What Must I Do?

[Geauxtiger1]

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Hello all, I'm a sophomore Pre-med Biology student. I completely underestimated what it took make it into medical school. Long story short, I'm a 20 year old who has been completely self supporting since family makes to much for financial aid, but has too much debt to help whatsoever. They also live in a completely different state. I work landscaping, have a small pressure washing business, and currently hold a real estate license ( for which I do not use) to help pay for my basic living needs, and school fees. Due to this and the fact that I thought I could handle 21 credits ( yes I know stupid ) in a semester my gpa has dropped from freshmen 3.5 to sophomore 2.9. Ill be ending this semester on better note with 16 credit probably all A's and a possibly a B-C. I have absolutely no volunteering/clinical/shadowing experience whatsoever and I have only just joined the pre-med society at the beginning of this semester.
I am coming to the realization that if I am to still pursue my dream of becoming of a physician, I'm going to have to put forth twice the amount of effort to bring myself up to the competitive range. I need the advice and help from my forebearers and fellow students to rise out of this slump and take the steps necessary to finish strong.
Regarding my GPA, can I realistically raise it up to where it is needed. I mostly have upper level sciences left to take. I will be starting as a Junior this fall. The director of admissions at LSU New Orleans said in a speech at our university that we can take a 32 hour post-bac program to completely replace my undergrad gpa if it is not suitable enough. I do plan on doing this while I'm applying because I do assume that raising a 2.9 to a 3.8 is not possible. If it is please inform me so!
Regarding my MCAT, what did you do to study for a good MCAT score, did you use Kaplan, Princeton, Exam Krackers, whatever please tell me. Also, when should I be taking this.
Regarding my clinical/volunteer/shadow experience, HOW TO GET SOME. Where do I start? I'm planning on checking with my church for some volunteering opportunities. I would also like to go to a hospital or clinic to get hands on experience, how do you do this? Do I literally walk up to the front desk and ask to speak with someone for a possible position or am I supposed to contact them through an application online? If so, what would me make a more attractive pick to these people. How to get a doctor to allow me to shadow them? I know no doctors or physicians, I assume most of them don't want the hassle of some college student breathing down their neck while they are treating patients at their business.

I know that I am starting late, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Whether I'm in school a little longer, or have to destroy my mental and physical well being while I work 40 hours and attend school in the days and volunteer at a hospital at night. Yes, I expect that it will be somewhat of the sort in medschool,internship,residency.

Any and all help would be most appreciated. Thankyou very much.

 

[Goro]

Your local houses of worship will have plenty of opportunities for non-clinicals; check out hospice, nursing homes, clinics, Planned Parenthood, crisis hotlines, or the local hospital for clinicals.

For shadowing, start by asking your family doctor. Start networking.


Regarding my clinical/volunteer/shadow experience, HOW TO GET SOME. Where do I start? I'm planning on checking with my church for some volunteering opportunities. I would also like to go to a hospital or clinic to get hands on experience, how do you do this? Do I literally walk up to the front desk and ask to speak with someone for a possible position or am I supposed to contact them through an application online? If so, what would me make a more attractive pick to these people. How to get a doctor to allow me to shadow them? I know no doctors or physicians, I assume most of them don't want the hassle of some college student breathing down their neck while they are treating patients at their business.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello all, I'm a sophomore Pre-med Biology student. I completely underestimated what it took make it into medical school. Long story short, I'm a 20 year old who has been completely self supporting since family makes to much for financial aid, but has too much debt to help whatsoever. They also live in a completely different state. I work landscaping, have a small pressure washing business, and currently hold a real estate license ( for which I do not use) to help pay for my basic living needs, and school fees. Due to this and the fact that I thought I could handle 21 credits ( yes I know stupid ) in a semester my gpa has dropped from freshmen 3.5 to sophomore 2.9. Ill be ending this semester on better note with 16 credit probably all A's and a possibly a B-C. I have absolutely no volunteering/clinical/shadowing experience whatsoever and I have only just joined the pre-med society at the beginning of this semester.

Regarding my GPA, can I realistically raise it up to where it is needed. I mostly have upper level sciences left to take. I will be starting as a Junior this fall. The director of admissions at LSU New Orleans said in a speech at our university that we can take a 32 hour post-bac program to completely replace my undergrad gpa if it is not suitable enough. I do plan on doing this while I'm applying because I do assume that raising a 2.9 to a 3.8 is not possible. If it is please inform me so!

Regarding my clinical/volunteer/shadow experience, HOW TO GET SOME. Where do I start? I'm planning on checking with my church for some volunteering opportunities. I would also like to go to a hospital or clinic to get hands on experience, how do you do this? Do I literally walk up to the front desk and ask to speak with someone for a possible position or am I supposed to contact them through an application online? If so, what would me make a more attractive pick to these people. How to get a doctor to allow me to shadow them? I know no doctors or physicians, I assume most of them don't want the hassle of some college student breathing down their neck while they are treating patients at their business.

There is little point to getting involved in a lot of ECs when you haven't yet nailed down the strategies needed to get all A grades. Start slowly and build as your grades improve.

Assuming you have about 50 credits now, with another 100 of straight As, you'd end with about a cGPA of 3.6, which isn't terrible, especially if your BCPM GPA and MCAT score are strong. Have you figured out what all your Bio, Chem, Physics, and Math grades averaged together would come out to?

If the answer to that question is not encouraging, you might consider a different pathway, like applying to DO medical schools through AACOMAS. They have a grade forgiveness policy (unlike AMCAS, which counts every grade ever earned). If you retake low grades for the same credit hours, only the most recent counts when the application GPAs are calculated. This would be a faster, cheaper way to redeem your GPAs.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

1) you don't need a 3.8 to apply. As said above you can get your GPA up to around 3.5-3.6, which is perfectly viable for MD admissions when coupled with a competitive MCAT.

2) the summers are the best time to bulk up in ECs if you're lacking. Many hospitals have summer volunteer programs advertised online, or you could pick up a paid job as a medical assistant or scribe (certification requirements may apply) to get clinical exposure. For shadowing, just email as many doctors as email addresses you can get. Once you shadow one doctor, ask for their recommendation of who else to shadow, and use that to bounce to the next guy.

3). Breathe. One bad semester won't kill your chances...showing an upward trend and recovery after the dip will calm adcoms fears. Coming from someone who had no ECs and a 2.8 at the end of my 2nd year, it can totally be done.