Please help ! ready to go back..which approach to take? NY

[NYfutureDOC]

If anyone has gone through or knows someone who has, please post your advice.
I have made mistakes partly due to no guidance and trying to figure things out on my own so I hope someone could please help as I attempt to take the next step.

I studied pre-med in college. Have always been a good student but things happened and took a turn for the worst- resulting in me repeating Orgo1 3 times and finally getting a c-, never completing physics 1 , and repeating bio. ( My school was a mess, it was a cheap city school, way over crowded, no guidance, no communication with teachers or counselors, the science departments were horrendous and unorganized...i hated it.) But the past is the past and I graduated with a 2.5 GPA. I know. =(. Despite the low GPA , I volunteered, researched, and worked at doctors offices so I had a a good extracurricular background.
After college I decided to take the MCAT exam, thinking I would just finish the rest of the pre-reqs later(mistake). I tested good on the practice exams so there was potential, then I got really sick and needed surgery before the exam.....ultimately I got a 19 on the old MCAT.

I took a step back and realized that with a 2.5 GPA, 19 MCAT and missing pre-req courses I was not ready to apply and started to doubt my future and I was very depressed for a while. I realized so many things weren't going my way and I had so many hurdles to overcome that I should give up . So I started working as a doctors assistant and took some time to figure out my next step. Fast forward a couple of years, I was diagnosed with ADD, and now have an amazing job in the pharmaceutical industry that I'm very successful at. I grew up a lot and am independent, more mature, more focused. I am ready to try again.

I want to go to medical school, I know I can do it now at 29 years old. But as some of us know, our grades haunt us forever. I would like to know what I should do next, should I try a post-bacc program(most of them require a 3.0 GPA which i don't have! anyone know of one that doesn't have a min GPA in NY?) or should I retake orgo for the 4th time(how bad does that look?!) and take physics and do better at a regular college as a diy postbacc? Which colleges in NY are good for that ? I do not want to go to a CUNY . Are there other options that I do not know about? Please help I don't have anyone to speak to about this. If you want to tell me to give up or have any negativity just don't comment and keep it moving, I'm looking for real advice . Thanks I really appreciate it.<3

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[etp123]

The below 3.0 GPA thread is a good resource that will help you see what others in your situation did with success.

It sounds like there is a lot of distance between your old grades and the you of now. Do a DIY postbacc at a 4-year institution, not CC. DIY is cheaper anyways, and it's easy enough to figure out yourself what you need to be doing, what classes you should take, etc. Retake whatever you got a C or below in (even orgo) among your prereqs, and throw in some upper divs too. Try to get your cGPA and sGPA, if possible, above a 3.0

Study hard and make sure you have a good foundation. It will be critical to help you ace the MCAT. Study hard for the MCAT too and nail that. If you get your GPA over a 3.0 and nail the MCAT, then you've got a real shot. SMPs are also an option after you complete your DIY postbacc and MCAT but need something more to strengthen your app. Good luck!

 

[Bru]

If you exclude the CUNYs, you are left with NYU, Columbia, Fordham and I guess a few others. Unfortunately, your GPA and pre-req history would get you screened out of all of them IIRC. You are basically left taking courses a-la-carte at whatever institution will take you. At noted above, preferably a 4-year. You should also investigate the cost of each path as this is not a cheap process. Honestly you are looking at 3-4 years before you will even be able to apply to medical school. Just a heads up.

If you have a great career now, maybe you should consider that your best option.

 

[mavric1298]

So as someone coming from a low GPA, I'll say one of the things that is going to haunt you is also the MCAT. To be honest, you're at least 2-4 full time years out from being able to put yourself in a position where it's going to be a long shot. The thing you have to decide, is are you willing to put in that much time, with the possibility that it isn't going to work out? You won't be able to afford many slip ups, and you'll have to MURDER your MCAT. Are you willing to invest and risk everything, knowing a single test and having a bad day could ruin it? I know right now as you are reading this, your instinct is to say "of course I am"...but really take some time with the question and be honest with yourself.

Don't take this as me saying you can't do it. I was in a similar boat (minus the MCAT), and took 6 years while working to put myself in a position to apply. Then it took two cycles, even with a good MCAT. So it can be done, but your margin for error is slim to none.

So. I would start off with a personal evaluation; why do you want to be a Dr. Are you okay with DO (MD is a moonshot at this point)? Why not PA, NP, etc? I think it's easy at first to write those off, but you could get a RN, BSN, then PA, likely by time you would get into medical school. Do you know what the actual differences are? Can you articulate why you wouldn't chose that path?

These are all things just to think about. Again I'll be real clear, I personally believe anyone has a shot and hate when people shoot down other peoples dreams on here, but it's important to be realistic and measured with your choices




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[esob]

The best real advice is to take a full time semester with at least 2 hard sciences. If you can't ace them, then give up because honestly without acing a post-bac your academic track record (including MCAT) indicate that, at least in your former incarnation, you would be unable to be a successful medical student. Anything is possible but you need to see if it is possible for you by doing it for at least a semester, rather than speculating on how you'll do.

 

[mavric1298]

Most of the sub-3.0 applicants who made it were pre 2008. With grade replacement there were many more options to quickly resuscitate, but those times are over.

