What path should I take?

[jwatson0405]

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Hey all,
New to the forum, though I have looked through here before. After reading through some of the posts, I decided to post my own question and get some input from people who have gone before me.

I just recently graduated from a state school in MN, ~3.30 in my undergraduate of B.S. in Information Systems. Was in the Army ROTC program and have commissioned into the Army National Guard as an Infantry Officer. My GPA dropped my senior year of school as to fulfill my contract and some errors in the planning process I took 26 credits last fall (Fall '09) and then 28 this spring (Spring '10) to finish on time; I passed all classes, though grades were lower than I would have liked. 20 credits in Fall '08 and 24 in Spring '09 did not hurt me, actually had 3.8+'s in those semesters.

Extra Curriculars:
President - Military Science Club
Vice President - Information Systems Club
3 time participant Digi-Key Collegiate Computing Competition
Excellence in Technology Award through Army ROTC
Excellence in Leadership Award through University
3 years as Information Systems Tutor
2 tears as Information Systems TA
Army ROTC
Medic Army National Guard

MD has been something that I've thought about for a while, its something that I've dreamed of doing, but have gone back and forth on the feasibility of pursuing it. I'm 25 now (just recently), I leave in September for a few schools with the Army, and then return February '11 before deploying for a year to Kuwait, leaving May '11. After returning home from my deployment, I'd be in a position, financially and time-wise, to take time off and take courses to prepare me for Medical School.

I'm just wondering the best way to approach this; should I pursue a Masters Degree in Science, to partially erase my marginal Undergrad performance, or would I be better served taking the courses individually? I'd pretty much need to stay in Minnesota, have looked at some of the degrees offered by the University of Minnesota.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read through this long post!

 

[DrMidlife]

Hi -

Nothing erases undergrad GPA. It's more permanent than a tattoo. You have to submit all your college transcripts when you apply to med school. If you repeat coursework and get better grades, DO schools will forgive the old grades, but all your coursework will still be listed on a DO app. MD schools offer no forgiveness.

Grad GPA and undergrad GPA are kept completely separate. Undergrad GPA is what matters. Grad work is like an academic extra curricular activity. The exception to this is an SMP, special masters program, where you do the first year of med school as an audition for med school, when your undergrad GPA is the only thing wrong with your app.

That said, 3.3 isn't that bad. Assuming you haven't completed the prereqs yet (one year each, with labs, of bio/chem/ochem/physics), you have a pretty good opportunity to show straight A's and to improve your GPA in another year or two of undergrad study.

In your shoes, I'd look into doing something like this:
1. Take some online science coursework during your deployment (look at UNE and others - avoid for-profit schools like U of Phoenix or any that make it difficult to procure a transcript). Don't do this unless you can get A's. Online coursework is stigmatized and only makes sense in situations like overseas military service.
2. Make up your mind whether you're staying in MN and betting on UMinn, or not. If you don't get into UMinn, then you don't gain anything in the med school game by staying in MN. You can change your state residency when you get back from deployment if you want.
3. Figure out when and how you'll have a complete, compelling app in the month of June. Doesn't matter what year, but it has to be June in order to have the advantage of an early app. Working backwards, you need to kill the MCAT by April at the latest, in order to have a score in June. You need to have completed most-if-not-all of the prereq coursework before you take the MCAT. Given your undergrad GPA, I'd look at taking 2 years to get ready to apply, so that you have time to take a lot of classes and to volunteer and do other premed-like things.

Lastly, coming from an IT background, assume you'll have your fanny handed to you in the prereqs. Plan on these being the hardest classes you've ever taken (if they're not, good for you). You have to get A's from here out.

Best of luck to you.

 

[jwatson0405]

Alright, I had read in a different forum (I believe) that graduate studies would be considered more heavily if completed. It certainly sounds as though continuing with undergrad work is the way for me to go.

I say that I would want to stay in MN to prepare for Med school due to my commitment with the national guard, once accepted to a school (if I was) I would be able to move wherever I wanted.

I'm not really familiar with my options for continuing my undergrad studies, would it matter if it was at the same school? I don't intend to retake courses, though would prefer to take these science courses at the University of Minnesota versus the state school I attended. Is this a bad idea?

Thanks for your help.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Dr. MidLife is correct about grad vs undergrad GPA. Grad GPA does NOT weight more heavily. That is misinformation (wherever you heard that).

Take classes at any 4 yr institute. It won't matter at all. Just make sure to get As in them. These classes will factor into your undergrad GPA as post-bac GPA and give you a shot at raising your undergrad GPA.

Alright, I had read in a different forum (I believe) that graduate studies would be considered more heavily if completed. It certainly sounds as though continuing with undergrad work is the way for me to go.

I say that I would want to stay in MN to prepare for Med school due to my commitment with the national guard, once accepted to a school (if I was) I would be able to move wherever I wanted.

I'm not really familiar with my options for continuing my undergrad studies, would it matter if it was at the same school? I don't intend to retake courses, though would prefer to take these science courses at the University of Minnesota versus the state school I attended. Is this a bad idea?

Thanks for your help.

 

[jwatson0405]

Great, thanks guys for your help! This is giving me a great place to start.