Odd situation: good GPA, but otherwise messed up college; don't know what to do

[peter4444]

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Hi all,

First want to say I've been lurking on these forums for awhile, and am amazed by how helpful everyone is!

I have an odd situation, and even after abusing the search function for days haven't been able to come up with a solid solution. I need advice/guidance; any would be greatly appreciated.

tl,dr: Messed up by having no ECs in college; don't have anything to show but a decent GPA (3.55c). Got a huge wake up call after graduation, and now have refocused priorities; what to do now? I want to redo undergrad, or something similar to prove I can balance my studies.

Longer version:
I made a naive mistake in college: I focused primarily/put all my effort on academics, and poorly prepared everything else. For all the effort, I didn't do particularly amazing either (3.55c/3.7s GPA). Not many ECs aside from clinical volunteering senior year as well as tutoring as part of a class the last quarter.

I did the 2 years CC, then transfer to a 4-year university route.

During the first two years at the CC I just focused on my studies and worked part time (waiting tables). Once I transferred (UCSD) I stopped working with the intention of giving myself wiggle room to get used to the faster-paced quarter system to the new area/living on my own with roommates. Living off campus, I commuted to school. Long story short, these two years went by very unproductive non-academically due to me deciding late senior year to look into med school, and my ignorance in preparing for life after college.

After graduating, I got hit with a huge wake up call on how I essentially wasted my last two years basically only studying and hanging out, when I should have been better prioritized trying to extract more than grades from the college experience with research/internships/ECs. I'm very proud to have done well academically with my degree, but realized finding work was difficult (due to the lack of internships/work experience). After about two months of unsuccessfully applying for jobs, I've moved back home with my parents since I couldn't afford to keep paying rent having graduated. Since then I picked up a waiting job again in my home city while I look for entry level lab work/internships with my degree in the area to minimal avail.

So right now I'm not sure what to do. I know my undergrad history, if anything shows poor judgement/lack of motivation/lack of time management and looks on paper like a student who studied all day (which admittedly wasn't far from the truth a lot of the time...). BUT, since getting such a huge slap in the face, followed by a bit of depression from my employment situation... if I were to do the two years over again I KNOW I would do it so much different now. I now have pretty much a 180 degree turn in my work ethic/priorities, that just needs to be proved.

I'm still very interested in medicine, and know I need to prove to adcoms that I CAN achieve balance but not sure how I can prove this given I'm out of college. I'm sure even an amazing MCAT score couldn't offset my complete lack of concurrent ECs throughout college.

I really really wish I could redo undergrad again. I'm thinking about a second bachelors, masters, or post bacc, or just taking classes at my state college? Or any other ideas? Am I out of luck?

 

[flodhi1]

OP no need to cry over spilled milk. Why not spend an entire year (a cycle) gaining clinical experience (volunteering/shadowing) at a hospital or walk in clinic, non clinical experience (community service), research and leadership gigs. It is true that without ECs getting accepted to medical school will be very hard no matter what the grades.

 

[sector9]

Moved to "What are my chances"

 

[sector9]

By the way, I see a big focus on ECs in your future, not a second bachelor's degree or anything like that.

Here's a few things to consider schedule-wise:
Start clinical volunteering or clinical employment immediately. If you pick volunteering (or if you can't find a job, which will be tough without training), then do like 3-4 hours/week volunteering while holding down a job.

After you have your clinical EC started, then start looking for either nonclinical community service or research (if possible). It sounds like it has been tough to find research now that you aren't in school, so I wouldn't even worry about it to be honest. You might not get into a top school without the research stuff but that's fine. The community service can only be an hour or two a week.

Another thing to do is to start shadowing. Most applicants have roughly 50 hours in a few specialties. Try to get a primary care physician too. You don't need longevity with this activity, so it's fine to do it in spurts when you are available.

Here's where things get complicated: Should you go back to school to take a few classes to keep your academic record a little more fresh? I think it would be good. It sounds like you've been out of school for 2 years. It will probably take you at least a year and half to get ready to apply EC-wise. That puts you at 3 1/2 years between your last college class and your application. By the time you start med school, you're talking a 4 1/2 year gap. This is the type of situation where Catalystik saves the day by providing some of her wisdom 🙂

A few questions: Do you have all of the med school prereqs done? How confident are you that you can study for the MCAT with your current base of knowledge? All the MCAT courses and books that I'm aware of have a base level of knowledge expected for the various subjects (since they're review).

If you do decide to take classes, then I would just do an informal postbacc at a local 4-year school. (The school may require you to declare a second major as a formality. I would ask a school academic counselor to go over your options for setting up the informal postbacc. You don't need to be thinking about a second bachelors or a masters IMHO [you would possibly think about a master's if you were intent on applying to top schools that expect research])

Anyway, those are a few of my rambling thoughts. Good luck👍

 

[Catalystik]

First want to say I've been lurking on these forums for awhile, and am amazed by how helpful everyone is!

