Sorry, Stressing out!

[MDmiracle]

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Sorry!

I know this has been gone over a thousand times, but I am sitting here at 10 p.m. pst completely stressing out. I have a 3.04 GPA, 2.86 Science, 32 MCAT. Sophmore year 3.89 Senior year 3.7, junior year 2.05. I had a divorce during my JR year that totally anihalated my GPA. Unfortunalty that was when I had to take my physics and Ochem.

I am a certified phlebotomist for the past five years, I have been a research assistant for the past two years. I am volunteering in the ER at a local hospital, and have been shadowing two doctors for a few months. Also I attend monthly pre-med meeting, Run by a residents, at a local hospital. I have three kids and work two jobs to put myself through school. Please be honest. At this point I'd rather be realistic than optimistic. All of my secondaries are in so it doesn't affect anything now, just want to know. Do I have a shot?

P.S. I applied to 31 schools. 7 DO 24 MD. Good Luck to all of you that are applying.

 

[hoping2004]

MDMiracle - i am sorry you're stressing out! 🙁 reading your background, i'm sure you will get in. your MCAT scores are fine and your GPA other than the junior year one is great! and besides, you can explain your junior year GPA. i'm sorry to hear about the divorce. the fact that you hold two jobs, still have time to volunteer and shadow doctors, play with your kids...means you can handle med school. you can handle its rigors and the difficulty of multitasking. don't worry so much!! just relax for now, read, exercise, do whatever, and i'm sure the interview invites will be coming in soon in a few weeks. you're fine! (well, that's my opinion, whatever it's worth, since i haven't gotten into schools either! but i hope i'm right 🙂

 

[Eraserhead]

MDMiracle, I can't assess your chances for getting in and no one else really can either. I can say that I am right there with you. I should be out enjoying my summer, sleeping, relaxing, or doing anything but sitting online obessing over whether or not my file is complete or how many people get interviews at Tulane. I'm really glad this site exists so I don't have to annoy the hell out of my friends and other real people.

I'd say that your life experience counts for alot, and if I were an ad comm I would take that into account in looking at your grades. I've always worked to support myself and had 0 family support for college and now for applications and that has certainly affected all of my grades. But whether or not someone will care is out of our control. Writing a letter saying what we have already said won't change anything.

With all the secondaries in, all you can really do is check your email and mail each day and hope for the best. I think the key is getting on with our lives by enjoying our current jobs and mentally planning an alternate future so that it doesn't become such a "life or death" event in our lives. Personally, I work as a research associate right now and I've also assumed I would keep the job for the rest of this year while applying for the sake of simplicity but I'm thinking of trying to find something new so that I put 100% of myself into something difficult besides applications and care a bit less about whether or not I get in somewhere. Its not the end of the world if we don't, but I know its hard not to look at it that way. Maybe we should make a thread where everyone has to think of 10 things they will do with their life if they don't get in, besides make huge credit card payments for eternity. Or is there one already?

 

[MDmiracle]

Thanks Guys! I feel better already.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

Ad comms look at you as a whole, not by your grades, let alone 1 year of your grades. We have to remember, they look at us as a whole... that means, our experiences, MCAT scores, undergrad grades, volunteer work, normal work, marriage, divorce, birth, .... you get it.

Don't worry... just explain why you had bad grades that year and everything will be fine.

J

 

[aqs200]

Everyone is right, it's not worth it stressing over this.

I am there with ya. I also had a really bad semester(3F's) due to my mom getting sick and had to take a leave of absence for 2 years. Took me 6 years to graduate, all my friends were in medical schools plus on top of that I was even made fun of by on of the chemistry advisors who said "Wow you've been here a long time." Jerk.

Anyway, just believe in yourself. I did. I came back, retook the classes, and graduated w/ a 3.82 GPA(F's excluded). I've got a 33 MCAT, lots of undergrad awards(highest orgo average award, research grant, fellowship, etc, and 2 publications). My amcas gpa is 3.5 science/3.49 overall tho.

One of my friends said it best, if the Adcomms are going to look at your F's/bad grades when it was your time of weakness, then they don't deserve you. I couldn't agree more.