Hey
I'm a little late to this party but I'll share my story anyhow; I think that a few of the earlier responses are harsh. Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, given that I'm not applying this cycle -- that's a whole other story -- but perhaps it'll help a little bit. You sound a lot like me in 2016.
I finished undergrad with a 2.6 cGPA, a small upward trend in my senior year, but not much. My sGPA was even worse. My worst year was my second, where I achieved a whopping D- average. I didn't fail any classes, but I passed by a razor-thin margin. Definitely not medical school material, and I am definitely not proud of my time in undergrad. Like you, I had a whole lot of "life" going on. Some of my horrendous academic records could be attributed to poor decision making (particularly when it came to asking for help), but some of it is also due to some pretty ****ty circumstances.
Medical school was always the dream until my grades started slipping. Then, I decided I'm not "doctor material" or various other forms of putting myself down and putting medicine out of my mind. In the fall of my senior year, I met a new advisor (by chance) who saw some potential in me. This is where things changed for me. The small upward trend (we're talking like 0.2 GPA points) was due to their influence, trying to convince me I could make it if I wanted it enough.
We all have "life" that happens; you're right in your thinking that life will always be challenging, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be kind to yourself. We all make mistakes, some with longer-lasting consequences than others. The important thing here is that you're learning and are now willing (or so you say) to put in the work to get back on track. If you're serious about wanting to correct your academic record, you're going to need to be
seriously disciplined for the next few years. Yes, years. Plural. There is no quick or easy way out of this.
This is how I dug myself out of that very deep hole:
First, self-forgiveness. You need to do some serious soul searching. You need to figure out how determined you are to overcome. If it's an "eh, maybe", you're not going to make it. Save yourself the time and the money (because it's going to take both). You need to be completely committed to this process moving forward. I don't mean in an unhealthy or obsessive way -- you need to make time for yourself too, or else you will burn yourself out -- but I mean you need to be willing to make sacrifices, prioritize your time, and make your reinvention the focus every day. You can't do this if you're beating yourself up over your past. Analyze it, decide where your mistakes were, be realistic about your ability, and move forward. Leave the self-deprecating crap at the door. It won't help you now.
Second, find a good mentor. Someone familiar with the process and someone who is willing to commit to your reinvention journey with you. This makes a huge difference.
Third, find a postbacc program. I find the ones at smaller schools will be more willing to work with you about your previous record than the larger, more prestigious schools. Forget prestige at this point; remember, this is a stepping stone. You need to find a program that is willing to take a chance on you. The postbacc program I applied to was very hesitant to accept me at first -- like, very hesitant -- but they eventually took the leap after some conversations (and convincing). You need to do as many credits as possible here. My postbacc advisor recommended re-taking all sub B science classes (which I did), and then filling any prerequisite gaps. For me, this ended up being around 40 credits, which I took over 12 months (3 full-time semesters). Most people in my program took between 12-24 months of full-time study to complete their postbaccs.
Your first semester here should be your first self-checkpoint: how well are you sticking to your study plans? How disciplined are you being at not allowing yourself to slide back into those bad habits? How is your actual scholastic performance compared to where your believed abilities lie? If you
THINK you're an A student before starting this process, but a little life got in the way that prevented you from achieving your full potential, then you should be getting those A's now. If, by contrast, you think you've got 4.0 potential but you're now sitting at B-'s -- definitely still improvement, but a B- average in your postbacc will not get you into medical school. You need to be at peak performance here to prove yourself. At a minimum, you need to be considering what is considered competitive for the next step -- an SMP.
Fourth, if you've finished enough credits under your belt at a strong GPA -- I'll leave it up to you, your advisor, and the competitive GPAs for the programs you've chosen to decide what a strong GPA is -- apply to an SMP. This is actually where my advice differs from what I did. I didn't have many SMP options as I was an international student at the time, so I applied to more traditional MSc programs. SMPs offer distinct advantages over traditional MSc's as they're medical school/professional school focused, whereas a traditional program tends to be research-focused. I was lucky that most students in my program were also premed/med school hopefuls, so there was a strong pre-med advising committee and lots of support. The goal here is to continue your upward GPA trend and continue building your academic record. Remember, you need to prove to medical school committees that you can handle the rigor of medical school, both academically and in stamina. You need to maintain your high level of academic performance.
Three easy steps, right?
Here's where it gets tricky; GPA isn't everything.
You also need a strong MCAT to overcome. A strong MCAT being >510 IMO (what's a "strong" MCAT is very subjective though), particularly if you're looking to apply to allopathic schools. Others may disagree and I'll defer to them if that's the case. Exactly when you take the MCAT is ultimately up to you. My postbacc institution offered subsidized MCAT courses through Kaplan -- whether I think it's necessary is another matter -- so I took an MCAT course in my final semester of my postbacc. I didn't end up feeling confident enough to take the MCAT until my second semester of graduate school, almost a year later. I do think the additional coursework and experience in graduate school helped me prepare for the MCAT, and it didn't hurt that I was taking a rigorous biochemistry class at the same time, doing sort of double study duty. The MCAT is a beast of a test that is not to be taken lightly; as others have mentioned, I'd wait to take the actual thing until you've studied and practiced enough to be consistently scoring >510 on all practice materials.
As a reinventor, you really need to one and done this test.
Your extracurriculars are also important to develop. My postbacc institution strongly recommended getting a license that allows you to get clinical experience -- EMT, CNA, Phleb, etc. -- as clinical experience is a necessary part of your application. Volunteer if you can. Maybe get some research experience or independent study projects under your belt. Shadow. All of the stuff that pads your resume. Don't let this distract you from your academic goals though. You can always find time to volunteer once your academics have been squared away, but
you can't go back and re-do the re-do.
I am now four years post-undergraduate and three years into my reinvention, and finally, I'm at a place where I feel comfortable applying to medical schools. I'm going to apply to both MD and DO in the 2021-2022 cycle, and so we'll see how this journey ends then. It takes so much hard work, but I'm proud of what I've achieved; I definitely didn't think I could do it. I'm happy to provide my profile as an applicant if you feel it'll help you (stats, GPA, etc).
Feel free to reach out if you need anything! Good luck, and I BELIEVE IN YOU
