Old Guy taking the plunge... Questions and concerns...

[JTwizzle]

Good Morning!


I'll try to give as much infoas I can, but as you get older, some things slip through the cracks...

I'm a bit older than the majority of the crowd applying for Medical schools, first time around. I've been in the Air Force for over 13 years, in a variety of capacities, none health related though. In the last few years, I'd changed my life for the better, and decided to pursue school.

I attended Undeclared Undergrad program back in 1999-2001, and subsequently didn't do very well between working full time and taking a full course load, and had a not-so-good 2.x GPA. It was low 2's..

In the last 2 years, I've left the full time military gig, and have been going for a BS of Exercise Physiology, w/ minors in Nutrition/Biology/Psychology, as well as plan on finish taking the last Pre-Med prerequisites that I need. My cGPA is at a 3.5 right now after doing some calculations, and I'm nearing the end of my Sophmore year.

After discussing with my Pre-Med Advisor at the school, he states that since there's been such a large gap between when I had started school, until now, and that since I'm getting decent grades now, it shouldn't matter in the big picture, but could have me shunned from even an interview. Does anyone know if this is true?

I've read a lot on here about the Prep. courses being a waste of money and time. I see that Princeton Review seems to be the more popular one. Are there any other avenues of approach with regards to studying one of the manuals for the exam?

I've already begun volunteer hours (I live about 500m from one of the main local Hospitals), and I was considering getting my EMT-B cert. Does this seem to make sense?

Besides all of the reading on here, as well as the rest of the internet, I'm taking all advice seriously, as I'm not just new to this process, but I'm sort of new to the healthcare careerfield. Thanks for any help, advice, pointers, etc... that anyone is willing to lend..



Cheers!



JT

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[theseeker4]

Good Morning!


I'll try to give as much infoas I can, but as you get older, some things slip through the cracks...

I'm a bit older than the majority of the crowd applying for Medical schools, first time around. I've been in the Air Force for over 13 years, in a variety of capacities, none health related though. In the last few years, I'd changed my life for the better, and decided to pursue school.

I attended Undeclared Undergrad program back in 1999-2001, and subsequently didn't do very well between working full time and taking a full course load, and had a not-so-good 2.x GPA. It was low 2's..

In the last 2 years, I've left the full time military gig, and have been going for a BS of Exercise Physiology, w/ minors in Nutrition/Biology/Psychology, as well as plan on finish taking the last Pre-Med prerequisites that I need. My cGPA is at a 3.5 right now after doing some calculations, and I'm nearing the end of my Sophmore year.

You say your GPA is a 3.5 right now. What does that include? Work at your most recent program, or all the classes you took including the low 2's coursework from over 10 years ago? Did you include any classes you might have failed and retaken in the calculations, meaning including both the GPA and credit hours of the failed attempt, and the subsequent re-take?

After discussing with my Pre-Med Advisor at the school, he states that since there's been such a large gap between when I had started school, until now, and that since I'm getting decent grades now, it shouldn't matter in the big picture, but could have me shunned from even an interview. Does anyone know if this is true?

In general, if you meet the cutoffs of schools for minimum GPA, having recent strong work is a lot better than mediocre work for all 4 years of college. This means, at most schools a 3.5 earned across 8 semesters doesn't look as good as a 3.0, 3.5, 3.7, 3.8. Your more recent courses will be weighed more strongly than your older ones. The older ones will still be taken into account, however.

I've read a lot on here about the Prep. courses being a waste of money and time. I see that Princeton Review seems to be the more popular one. Are there any other avenues of approach with regards to studying one of the manuals for the exam?

I've already begun volunteer hours (I live about 500m from one of the main local Hospitals), and I was considering getting my EMT-B cert. Does this seem to make sense?

Besides all of the reading on here, as well as the rest of the internet, I'm taking all advice seriously, as I'm not just new to this process, but I'm sort of new to the healthcare careerfield. Thanks for any help, advice, pointers, etc... that anyone is willing to lend..

Cheers!

JT

I will let someone else talk about the MCAT prep, since I didn't use a course or a set plan myself. I would take everything you hear with a grain of salt, especially your pre-med adviser's statements. There is story after story about the advisers just not knowing what they are talking about, even though there are some good ones out there.

Volunteering is great if it involves patient contact. EMT would be good, but not required, so only do it if you really want to. Shadow a few doctors in various specialties, including something in primary care.

Check out the non-traditional thread as well to read about a lot of other applicants, students and doctors who didn't go straight from college to med school.

 

[dreamweaver1988]

Don't worry about the age thing - many schools have at least a few students in their 40s and 50s. No biggie, plus prior military service (I think) is an advantage.

