What Next?

[ellaMaara]

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...so, lets give this a shot. omg, where do i begin...

i'm a single mother of a daughter who's now 12 1/2. a single mother to a daughter who now will start throwing me attitude, want privacy, really start paying attention to the boys, and sadly... will easily grow taller than me by summer of next year... and constantly borrow my clothes.

i had every intention of going to medical school.

started college when this hormonal being was at the beautiful and innocent age of 2 (I was 20). went to a community college where i did all my GE's and most of my medical school pre-requisites and aced them all. transferred to pretty damn good university. did beautifully my first quarter... but then.... BAM! divorce. at this time my little one was 4 and i could see the confusion and hurt she had from the whole ordeal. i withdrew from my 2nd quarter at the university and took 2 quarters off to deal with the divorce... but MOST importantly, my daughter. i was determined to make this as least painful as possible for her. she had alot of questions, and she showed the hurt and confusion the best way a 4 y/o could, it broke my heart.

so what to do, i'm technically a junior, but there's no way i'm going to drop out of college, but i need to spend as much time with my daughter as possible. she was needier than ever, she needed to know that she was mommy's TOP priority. i decided i'd go back to school, finish my molecular biology degree... but i would only put in enough effort to get by. meaning, it was no longer about being the top student and getting A's, it was about doing what i had to to only PASS the class. it freed up my time tremendously... it helped my daughter through the unfortunate transition. it seemed like the perfect idea at the time, only... it has permanently scarred my transcripts. its something i don't know i'll ever be able to recover from.

happy to say, though, my daughter turned out pretty darned good and well-rounded, has plenty of wonderful friends, is at one of the top public-college prep schools in the country, and although hormonal... content with life...

as for me, i graduated from my university with just enough to get by in june of 2005. gpa was horrible, but enough for me to get my degree. i've been employed as a researcher at the university for over 5 years now...

something's always been missing...

so hey. the kiddo's gonna go to college in less than 6 years from now... perfect time for me to go back to school as well.

i want desparately for me to still be there for her, do all the things mom's/best friends do... but i think soon is a good time for me to start my long and hard journey in at least trying to patch my grades up in order to go to medschool. when she graduates from highschool and goes to college, i'll be 36. not bad huh? you live once. you do what you have to do to die happy... and with no regrets.

i'm sorry for the incredibly long post... but finally my questions.

-do pre-reqs expire? my gut tells me they do.
-are there efficient ways in somehow salvaging my terrible grades from the last 2 years of college?
-and for the dreaded question (lol)... do i have a chance?


this website has been a Godsend.

and for those of you who actually READ my post... thank you thank you, from the very bottom of my heart. i truely appreciate all of your help.

~ella

 

[DrMidlife]

-do pre-reqs expire? my gut tells me they do.

Generally no, but you have to watch out for some specific schools like UMass and Miami. If you have recent upper div science that covers molecular bio, and your MCAT score is strong, you're not likely to be questioned. I finished calc-based physics in 1988.

-are there efficient ways in somehow salvaging my terrible grades from the last 2 years of college?

First, I recommend *not* taking any more coursework that you can't prioritize highly. If you're on your own to handle your daughter's teen years, then I think you're setting yourself up to get more low grades and/or withdrawals. I realize this isn't what you want to hear, but your GPA is your fate.

And no, there isn't an *efficient* way to address GPA, all methods are time-consuming. If you don't know what a DO is, find out, and consider retaking some coursework to replace grades (MD schools won't replace old grades, just average new work in). My stock recommendation in a low GPA situation is to get your cumulative undergrad GPA over 3.0, get an *above* average MCAT (32+), and look into SMPs.

For encouragement, come over to the postbac forum and browse the low GPA comeback thread - it might not be on the first page, but it has about 300,000 views. Can't miss it.

-and for the dreaded question (lol)... do i have a chance?

Sure. But it'll cost you a lot (time/money/peace of mind/etc). I wish I'd started on my GPA comeback at 30 instead of 38. You won't be the oldest person in med school even if you start at 40.

Two pieces of advice that are hard to follow but have been pure gold for me:
1. If there's any other career you'd be happy in, then for the love of all that's holy don't do medicine.
2. If you must do medicine, then from today forward act the part: set a high standard for your behavior and performance, and live up to that standard.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ellaMaara]

Generally no, but you have to watch out for some specific schools like UMass and Miami. If you have recent upper div science that covers molecular bio, and your MCAT score is strong, you're not likely to be questioned. I finished calc-based physics in 1988.

First, I recommend *not* taking any more coursework that you can't prioritize highly. If you're on your own to handle your daughter's teen years, then I think you're setting yourself up to get more low grades and/or withdrawals. I realize this isn't what you want to hear, but your GPA is your fate.

And no, there isn't an *efficient* way to address GPA, all methods are time-consuming. If you don't know what a DO is, find out, and consider retaking some coursework to replace grades (MD schools won't replace old grades, just average new work in). My stock recommendation in a low GPA situation is to get your cumulative undergrad GPA over 3.0, get an *above* average MCAT (32+), and look into SMPs.

For encouragement, come over to the postbac forum and browse the low GPA comeback thread - it might not be on the first page, but it has about 300,000 views. Can't miss it.

Sure. But it'll cost you a lot (time/money/peace of mind/etc). I wish I'd started on my GPA comeback at 30 instead of 38. You won't be the oldest person in med school even if you start at 40.

Two pieces of advice that are hard to follow but have been pure gold for me:
1. If there's any other career you'd be happy in, then for the love of all that's holy don't do medicine.
2. If you must do medicine, then from today forward act the part: set a high standard for your behavior and performance, and live up to that standard.

Best of luck to you.

thanks so much, drmidlife...

i don't intend on starting the process til when i know it's feasible. yes, i'm riding mostly solo in her teen years. it seems my teen years were just yesterday. and thus, i understand the importance of having mom around...

i guess what i intend to do is to start the long and arduous process so that the timing is right. by the time my daughter is applying to college, i'll be applying to med school. i can only imagine the commitment this dream entails... and i sometimes wish it weren't my dream. but no matter how long i've come or where i've been, i can't shake the dream.

so i think i'll take your advice. look into post-bac programs when the time is right... but until then, i guess working in structural biology, volunteering, shadowing, and continuing dreaming couldn't hurt... not to mention seeing my kiddo off to a pretty darned good university herself. 👍

thanks again, and best of luck to you as well...

~ella