Where do I go from here?

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tresker101

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Hello everyone,

First post ever (woohoo). I’m kind of in a bit of a bad academic situation. I’ll give you my background:

I graduated spring 2012 with a major in Economics. My cumulative gpa is 3.009, my science gpa is 2.868, and my upper-division cgpa is 3.02. I made several poor mistakes with my study habits and how I handled the 3 jobs I worked. I was also having a lot of family and personal problems, but everyone has those and it is a very poor excuse for poor grades. I have learned from my mistakes and have moved on. The biggest blow to my GPA was a poor analytical chemistry grade which I received a D- in.

I would appreciate some advice as to what I should do at this point. I have recently been accepted into an engineering masters program at a large state school (the “find a different career path” option). I am also applying to SMPs and post-baccs. These programs are for Fall 2013. I am also retaking several science courses to increase my science gpa (courses I received less than a B- in) at my local community college this summer. I have not taken the MCAT. I have okay extracurricular activities and pretty good letters of recommendation. My personal statement is compelling. I have no research publications yet. My application has the potential of being decent but my low gpas and lack of MCAT are holding me back.

Should I just abandon the M.D. route and go D.O. ? I understand Osteopathic schools have a policy of grade forgiveness. Are Osteopathic schools even within reach for me? I heard that SMPs are sort of pointless and expensive for D.O. schools. Is medical school still a viable dream/goal for me or should I take my pre-health adviser's advice and do the engineering program? Thanks all! I really appreciate it!!!

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Hello everyone,

First post ever (woohoo). I'm kind of in a bit of a bad academic situation. I'll give you my background:

I graduated spring 2012 with a major in Economics. My cumulative gpa is 3.009, my science gpa is 2.868, and my upper-division cgpa is 3.02. I made several poor mistakes with my study habits and how I handled the 3 jobs I worked. I was also having a lot of family and personal problems, but everyone has those and it is a very poor excuse for poor grades. I have learned from my mistakes and have moved on. The biggest blow to my GPA was a poor analytical chemistry grade which I received a D- in.

I would appreciate some advice as to what I should do at this point. I have recently been accepted into an engineering masters program at a large state school (the "find a different career path" option). I am also applying to SMPs and post-baccs. These programs are for Fall 2013. I am also retaking several science courses to increase my science gpa (courses I received less than a B- in) at my local community college this summer. I have not taken the MCAT. I have okay extracurricular activities and pretty good letters of recommendation. My personal statement is compelling. I have no research publications yet. My application has the potential of being decent but my low gpas and lack of MCAT are holding me back.

Should I just abandon the M.D. route and go D.O. ? I understand Osteopathic schools have a policy of grade forgiveness. Are Osteopathic schools even within reach for me? I heard that SMPs are sort of pointless and expensive for D.O. schools. Is medical school still a viable dream/goal for me or should I take my pre-health adviser's advice and do the engineering program? Thanks all! I really appreciate it!!!

I'm kind of surprised no one replied to you yet. First off, for medicine in general, you really have to want it. Not only are you going to be fighting an uphill battle to get in, but the process, school, etc. is really painful, expensive, and only worth if you really enjoy both the subject and work.

If you still want to be a physician, you can become one. Without an MCAT score its hard to really tell whether you can get in at this point, but either way, you will need retakes or an SMP to improve your GPA enough to get you into a US school.

AACOMAS (the general DO primary application) does grade replacement, but first you must make sure you are taking equivalent courses that have equal or greater credits. For example, if your old course was a 4 credit Chemistry course, it must be replaced with an equivalent Chemistry course that is 4 credits or greater.

If you do the retakes that you have planned (and obviously do well in them), and if you do well on the MCAT 28+ (really even a 27 will be fine), you should be in a good position for a DO acceptance. Just make sure you apply early and broadly.

As far as MD goes, it really depends on how many credits that 2.87 sGPA represents. If its only the pre-reqs (e.g. ~38 credits), 38 more science credits with a 4.0 would give you a 3.435 sGPA and 3.25 cGPA, which is low, but combined with a 34/35 MCAT, could get you into a lower tier MD school. If your sGPA represent closer to 60 credit hours, then I would say, just forget about MD, because it would take you years to get the type of GPA repair you need.

