Suggestions and Advice About My Plans

[ShinySephiroth]

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Hello! I am trying to get as many thoughts and suggestions about my plan as I move ahead with my plans. I was raised to always put work and family first (I am married with four lovely daughters!) and I did that... much to the detriment of my GPA. I skipped class often and got sucked into doing what I needed to for my job. I ended up getting promoted at my last place of employment and realized the rut I was in... I was getting further and further away from my aspiration of going to medical school. Through a very convoluted series of events, I left my job and went back to finish my pre-med courses I didn't get around to the first time around. To pay for it, I have been using my financial aid from my masters program. I have been doing this since Fall 2017 - I do my masters classes at night and take a science course during the day (I did O. Chem I and I am currently doing Biochem).

*The following stats are just where I am at currently, and is only an overview of what I have listed
Community Service - Non-Medical: 363 Hours
Community Service - Medical: 94 Hours
Employment: Fulltime employed non-medical from 2008 to 2017; employed at a medical device company since 2017
Leadership: 6 positions of leadership lasting more than 3 months
Research: Total 652 hours - 552 hours as an associate working with consenting patients and logging data; 100 hours of research for a project I presented for poster conferences
Physician Shadowing: 28 hours (24 with ER docs, 4 with endocrinologist)
Awards: Few random awards
Other: Patent pending on medical device

My Plan:
Summer 2018
- General Chemistry II Lab
- General Physics II
Fall 2018
- Global and Environmental Issues
- Organic Chemistry II
- Organic Chemistry II Lab
- General Physics II Lab
- Take MCAT
Spring 2019
- The Universe
- Dinosaurs
- Principles of Cell Biology
*Projected undergrad cGPA/sGPA: 3.188/3.164 & graduate cGPA: 3.662
Summer 2019
- Apply to Medical Schools?
Fall 2019
- Evolution & Diversity of Life
- Evolution & Diversity of Life Lab
Spring 2020
- Microbial Biology

I graduate with my masters this semester and have one more semester of undergraduate financial aid I can use to crank out a few more classes. Now, this is a very brief description of what has led me to this point, but I guess it works as a conversation starter. I know I'm probably leaving out some vital information.

My plan is to apply for the 2019-2020 cycle (with taking biochem and also being in the last semester of my masters, I cannot find time to study for the MCAT). I also have teamed up with two engineers I met on campus and have a medical device currently on patent pending. We have made a business and are currently doing Shark Tank-esque competitions for funding (we find out how we did in our first competition this Friday!). Afterwards, we plan on doing IRB research with grant money we will attempt to secure to further studies behind the device (hard to describe more without stating who I am, haha). We have some CEOs advising our business and so far it looks like we are on the path to being decently profitable. On the off-chance this thing does become something big, I will probably delay applying to medical school for a couple of cycles to help build the company up, but then I will step down as the president to pursue my real dream of being a physician (if I'm not voted out by shareholders first! Ha!).

I appreciate any help and, like I said, I haven't shown a full snippet of where I am at the moment, more of the "whys" of my bad grades (though mostly irrelevant now imo), my extracurriculars, and my future plans. I am willing to give more info if needed!

Since anyone who searches my post history would be able to see it, I have only one state school and it is the University of Utah (which in and of itself may be helpful, since GPA is only 10% of your application for that school because all of their requirements historically/supposedly have been weighted the same).

EDIT: Thankfully, Noorda-COM opened up a few years later and I could apply there instead! It better fit my philosophy of what medicine should be i.e., DO *and* it has a research focus! Best of both worlds and, years later, I am happy to say it worked out!

 

[DeterminedSoul]

I'm going to be the guy that tells you exactly what you don't want to hear - but should at least consider.

You have nearly 2 bachelor's degrees worth of credit hours and a sub 3.0 cGPA + sGPA. Even if you 4.0 every single class (which may be possible but could be ruined by 1 bad professor), you will barely hit a 3.0. Even more years of your life and money to just barely hit the 3.0 mark.

Just based on your GPA and without an MCAT score makes it even more difficult to guess - but your best case scenario is 10-20% chance of being accepted into a MD/DO school. If you apply heavily (15+ DO schools), that will be your best case scenario. This can change if you get a godly score on your MCAT - but given the information here and the odds I can't assume that.

It will be a long and difficult road for you and even if you do everything perfectly from here on out, your odds are worse than a coinflip. Only you can decide if it is worth it for you. Best of luck my friend.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

I'm going to be the guy that tells you exactly what you don't want to hear - but should at least consider.

