Medical Subpar applicant. Where to go from here?

[Goro]

All, I recognize that I am a subpar applicant and am looking for advice on how to move forward.

My situation…

Call me a ‘super senior’ because by credits, I am well into my senior year just prior to beginning my fourth year of college. I plan to graduate at the end of next summer. Following graduation, I plan on doing 2 more semesters of a DIY postbac to get my pre-reqs completed. Academically, I am in a tough spot. I did not initially plan on applying to medical school and did not perform well in my earlier years of college. My current statistics are as follows (hypothetical statistics in parenthesis assuming a 4.0 in all future courses including postbac):

Credits: 124 (167)

cGPA: 3.31 (3.49)

sGPA: 3.25 (3.74)

Trend by year: 2.21 – 3.37 - 3.73 – 3.75 (“Senior:” 3.85 Postbac: 4.0)

I had an “F” and a “W” my freshman year. Both have since been retaken to an A. I was stupid. I was caught up in other courses and figured if I ignored my problems, they would go away. I have since learned otherwise...

MCAT: Has not been taken. Plan on taking it during my postbac.

Research: Nothing formal. I am not competitive in any mid-level or higher schools so I don’t know if that matters at this point.

Clinical volunteering: 1,442 hrs. Heavily concentrated my freshman year as a volunteer EMT.

Non-clinical volunteering: 3 hrs. I know this is another area to work on. I am currently waiting a call back from Big Brothers Big Sisters and I am currently in formal training with my puppy to become a therapy dog team.

Clinical experience: 6,664 hrs. and increasing daily. I am a full-time paramedic with my local 911 EMS service.

Physician shadowing: None. Another weakness. I have 300 hours of shadowing through my paramedic program clinical rotations, but it was primarily RNs and a CRNA.

Additional hobbies and ECs: I am a private pilot currently working on my commercial pilot’s license for fun. I hope to begin doing flight instruction as a fun “side-gig.” Also a potential volunteer opportunity. I am a member of various professional organizations related to EMS (NAEMSP, NRMET, and NEMSMA).

I’m a bit of a non-traditional student as I haven’t attended just one single 4-year institution where I have had networking and support. 45% of my degree has been completed online and COVID does not help.


I’d like to apply MD but understand DO may be the only option. Where do I begin? Do I have any chance at being accepted?


Any other input would be greatly appreciated!

What you need to understand is that it's not about the cGPA anymore; it's about the you of now vs the you of then. Many MD schools and all DO reward reinvention. Thus, you should apply as if your GPA is 3.7, NOT the cGPA.

Your MCAT score will make or break you. Once you have that score in hand, we can advise on a schoollist.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

I don't think your GPA is gonna be your problem. You have a great trend and if you continue to do well, you should have a good shot pending a strong MCAT and you bumping those EC numbers.

 

[tantacles]

Here my advice:

1. Ace your post bacc.
2. Take the mcat.
3. Make a school list.
4. Come back here, post your school list, and we can figure out future plans.