Realistically its SMP or bust.

Not true at all from my experience, but to each their own. Grade replacement only changed this year, so we don't even know the ramifications yet. DIY post bac is always an option, second degree, lots of choices. And I haven't seen any indications that's sub 3.0 recoveries are much different now that pre-2008. For example...me. In an MD program, with 3 DO acceptances, and missing a top15 MD by 5 WL spots. Came from well below a 3.0 to jussssssst over. My "AO" aka non science class GPA on AMCAS <2.75


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[esob]

Not true at all from my experience, but to each their own. Grade replacement only changed this year, so we don't even know the ramifications yet. DIY post bac is always an option, second degree, lots of choices. And I haven't seen any indications that's sub 3.0 recoveries are much different now that pre-2008. For example...me. In an MD program, with 3 DO acceptances, and missing a top15 MD by 5 WL spots. Came from well below a 3.0 to jussssssst over. My "AO" aka non science class GPA on AMCAS <2.75


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Yeah, you are definitely the statistical exception. I haven't seen your app but I'm guessing there was either a complete 180 turnaround or something close to it plus a booster (strong MCAT, military, URM, etc)

 

[mavric1298]

Average MCAT (30), not military, white, no research...

And I stand by my original response, which I would summarize as TLDR; you have about 0 room for slipping up, you have to kill the MCAT, and even then it's still a risk, and you need to take a lot of time and thought to properly evaluate if you really want to and really can put in 2-4 years of work.

I'm not disagree with you guys at all that success (like me) is an outlier, but here's my take on it. The people that spend the time, do the work, and actually successfully follow through with 2-4 years of GPA recovery, especially if doing a post bacc, actually have a decent shot, especially at DO. Where they become outliers, is most people are unsuccesfully at following through with what they need to do. It's all good and well saying "I'm ready to become a doctor now", compared to actually putting in a solid 2 years of classes, with no slip ups, and going out and crushing the MCAT, along with all the other stuff. That takes real dedication, and from what I've seen this is where people fall short. The ones that actually get their GPA above 3.0, get a good mcat, and have EC's, generally end up somewhere, even if it takes a couple cycles. BUT - I would say 19/20 people that come on here post about how they are going to get their act together, that it's "for real" now, are unable to make it actually happen.

Like I originally said, I hate it when people take away hope from others - but people do need to face the reality of the situation and really figure out if they can/will be successful, are willing to risk years and $$, and go into it grounded in reality.


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[workaholic181]

If anyone has gone through or knows someone who has, please post your advice.
I have made mistakes partly due to no guidance and trying to figure things out on my own so I hope someone could please help as I attempt to take the next step.

I studied pre-med in college. Have always been a good student but things happened and took a turn for the worst- resulting in me repeating Orgo1 3 times and finally getting a c-, never completing physics 1 , and repeating bio. ( My school was a mess, it was a cheap city school, way over crowded, no guidance, no communication with teachers or counselors, the science departments were horrendous and unorganized...i hated it.) But the past is the past and I graduated with a 2.5 GPA. I know. =(. Despite the low GPA , I volunteered, researched, and worked at doctors offices so I had a a good extracurricular background.
After college I decided to take the MCAT exam, thinking I would just finish the rest of the pre-reqs later(mistake). I tested good on the practice exams so there was potential, then I got really sick and needed surgery before the exam.....ultimately I got a 19 on the old MCAT.

I took a step back and realized that with a 2.5 GPA, 19 MCAT and missing pre-req courses I was not ready to apply and started to doubt my future and I was very depressed for a while. I realized so many things weren't going my way and I had so many hurdles to overcome that I should give up . So I started working as a doctors assistant and took some time to figure out my next step. Fast forward a couple of years, I was diagnosed with ADD, and now have an amazing job in the pharmaceutical industry that I'm very successful at. I grew up a lot and am independent, more mature, more focused. I am ready to try again.

I want to go to medical school, I know I can do it now at 29 years old. But as some of us know, our grades haunt us forever. I would like to know what I should do next, should I try a post-bacc program(most of them require a 3.0 GPA which i don't have! anyone know of one that doesn't have a min GPA in NY?) or should I retake orgo for the 4th time(how bad does that look?!) and take physics and do better at a regular college as a diy postbacc? Which colleges in NY are good for that ? I do not want to go to a CUNY . Are there other options that I do not know about? Please help I don't have anyone to speak to about this. If you want to tell me to give up or have any negativity just don't comment and keep it moving, I'm looking for real advice . Thanks I really appreciate it.<3

I agree with some of the other posters. I think a DIY post bacc of 40 credits or so which you ACE will show that the student you were 8 years ago has no bearing on what you bring to the table now.

Be advised though that this is both costly and a pretty stressful proposition. There isn't much room for error here. You absolutely can do it but it will be taxing. I graduated with significantly higher GPAs but without all pre reqs, did a DIY post bacc and aced it and got a high MCAT. I'm writing secondaries now and am just shocked thinking back about the last year.. it was really, really challenging and stressful at times. Totally worth it, but I went into it somewhat idyllic.

Good luck with whatever you pick OP.