I have an odd situation, and even after abusing the search function for days haven't been able to come up with a solid solution. I need advice/guidance; any would be greatly appreciated.

tl,dr: Messed up by having no ECs in college; don't have anything to show but a decent GPA (3.55c). Got a huge wake up call after graduation, and now have refocused priorities; what to do now? I want to redo undergrad, or something similar to prove I can balance my studies.

Longer version:
I made a naive mistake in college: I focused primarily/put all my effort on academics, and poorly prepared everything else. For all the effort, I didn't do particularly amazing either (3.55c/3.7s GPA). Not many ECs aside from clinical volunteering senior year as well as tutoring as part of a class the last quarter.

I did the 2 years CC, then transfer to a 4-year university route.

During the first two years at the CC I just focused on my studies and worked part time (waiting tables). Once I transferred (UCSD) I stopped working with the intention of giving myself wiggle room to get used to the faster-paced quarter system to the new area/living on my own with roommates. Living off campus, I commuted to school. Long story short, these two years went by very unproductive non-academically due to me deciding late senior year to look into med school, and my ignorance in preparing for life after college.

After graduating, I got hit with a huge wake up call on how I essentially wasted my last two years basically only studying and hanging out, when I should have been better prioritized trying to extract more than grades from the college experience with research/internships/ECs. I'm very proud to have done well academically with my degree, but realized finding work was difficult (due to the lack of internships/work experience). After about two months of unsuccessfully applying for jobs, I've moved back home with my parents since I couldn't afford to keep paying rent having graduated. Since then I picked up a waiting job again in my home city while I look for entry level lab work/internships with my degree in the area to minimal avail.

So right now I'm not sure what to do. I know my undergrad history, if anything shows poor judgement/lack of motivation/lack of time management and looks on paper like a student who studied all day (which admittedly wasn't far from the truth a lot of the time...). BUT, since getting such a huge slap in the face, followed by a bit of depression from my employment situation... if I were to do the two years over again I KNOW I would do it so much different now. I now have pretty much a 180 degree turn in my work ethic/priorities, that just needs to be proved.

I'm still very interested in medicine, and know I need to prove to adcoms that I CAN achieve balance but not sure how I can prove this given I'm out of college. I'm sure even an amazing MCAT score couldn't offset my complete lack of concurrent ECs throughout college.

I really really wish I could redo undergrad again. I'm thinking about a second bachelors, masters, or post bacc, or just taking classes at my state college? Or any other ideas? Am I out of luck?

Yours is one of the rare situations where I'm going to suggest that you consider a traditional masters degree. It will be at least 1.5 years before you will be ready to apply, you need to update your academic credentials, a masters would give you access to research opportunities (73% list this) and teaching, another EC that strengthens your application. Best of all, you get paid and tuition is included.

While in the masters program, you could take additional undergrad coursework not required for the masters, and have it count as postbac classes, which is included in your undergrad GPA. I mention this because your cGPA is on the low side and could use some improving. An MPH or hard science masters could be disciplines to consider (but don't count on the gGPA helping you). You'd probably have to take a GRE. It might be good to take a science class or two while you get ready to apply.

Since it might be on the late side to apply for grad school now, where a program only starts in the fall, you might prefer to consider sector9's plan.

By taking informal postbac classes somewhere, you could still have access to research and maybe teaching gigs, as well as other campus opportunities, but you get to pay for the tuition.

I suggest starting the nonmedical community service ASAP, so as to have some decent longevity in at least one activity. Find a cause you care about. Eventually move into a leadership role.

As mentioned, plan on gaining 1.5 years of clinical exerience and physician shadowing before you apply.

If you have the cash, a formal postbac program meant to prepare you for the MCAT might be another way to go, since it will have been awhile since you were exposed to the requisite material.

 

[peter4444]

Thank you sector9 and Catalystik! I am overwhelmed by how thorough your guys' advice is! Definitely got a lot to work on. sector9, I've completed the prereqs, and as of now feel comfortable studying for the MCAT (we'll see about in the future how long everything stays inside my head..)

With the plans, I'll definitely check out my local state college about a masters or the post-bacc, and stop by the advising office as well to sort things out. I really miss the plethora of available EC opportunities handed on a silver plate in college, but what can you do, life goes on.

Thank you thank you guys again!

 

[alexrgross]

HEllo there...I am chiming in here, on the subject of nonmedical EC. Since you are a bachelors of the arts, or sciences, and you need an EC - why not look for a job that is a good EC, using your degree as leverage for employment?


Just tweaking...