. .

is the 150hr non-clinical screen out for MD or DO, or both?

 

[Faha]

is the 150hr non-clinical screen out for MD or DO, or both?

Many MD schools and a few DO schools.