Your cumulative GPA will be every college class you've taken, ever, including your first try at college. But I would agree with your advisor that even if you have some bad grades, they're old news and you're reinvented yourself, so to speak.

Shadowing is pretty much mandatory, and schools also want you to know something about sick people, so clinical experience is good. Lots of people on SDN are EMTs...I went the CNA route and am happy with how things have turned out so far. Anyway, try to work with some sick people.

Your GPA is a bit low for allopathic schools but not unreasonably low. Try to push it up to a 3.6 or so. Make sure your science (BCPM: biology, chemistry, physics, math) GPA is also up there around a 3.4 or 3.5. Good luck. And stick around - I'm sure some more qualified people will reply to your thread soon.

 

[JTwizzle]

You say your GPA is a 3.5 right now. What does that include? Work at your most recent program, or all the classes you took including the low 2's coursework from over 10 years ago? Did you include any classes you might have failed and retaken in the calculations, meaning including both the GPA and credit hours of the failed attempt, and the subsequent re-take?

Unfortunately, when I transferred my credits in, some of classes were taken Pass/Fail, so I had to retake them to receive a letter grade for credit. Those were Psych, Biochem, English 2, and a couple others. My 3.5 is only the GPA from the most recent stint of school, approximately the last year or so of my life, so I hadn't tried recalculating my GPA with the older grades. Thankfully, a lot of the crappy grades I received, were in Arts and Humanities, and not in Sciences, which helps, since I have a sGPA of something over a 3.4, if I remember correctly.

In general, if you meet the cutoffs of schools for minimum GPA, having recent strong work is a lot better than mediocre work for all 4 years of college. This means, at most schools a 3.5 earned across 8 semesters doesn't look as good as a 3.0, 3.5, 3.7, 3.8. Your more recent courses will be weighed more strongly than your older ones. The older ones will still be taken into account, however.

This is good to know; sort of what I was thinking, since there was such a time disparity between my semesters.

Volunteering is great if it involves patient contact. EMT would be good, but not required, so only do it if you really want to. Shadow a few doctors in various specialties, including something in primary care.

Check out the non-traditional thread as well to read about a lot of other applicants, students and doctors who didn't go straight from college to med school.

Thankfully, volunteerism is something I grew up with, so doing that sort of thing is up my alley. I was going to go the EMT route, mostly because it's more of an immersion, whereas I can also get paid while learning/training. If I could go even as a CNA or an LPN for now, that would also work, but I figured EMT-B classes are a little easier to fit into my schedule. I'll check that thread as well. Thanks for the info!!!

Don't worry about the age thing - many schools have at least a few students in their 40s and 50s. No biggie, plus prior military service (I think) is an advantage.

Your cumulative GPA will be every college class you've taken, ever, including your first try at college. But I would agree with your advisor that even if you have some bad grades, they're old news and you're reinvented yourself, so to speak.

Kinda what I was hoping for, but I'm just trying to make sure.

Shadowing is pretty much mandatory, and schools also want you to know something about sick people, so clinical experience is good. Lots of people on SDN are EMTs...I went the CNA route and am happy with how things have turned out so far. Anyway, try to work with some sick people.

Your GPA is a bit low for allopathic schools but not unreasonably low. Try to push it up to a 3.6 or so. Make sure your science (BCPM: biology, chemistry, physics, math) GPA is also up there around a 3.4 or 3.5. Good luck. And stick around - I'm sure some more qualified people will reply to your thread soon.

My Science GPA is really, what is bringing the rest of my GPA up. I've received many good grades lately, with Physics being the only downer, with a B (I even surprised myself with the B).


Thanks again for all of the information guys!!! This process is definitely a bit intimidating!




JT

 

[Catalystik]

As you will be obliged to submit a transcript directly from every college you ever attended (and this includes military coursework, which might help you if you got grades), it would be helpful to us if you calculated your GPAs a med school will see them.

In the case of DO schools, they have a grade forgiveness policy: To qualify, each class that one retakes must have the same credit hours as the original course, or greater. The retake need not be at the same school. The course name needn't be identical so long as the course content is demonstrably similar per the course catalogs.

When one retakes, only the most recent grade is included in the calculation of your application GPA by AACOMAS. This can be a fast way to redeem a low GPA.

So maybe you could do this and let us know what you ge using a DO GPA calculation spreadsheet:http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=450050
Newer modified version: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=839864

You might use the program to figure how many more hours of A you would need to have both the cGPA and sGPA over 3.0 and over 3.3.

Regardless of raw numbers, many schools will give you special consideration due to being exmilitary, having your poor grades be from long ago, and due to being of nontraditional age.

For fun, check out this exmilitary applicant's successful story: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=853249

 

[JTwizzle]

Thanks for the information! The gentleman in the thread you posted, sounds a bit similar in case to myself.