As far as SMPs go, they do help your chances, because you are doing a medical masters, which ideally will increase your GPA (obviously you have to do well), and you are taking med school classes, so you can show that you can handle the material. For DO schools, its not a waste per se, but usually you can accomplish a greater GPA boost from grade replacement than a masters program, so sometimes the money isn't worth it if all you need is a GPA boost.
 
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"I graduated spring 2012 with a major in Economics. My cumulative gpa is 3.009, my science gpa is 2.868, and my upper-division cgpa is 3.02"

The cgpa is not competitive at all and the sgpa simply isn't going to cut it. You will not be able to get any seats in any schools, MD or DO, with these gpa's. You will need to retake all courses you can to raise your sgpa.

"These programs are for Fall 2013. I am also retaking several science courses to increase my science gpa (courses I received less than a B- in) at my local community college this summer."

I highly advise against this if you want your application to look as strong as possible for medical school.

" I have okay extracurricular activities and pretty good letters of recommendation. My personal statement is compelling. I have no research publications yet. My application has the potential of being decent but my low gpas and lack of MCAT are holding me back."

Well, even if you do have "okay" ECs then you need to change those into amazing EC's to get into medical school. You will need this part of your application to help make up for the low gpa's. Couple retaking courses and getting A's in those, with changing those ECs into awesome ECs, then you may have a chance. A good MCAT score in addition, and you may find yourself as a decent candidate for medical school.

"Should I just abandon the M.D. route and go D.O. ? I understand Osteopathic schools have a policy of grade forgiveness. Are Osteopathic schools even within reach for me?"

You have very little chance at DO right now, and without grade forgiveness, you will not be able to get into an MD institution within the next decade unless you discover a cure for cancer. Try hard, retake your courses, get a good score on the MCAT, pretty up the EC's, and you will have a good chance at getting in.
 
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If u really want it? Just do it. But honestly? You need to be real with yourself and your capabilities. Just be careful man, you can end up losing a lot of money trying to become a physician.
 
I don't really know how wise this is, but I am going to post my science courses credits and grades. I don't want to make a poor mistake going forward:

Course Title.......credits.......Letter grade

[DELETED]

Courses total: 29
Credits total: 78
BCPM Grade (As calculated by pre-health adviser): 2.87

The rest of my credits are my major coursework.

Thank you all for the responses. I know my GPA is a cluster**** and my courses don't seem to make sense. I took these science courses with the hardest professors under the impression that I would learn more/study harder. Instead, it dealt a huge blow to my gpa and pride. Medical school admissions is a numbers game and the numbers simply aren't there :(

Also, I seem to be getting replies from 2 different spectrums. Some are saying I can do it others are saying its a waste of time. I hope this information helps a bit. If it is too revealing, I can delete it. All I can say is these grades are me at my worst, not at my best.
 
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I don't really know how wise this is, but I am going to post my science courses credits and grades. I don't want to make a poor mistake going forward:

....


Courses total: 29
Credits total: 78
BCPM Grade (As calculated by pre-health adviser): 2.87

The rest of my credits are my major coursework.

Thank you all for the responses. I know my GPA is a cluster**** and my courses don't seem to make sense. I took these science courses with the hardest professors under the impression that I would learn more/study harder. Instead, it dealt a huge blow to my gpa and pride. Medical school admissions is a numbers game and the numbers simply aren't there :(

Also, I seem to be getting replies from 2 different spectrums. Some are saying I can do it others are saying its a waste of time. I hope this information helps a bit. If it is too revealing, I can delete it. All I can say is these grades are me at my worst, not at my best.

I think it's a bad call to post all your grades and courses. To an adcom, you could easily be identified, and you want to stay as anonymous as possible. I would delete the courses ASAP.

You have a lot of Cs and a couple Ds in the pre-reqs, which mean, you'll need to retake all of those. Plus those last 7 decent grades in math don't count for the DO sGPA, so your AACOMAS sGPA will in fact be relatively lower.

You have no chance at MD as it stands. That's just it. You'd have to do at least 4 years of retakes to be even close to the low-end of lower-tier MD programs, so its not even worth it.

