Recommandations on a successful path?

[rrik]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello SDN,

I am a graduate of UCSB with a 3.02 overall 2.68 science. I am now considering career paths and am trying to wrap my head around the logistics. I am open to doing a masters program, postbacc, or record enhancement program. I have yet to take microbiology. The science gpa is low due to a repeated o-chem course (D+, repeat C-) as well as a repeated biology course (D+, repeat B) and also still have a (C-) in a biology lab. It was a tough quarter!

At any rate, what do you recommend? I heard that SFSU has a postbacc program tied to the UCSF medical school, which would be nice.

I have over a year experience volunteering in a hospital with many departmental rotations, a year shadowing a physician in a private practice, and a year doing undergraduate research in a laboratory.

I am open to my options. If podiatry or DO or even PA is a better path then hit me with some info. A MD allopathic would be stellar though, and I'm young and willing to work.

Thanks!

 

[theseeker4]

Hello SDN,

I am a graduate of UCSB with a 3.02 overall 2.68 science. I am now considering career paths and am trying to wrap my head around the logistics. I am open to doing a masters program, postbacc, or record enhancement program. I have yet to take microbiology. The science gpa is low due to a repeated o-chem course (D+, repeat C-) as well as a repeated biology course (D+, repeat B) and also still have a (C-) in a biology lab. It was a tough quarter!

At any rate, what do you recommend? I heard that SFSU has a postbacc program tied to the UCSF medical school, which would be nice.

I have over a year experience volunteering in a hospital with many departmental rotations, a year shadowing a physician in a private practice, and a year doing undergraduate research in a laboratory.

I am open to my options. If podiatry or DO or even PA is a better path then hit me with some info. A MD allopathic would be stellar though, and I'm young and willing to work.

Thanks!

Are your GPA's above including both the D+'s and the repeat, or just the repeat score? Use both to calculate your MD GPA.

If you want to go to an MD school, you will want to look into SMP's. They are the best way to prove you can handle the med school material because you are taking med school classes. If you get a high GPA in one of those, you will have a good chance at admission. You will need a high MCAT and probably some GPA repair to be considered for a good SMP.

DO schools allow you to replace grades, meaning only the most recent attempt at a course will be counted toward your GPA. This will mean your GPA for DO schools is already higher than your MD GPA, and you can re-take low grades to boost your GPA more quickly than you can for MD purposes.

The real question is, what are you doing wrong? I am not trying to be mean, but if you are having this much trouble in undergrad, what makes you think you could do well enough in med school to pass? A quarter filled with pre-reqs might seem tough, but imagine it 3 times as busy and difficult, and that is what every med school semester the first two years will be.

I am not saying you can't do it, I am saying you need to get everything in order, and be positive you corrected the problems that led to your poor grades, before you spend any money trying to get into med school.

 

[rrik]

Hey Seeker, thanks for the response.
The GPA includes the repeated courses and the original courses.

If I do take a SMP course, will that overshadow my C- grades or will I have to repeat those courses again for matriculation? And do you have any advice for a Academic Record Enhancement program vs. a SMP?

The courses I did poorly in were within my first two years of college, the latter two years I took a major upward trend in all courses.

Thanks!