I graduated with a BA in Biology with a 2.34 GPA. After a couple years I decided to go to Nursing school. While working as a CNA I couldn't help but to feel that passion of being a physician tugging at my heart. I decided to start taking some of those same prerequisites for medical school over again with my nursing courses. I currently have a 4.0 carrying both loads, however, after reading some of the postings on here I feel like I may be wasting my time taking all these classes over again. I really don't want to give up my dream but I'm wondering if that dream is now out of reach. A little bit of advice would help.
Thanks
it isn't out of reach.
first of all, did you graduate from nursing school already? are you currently practicing as a nurse?
because you probably had plenty of patient interaction in your nursing studies, you are at a great advantage when it comes to the clinical ECs that are vital to medical admissions. if you already have plenty of experiences working with doctors/other nurses and serving patients, than you are set in terms of clinical experiences needed for medical schools. also, you can use your PS to describe why you want to become a doctor and not a nurse. this is going to be a key aspect, and a question interviewers will likely ask as well, so be prepared to address it.
now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: your low undergraduate GPA. simply put, a 2.34 undergrad GPA is a tremendous obstacle in your path. GPAs below a 3.0 are likely to be auto-screened out at every MD (and most likely DO) schools in the country. your major task is to raise your GPA, and there are several steps you must take.
1) take as many undergraduate classes (stay away from any masters programs/courses - they will not help) as you need in order to raise your undergraduate GPA above a 3.0. After your undergraduate GPA is at a 3.0, apply to a special masters program (or another similar post-bacc program) and successfully complete said program. SMPs allow you to take a year of medical school courses with medical students, and if you do well, your chances of acceptance will be greatly enhanced. however, many/most SMP programs require a minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA, which is something you don't have at the moment.
2) in addition to raise your undergraduate GPA and enrolling in an SMP program, you need to blow the MCAT out of the water. you will most likely have to take the new MCAT introduced in 2015, and you must do whatever you can to score extremely well on that exam. your GPA is already low, and for this reason, your MCAT needs to be close to stellar. a merely above average score will not suffice.
it will probably take you many years to accomplish steps 1 and 2, and in the meantime, you need to figure out what you'll be doing. are you going to continue working as a nurse? also, keep in mind that medical schools want to see non-medial community service experiences from their applicants, so it is wise for you to start doing some volunteering work on the side.
you have a long and difficult path ahead of you, but if you successfully complete it, i am confident that you'll be able to get into a medical school.
for you, DO schools may be a better option because they have lower averages for GPA and MCAT, and they allow grade replacement, which means you can raise your GPA a lot faster by completing replacing poor grades with good grades earned during retakes.
if this is what you want to do, then don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it.
good luck!