I'm going to plug in the numbers into that calculator and see. The only setback I may have, is some of the courses that I took that I received poor grades from, were a bit unique to where I was going to school, so finding relevant or coinciding courses may be a bit difficult. Doesn't mean I won't still try to see what I can get rid of. What I do know though, is that my course load is solid now, since I'm somewhat of a dual-major; the school I go to now does not offer a Pre-Med program, but allows you to take the courses needed to fulfill that with special circumstances, however it's on your own time (after placement of Degree requirements). It almost sounds as if I may be in line for some Post-Bacc work.


Thanks again for the information!!!

 

[Goro]

Your pre-med advisor is a *****! We have accepetd many students like yourself. We prefer those who have shown recetly that they can handle the rigors of medical school, and our older students also tend to be more successful. So please apply to my school!

Good Morning!


I'll try to give as much infoas I can, but as you get older, some things slip through the cracks...

I'm a bit older than the majority of the crowd applying for Medical schools, first time around. I've been in the Air Force for over 13 years, in a variety of capacities, none health related though. In the last few years, I'd changed my life for the better, and decided to pursue school.

I attended Undeclared Undergrad program back in 1999-2001, and subsequently didn't do very well between working full time and taking a full course load, and had a not-so-good 2.x GPA. It was low 2's..

In the last 2 years, I've left the full time military gig, and have been going for a BS of Exercise Physiology, w/ minors in Nutrition/Biology/Psychology, as well as plan on finish taking the last Pre-Med prerequisites that I need. My cGPA is at a 3.5 right now after doing some calculations, and I'm nearing the end of my Sophmore year.

After discussing with my Pre-Med Advisor at the school, he states that since there's been such a large gap between when I had started school, until now, and that since I'm getting decent grades now, it shouldn't matter in the big picture, but could have me shunned from even an interview. Does anyone know if this is true?

I've read a lot on here about the Prep. courses being a waste of money and time. I see that Princeton Review seems to be the more popular one. Are there any other avenues of approach with regards to studying one of the manuals for the exam?

I've already begun volunteer hours (I live about 500m from one of the main local Hospitals), and I was considering getting my EMT-B cert. Does this seem to make sense?

Besides all of the reading on here, as well as the rest of the internet, I'm taking all advice seriously, as I'm not just new to this process, but I'm sort of new to the healthcare careerfield. Thanks for any help, advice, pointers, etc... that anyone is willing to lend..



Cheers!



JT

 

[Catalystik]

I've read a lot on here about the Prep. courses being a waste of money and time. I see that Princeton Review seems to be the more popular one. Are there any other avenues of approach with regards to studying one of the manuals for the exam?

You can find a good self-study plan in SDN's MCAT Discussion Forums, stickied to the top. The usefulness of a formal prep class is in the eye of the beholder. Some swear by them, and others feel they are a waste of money. Kaplan and Princeton Review seem to have similar popularity, from what I've seen.

 

[JTwizzle]

Your pre-med advisor is a *****! We have accepetd many students like yourself. We prefer those who have shown recetly that they can handle the rigors of medical school, and our older students also tend to be more successful. So please apply to my school!

Sign me up!!!!! (pardon my ignorance, but which school is it??? Location doesn't matter to me because it's the career I truly want!!)

I think the only things that I am concerned with is the initial LOI. I've been told I am great at interviews, and believe me when I say that the motivation is there.

As for the MCAT Prep courses, I may end up not doing one, as I have made some good friends here, that all have a very similar aspiration, and we've formed up a solid study group.


Thanks again for the information!!!!




JT

 

[Goro]

Let's just say I'm somewhere westof St Louis (but am interested in shifting to the new MUCOM in Indy).

Sign me up!!!!! (pardon my ignorance, but which school is it??? Location doesn't matter to me because it's the career I truly want!!)

I think the only things that I am concerned with is the initial LOI. I've been told I am great at interviews, and believe me when I say that the motivation is there.

As for the MCAT Prep courses, I may end up not doing one, as I have made some good friends here, that all have a very similar aspiration, and we've formed up a solid study group.


Thanks again for the information!!!!




JT

 

[TriagePreMed]

Unfortunately, when I transferred my credits in, some of classes were taken Pass/Fail, so I had to retake them to receive a letter grade for credit. Those were Psych, Biochem, English 2, and a couple others. My 3.5 is only the GPA from the most recent stint of school, approximately the last year or so of my life, so I hadn't tried recalculating my GPA with the older grades. Thankfully, a lot of the crappy grades I received, were in Arts and Humanities, and not in Sciences, which helps, since I have a sGPA of something over a 3.4, if I remember correctly.

I honestly doubt any school in this country will even care about your 2.X from 12 years ago. If you keep up the good work now, I think your opportunities could be limitless.