You have nearly 2 bachelor's degrees worth of credit hours and a sub 3.0 cGPA + sGPA. Even if you 4.0 every single class (which may be possible but could be ruined by 1 bad professor), you will barely hit a 3.0. Even more years of your life and money to just barely hit the 3.0 mark.

Just based on your GPA and without an MCAT score makes it even more difficult to guess - but your best case scenario is 10-20% chance of being accepted into a MD/DO school. If you apply heavily (15+ DO schools), that will be your best case scenario. This can change if you get a godly score on your MCAT - but given the information here and the odds I can't assume that.

It will be a long and difficult road for you and even if you do everything perfectly from here on out, your odds are worse than a coinflip. Only you can decide if it is worth it for you. Best of luck my friend.

Oh, no! I need to hear the truth, haha! I know I made some very bad decisions when I was younger. I'm hoping to round things out to show I have changed... I know my chances are slim, but I'm trying to keep some hope alive, you know? 10-20% is better than the 5% I was giving myself late last year. I know what I have done up to this point is a sunk cost and can't be changed... I am hoping to make some change and improve my status going forward. It's been tough to say the least.

 

[001002154]

I mean no disrespect at all, but it seems like you have many irons in the fire and medicine just happens to be one of them. For most people, it takes a little more intention to pursue med without all the other distractions. Again, that’s just my takeaway from your post, I could be way off.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

I mean no disrespect at all, but it seems like you have many irons in the fire and medicine just happens to be one of them. For most people, it takes a little more intention to pursue med without all the other distractions. Again, that’s just my takeaway from your post, I could be way off.

Thank you for your help! I had mentioned that to an advisor before I started this medical device venture and I was told it would only help my app. I had been hesitant before but with that endorsement I decided to plow ahead with it.

What else on my description looks like that? I don't want ad comms thinking medicine is a side thing - it is what I want to do for my career.

 

[001002154]

We have made a business and are currently doing Shark Tank-esque competitions for funding (we find out how we did in our first competition this Friday!). Afterwards, we plan on doing IRB research with grant money we will attempt to secure to further studies behind the device (hard to describe more without stating who I am, haha). We have some CEOs advising our business and so far it looks like we are on the path to being decently profitable. On the off-chance this thing does become something big, I will probably delay applying to medical school for a couple of cycles to help build the company up, but then I will step down as the president to pursue my real dream of being a physician (if I'm not voted out by shareholders first! Ha!).

And dont get me wrong, I’m not saying any of that is bad or hurtful to your app. I would just make sure that you’re able to focus on your app as much as possible whenever it comes time to apply. Sounds like you are doing some worthwhile stuff right now, though.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

And dont get me wrong, I’m not saying any of that is bad or hurtful to your app. I would just make sure that you’re able to focus on your app as much as possible whenever it comes time to apply. Sounds like you are doing some worthwhile stuff right now, though.

Okay yes, the device. I figured I had some time before applying and I had the idea so I decided to use my knowledge before applying. If something happens with the company I will probably stay on for a couple of years just to see it through, but I will leave the company and pass it onto someone to go to medical school in a heartbeat.

 

[001002154]

Sounds like a plan. Work on getting those GPAs up and score well on the MCAT over the next couple years then. When the time comes to apply, you’ll have to throw a big net, but you’ll have a very interesting app.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

Sounds like a plan. Work on getting those GPAs up and score well on the MCAT over the next couple years then. When the time comes to apply, you’ll have to throw a big net, but you’ll have a very interesting app.

Thanks... I'm going to be taking the MCAT in August or September so I suppose at that point I'll be able to get more precise feedback on here.

When it comes to the application portion... I don't want to make it look like med school is a box to check off in my life. I'm doing other things to occupy my time UNTIL med school. How do I address this to dispel others thinking med school/becoming a physician isn't my true goal?

 

[001002154]

Id probably just try to articulate that your path thus far has given you some unique opportunities that you wanted to see through before starting medicine.

Edit: but the end goal has always been medicine.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

Id probably just try to articulate that your path thus far has given you some unique opportunities that you wanted to see through before starting medicine.

Edit: but the end goal has always been medicine.

Okay, thank you! I know I'm still a year out but I want to start formulating my strategy. 🙂

 

[ShinySephiroth]

Well, 7 years later... this turned out well! Haha - thanks for the advice here, everyone.

 

[nobadwaves]

Well, 7 years later... this turned out well! Haha - thanks for the advice here, everyone.

Where did you end up attending and what are you doing now?