Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Title background: I just reset my password and logged back into SDN for the first time in nearly 14 years. I was trying to create a new account as I had forgotten what my old one was or the email with which it was associated. My last posts were also WAMC posts as an undergraduate (we will call that Take 1).
So about Take 2...
Medicine was my original plan in life, as can be seen in my old posts, and I completed most of the prerequisite coursework while completing my degree in biology (2013). The death of my father in 2011 impacted my life considerably, however (something also discussed in my old posts). I had a full tuition scholarship for UG but was living at home and commuting to classes to avoid taking out loans for housing. When my father passed, I also lost my home and had to immediately become financially independent at 19. I was working in IT while taking classes because it was a natural area of interest and it paid well but I had to take on additional hours to survive. My experience with my father's battle with cancer really actually did strengthen my desire to become a physician. He was blessed with many incredible doctors who gave him additional years of good life despite the terrible prognosis of GBM. As a result of the loss and disruption, however, my focus and therefore my grades slipped and I graduated with a 3.15 cGPA (2.95 by AMCAS calculation) and AMCAS 2.78 sGPA, which is obviously not compelling for medical school. I scored a 31S on the MCAT in 2012 but ultimately did not apply due to my GPA. I reasoned that my window to become a doctor had passed and, instead, continued to work full-time in tech where I ended up pretty successful at growing, leading, and even founding cybersecurity and educational technology companies. While my career has been financially fulfilling, and has enabled financial feasibility to revisit my original dream, it has never been able to displace the desire I've had to be a physician and take care of patients. I have carried that desire for more than 20 years and I am in a position to do something about it again. I look back at who I was after my dad died and I was still basically a child. Very naive, first gen college student with poor study habits and, looking back, some deep grief I was trying my hardest to ignore. Today, 14 years later, I am far more mature, driven, and motivated at 34 than I was at 20/21, and I have an even clearer vision of how I want to spend the remainder of my working years. I have saved enough money to have some other serious commercial options that would probably generate better ROI... but I would rather use it to achieve my original goal and do something much more meaningful with my life than chase returns. I am certain that if I apply the same work ethic to my education that I have applied to the last 10 years of my professional career I can succeed.
The Plan:
Apply in Spring 2028 to start in Aug 2029.
Classes
I need to take about 34 hours, possibly more, of post-bacc BCPM courses and achieve 3.9+ across all of them, starting this upcoming fall. If my calculations are good, this should be able to get me to an AMCAS cGPA of 3.12 and sGPA of 3.05. I could spend additional years gradually trying to get that higher but I don't know that it would be worth it. At the end of the day my MCAT will have to carry me and an AdComm will have to like my overall story and recent academic performance. More below on specific classes.
EC's
While doing this, I will need to up my volunteer hours (thankfully I have been fairly involved in multiple volunteer efforts through my church for a few years), do some shadowing (have already re-established some contacts who have agreed), and get some additional clinical exposure. I will likely go volunteer at a free clinic - which I also did in undergrad originally and really enjoyed. I might also work part time in an entry level clinical role like ER Tech or Patient Care Associate at a local hospital. Those roles are always needed.
Research?
Should I try to get involved in research? My name is on 2 papers and a 1st place winning poster (UG Research Fair) from research work I did in undergrad in population genetics. I really don't have any desire to do research - I just want to take care of patients, likely in a rural practice setting.
Professional Experience
There is a lot here - I would plan to translate my resume and key professional experiences in the "Experiences" section of the application. I've had a really good career with ample leadership experience that I think will translate well.
MCAT
I scored a 31S in 2012 after doing approximately zero specific studying for it. I took a couple practice tests but didn't work to improve in any meaningful way between practice and real. I understand this translates to about a 510 in today's terms. I believe I can score a 515 at least, maybe better, if I actually put the time in.
Target School List (please suggest others, I would really like to remain as close to MO as possible):
University of Missouri
-Columbia or Springfield (rural track) campus
University of Missouri Kansas City
Saint Louis University
Alice Walton School (1.5 hours for me and it's free)
Indiana University (Terre Haute Campus rural track)
University of Illinois
Southern Illinois University
Planned Classes
Please let me know what I'm missing here. And please let me know if I'm out of my mind and have no real chance. There's so much more I can add in terms of my motivations, my professional experience, etc. but I wanted to try to distill as much as possible.
Thanks so much in advance!
So about Take 2...