As far as DO goes, you'd have to retake all of those science courses that you did poorly on (i.e. received <B-). Unfortunately, you have a lot of them. That's 10 courses, that most likely you'd have to retake over the course of 1-2 yrs.

The thing that's most concerning about your stats is that you seemed to have done consistently poorly in bio and organic. They will not get easier, and you really have to both enjoy the material and be able to do well in it to both do the retakes and do well in medical school.

You really have to ask yourself if being delayed another 2 yrs from your career is worth it to you. If it really is your dream and you can honestly say that you love it and will do better a second time around, then its within reach. But again, that's only with good grades on retakes and a decent MCAT score.

Others have been in your situation and they've succeeded, but I'm sure many others have also failed. It really has to be a decision you make. Once you make that decision, you have to be all in.
 
I think it's a bad call to post all your grades and courses. To an adcom, you could easily be identified, and you want to stay as anonymous as possible. I would delete the courses ASAP. Removed

You have a lot of Cs and a couple Ds in the pre-reqs, which mean, you'll need to retake all of those. Plus those last 7 decent grades in math don't count for the DO sGPA, so your AACOMAS sGPA will in fact be relatively lower. Understood. Recalculated removing the math courses and allowing the General Chem1 retake at a grade of B to replace the original grade and allowing the enhanced organic chem grade to replace the original organic chem grade of C (if that is possible) with the enhanced organic chem grade I got an A- in the gpa is now a 2.73.

You have no chance at MD as it stands. That's just it. You'd have to do at least 4 years of retakes to be even close to the low-end of lower-tier MD programs, so its not even worth it. So, MD is out of the question. Understood.

As far as DO goes, you'd have to retake all of those science courses that you did poorly on (i.e. received <B-). Unfortunately, you have a lot of them. That's 10 courses, that most likely you'd have to retake over the course of 1-2 yrs. I plan on retaking Bio 1 and 2 this summer along with either Organic 2 or Physics 2. If I get As in those courses, the retake policy bumps my sgpa to 3.17. If I go all out this summer and retake Physics 1 as well and receive an A my sgpa will be a 3.29 about. This is all self-calculation.

The thing that's most concerning about your stats is that you seemed to have done consistently poorly in bio and organic. They will not get easier, and you really have to both enjoy the material and be able to do well in it to both do the retakes and do well in medical school. You are very correct. I feel very ashamed about this fact, as well. In high school, i received a 4 on AP biology test and a 5 on IB biology along with getting As in 3 years of biology coursework (This is high school, I know, but this shows I have always been interested in biology.) I had poor time management skills and a lot of personal issues. I have learned from my past mistakes and misfortunes.

You really have to ask yourself if being delayed another 2 yrs from your career is worth it to you. If it really is your dream and you can honestly say that you love it and will do better a second time around, then its within reach. But again, that's only with good grades on retakes and a decent MCAT score. I believe it is worth it. The average person works until 60-70 years of age. That's about 50+ years of working. I don't mind delaying things by 2 years if it means I could live the rest of my life doing something I enjoyed and have dreamed of doing since I was a child. I am a very good test taker. I took the GRE and scored very high, high enough that the graduate schools were able to look past my awful gpas (I understand the MCAT is MUCH harder).

Others have been in your situation and they've succeeded, but I'm sure many others have also failed. It really has to be a decision you make. Once you make that decision, you have to be all in. This is the hardest part for me. It is a VERY big decision. I have an alternative career path offered to me. I also have enough time to retake courses for D.O. schools. It comes down to how much I am willing to risk to pursue either path. And that goes for everyone and for anything in life. All I can say is that I am appreciative of the advice that you (and everyone else) is giving me. It truly helps!!!!

.
 
Honestly, I don't want to be a dick to you if you actually have gone through the tough situations that you say you have gone through, but at the same time I feel like you have no idea what it takes to get into medical school, or you are just plain trolling. That being said...

"I graduated spring 2012 with a major in Economics. My cumulative gpa is 3.009, my science gpa is 2.868, and my upper-division cgpa is 3.02"

The cgpa is not competitive at all and the sgpa simply isn't going to cut it. You will not be able to get any seats in any schools, MD or DO, with these gpa's. You will need to retake all courses you can to raise your sgpa. Considering that you're an econ major, I immediately want to believe you haven't taken many science courses. If you only took a select few science courses and your sgpa is 2.87, then I don't know if you have what it takes to do well on the MCAT, let alone succeed in medical school (considering that everything you will be doing is science based).

