Opinion on non-traditional student

[Jdp00921]

First, a little about myself. I'm currently 23 years old and semi-recently graduated with my BS of Accounting. I was part of the "younger" graduates as I finished HS when I was 17 rather than the more common, 18. After HS graduation, I had no clue what I wanted in life and went to university as it was pretty much "what you were supposed to do" after HS. During my undergrad, I didn't do great as anyone knows if your not engaged in what your trying to learn you won't do well; nor did I have an interest in doing that great as honestly, at the time, I wanted more-so to be working and making money. Now that I'm a bit older, I realize a dream I have always spoke about but never considered actually pursuing, Medical School, is a possibility and something that I seem to like so much should not be over-looked.

Anyway, my plan was to go post-bac. and do well on all the Medical School pre-reqs. Currently, I've only had 2 sciences (which do not count as pre-reqs.) in undergrad which I have an A/B+ in, while in calculus I have an A. I give these grades for example as they are the only 3 classes that I took already that would probably be looked at. My cGPA isn't great, somewhere around a 2.9.

All together, I'm asking if I have a chance with the following criteria:

cGPA undergrad of 2.9.
If I finish my pre-reqs. post-bac. and earn a high GPA of between 3.7-4.0, leaving me with a sGPA of 3.7-4.0 (I assume I could get high grades in these as I've always been good at science/math)
I have done some volunteer work around my city as well as in my local hospital.
Shadowed an Oral Surgeon as well as my ENT.
Assuming I can pass the MCAT with a score of 30-32 (hopefully higher):

Will I get an offer or acceptance to some schools? More specifically, did my undergrad ruin my chances forever? Thanks in advance for those who read and any advice and what will increase my chances please feel free to respond! Thanks!

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[Goro]

There are MD programs out there that seem to like people who reinvent themselves successfully. Albany, SUNY Upstate, BU, Tulane, and most DO programs come to mind. For MD programs you'll need to score >30 on MCAT. Shoot for high 20s for DO programs.

Will I get an offer or acceptance to some schools? More specifically, did my undergrad ruin my chances forever? Thanks in advance for those who read and any advice and what will increase my chances please feel free to respond! Thanks![/QUOTE]

 

[LiveLoveLearn]

First, a little about myself. I'm currently 23 years old and semi-recently graduated with my BS of Accounting. I was part of the "younger" graduates as I finished HS when I was 17 rather than the more common, 18. After HS graduation, I had no clue what I wanted in life and went to university as it was pretty much "what you were supposed to do" after HS. During my undergrad, I didn't do great as anyone knows if your not engaged in what your trying to learn you won't do well; nor did I have an interest in doing that great as honestly, at the time, I wanted more-so to be working and making money. Now that I'm a bit older, I realize a dream I have always spoke about but never considered actually pursuing, Medical School, is a possibility and something that I seem to like so much should not be over-looked.

Anyway, my plan was to go post-bac. and do well on all the Medical School pre-reqs. Currently, I've only had 2 sciences (which do not count as pre-reqs.) in undergrad which I have an A/B+ in, while in calculus I have an A. I give these grades for example as they are the only 3 classes that I took already that would probably be looked at. My cGPA isn't great, somewhere around a 2.9.

All together, I'm asking if I have a chance with the following criteria:

cGPA undergrad of 2.9.
If I finish my pre-reqs. post-bac. and earn a high GPA of between 3.7-4.0, leaving me with a sGPA of 3.7-4.0 (I assume I could get high grades in these as I've always been good at science/math)
I have done some volunteer work around my city as well as in my local hospital.
Shadowed an Oral Surgeon as well as my ENT.
Assuming I can pass the MCAT with a score of 30-32 (hopefully higher):

Will I get an offer or acceptance to some schools? More specifically, did my undergrad ruin my chances forever? Thanks in advance for those who read and any advice and what will increase my chances please feel free to respond! Thanks!

If you can accomplish all of the goals that you stated above, then I think that you would be a great DO applicant. For MD, I think that it will depend on what you can do with your cGPA. If you were to get 3.7-4.0 from here forward, what would your resultant cGPA look like?

You may want to add a couple of classes in addition to those required across the board, such as Biochem, Genetics and a stats course (if you haven't already taken that as part of your Accounting degree). These will help to increase your cGPA (assuming that you do well), and make you more prepared for the MCAT. Additionally, so me schools required these (not most).

If you still end up with a cGPA < 3.3, a really good MCAT score could really balance that out. As the poster above said, generally >30 is good for MD, but if you are compensating for a lower cGPA, I would shoot for >34.

From an ex-accounting/finance major turned soon-to-be medical student - good luck!

 

[dsoz]

If you can pull your cGPA above a 3.3, but a 3.5 would be better. And as Goro said, a 30+ on the MCAT would increase your chances greatly.

If the letters after your name don't matter to you, then you may want to consider DO. They do grade replacement. You could retake some of the classes you were low in and the low grade magically becomes a higher grade. That would be the best way to redeem your lower undergrad GPA.

dsoz

 

[Jdp00921]

Thank you both for the replies, I appreciate the help. For the first reply, I've read a few random forum posts/blogs about doctors who either knew or were the people who didn't do great in undergrad. Many went post-bac., did well, and got into some schools, some good schools at that.

For the second post, thanks for the help and advice! This is a process I want to take slowly and make sure that while I'm doing my pre-req. courses, I add some more volunteer work and shadowing. I want to really build my resume from what it is now, and assure that I show this really is something I want to do and something I feel I'm meant to do. To answer your question, even If I get pretty much all A's on pre-reqs, my cGPA will be around a 3.1. sGPA would remain a 3.7+. Anyway, I just want to think positive and take it a step at a time. It's a long road and I want to enjoy myself while I learn what I love so much. I do wish I knew when I was younger, but not everyone knows what they want to do at 17!

Thanks again for the replies!