Medicine was my original plan in life, as can be seen in my old posts, and I completed most of the prerequisite coursework while completing my degree in biology (2013). The death of my father in 2011 impacted my life considerably, however (something also discussed in my old posts). I had a full tuition scholarship for UG but was living at home and commuting to classes to avoid taking out loans for housing. When my father passed, I also lost my home and had to immediately become financially independent at 19. I was working in IT while taking classes because it was a natural area of interest and it paid well but I had to take on additional hours to survive. My experience with my father's battle with cancer really actually did strengthen my desire to become a physician. He was blessed with many incredible doctors who gave him additional years of good life despite the terrible prognosis of GBM. As a result of the loss and disruption, however, my focus and therefore my grades slipped and I graduated with a 3.15 cGPA (2.95 by AMCAS calculation) and AMCAS 2.78 sGPA, which is obviously not compelling for medical school. I scored a 31S on the MCAT in 2012 but ultimately did not apply due to my GPA. I reasoned that my window to become a doctor had passed and, instead, continued to work full-time in tech where I ended up pretty successful at growing, leading, and even founding cybersecurity and educational technology companies. While my career has been financially fulfilling, and has enabled financial feasibility to revisit my original dream, it has never been able to displace the desire I've had to be a physician and take care of patients. I have carried that desire for more than 20 years and I am in a position to do something about it again. I look back at who I was after my dad died and I was still basically a child. Very naive, first gen college student with poor study habits and, looking back, some deep grief I was trying my hardest to ignore. Today, 14 years later, I am far more mature, driven, and motivated at 34 than I was at 20/21, and I have an even clearer vision of how I want to spend the remainder of my working years. I have saved enough money to have some other serious commercial options that would probably generate better ROI... but I would rather use it to achieve my original goal and do something much more meaningful with my life than chase returns. I am certain that if I apply the same work ethic to my education that I have applied to the last 10 years of my professional career I can succeed.
The Plan:
Apply in Spring 2028 to start in Aug 2029.
Classes
I need to take about 34 hours, possibly more, of post-bacc BCPM courses and achieve 3.9+ across all of them, starting this upcoming fall. If my calculations are good, this should be able to get me to an AMCAS cGPA of 3.12 and sGPA of 3.05. I could spend additional years gradually trying to get that higher but I don't know that it would be worth it. At the end of the day my MCAT will have to carry me and an AdComm will have to like my overall story and recent academic performance. More below on specific classes.
EC's
While doing this, I will need to up my volunteer hours (thankfully I have been fairly involved in multiple volunteer efforts through my church for a few years), do some shadowing (have already re-established some contacts who have agreed), and get some additional clinical exposure. I will likely go volunteer at a free clinic - which I also did in undergrad originally and really enjoyed. I might also work part time in an entry level clinical role like ER Tech or Patient Care Associate at a local hospital. Those roles are always needed.
Research?
Should I try to get involved in research? My name is on 2 papers and a 1st place winning poster (UG Research Fair) from research work I did in undergrad in population genetics. I really don't have any desire to do research - I just want to take care of patients, likely in a rural practice setting.
Professional Experience
There is a lot here - I would plan to translate my resume and key professional experiences in the "Experiences" section of the application. I've had a really good career with ample leadership experience that I think will translate well.
MCAT
I scored a 31S in 2012 after doing approximately zero specific studying for it. I took a couple practice tests but didn't work to improve in any meaningful way between practice and real. I understand this translates to about a 510 in today's terms. I believe I can score a 515 at least, maybe better, if I actually put the time in.
Target School List (please suggest others, I would really like to remain as close to MO as possible):
University of Missouri
-Columbia or Springfield (rural track) campus
University of Missouri Kansas City
Saint Louis University
Alice Walton School (1.5 hours for me and it's free)
Indiana University (Terre Haute Campus rural track)
University of Illinois
Southern Illinois University
Planned Classes
- Should I retake Gen Chem I and II or skip to Organic I and II?
- From MCAT review, I feel that I have retained sufficient understanding of Gen Chem concepts to re-familiarize with that subject matter on my own. I believe my MCAT score will be able to sufficiently reflect my understanding of that material.
- Organic Chem, particularly Organic Chem II, were contributors to my low GPA so I would like to jump right into Organic and demonstrate that I can excel with that material.
- Organic I and II would be 10 hours w/ lab.
- I currently also plan to take:
- Phy I and Phy II - 4 hours each w/ lab
- These were low grades in UG and I believe classes will be valuable in MCAT prep
- Genetics - 4 hours w/ lab
- Human Anatomy - 4 hours w/ lab
- Human Phys - 4 hours w/ lab
- Biochem - 4 hours w/ lab
- These 4 classes would be to re-familiarize and get ahead of medical school curriculum
- Total: 34 hours
Please let me know what I'm missing here. And please let me know if I'm out of my mind and have no real chance. There's so much more I can add in terms of my motivations, my professional experience, etc. but I wanted to try to distill as much as possible.
Thanks so much in advance!
Last edited:
