Should I even bother?

[evilwubwub]

Hey there SDN,
After a few months of looking through every website known to man about applying to medical school I decided to just put it out on the line and see what the experts think. Just to warn you, this may be long.

So for starters I am a 21 year old white male from Westchester New York and am thinking of applying to medical school in the summer of 2015 for matriculation in the fall of 2016. I will be taking my MCAT in May of 2015. My general question here is whether or not I should even bother with this whole process. I will be 24, having spent 5 years to get my bachelors and been in 3 different institutions.

My undergraduate experience has been interesting and definitely not typical. I started my college education at a community college studying computer science and stayed there for a year. After obtaining a 3.4 GPA there, I transferred to Michigan State University (no, not the University of Michigan). Being 15 hours away from home and on my own for the first time, I did not do so well. One semester I really bombed with about a 1.8. After that semester I switched to a general major because I decided computer science was not for me and I got a 3.3. As I was preparing to register for the next fall semester I found out that my brother was diagnosed with cancer so I decided to transfer back home to a small private university.

At my new university I found that my whole attitude towards education really was on a new level. I decided to major in psychology and since then have really excelled. After a year I have a 3.93 GPA with no signs of dropping my vigor. In this whole process I decided that I wanted to be a neurosurgeon so I am going to stay an extra year to finish my prerequisites for medical school. I will be graduating in May 2015.

So here's a gist of my academic profile at my new school.
cGPA-3.93
I am currently starting my first science courses so no GPA to report there.
I will study for a year for my MCAT and I feel very confident of a good score especially because ill be taking it wen it changes to more social sciences in 2015.
I have had an independent study in neurolinguistics
I am currently on 3 different research teams and have developed all of the research paradigms.
I have presented a paper at a conference for the honors society I have since been inducted into.
I work for the psychology department as a lab coordinator.
I am a statistics tutor.
I just recently quit my job of working in a pharmacy for 20 hours a week even during my 21 credit semester last year.
I volunteer at a preserved historical attraction called Van Cortlandt Manor.
I do Midnight Runs (bringing food and clothes to homeless people in New York City)
I play 5 instruments and am in 2 bands
I have a wealth of work experience
I will be doing physician shadowing next summer
I may become an EMT

I'm very nervous that despite my best efforts that it may be too late for me to turn things around. Any and all advice or criticism is welcomed and I appreciate you reading the long post. Is it worth it to not give up my dream? I really hope so. Thank you.

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[thegypsyqueen]

What is your overall undergrad GPA? Advice really hinges on this. I suspect it might be low due to the hiccups and so you may want to consider DO schools primarily. You have some great non-clinical ECs but you really need to get a lot of patient interaction to show schools that you are serious about this. Start shadowing docs and volunteering at your local hospital.

 

[evilwubwub]

As of right now I suspect that my overall undergraduate GPA is somewhere in the really low 3s to high 2s. I calculated that if I keep my GPA up near 4.0 from now on it'll average out to be about 3.5 which I know for MD is still kind of low. Can I bank on having a better chance if I kill the MCATs? I am definitely going to start physician shadowing ASAP but is that something that could really make me look a lot better?

 

[deleted480308]

As of right now I suspect that my overall undergraduate GPA is somewhere in the really low 3s to high 2s. I calculated that if I keep my GPA up near 4.0 from now on it'll average out to be about 3.5 which I know for MD is still kind of low. Can I bank on having a better chance if I kill the MCATs? I am definitely going to start physician shadowing ASAP but is that something that could really make me look a lot better?

you'll need to get it above 3.0 to make most automatic cutoffs....if your MD gpa isn't there you should be able to make it with an extra class or two of retakes in a DO gpa calculation (it's ridiculous how fast DO retakes help)

keep your head up, I had a 3.1 gpa and I go DO next year

 

[Goro]

In reading over your post, I'm thinking that you'll need to avoid those programs that autoscreen a minimum GPA. If you can keep up your excellent record, and ace the MCAT, I think you might fit into that category of the accepted who falls into the <10% of student body.

suggest that you really calculate your cGPA, and contact Admission Deans t see if you can still be competitive. You'll be fine for any DO program as well.

As of right now I suspect that my overall undergraduate GPA is somewhere in the really low 3s to high 2s. I calculated that if I keep my GPA up near 4.0 from now on it'll average out to be about 3.5 which I know for MD is still kind of low. Can I bank on having a better chance if I kill the MCATs? I am definitely going to start physician shadowing ASAP but is that something that could really make me look a lot better?