"The biggest blow to my GPA was a poor analytical chemistry grade which I received a D- in."

Have you even taken orgo? If you didn't score an A in analytical chemistry I cannot imagine you succeeding in orgo I&II, and again, the MCAT is.... i'll spare you the negative comments.

"These programs are for Fall 2013. I am also retaking several science courses to increase my science gpa (courses I received less than a B- in) at my local community college this summer."

This is a joke right? No medical school is going to accept a student that retook science courses at a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Everyone knows that CC's are much easier than a state college or university, and the fact that you're even considering the option to retake those courses at a community college means that YOU don't even think you're capable of getting a better grade by retaking the course at a university or graduate college. I highly advise against this if you want to get into medical school.

" I have okay extracurricular activities and pretty good letters of recommendation. My personal statement is compelling. I have no research publications yet. My application has the potential of being decent but my low gpas and lack of MCAT are holding me back."

Well, even if you do have "okay" ECs then you need to change those into amazing EC's to get into medical school. You will need this part of your application to help make up for the low gpa's. Couple retaking courses and getting A's in those, with changing those ECs into awesome ECs, then you may have a chance. A good MCAT score in addition, and you may find yourself as a decent candidate for medical school.

"Should I just abandon the M.D. route and go D.O. ? I understand Osteopathic schools have a policy of grade forgiveness. Are Osteopathic schools even within reach for me?"

You have very little chance at DO as it is, and without grade forgiveness, you will not be able to get into an MD institution within the next decade unless you create a cure for cancer. I think DO is the only option for you at this point, assuming you have other things to do than spend 10 years repairing grades to get into MD schools.

Is this supposed to be serious? Would you have liked to be met with such negativity when your GPA was 0.5? Sorry, I usually just ignore responses like these, but this 1 got to me. Try offering actual constructive advice instead of just totally ****t!ng on someone.

OP, contact schools of interest yourself and/or seek the advice of a premed advisor. You may be able to get some solid advice on SDN, but it's really a crapshoot a lot of the time. I'm not really seasoned enough to give you great advice, but I can tell you that a lot of medical schools do accept prerequisites from community colleges. 4-year is usually preferable, but I get it that affordability can be a factor & I'm sure some AdComs do as well.

You may want to consider posting in the Non-Trad forum as I've usually seen the best direction originating from over there. I think you have some hard work ahead of you, but with the right attitude & effort, I'm sure you'll make it.
 
You've received some good advice here, so I'll just point out that Medicine is a calling, like being a fireman or a priest. So, start doing some patient contact volunteer work, and shadowing some DOs and MDs. See if you really want to be around sick and injured people for the next 40-50 years.

SMPs are worthwhile; they show us that one can handle a medical school curriculum, and they provide a "back door" if the program is offered at a medical school. Your do-it yourself post-bac is just fine, however.


Others have been in your situation and they've succeeded, but I'm sure many others have also failed. It really has to be a decision you make. Once you make that decision, you have to be all in. This is the hardest part for me. It is a VERY big decision. I have an alternative career path offered to me. I also have enough time to retake courses for D.O. schools. It comes down to how much I am willing to risk to pursue either path. And that goes for everyone and for anything in life. All I can say is that I am appreciative of the advice that you (and everyone else) is giving me. It truly helps!!!!
 
Honestly, I don't want to be a dick to you if you actually have gone through the tough situations that you say you have gone through, but at the same time I feel like you have no idea what it takes to get into medical school, or you are just plain trolling. That being said...

"I graduated spring 2012 with a major in Economics. My cumulative gpa is 3.009, my science gpa is 2.868, and my upper-division cgpa is 3.02"

The cgpa is not competitive at all and the sgpa simply isn't going to cut it. You will not be able to get any seats in any schools, MD or DO, with these gpa's. You will need to retake all courses you can to raise your sgpa. Considering that you're an econ major, I immediately want to believe you haven't taken many science courses. If you only took a select few science courses and your sgpa is 2.87, then I don't know if you have what it takes to do well on the MCAT, let alone succeed in medical school (considering that everything you will be doing is science based).

