Not sure what to do.. advice please!

[SP012]

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I am a non-traditional student taking gap year(s) to travel and figure out what I wish to pursue. I've finally decided medical school is the path I want to take. I currently have a BS in Neuroscience with a GPA of 2.76. I've taken all of the pre-reqs for medical school EXCEPT one 1 semester of organic chemistry. I have looked through SMPs, Post-bacc programs, and masters programs. My application lacks the one semester in Orgo making it difficult to find a program. Not only that but my GPA is definitely not helping either. I haven't taken the MCAT yet and currently studying to take the GRE.
I'm not sure what to do at the point.. advice please!

 

[WedgeDawg]

tl;dr - grade replacement through retaking lowest grade classes via postbacc --> DO

Your GPA is too low for an SMP to accept you/have me recommend it to you as an option, too low for a postbacc to make any sort of meaningful impact, and too low on its own for admission anywhere (obviously).

Your best bet is to retake the classes you did worst in, particularly the science classes, through a do-it-yourself (DIY) postbacc. DO schools have a grade replacement policy that will replace your previous grade with your new ones, so if you can turn some Cs and Ds into As and Bs (hopefully As), you'll see your GPA skyrocket. You can also take orgo (and hopefully do well). Once you've taken all the prereqs and gotten your GPA to around a 3.3 or higher, study for and take the MCAT.

 

[SP012]

tl;dr - grade replacement through retaking lowest grade classes via postbacc --> DO

Your GPA is too low for an SMP to accept you/have me recommend it to you as an option, too low for a postbacc to make any sort of meaningful impact, and too low on its own for admission anywhere (obviously).

Your best bet is to retake the classes you did worst in, particularly the science classes, through a do-it-yourself (DIY) postbacc. DO schools have a grade replacement policy that will replace your previous grade with your new ones, so if you can turn some Cs and Ds into As and Bs (hopefully As), you'll see your GPA skyrocket. You can also take orgo (and hopefully do well). Once you've taken all the prereqs and gotten your GPA to around a 3.3 or higher, study for and take the MCAT.

Do you think getting a masters degree in biology or any sciences will do any good? Or would it be better to stick to a DIY postbacc?

 

[WedgeDawg]

I think the DIY postbacc is your best option (provided you are targeting DO schools and utilizing grade replacement)

 

[LizzyM]

Do you think getting a masters degree in biology or any sciences will do any good? Or would it be better to stick to a DIY postbacc?

A masters degree will not change your undergraduate GPA. Your best hope is for DO school as they do grade replacement if you retake undergraduate courses you did poorly in. You need not take them at the same school you attended the first time around but they should be equivalent classes.

 

[SP012]

A masters degree will not change your undergraduate GPA. Your best hope is for DO school as they do grade replacement if you retake undergraduate courses you did poorly in. You need not take them at the same school you attended the first time around but they should be equivalent classes.

If I wish to get into a MD school. I would have to do DIY post-bacc then SMP?

 

[WedgeDawg]

If I wish to get into a MD school. I would have to do DIY post-bacc then SMP?

You would have to do a DIY postbacc to raise your GPA to >3.0 without grade replacement, then you would likely have to take the MCAT and score above a certain number (probably a 505), then you would do the SMP and have to ace it (3.7+), then go through the app cycle. If your first MCAT didn't cut it (and a 505 won't), you would have to take it again, which would be a mark against you.

Also, just some math:

If you have 120 credits and your GPA is is 2.76, you would need 30 credits (i.e. one year) of 3.96 or higher work in your postbacc to make your overall GPA at least exactly a 3.0 (usually the cutoff for the respectable SMPs if I am not mistaken). In other words, that means that the absolute worst you can do is get a single A- in a 4 credit class and the rest have to be As. One B+ and you'll need to take more than a year's worth of courses, meaning more time and more money.

Additionally, SMPs are expensive, often costing upwards of 20k for one year, and thats on top of the at least 1 year of postbacc work. And then you get to pay for medical school.

 

[LizzyM]

Take that one semester of organic chemistry anywhere that will let you in the door as a non-degree student. A community college might be your best bet.

If you get an A in the course (including lab if that is a separate grade), move forward toward MD. By this I mean retaking courses in which you did poorly (even though MD schools don't grade replace, you can show that you have what it takes now to do well in the academic arena).

If you can't manage an A in that course, your chances of taking enough additional courses in a DIY post-bac to move your overall GPA to 3.0 are slim. Without a 3.0 or higher, your chances of moving forward into graduate or professional study are also slim.

This is a rather inexpensive "test" compared with paying for a SMP which is, essentially, an additional year of medical school tuition.

However, it might come to the point where the only way to prove you can do med school is to take classes along side medical students and do better than most of them. Essentially, that is what a SMP is, that's what it costs, and if you don't do well, the coursework you've taken has little value to employers. Don't go down that road unless you are sure you can do exceptionally well!

Think about what it is about medicine that attracts you to it as a career. I strongly recommend What color is your parachute as a resource in helping you find your path. It might also be a good idea to Google the words AAMC Table GPA to see the proportion of applicants at each GPA/MCAT combination who are admitted to medical school to give you an idea of the long odds you face.

 

[purplefrog13]

You've got some great advice above, but I thought I would throw in my two cents.

You're in this for the long run--two or three years and taking a non-trad route isn't the worst thing that could happen. Of course, you have to weigh what is financially best for you.

The Master's program I am in let's you take undergrad courses and graduate courses along side each other--it's how I retook some undergrad courses and some additional. I'm taking 2.5 years for the program in order to do that. You take some decently difficult courses that could a good predictor of how you perform in medical school. You could come out with some grade replacements and a graduate degree.

 

[Goro]

This is the path I recommend. You will need to ace everything (GPA > 3.7) and ace MCAT for those MD schools that reward reinvention.

If I wish to get into a MD school. I would have to do DIY post-bacc then SMP?

 

[Goro]

Read up on the posts by the wise @DrMidlife, concerning reinventing yourself.

I am a non-traditional student taking gap year(s) to travel and figure out what I wish to pursue. I've finally decided medical school is the path I want to take. I currently have a BS in Neuroscience with a GPA of 2.76. I've taken all of the pre-reqs for medical school EXCEPT one 1 semester of organic chemistry. I have looked through SMPs, Post-bacc programs, and masters programs. My application lacks the one semester in Orgo making it difficult to find a program. Not only that but my GPA is definitely not helping either. I haven't taken the MCAT yet and currently studying to take the GRE.
I'm not sure what to do at the point.. advice please!

 

[SP012]

Thank you everyone for your responses!