What to do about a low GPA

[Demosthenes1]

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Hey SDN, I've been trying to get a an aspiring-doctor friend of mine to sign up for a while, but she hasn't as of yet. She has a fairly low GPA (3.0) and has yet to have taken the MCAT, but she is still determined to be a doctor, and is a genuine hardship case (URM-AA, first in family to go to college, single mother, just graduated at age 20, worked fulltime/near-fulltime), I want to advise her on how to continue down this path properly.
What should I be encouraging her to do?

 

[confidentandgood]

- She should consider taking a post-bacc. This is a great opportunity to retake any science courses (to boost sGPA) and take elective courses (to boost cGPA).
- If she aces those retakes, she should take the osteopathic (DO) route. That grade-replacement policy will help her greatly.
- She should not take the MCAT unless she is absolutely ready. I would advise retaking any science courses she's done poorly in before preparing for the test.
- How are her extracurriculars? Shadowing? Any leadership? There are plenty of threads on this website for the ideal amount of clinical/non-clinical experience, shadowing hours, volunteering, etc. Take advantage of them.
- Make sure she keeps up with obtaining strong letters of recommendation.
- When all is said and done, the disadvantages of her situation should certainly be assessed (though not excessively) in her personal statement, but the other aspects of her application will without a doubt play a huge role.

 

[Crayola227]

If she's not willing to consult a source as rich as SDN for real life testimonials from people in all stages of the training process, this is a bad plan for her

Her situation sounds complicated enough that I wouldn't trust a personal copy of MSAR or her pre-health advisor to see her through

Crap GPA, 20 years old, and a single mom? she needs to get her butt to SDN or I fear she's gonna waste time and money