"The biggest blow to my GPA was a poor analytical chemistry grade which I received a D- in."

Have you even taken orgo? If you didn't score an A in analytical chemistry I cannot imagine you succeeding in orgo I&II, and again, the MCAT is.... i'll spare you the negative comments.

"These programs are for Fall 2013. I am also retaking several science courses to increase my science gpa (courses I received less than a B- in) at my local community college this summer."

This is a joke right? No medical school is going to accept a student that retook science courses at a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Everyone knows that CC's are much easier than a state college or university, and the fact that you're even considering the option to retake those courses at a community college means that YOU don't even think you're capable of getting a better grade by retaking the course at a university or graduate college. I highly advise against this if you want to get into medical school.

" I have okay extracurricular activities and pretty good letters of recommendation. My personal statement is compelling. I have no research publications yet. My application has the potential of being decent but my low gpas and lack of MCAT are holding me back."

Well, even if you do have "okay" ECs then you need to change those into amazing EC's to get into medical school. You will need this part of your application to help make up for the low gpa's. Couple retaking courses and getting A's in those, with changing those ECs into awesome ECs, then you may have a chance. A good MCAT score in addition, and you may find yourself as a decent candidate for medical school.

"Should I just abandon the M.D. route and go D.O. ? I understand Osteopathic schools have a policy of grade forgiveness. Are Osteopathic schools even within reach for me?"

You have very little chance at DO as it is, and without grade forgiveness, you will not be able to get into an MD institution within the next decade unless you create a cure for cancer. I think DO is the only option for you at this point, assuming you have other things to do than spend 10 years repairing grades to get into MD schools.

Mostly a terrible post. Especially the part about retakes at a CC. Did you consider that CCs are more viable options for people because they're cheaper? Not everyone is blessed with grants/scholarships/low-interest loans/parental and personal largess. I agree there's some justified negativity in 4-years vs. CCs, but it's way overblown here and particularly in this post.

Having said that, OP your GPA is pretty nasty. A 2.8xx sGPA will likely translate to something lower in BCPM. See if you can meet with a pre-med advisor about ideas on rehabbing your GPA, or just google an AMCAS/AACOMAS spreadsheet that estimates your GPA and see what kind of grades you need (read: number of As in upper-div sciences) to bring the chaos to order.
 
AACOMAS grade replacement is your friend.
 
Mostly a terrible post. Especially the part about retakes at a CC. Did you consider that CCs are more viable options for people because they're cheaper? Not everyone is blessed with grants/scholarships/low-interest loans/parental and personal largess. I agree there's some justified negativity in 4-years vs. CCs, but it's way overblown here and particularly in this post.

Having said that, OP your GPA is pretty nasty. A 2.8xx sGPA will likely translate to something lower in BCPM. See if you can meet with a pre-med advisor about ideas on rehabbing your GPA, or just google an AMCAS/AACOMAS spreadsheet that estimates your GPA and see what kind of grades you need (read: number of As in upper-div sciences) to bring the chaos to order.

How was it a terrible post? I told him his sgpa and cgpa needed to improve greatly for him to get into medical school. 100% true. That a D- in analytical chemistry was concerning as organic chemistry is by far a harder course, and the MCAT and medical school are substantially more difficult. M.D. isn't an option as I pointed out, and others have agreed of this statement. He can make it into D.O., especially if he makes his EC's look good, retake courses, and get a decent score on the MCAT.

So I may have been a bit harsh in my presentation of that information. But lets be honest, we all know this road to matriculating at a medical school is very difficult and that every year over 50% of applicants don't get in (and many of them very qualified). It is hard for even the brightest of minds to get in. That is why I didn't sugar coat my post. I want him to know exactly what his profile looks like to me, and I don't think that an adcom, or a pre-med committee at a university (or CC) would think much differently. My pre-med advisor and committee were incredibly harsh to me throughout my undergrad education. I happened to get into medical school so their harshness seemed to have worked.

