Please give advice to someone who really needs it.

[blackcoat]

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Hello SDN,

I have an idea of what one needs to do to get into medical school, I'm here more on the account of getting some clarity.

Let me start with an explanation for my concerns. It's quite the epic tale, I apologize for its length.

I started in Fall 2004 with a scholarship to my university and around 20 credit hours from AP courses. My problems mostly arose in my senior year of high school where I basically lost my three best friends since elementary school. They took a path of heavy drug use that I didn't follow and it really took a psychological toll. At this time I was developing a serious case of depression and picked up the addiction of online gaming from an acquaintance. It basically gave me an outlet to replace those close friends with those I made online. My sister practically applied to college for me and I received a scholarship because I had such good grades in high school.

Anyways, I started college with no real direction in my life and dropped all my courses during my fourth semester. I moved home since my depression had deepened considerably. I took a year and a half off of school and took a minimum wage job when something amazing happened. I was happy. I even fell in love, and proposed to my girlfriend after 9 months. She encouraged me to return to school because I had been talking about becoming a doctor for some time.

So, after a three semester break I went back to school and commuted an hour each way determined to redeem myself. My grades flourished. I retook three medical school prerequisites which I previously earned C's in on top of an A&P course I didn't really need, but wanted it to fulfill my thirst for knowledge of the human body. I earned a 4.0, a 3.97, and an A in a summer lab. I had started volunteering at the time and was about to begin looking into shadowing.

Well, as it turns out when your twenty-one years old and propose to a nineteen year old it does always work for the best. My extreme passion for my studies and other various things led to some horrible events. I tried to balance school and save a relationship, and often had to choose between the two. I chose her most of the time. The relationship took everything out of me and my parents and siblings were still shoving me into more schoolwork. Needless to say, the next fall semester didn't go so great and my enthusiasm and hope for academic redemption were obliterated. I put so many hours into that previous school year (I basically rewrote my A&P book - it was a taught by a very intensive professor) to erase the idea of academic inability, and it just seemed to vanish. I continued to take classes at my parents behest (I lived with them) and didn't have my heart in it. Eight withdrawals, a year and a half off (again). I moved out of my parents house (finally) and here I am back in school.

At long last I'll be finishing a seven year bachelors degree. I'm sitting at a cGPA 3.4, sGPA3.7, and a DO GPA of 3.52. I really wish I could shake this desire to be a physician. I've tried so many times to talk myself out of it. I've looked into other options, some that even pay reasonably close to primary care. They are appealing in some aspects and are by a far an easier course to take. I may have to follow these second choice paths because I'm trying to be realistic; however, there is one truth no amount of lying to myself will rid of. The passion I have to earn the chance at studying medicine will never be satisfied unless I can be a physician.

Is it possible for me to do this with stellar grades, volunteer work, whilst earning rapport with professors and nearby physicians for LOR's? I'm trying to stay positive, but there's this fear in the back of mind that I'm mistaking optimism for naïveté. This is where I'm at in life. I've matured, I'll be the older guy in the medical school's class but I'm okay with that. Medical admission represents so much to me. It represents a long desired clean slate for me where I can just put my past behind me and keep moving forward. Despite everything, I've learned a lot from my mistakes. The question is can I convince an entire admission committee? Your thoughts, whether encouraging or bearing bad news are most welcome.

 

[Morsetlis]

Your GPA is fine.

 

[Stumpyman]

Sounds fine to me. Get a 30+ mcat and you'll be competitive at some MD schools as well.

 

[shaggybill]

It's really hard to say what your chances are without an MCAT score, but you're GPA is good for DO, and possibly quite alright with MD, but you'll have a harder time with MD schools because they aren't as willing to look over the fact that at one time you were young and stupid.

The important thing is to show that you've matured and are taking things seriously. A committee needs to know that they aren't taking a risk with you. You'll have to find a way to convince them that your days of indecisiveness are over. You may have known all along that you want to be a doctor, but your record says otherwise to a committee. Remember, you are competing against thousands of other applicants who have stellar applications. Basically, where your application lacks in the numbers department, you need to shine in personality, maturity, character, dedication and commitment, and experience. That's the leg up you can have when it comes to competing with a 21 y/o 3.8 gpa and 33 MCAT.

Try to get your foot in the door with some real clinical experience. Show through your actions that you really are committed to both an altruistic lifestyle and to the medical field. You can do this by volunteering and shadowing, yes, but with your specific situation, try to get even more involved. Become a CNA and work in a hospital for a year before you apply. I personally wouldn't bother doing things like research unless you are set on attending a school that caters to that sort of thing. It seems to me that you are dedicated to actually practicing medicine, so I would focus on putting yourself where you will have a lot of patient interaction on a clinical level. Schools like to see that kind of thing.

With that said though, make sure you get a good MCAT score. If you're interested in the DO route, it doesn't have to be amazing. Just good. Say 26+, because your GPA and a score of 26 or better will show schools that you have the brains. You just need to convince them that you are 100% committed to medicine now.

I have a story a little like yours but different circumstances. My first go at college was 10 years ago and I screwed it up royally after 4 semesters. Four years ago I decided I wanted to do medicine. I knew it would be difficult so I read these boards nearly front to back and learned as much as I could about applications and what's needed to get into a US med school. Here's what I learned.

1. Schools like good grades, but...
2. Grades aren't always everything.
3. People with 4.0's and 36 MCATs are rejected all the time because...
4. Schools like to see students who are dedicated to becoming amazing doctors, and...
5. Being smart does not mean you will be a good doctor.
6. There are a lot of schools out there who look heavily at what you've been doing in the past 2,3,4 years, and are willing to overlook past mistakes.

With my GPA (at that time) at a 2.06, I got my ducks in a row. Here's what I did.

1. Became a CNA
2. Got a job at the hospital (ER)
3. Started school, taking moderately heavy science coarse loads
4. Befriended lots of docs at work who let me shadow as much as I wanted.
5. Did volunteer work, but not too much because I was working a lot and needed to balance that with making good grades.
6. Started researching which schools had the lowest avg GPAs and MCAT.
7. Made a decision as to which of those schools fit me personally the best based on location, mission of the school, etc.

I knew that working 30-40 hrs a week to pay the bills would prevent me from making awesome grades all the time, and it did. I'm applying this year with a 3.23 sGPA, 3.33 cumGPA, and 27O MCAT. Even though my gpa is on the low side, I feel my dedication to "helping others" has been demonstrated clearly in my actions over the past 4 years, and I'm counting on that to get me at least an interview. And based on what I hearing, I'm not going to have any problems getting that far.

So anyway, sorry for the long response, but you remind me of me about 4 years ago, wondering and agonizing over whether it was even worth trying. It definitely is, and you're in better shape than I was. Don't give up, do well on the MCAT, and do whatever it takes to show that you're in it for the long haul. Good luck to you. I wish you the best.

 

[Catalystik]

@shaggybill: very nice post.

@blackcoat: you've fallen off the academic wagon twice now. With three strikes, adcomms will have a hard time believing that you can perform well in med school with the consistency they're looking for. Don't let it happen again. Of immeasurable importance to your application will be a Secondary essay addressing your situation (A Challenge you Overcame, A Stress and How You Managed it, Explain the Blip in Your Acadmic Road, etc), what you learned, why it won't happen again. Adcomms can overlook past failure when you've learned and grown from the situation.