Urgent need for honest opinions/advice about a bad situation!

[PinkAerie]

Here's the situation:
Problem: I could NOT adjust to living away from home. To say the least, I failed 3 courses in the first semester, and got 2 A's, 2 C's, 1 D in my second semester. In the third semester of school, I was still in the dorms and attempted to take physics and chemistry 102. Big mistake. Not to mention that I had taken accounting (intermediate) despite failing it freshman year, due to parental insistence. I failed 2 classes (physics + accounting), and got a D in chem.

After this, I came home sophomore year and took a small load at a CC (15 credits, 4.0 GPA). Around this time, I switched majors to Psych and thought I was done with pharmacy. (Ironically, I ended up passing the National Certification for Pharmacy Technicians) and got a job working at a retail pharmacy. Last semester (I'm a junior), I went to another campus that is a part of the main campus, and took a 20 course load, including a Physiological Psychology class and a Stat course. I easily managed a 4.0. I also had retaken physics at CC and earned a B (probably would've been an A if I hadn't also been working 20-30 hrs a week). At the moment, I'm taking 23 credits, including genetics, neuroscience, second part of stat course, and a perception course, as well as doing research for academic credit.

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[Law2Doc]

Do you guys think that I can get in anywhere? I’m talking about U.S.

Depends what you are asking. You won't get into a US med school directly with a 3.0 and a lot of rough semesters. But that isn't a horrible starting point if you are willing to spend a couple of years to rehabilitate things, with an informal postbac and/or an SMP.

 

[gman33]

Unless you are applying to med school in Texas, all your grades will count towards your GPA. It doesn't matter if the school doesn't count them in your GPA.

Keep working on your classes and do as well as you can. Take fewer classes if needed, but make sure you get mainly A's from here on out. See where your GPA stands when you are ready to apply. If it's anywhere around 3.5, apply. If it's not you may need to take some extra courses and maybe retake courses you did poorly in. You need at least a C in all the prereqs.

People have come back from much worse, but it takes time to overcome.
Also, get some experience volunteering in a hospital or something similar. You need to make sure the rest of your app is strong if you have a few weak areas.

 

[Law2Doc]

You need at least a C in all the prereqs.

Disagree. With the rough start this poster had s/he needs "mostly A's" in the prereqs. Cs are not going to help.

 

[njbmd]

There are loads of practicing physicians who had a rough start in their undergraduate college careers. That being said, you need to make sure that any class that you take from here on out is no grade less than B+ with most of your grades As.

Your 3.0 cumulative is not enough for allopathic medical schools in this country. You also need a very strong MCAT performance (one take and good score). Your best strategy at this point is to try to get your cum uGPA high enough to get you into a strong grade-enhancing Special Masters Program (SMP).

Once you get into that program, you need to do well period. Any poor performance in an SMP will tank your application. In order to perform well, you need to be sure that you have strong study skills that will enable a strong performance in any courses that you take from here on out.

You have a tough road ahead with many opportunities for failure. The first thing that you have to realize is that uGPA-damage control takes lots of time and patience. If you are not ready for the long haul, you can easily dig your hole deeper. Take your time, do excellent work, and apply once you are competitive (strong completion of a SMP or uGPA greater than 3.5).

 

[Luxian]

Hope!

I too had a pretty awful GPA (3.1) due to outside circumstances, though mine differed from yours. [Needing a restraining order tells only the half of it.] This definitely was an obstacle, but I have been accepted at a good school.

There are a few things that are important here. I did go on and get a Master's with a much better GPA (3.8). You can either go the post-bacc route or the Master's route, but I do think that getting good grades, showing your increasing abilities, will help you a lot.

I also think you will need to be upfront about this in your essays. A lot of schools will have a space for a few paragraphs to a page of "special circumstances". They won't just take anyone who has a low GPA, but if you have a strong later GPA and you explain what happened, they will give you a chance.

You absolutely have a chance to go to school here. Just take the time and make yourself a really good candidate first!

 

[PinkAerie]

Just as a note, I'm still a junior, so there's still some time left before I graduate (I said I would graduate with at least a 3.0, but I hope to raise it even more in my senior year)! Should I take the remaining pre-req's at a CC, or finish my degree and do post-bacc/masters? ..Or should I just bite the bullet and go back to the traumatizing dorms and take the remaining courses at the main campus? I'm just worried that old memories will affect me..

 

[puchi]

Finish your degree!!!! Its important. Then you can do a post bacc or smp.

 

[dazed1980]

I agree with the others that u can get in somewhere, if u invest time in your remaining classes to get A's and then do an SMP. Try to do a lot ofclinical extracurriculars. If u can show imprivement and maturity, then u stand a good chance with the D.O schools and not completely out of the Allo school race. I personally facy getting into a D.O program vs MD except for the fact that u will occasionally have to explain what a D.O is.

 

[mopmay1]

Hello:
I read your post and would like to give you an important advice. Do NOT be discouraged.

I believe you can do it.

Number 1: You are doing everything right as of now. You have an upward trend in your GPA. You took upper level classes and killed it ( well based on your posting). You are currently doing some research thing in Brain watever. You are a pharmacist. The only thing is that you seem to have gone to a lot of schools...I got tried of tracking down how many schools you said you went to. When you start applying AMCAS would require you enter ALL your grades for ALL schools attended. So I am not sure how you would approach this. I guess you will just have to enter ALL of them, huh?

Number 2: If you really want to be a doctor, I will concentrate now on my MCAT. You sound like someone who will probably kill the MCAT, so I'd say start studying. You have to nail it. Anything above a 30 will put you in the safe zone. Although, you can still get into some schools with maybe anything between a 27-29. Anything less than that WILL BE VERY difficult.

Number 3: Make sure you apply to lots of schools. I applied to 26. ...Also try to get some clinical experience ( volunteer at a local hospital or something).

I am sure you will be fine if you decided to finally pursue medicine. Good luck!

 

[mopmay1]

Hope!




I also think you will need to be upfront about this in your essays. A lot of schools will have a space for a few paragraphs to a page of "special circumstances". They won't just take anyone who has a low GPA, but if you have a strong later GPA and you explain what happened, they will give you a chance.

You absolutely have a chance to go to school here. Just take the time and make yourself a really good candidate first!

Please do not be tempted to sound like a cry baby when filling out this section in your application. Make sure you explain the situation and take TOTAL responsibility for the low GPA but show how you overcame it and did better!..Do not blame others or sound like a cry baby. It might work against you.

 

[gman33]

Disagree. With the rough start this poster had s/he needs "mostly A's" in the prereqs. Cs are not going to help.

I was stating that the OP needs to retake any class with less than a C.
Of course, C's won't get you into med school.

 

[canjosh]

Unless you are applying to med school in Texas, all your grades will count towards your GPA.

What's the specific policy regarding this? I haven't seen anything like this on TMDSAS, unless you're referring to academic fresh start.

 

[gman33]

Yes, academic fresh start.

 

[canjosh]

Ok, it sounded like you were saying that tx allo schools had a gpa policy similar to osteo schools (avg of retakes). Academic fresh start is a whole 'nother animal. Thanks for the clarification.