should I try to get in to med school

[hannahpierce]

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Hello, I am a 26 year old undergraduate psychology student. I will have my bachelors in one year. I took two years of classes at a community college, where I was a pretty inconsistent student. I got a C in algebra and trig and failed pre calculus, got a b- in chem 1 and a b in bio 1. I plan on going back to a community college and retaking all of these classes and the required premeditated classes after I finish my bachelors, and then applying to med school. I know that I can do much better and hopefully will be able to get all A's.

My cummulative gpa is a 3.7. I have accepted a job as a residential counselor and will start working soon. I also volunteer at an after school program for elementary school children.

I am wondering if my sketchy academic past has ruined my chances of getting in to med school. I dont want to waste 2 years doing my premed reqs if I'm unlikely to be accepted anywhere.

I am also concerned about my age. I am a little older and would like to start having children inn the next 8 years.

I feel really lost about where to go after I finish my bachelors. Should I try for med school, or let that dream go and pursue grad school for mental health counseling.

Please let me know what your thoughts are.

 

[Vanillabeaneo]

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[budda10000]

Hello, I am a 26 year old undergraduate psychology student. I will have my bachelors in one year. I took two years of classes at a community college, where I was a pretty inconsistent student. I got a C in algebra and trig and failed pre calculus, got a b- in chem 1 and a b in bio 1. I plan on going back to a community college and retaking all of these classes and the required premeditated classes after I finish my bachelors, and then applying to med school. I know that I can do much better and hopefully will be able to get all A's.

My cummulative gpa is a 3.7. I have accepted a job as a residential counselor and will start working soon. I also volunteer at an after school program for elementary school children.

I am wondering if my sketchy academic past has ruined my chances of getting in to med school. I dont want to waste 2 years doing my premed reqs if I'm unlikely to be accepted anywhere.

I am also concerned about my age. I am a little older and would like to start having children inn the next 8 years.

I feel really lost about where to go after I finish my bachelors. Should I try for med school, or let that dream go and pursue grad school for mental health counseling.

Please let me know what your thoughts are.

Honestly you sound like you would make an excellent psychiatrist if mental health is your thing. Why not take the plunge into medicine? Your GPA of 3.7 will certainly not hinder you(about average for med applicants) as long as it doesn't go down. As for your age, well I am 30 and kicking med school in the ass. Your age is more of an asset than a liability because you likely have a clarity of vision your younger classmates do not. And as for going to CC to do your pre-med requirements, I would actually recommend doing a post-bach, the are literally designed for people like you and offer a much higher chance of acceptance. 100% of my friends that did them got accepted.

 

[JP2740]

. Your age is more of an asset than a liability because you likely have a clarity of vision your younger classmates do not..

?????????

 

[NontradCA]

Sure, you can do it. Getting into medical school, doing well in medical school, and in life is just a matter of how hard you're willing to work. I wouldn't worry too much about your age. You can still meet someone in school or residency if that is your priority.

But yea, this is a personal decision and it's in the wrong forum.

 

[Mad Jack]

Is your cGPA 3.7 including your prior academic issues? If so, you're fine. Go ahead and apply, you should do well. But only apply if medicine is something you absolutely can't live without doing, something you'll regret forever if you miss out on. Because there's a reasonable chance that, depending on what specialty you ultimately choose (and there's a good chance you'll change your mind) that having children won't be very easy to do, so far as logistics are concerned and who you end up with. That's a lot of unknowns though. Just ask yourself which is worse: bouncing a kid in your lap while fantasizing about being in the hospital with regrets pouring through your mind about what you could have done or been, or hazily thinking of the kids you wish you had but haven't had time for while you clock your 60th hour at 34 years old. Those are your worst case scenarios in either case- the regret of either not having had the time for children, or not having gone to medical school. Which one is worse to you, personally?

Also, if that is your real name, I'd ask the mods for a change- you shouldn't use your real identifiers on the forum, anonymity is a fairly critical thing to maintain, particularly as you progress through the process.

 

[username456789]

?????????

I think he's getting at the well-known fact that one's retina does not mature until the age of 30 or beyond. Prior to this time, colors, shapes, and life goals are very difficult to visualize.

This is the reason things like focal length when reading or available Social Security funds improve with time.

Did you even take developmental neuroophthalmology??

 

[tiedyeddog]

But one thing I noticed is that you plan on retaking classes at a community college. From my experience, medical schools do not take as kindly to community college credit as to university credit. Perhaps there is a university you can go to or maybe even a post bac or master's program you could do?

Most Adcoms don't care where you do the work. They prefer you do prereqs (not calculus or algerba) at universities but in the end it probably won't be a factor for getting in or not.

 

[tiedyeddog]

The kids thing is something each person deals with on their own. There are many fields that allow people to balance family life more so than others (PMR, Radiology, FM) compared to the traditionally more time demanding fields (surgery, OB/Gyn). However, no matter what field you go into you can have a family. People make it work however some make it work better than others.

 

[razor]

Hello Ms. hannahpierce!

Do you want to be a doctor? Then I think you should go for it!

VB

This. If you want to be a doctor, the next step is apply to medical school. If you don't, then save your time and money.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Since this is mentioned in the pre-allopathic forum, I should at least mention that DO programs tend to favor non-grad applicants to an extend and offer grade replacement if need be.

 

[Goro]

There's no rhyme nor reason to it, but some med schools do NOT accept pre-reqs from CC.

A random selection:
Albany CC Inorganic OK no mention of others. Baylor doesn't require Inorganic Chem, but doesn't accept CC credits for this, nor Biology. Harvard and Stanford are OK with any CC credits for their required coursework; Duke and Loma Linda accepts them on a case-by-case basis.

Most Adcoms don't care where you do the work. They prefer you do prereqs (not calculus or algerba) at universities but in the end it probably won't be a factor for getting in or not.

 

[tiedyeddog]

There's no rhyme nor reason to it, but some med schools do NOT accept pre-reqs from CC.

A random selection:
Albany CC Inorganic OK no mention of others. Baylor doesn't require Inorganic Chem, but doesn't accept CC credits for this, nor Biology. Harvard and Stanford are OK with any CC credits for their required coursework; Duke and Loma Linda accepts them on a case-by-case basis.

Hmm, well that kind of sucks given CC is often far cheaper.

 

[Donald Juan]

If your GPA is a 3.7 even with prior issues, then you have no issues. You're certainly not too old, and if you were this successful I imagine you won't have too much trouble filling in the prereqs and getting in with some hard work on the mcat.

You're question shouldn't be "can you," but "do you want to." I would recommend you start shadowing some doctors and figure out if medicine is what you absolutely want to do. It's a long, hard road, and depending on how long your prereqs take and what field you ultimately choose to do, you will likely be in your late 30's before you finish residency and you'll have a massive amount of debt. If medicine is what you truly want to do you should enjoy the journey, but for some people their high school dream ends up being a nightmare that lasts until retirement.

I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to talk you out of it. I started med school at 27 and am still loving it. I wouldn't change my decision for anything. I just think you should make sure it's what you want to do because you sound kind of wishy-washy about what you want out of life. Also, even though having kids doesn't make life any easier for a med student/resident/physician (or insert any other job field here), people certainly do it all the time. I wouldn't make that a reason not to choose medicine.

 

[Goro]

It really depends upon the med school and my sense is that a lot more of them don't mind CC credits.

Personally, I think CCs can be just as rigorous as a 4 year school.

Hmm, well that kind of sucks given CC is often far cheaper.

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

this post appears to be cross-posted to the nontraditional forum. could the two be merged?