possible to get in with 3.09 gpa

[PerpetualStudent]

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I could finish after one more quarter at a UC-school, however my GPA has taken a nose dive. I recieved two Cs in upper division biology classes and didn't earn as many AS as I had hoped for. I am debating retaking the upper-division classes with the hopes of acing them, and possibly even re-taking one or two I recieved Cs in during community college. Considering how far I am along already, do you think this would be worth my time or should I be looking into other careers? I was considering applying to med school in the phillipines and the caribbean as well, but I am still concerned about my lackluster performance?

To be honest, I would like to simply finish up my undergrad after completing fall quarter however I might only bring my gpa up very minimally, if at all. If i finish up in the fall, are my chances totally shot? I figure in the best of circumstances after completing an additional two quarters of upper-division biology I might have better chances. I did do a few months of research and have been volunteering for a few months at the ER. I don't have stellar ECS. I anticipate bringing my gpa up to 3.5 range with the additional course work at UC or risk applying abroad and to DO schools with a 3.09 gpa. Any information or advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dragonfly99]

You are right that you are very unlikely to get in to a US MD school with a 3.09 GPA. With a 3.5 you would have a shot.

The other important selection factors include the MCAT score, letters of recommendation and extracurricular activities, particular health care volunteer work.

You don't say what grades you got in 1st year biology, your 2 chemistry years, and your physics year.

I don't think you are sunk if you could get a good MCAT score. If historically you are a very good standardized test taker, I think to raise your GPA and try to get in with a lowish GPA but a higher MCAT might work. If you aren't good at standardized tests, then going to the Carib would definitely be an option (but see other threads on here for how your residency selection would probably be limited to certain fields). I don't know anything about the Philippines, except that their docs and nurses seem to be fleeing over here...
If you are fluent in Spanish that would be helpful for getting in to US schools and residency, but you still need to have a good GPA and decent MCAT scores.

DO schools would be likely to overlook a couple of C's if you could retake the classes and do better, from what I have heard.

Make sure that medical school and being a doctor is what you want. If you don't have a lot of passion for it, you'll likely end up hating it and feeling burned out. Also, med school is LOT of studying, so think about whether this is what you want.

I suggest if you really want medicine, take an MCAT prep course and take the test, to see how you can do (assuming you've taken a full year of physics, 2 of chem and 1 or more of biology to get ready).

 

[PerpetualStudent]

You are right that you are very unlikely to
You don't say what grades you got in 1st year biology, your 2 chemistry years, and your physics year.

1st general bio-C 2nd general bio-B
General CHem I Lecture and Lab -A
General Chem II Lecture-C
General Chem II Lab-B

All 3 quarters of ochem I recieved Bs, however I did withdraw from the course 3 times between two colleges. =(

Physics 1A-C Physics 1B-B PHysics 1C-taking this upcoming quarter

The worst thing is I flunked an engineering calculus class twice and during the same quarter withdraw from O. Chem. I don't really have a good reason, except that I didn't take pre-calc..i took matrix algebra and trig instead. Basically I screwed up and because I took a lower calculus, CC does not count these grades in my gpa but I fear this is going to be difficult to explain. Any advice?
I know this pretty mediocre. What do you think my chances are at a DO in US or MD in caribbeen for phillipines?

 

[dragonfly99]

Oh I see,
I think the overall pattern of so/so science grades and having withdrawn from courses is going to hurt you at a US MD school. Your chem. grades aren't too terrible, but the bio an physics are so/so. The engineering calculus class I'm not sure matters - you could retake a non community-college calculus course and try to ace it (say local state U.). Take one that isn't "baby math" but isn't necessarily the hard core engineering major one - I think most schools have that.

I don't have a lot of knowledge about DO schools. I think you should post on one of the DO threads and see what responses you get. I do know that people have said they will often throw out your old/low grades if you retake courses and get better grades. I know they tend to be more forgiving about MCAT scores and will accept slightly lower GPA's in many cases.

I'm sure you could get a Caribbean med school to accept you, but I would be careful. I think there are some halfway reputable schools down there, and some that are not. If they can't prove to you that the vast majority of their students are passing the US med license exam and getting some sort of residency in the US, I just wouldn't go down there. It would be totally HORRIBLE to go spend 3-4 years somewhere and spend 150,000 dollars and then not be able to get a residency in the US. You'd be totally stuck. The US medical licensing exam is not a cake-walk, and part of the reason US schools weed out applicants by GPA and MCAT score is they want to make sure students can do the work before they come to med school - they don't want to take students who just aren't ready, or aren't motivated, or are terrible test takers, because that serves nobody. The student might fail out with a large student debt, and the public will not be served (because a doc isn't produced...). It would be so much better to be a nurse practition or physician's assistant or some other health profession up here in the US, vs. go to a Carib school and come back with a useless degree and no residency. They make comparable (not equal, but fairly close...) to what some US primary care physicians make, they do similar things all day at their jobs, and they work less hours and have less job stress I would assume.

You know med school is pretty killer in terms of the course work the first and 2nd years. Are you sure you are hard core enough to want to blast through that? I'm telling you, it's going to kick your ass. Not you, in particulary, just anyone (except those few lucky super-geniuses). Are you sure that medicine is what you want? It's a science-heavy field, although of course other things like psychology, social issues, etc. are important parts of medicine too. If it is, I'd get to work on raising those grades, taking more science classes (would retake the ones you got C's in, etc.) and volunteering in a health care setting. After you raise your GPA some, then I would sit for the MCAT. That is what I would do.