Please help me..

[serenereality9]

Hey,

I need honest advice. I've read through several forums, but I'd just like to post my own situation here and ask you all what I should do. I'll be speaking with my advisor on monday, but any other opinions before that will be highly appreciated.

Ok, so I entered McGill university as a biology major and did second year courses (had transfer credits) but first year math and physics (both semesters). First semester went bad, had a gpa of 2.0 and truly did not study. Second semester started off well, but circumstances (harassment) as well as bad decisions from my end, resulted in me failing calculus 2 and achieving a cumulative gpa of 1.92 = probationary standing.

Didn't re-do math in the summer; wanted to get away from it all and ended up doing a summer job in Toronto.

For my second year (which is my current year) i switched my major to Anatomy and Cell biology. Since I was on probation, i could only do 4 courses and after currently receiving 3 marks out of the four; my cumulative gpa has rose to 2.22 (with term gpa being 3.18) I still have one mark left and I'm hoping that it'll raise my gpa further. The highest my term gpa can go for the semester i just completed, is 3.3 (i'm not sure what my cumulative gpa will be due to that).

Okay so that's currently the situation. Since i've raised my gpa, I think i can take 5 credits for my second semester, therefore having an overall full course load for my second year. Yes I didn't raise my gpa as high as one could, but i know it will get a lot better my second semester.

I still have 2 years left to go and in these two years, i can complete an honors degree, a minor and still have spots left to re-do 5 courses (with only spending one summer to do one course). This is because i came in with 30 credits, so have room.

What do you suggest I do? I don't know how the retaking of courses works... McGill includes both marks to calculate the cumulative gpa, but how do medical schools look at such a situation?

As for my involvement; I've been singing and dancing since the age of 3 (been on dance teams all my life); I've been volunteering at a hospital for the past 3 years, just got an executive position for a non-medical program (helping youth; something i've always been involved in) and I plan on starting a group to help people who went through harassment as well. I've been through alot in life, and it's only when last year, since falling so hard academically, did I realize that i truly want to be a doctor. It's no longer my family's dream... it's my dream. i don't want a year to fk up my chances...

So please, guide me. I need to become a doctor.Should i retake the classes? When should i retake them? last year or by third year so that medschools can see that? I'm trying really hard to get research positions.. but my gpa is messing it all up....

please, readd this and give me an honest opinion...

thanks..

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[SoonerFromTexas]

Briefly read your post. AMCAS (MD) averages grades and AACOMAS (DO) replaces them.

 

[The Imprisoned]

I have read over your information and I think the first thing is not to completely abandon hope here. Let's first worry about raising the grades - I would retake as many as you can. As the above poster mentioned, DO may be a better path for you since they replace grades.

This is going to be a slower process for you and I would suggest if this is truly your dream that you first worry about the grades. Applying should be a few years off for you yet, and once the grades are up you can worry about the rest of the application. I would say make it a goal to apply in ~3-4 years.

Long-term thinking here: make sure you continue to volunteer and gain clinical exposure. But I really need to stress again the importance of your grades being raised first. Once the grades are in order, prep for the MCAT and perform well (>33) and keep up with everything else. As I am sure you have heard around here: GPA and MCAT will get you in the door for an interview as long as everything else EC-wise looks okay.

I wish you all of the best in your future endeavors.

 

[serenereality9]

thanks for the response...
i was just wondering if both of you are referring to the american medical school system...

canadian medical schools have weighting formulas and consideration of best 2 years only.. 2 medical schools look at the cumulative gpa and consider summer courses in that calculation... do you think all of that raises my chances?