Story is good but GPA is not

[sirchem]

So this is going to be a story I am sure you've seen before. (It'll help me sleep at night knowing I got to ask myself, so humor me)

So long story short, I am 27-29, and a software engineer for one of the top 3 defense contractors in the United States. I have been working here for almost a year now. I was originally going to get my masters in management and I recently just switched to an official pre-med postbaccalaureate certificate, but I don't think it offers med school interviews like some others do. I plan to resign from my career in the upcoming fall semester, so I can enroll full time to get my prerequisites done faster.

I found my passion for medicine as a volunteer at a hospital. I was volunteering for reasons related to my current career. It was about 5 months in to volunteering I realized I loved what physicians did, and I wanted to switch career paths. There's an entire story behind this but I'll save it for my essay when applying to medical schools.

I do have almost 250 hours of volunteering, and I would have more if I wasn't working 40-50 hour weeks and doing school part time as well.

The major concern I have is:

GPA:

Spoiler: GPA

Overall undergraduate GPA is: 2.65
Last year of school I really got my life together and went from a C/D student (tanked my GPA the first 2 years of college) to an A/B student:

• Summer 2021: 1 Class
  • A
• Fall 2021: 5 Classes
  • A
  • A
  • B
  • B
  • A
• Winter 2022: 1 Class
  • A
• Spring 2022: 5 Classes
  • A
  • A
  • A
  • A
  • A
• Summer 2022: 1 Class
  • A
• Fall 2023: 1 Masters class for management
  • A

The thing is I know I can go through all these classes and get better grades now, and I am in this for the long haul, but my concern comes when I apply to medical schools with such a low cumulative GPA. I feel like the only thing I have going for me is my life experiences.

My questions are:

• Are there medical schools that actually look at the holistic approach?
• Pretend I did somewhat average on the MCAT and managed to get scores that would be good enough for MD schools, will my GPA just make it impossible to get an interview?

If you have your reservations about defense contractors, I understand since we are all entitled to our own opinions and I am not here to argue or debate about them, so please refrain from doing so.

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[carw1801]

Here's a very real answer.

I did an SMP at a DO school and got accepted to that DO school. They say that they are "holistic" which, based on my experience, they are but they won't accept you unless they are confident that you can get through medical school first. That can be demonstrated most easily through overall GPA or a strong performance in an SMP program which is very similar to the medical school curriculum in content. If your numbers end up being borderline, strong LOR's from science professors can help at that point. EC's don't make up for lower grades.

Giving you real advice at this stage is not very useful because you don't have an MCAT score yet or a final GPA.

All I would say is that you still have a chance but there might be more steps that you need to complete going forward and you won't know what those steps are just yet until you have the MCAT and final GPA.

But going back to my experience, I have seen all types of scenarios get accepted to medical school to the point that I don't even pay attention to what the schools post on their websites or talk about in their info. sessions.

That's just my opinion and you will get countless other opinions from others.

 

[sirchem]

Here's a very real answer.

I did an SMP at a DO school and got accepted to that DO school. They say that they are "holistic" which, based on my experience, they are but they won't accept you unless they are confident that you can get through medical school first. That can be demonstrated most easily through overall GPA or a strong performance in an SMP program which is very similar to the medical school curriculum in content. If your numbers end up being borderline, strong LOR's from science professors can help at that point. EC's don't make up for lower grades.

Giving you real advice at this stage is not very useful because you don't have an MCAT score yet or a final GPA.

All I would say is that you still have a chance but there might be more steps that you need to complete going forward and you won't know what those steps are just yet until you have the MCAT and final GPA.

But going back to my experience, I have seen all types of scenarios get accepted to medical school to the point that I don't even pay attention to what the schools post on their websites or talk about in their info. sessions.

That's just my opinion and you will get countless other opinions from others.

I guess I should start looking in to SMP programs as well, for when I get the prerequisites done. But you are also right about being unsure until I take the MCAT and find out my final GPA.

I appreciate your response and how honest you are.

It's better to be told the truth than to have someone lead you on.
It's not you, it's me. (Sorry couldn't help myself hehe)

Thank you, sincerely!

 

[carw1801]

I guess I should start looking in to SMP programs as well, for when I get the prerequisites done. But you are also right about being unsure until I take the MCAT and find out my final GPA.

I appreciate your response and how honest you are.

It's better to be told the truth than to have someone lead you on.
It's not you, it's me. (Sorry couldn't help myself hehe)

Thank you, sincerely!

No problem.

Like I said, there are many combinations of grades/scores/activities/LOR's that can lead to a successful application but having the grades and scores makes the process easier.

Having said that, a 3.0/500 with an amazing story and experience and stellar letters will probably get you a DO acceptance somewhere. Use that as a baseline. Some people are going to lead you to believe that you need a 3.75/515+ to be competitive.

If you feel that you have become very good with the science coursework then an SMP is a great backdoor to some programs.

 

[gyngyn]

But you are also right about being unsure until I take the MCAT and find out my final GPA.

Remember, don't take the MCAT until you have a firm grasp on the content and have evidence from a reliable diagnostic test that you will achieve a score consistent with your goals. A single strong score is the best strategy.
Don't waste the AAMC FL's! They are the best measure of the real outcome. Use them strategically.

 

[sirchem]

I'm so nervous but so excited at the same time. Leaving a well paying job, to pursue a passion is the scary part (in the upcoming fall as in). But this is the path I was meant to be on, because I'm super excited about it and love it all. I love "chemistry I" that I'm in already and on the side I'm learning biology and organic chemistry from Khan Academy. I already finished the Chemistry library at khan academy prior to the semester and it was so cool!!

Hehe I'm a nerd and love it.

But thank you for the advice as well!

 

[Goro]

Read this:

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[PandaBaer]

I changed careers around the same age. I had a worse UG GPA in a pre-med major so all pre-reqs already taken. It's totally possible to recover. You may have to look outside MD though. It will also probably take several years to complete pre-reqs, build experience, and apply.

If you're ready to basically re-do UG then you should go for it. Error tolerance is also very low.