I'd like to ask for your advice once again, as I'm at a fork in the road. I found out about the AACOMAS policy change this morning. Needless to say, it throws a big wrench into my reinvention strategy. With grade replacement I was sitting at a cGPA: 3.1/ sGPA: 3.0, which by no means is competitive, but with further retakes I could have achieved sGPA: ~3.5. Now, without grade replacement, I'm sitting at a very bleak cGPA: 2.6/ sGPA 2.6. Let me just say that I make no excuses for my poor numbers, I own it completely. I went into college with poor study habits, little motivation, and a very immature mindset. I know it is a very steep uphill climb to prove myself to adcoms, and I'm prepared to do so. What I'd like from you is advice on the best next step forward for a person in my shoes.
I see 4 options:
1) SMP
- This seems to be the shortest, and most expensive route. And I also realize that I would need to bring up my GPA before I could even gain admission into one of these programs. My big concern with this route is the value of a Masters degree from one of these programs. Say I do a year of post-bacc gpa repair, apply for a SMP slot, get in, do extremely well, but still don't get into medical school due to my poor undergrad GPA. Would I be able to do anything with the education I've acquired through this route, other than apply to medical school?
2) Post-Bacc (DIY or traditional)
- The middle road of the options. Cheaper than a SMP program, but longer in duration of time. After calculating my potential GPA of taking upper level science courses for 2 years (60 semester hours) my sGPA would only rise to a ~3.1 (3.03 AMCAS, 3.20 AACOMAS); after 3 years it rises to 3.16 and 3.32 respectively.
3) Hard Science Masters Program
- This would be along the same timeline as getting into and completing an SMP, or a year longer if the SMP is only 1 year in length. The major difference being that it is directly applicable outside of the realm of applying to medical school. For example, I work as a lab technician for a toxicology firm right now. If I were to have a masters in microbiology there would be doors opened in my direct career path. My concern is how competitive would a traditional hard science masters program be compared to a SMP. I'm also aware that although one could kill it in a masters program, the undergrad GPA will never go away and will continue to be a red flag.
4) New Bachelors Degree
- The reset button. I'm not sure how viable this is at all, this is the option I know the least about because I've not really given it serious consideration until the wake of grade replacement no longer being an option. With ~3 years of time and money spent on any of the options listed above, would another year tacked onto that be a good option, to obtain a new bachelors degree? I don't even know if I'd be able to use classes from my biology degree to satisfy general education requirements (ENGL comp I, COMM, etc.), but if I could then that would knock off at least a semester or 2.
Thank you for any advice, because as of right now it's "back to the drawing board" for me.
I see 4 options:
1) SMP
- This seems to be the shortest, and most expensive route. And I also realize that I would need to bring up my GPA before I could even gain admission into one of these programs. My big concern with this route is the value of a Masters degree from one of these programs. Say I do a year of post-bacc gpa repair, apply for a SMP slot, get in, do extremely well, but still don't get into medical school due to my poor undergrad GPA. Would I be able to do anything with the education I've acquired through this route, other than apply to medical school?
2) Post-Bacc (DIY or traditional)
- The middle road of the options. Cheaper than a SMP program, but longer in duration of time. After calculating my potential GPA of taking upper level science courses for 2 years (60 semester hours) my sGPA would only rise to a ~3.1 (3.03 AMCAS, 3.20 AACOMAS); after 3 years it rises to 3.16 and 3.32 respectively.
3) Hard Science Masters Program
- This would be along the same timeline as getting into and completing an SMP, or a year longer if the SMP is only 1 year in length. The major difference being that it is directly applicable outside of the realm of applying to medical school. For example, I work as a lab technician for a toxicology firm right now. If I were to have a masters in microbiology there would be doors opened in my direct career path. My concern is how competitive would a traditional hard science masters program be compared to a SMP. I'm also aware that although one could kill it in a masters program, the undergrad GPA will never go away and will continue to be a red flag.
4) New Bachelors Degree
- The reset button. I'm not sure how viable this is at all, this is the option I know the least about because I've not really given it serious consideration until the wake of grade replacement no longer being an option. With ~3 years of time and money spent on any of the options listed above, would another year tacked onto that be a good option, to obtain a new bachelors degree? I don't even know if I'd be able to use classes from my biology degree to satisfy general education requirements (ENGL comp I, COMM, etc.), but if I could then that would knock off at least a semester or 2.
Thank you for any advice, because as of right now it's "back to the drawing board" for me.
