Taking a long time to complete my undergrad?

[alexwantsanMD]

Soo,

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[gothicfoxes]

What are your grades/GPA like?

 

[alexwantsanMD]

They were crap from my first attempt at college; but currently my cGPA is a 3.39, (I'm aiming to finish with at least a 3.6-3.7, but easier said than done.) I made A's in physics, and B's in inorganic (I did have to repeat the inorganic, part of it was due to a serious medical illness that required a hospital stay.) A's and B's across the board for everything else. I'm trying to cast myself as a 'reinventor.'

Side note: I'm specifically looking to go to an MD school..

 

[gothicfoxes]

Sounds to me like you have a plan. Use the next 2 years to strengthen you app. End with a strong GPA. And I suggest applying to DO schools as well during your selected app cycle. Unless you have a murderous MCAT score, your GPA isn't high enough to be MD exclusive. x

 

[alexwantsanMD]

What would you consider to be a 'murderous' mcat score? 30-32? or are we talking a straight 40? p.s. thanks for taking an interest.

 

[gothicfoxes]

Definitely a 40. Just kidding.

Take a look at the MCAT scores for the MD schools you have in mind. They're published in MSAR. Size up the competition of applicants they like. x

 

[ZedsDed]

How many years are we talking?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Get some ADCOM input but my guess is I don't see this as a problem.

 

[alexwantsanMD]

all together? 'cringe' 6+ years; again this was due to working so much and having no real life goals in my early 20's. I've heard worse, I knew a guy who flunked out of two different universities; went off to Afghanistan for 3 years and is now attending Wayne State Medical..

 

[gothicfoxes]

All that matters is that you're working toward a degree. Get it and prove to adcoms that you're worth considering. x

 

[ZedsDed]

all together? 'cringe' 6+ years; again this was due to working so much and having no real life goals in my early 20's. I've heard worse, I knew a guy who flunked out of two different universities; went off to Afghanistan for 3 years and is now attending Wayne State Medical..

Well, I have heard a certain wise AdCom member (@gyngyn) comment that an excessive amount of time spent on an undergraduate degree can be a negative. I would imagine non-trads are cut some slack in this regard. Perhaps if you ask ever so nicely, he can clarify.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Well, I have heard a certain wise AdCom member (@gyngyn) comment that an excessive amount of time spent on an undergraduate degree can be a negative. I would imagine non-trads are cut some slack in this regard. Perhaps if you ask ever so nicely, he can clarify.

I think the biggest issue that can arise from this is a) poor decision making ie changing majors seven times and spending 3 extra years in college as a result b) not taking demanding courseloads. Someone who changes to pre-med late or has another reason for staying say 6 years is not necessairly at a disadvantage. Someone who wants to stay longer to get their grades up probably wouldn't be either(hell its just like a DIY post-bacc then). But someone who only takes 9 credits a semester and graduates in 11-12 semesters and has to take light courseloads to be able to handle the material will be at a disadvantage.

I feel like the OP is not under either of these categories. Yes they "dillydalied" for a few years which isn't ideal but I think if they have a strong upward trend there will be schools willing to overlook that and chalk that up to just being a typical 18-19 year old. Also really 6+ years is only about 2 years longer than the norm it seems like. It doesn't seem like explaining that due to having to work so much and waiting to be able to transfer on top of some dillydalling is an overly detrimental reason for staying in undergrad so long.