What to do next??? Best way to improve??

[vdong]

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Long time viewer, first time poster here. I am a recent graduate from UW-Madison with a BA in psychology. Medicine has always been of great interest to me and becoming a doctor is my dream. However, going through college, I put it on the sidelines, thinking I didn't have what it takes. With that mentality and a lack of maturity, I managed to just pass by in my science courses and ended up with a 3.2 overall GPA. I reluctantly signed up for the MCAT (after a lot of pressure from parents) and did not really study for it (first time taking the full test was on test day 😱), I managed to get a 23K (7PS,8V,8BS). I have just about written medicine off, but it still contaminates my thoughts everyday.

I was thinking about enrolling back into school as an undergraduate and retaking the prerequisites to improve my GPA and to have a refresher coarse for the MCAT. My EC's are not that great either, my only clinical experience was in vietnam when I volunteered at the Children's hospital for two months. I tried to volunteer at hospital on campus, but due to all the applicants, there were no more clinical positions left. I am open to MD's as well as OD's schools, but would prefer MD. Grades that I got:

BC in Chem 109,( advanced Gen. Chem)
B in Zoo 101,
A in Zoo 102, (Lab)
B's in Chem 343 &344( O-cehm I and lab)
BC in Chem 345 (O-chem II)
BC in BioChem 501
C in Zoo 466 (gen. Genetics)
BC's in Physics I and II

I know I need a lot of work to become a competitive applicant, right now I'm not sure where to start. I know I need to retake the MCAT and plan on doing that, but how should I address my low GPA? Do you think I should go back to school and retake those classes or should I apply to a post-bac program? Should I take the MCAT again this year or wait until after retaking classes? Any advice or words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. I know you are busy, and I thank you for your time.

 

[gmcguitar4]

MD would be a long shot for sure with your track record even with MCAT retake. If you want it then consider taking 2 additional years of science courses with straight A's. Take MCAT when you have completed most of this work. In my opinion, taking courses didn't help too much with MCAT. Chemistry courses did help with understanding some material but for the most part the test is critical thinking and is all about practicing taking tests.

For DO, retake a couple of courses you did the worst in and take some new courses and get A's in everything. Take MCAT towards the end of this course work.

For both, you don't really need a formal post-bac program. Just enroll and take the courses you want to. The only benefit of official programs is that you get a committee letter.

Also, what are your EC's?

 

[RenQun]

My words of wisdom to you are to think about why medicine "contaminates" your thoughts everyday. And how did you allow your dream of becoming a doctor get tossed aside by "a lack of maturity"? Why weren't you motivated to study for the MCAT and take practice tests to ensure you'd perform to the best of your ability? Are you sure you wouldn't rather pursue a career in clinical psychology? or maybe something completely different?
(And obviously I'm not demanding you give this forum the answers... but your post begs those questions.)

Obviously you can force yourself through the pre-med experience again, but if you're not confident that you'll earn different results this time around, why do that to yourself?
Perhaps a good place to start would be to do some shadowing - both a physician and a clinical psychologist if you enjoyed psych.