General Rebuilding a bad gpa from a long time ago?

[Question]

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Hi,
I am currently exploring the idea of pursuing medical school after I finish serving in the U.S Navy. To make a long story short, I previously attended a university, during which time my father unexpected passed away (in 2016). I elected to continue going to school after his passing, which in retrospect was a mistake, and had an extremely miserable 4 years, ultimately being academically dismissed.

My question is if I went back to school and completed a bachelors at a very high gpa, (I've calculated that 100 credit hours at a 4.0 would bring my cumulative GPA to a 3.1), would I stand any chance at admission if I paired it with a strong MCAT/ rest of application? By the time of I get around to applying its likely to be 10 years removed from my prior poor performance. Just would like to gauge this before i waste my time and money. Thanks for any help and advice.

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[GoSpursGo]

Thank you for your service.

The scenario that you describe is not an uncommon one. Some people aren't ready to commit academically to the kind of performance that is required to get into medical school, then after going out and living in the "real world" it is possible to come back and succeed.

A few points:

1) Some schools have academic forgiveness programs where grades can get changed to retroactive withdrawal or otherwise sealed after a period of time (usually ~10 years, which is what you're describing). I would investigate if this would be a possibility.
2) When you go back to school, focus initially on just your first semester. All roads start with getting off to a good academic start. Worry about ECs later.
3) While your father passing away may be a contributing factor to your poor performance, I would avoid blaming it for the entirety of your performance--which may not be your intent, but is how your post reads. Personal struggles and unexpected life events don't stop just because you're in medical school, so schools want to know that you can be resilient and succeed even despite possible personal struggles. I would focus on explaining your prior performance on being young and inexperienced, and saying that now with your new experience you are more resilient and will be able to succeed in medical school.