If you ask an adcom whether a course will be better to retake at a CC or university, they will more than likely tell you the university. Or am I wrong? Retaking courses at a CC may be cheaper, but if taking them at a university will make your application better then I would think it is a smarter option and worth the extra investment. But, some people may not have the cash, I agree.
 
The above being said, I do apologize for my harshness OP. If you're serious about it and you want to spend your life in medicine, I think you can still get into a good D.O. school.
 
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Understood. Recalculated removing the math courses and allowing the General Chem1 retake at a grade of B to replace the original grade and allowing the enhanced organic chem grade to replace the original organic chem grade of C (if that is possible) with the enhanced organic chem grade I got an A- in the gpa is now a 2.73.

Be aware that most (all?) schools require a B- or above in the pre-reqs, so make sure you at least replace all of those that have lower grades. In addition some schools require courses like genetics or biochem, but I'd hold off on those until you know if you are applying to a program that needs them. Your best shot is to get as many retakes in as possible, just make sure you do well on them. There's no point in doing the retakes if you get B's.

So, MD is out of the question. Understood.

I plan on retaking Bio 1 and 2 this summer along with either Organic 2 or Physics 2. If I get As in those courses, the retake policy bumps my sgpa to 3.17. If I go all out this summer and retake Physics 1 as well and receive an A my sgpa will be a 3.29 about. This is all self-calculation.

I would stick to the 3 sciences plan. At most you might be able to take 4 over the summer, but start off a little slow, so you can make sure you get an A. When the semester starts, make sure you take at least 3 sciences, preferably with a full semester of credits (i.e. throw in at least 2 humanities if you can).

Alternatively, you could take Goro's advice, he is on an adcom after all. You probably could go directly into an SMP or post-bac with linkage if you have the money for it. I think LECOM has a $15k 1 yr post-bac and I think Touro-NY has a $20k masters that both have linkage (guaranteed interview at LECOM with certain stats and guaranteed acceptance at Touro with certain stats).

As for the MCAT, try and take it after you finish most of the pre-req retakes. Its hard to really know how high your GPA needs to be without a score, so just try and do as much GPA repair as you can fit in, so even if you get a 26, you'll be fine and if you get a 30, you'll be even better. I would recommend studying well for it and only taking it once (obviously).

You are very correct. I feel very ashamed about this fact, as well. In high school, i received a 4 on AP biology test and a 5 on IB biology along with getting As in 3 years of biology coursework (This is high school, I know, but this shows I have always been interested in biology.) I had poor time management skills and a lot of personal issues. I have learned from my past mistakes and misfortunes.

No need to feel ashamed, its more of an area that you'll need to be more aware of, so if you think you can do well, and as Goro said its your calling and you like the clinical volunteering you experience, then its worth it.

I believe it is worth it. The average person works until 60-70 years of age. That's about 50+ years of working. I don't mind delaying things by 2 years if it means I could live the rest of my life doing something I enjoyed and have dreamed of doing since I was a child. I am a very good test taker. I took the GRE and scored very high, high enough that the graduate schools were able to look past my awful gpas (I understand the MCAT is MUCH harder).

This is the hardest part for me. It is a VERY big decision. I have an alternative career path offered to me. I also have enough time to retake courses for D.O. schools. It comes down to how much I am willing to risk to pursue either path. And that goes for everyone and for anything in life. All I can say is that I am appreciative of the advice that you (and everyone else) is giving me. It truly helps!!!!

I think Goro really gave the best advice, in terms of getting clinical experience to help you make the decision. Spend some time volunteering at a clinic or hospital, and see if that's the environment for you. Either way you need to get a lot of clinical hours in, hundreds ideally, so you might as well start early.
 
You've received some good advice here, so I'll just point out that Medicine is a calling, like being a fireman or a priest. So, start doing some patient contact volunteer work, and shadowing some DOs and MDs. See if you really want to be around sick and injured people for the next 40-50 years.

SMPs are worthwhile; they show us that one can handle a medical school curriculum, and they provide a "back door" if the program is offered at a medical school. Your do-it yourself post-bac is just fine, however.


Others have been in your situation and they've succeeded, but I'm sure many others have also failed. It really has to be a decision you make. Once you make that decision, you have to be all in. This is the hardest part for me. It is a VERY big decision. I have an alternative career path offered to me. I also have enough time to retake courses for D.O. schools. It comes down to how much I am willing to risk to pursue either path. And that goes for everyone and for anything in life. All I can say is that I am appreciative of the advice that you (and everyone else) is giving me. It truly helps!!!!

I have done some shadowing and personal research already; however, I feel its not enough. Mostly it was just me sitting down watching the physician fill out paperwork (lol) but I will try to get more comprehensive shadowing done in the weeks and months ahead as well as general volunteering in a hospital or clinic.

Is this supposed to be serious? Would you have liked to be met with such negativity when your GPA was 0.5? Sorry, I usually just ignore responses like these, but this 1 got to me. Try offering actual constructive advice instead of just totally ****t!ng on someone.

OP, contact schools of interest yourself and/or seek the advice of a premed advisor. You may be able to get some solid advice on SDN, but it's really a crapshoot a lot of the time. I'm not really seasoned enough to give you great advice, but I can tell you that a lot of medical schools do accept prerequisites from community colleges. 4-year is usually preferable, but I get it that affordability can be a factor & I'm sure some AdComs do as well.

You may want to consider posting in the Non-Trad forum as I've usually seen the best direction originating from over there. I think you have some hard work ahead of you, but with the right attitude & effort, I'm sure you'll make it.

I will redo the post and post in the non-traditional forum. I believe I will get the same advice :
1) decide if I really REALLY want to make the risks and the sacrifices to pursue this profession.
2) Retake science courses.
3) Study and do well on the mcat.
4) Take care of everything else ( LORs, ECs, Research, Shadowing, Personal Statement)
5) Apply early and broadly to DO schools.
6)Keep fingers crossed.

It would be nice to gain perspective from other non-traditionals and hear what they did to gain admission.

The above being said, I do apologize for my harshness OP. If you're serious about it and you want to spend your life in medicine, I think you can still get into a good D.O. school.

That is fine. No offense was taken.

Also, I guess I can give an update so far:

I was accepted into a masters of science in medical science program.
I am a URM (I don't know if this helps me or hurts me)
I am a non-traditional student (I don't know if this hurts me or helps me)
I am from a low-income family and underserved community (I dont know if this hurts me or helps me)
I am interested in becoming a Pediatrician or some sort of PCP (I don't know if this hursts me or helps me)

I will continue to take everyone's advice and try and keep a clear head about the decisions I make in the near future. Thank you all for your advice again. I can't say this enough.
 
How was it a terrible post? I told him his sgpa and cgpa needed to improve greatly for him to get into medical school. 100% true. That a D- in analytical chemistry was concerning as organic chemistry is by far a harder course, and the MCAT and medical school are substantially more difficult. M.D. isn't an option as I pointed out, and others have agreed of this statement. He can make it into D.O., especially if he makes his EC's look good, retake courses, and get a decent score on the MCAT.

So I may have been a bit harsh in my presentation of that information. But lets be honest, we all know this road to matriculating at a medical school is very difficult and that every year over 50% of applicants don't get in (and many of them very qualified). It is hard for even the brightest of minds to get in. That is why I didn't sugar coat my post. I want him to know exactly what his profile looks like to me, and I don't think that an adcom, or a pre-med committee at a university (or CC) would think much differently. My pre-med advisor and committee were incredibly harsh to me throughout my undergrad education. I happened to get into medical school so their harshness seemed to have worked.

If you ask an adcom whether a course will be better to retake at a CC or university, they will more than likely tell you the university. Or am I wrong? Retaking courses at a CC may be cheaper, but if taking them at a university will make your application better then I would think it is a smarter option and worth the extra investment. But, some people may not have the cash, I agree.

Terrible was a reactionary response. I was only criticizing your approach and I thought you exaggerated the significance of going to a CC vs. a 4 year. Obviously the 4-year is ideal, but retaking at a CC will hardly leave him screwed as long as he does well.
 
Terrible was a reactionary response. I was only criticizing your approach and I thought you exaggerated the significance of going to a CC vs. a 4 year. Obviously the 4-year is ideal, but retaking at a CC will hardly leave him screwed as long as he does well.

Fair enough.
 
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