Will this hurt me?

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paramedic3279

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First of all let me say hello to everyone. I have used this forum for research throughout my premed journey and as it draws to a hopeful close this will be my first actual post.

A little background, I am 27, a husband and a father of a 10 month old. I work full time as a paramedic (about 60 hrs a week). I am attending 2 universities (1 to get bachelors and 1 to take premed courses).

I have taken all the courses required for med school except the last physics with lab. I take the MCAT in about 5 weeks. I have been preparing for the MCAT since January and am averaging about mid 30's on the practice tests.

Here is where my problem comes in. I graduated several years ago with an associate degree. At that point, I had graduated high school and cared very little about being in college and essentially wasted my time. When I graduated, my GPA was a 2.76. Since I have "grown up" a bit, I have returned to college to get the premed courses and my bachelors. Since returning I have made mostly A's in everything but science courses. In the science courses I have made straight B's in the lectures and A's in the labs.

This work has brought my overall GPA up to about a 3.37. The problem is that I took some science courses (biology and chemistry) during my first degree and didn't do so hot. This takes my otherwise mid 3 science GPA and turns it into a 3.07.

I have 2 main questions. The first is will the schools I apply to take into consideration the drastic difference between the two "phases" of my life or will they simply look at the overall GPA? I mean I don't need those science courses for my first degree, but they are science courses I have taken and thus will be averaged in with my current ones I assume.

The second question is, if they don't look at my current work and just look at the overall stats, assuming I do pull off a low to mid 30 MCAT score, what are my chances of getting in somewhere? I kind of like the philosophy of DO based on what I have read, but MD will be fine too. I think that I can "explain" myself in an interview, but I could be off there.

Anyway, any help into answers to those two would be fantastic.

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I have 2 main questions. The first is will the schools I apply to take into consideration the drastic difference between the two "phases" of my life or will they simply look at the overall GPA? I mean I don't need those science courses for my first degree, but they are science courses I have taken and thus will be averaged in with my current ones I assume.

The second question is, if they don't look at my current work and just look at the overall stats, assuming I do pull off a low to mid 30 MCAT score, what are my chances of getting in somewhere? I kind of like the philosophy of DO based on what I have read, but MD will be fine too. I think that I can "explain" myself in an interview, but I could be off there.
I would not count on the admissions board looking carefully enough to trend your GPA, due to the large number of applicants each cycle. That being said, try applying broadly, though, it gets expensive.

PA school might be another option to try simultaneously. PA school has many advantages. You'll get credit for your years as a paramedic. Although real-life experience is a plus for medical schools, it's only icing on top of good grades and scores. Furthermore, you graduate in 2 years, and immediately earn a competitive salary with no residency required. Truth be told, I would have preferred PA school but was not a competitive candidate due to lack of experience in the medical field. Good luck.
 
Your stats are very similar to mine. Well I'm just a lowly pre-med as well, but from what I've read on here and on admissions sites for various schools, many of them do look at your grade trends, and some even say they look for upward trending. It also seems to be a common theme that D.O. schools are very non-trad friendly, and I think they realize that most of us non-trads have the same story... didn't take college seriously the first time, were immature, and have since grown up and are working hard to reach our goals.

PA school is a good back-up plan, especially since you already have the clinical experience from being a paramedic. It's my back-up plan, although I'm not sure how I'm going to get experience while in school. I've thought about doing EMT since it's a relatively quick certification. But anyway, apply broadly and early, and with a mid-30 MCAT, I'm sure you'll get some interviews at some D.O. schools.
 
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First of all let me say hello to everyone. I have used this forum for research throughout my premed journey and as it draws to a hopeful close this will be my first actual post.

A little background, I am 27, a husband and a father of a 10 month old. I work full time as a paramedic (about 60 hrs a week). I am attending 2 universities (1 to get bachelors and 1 to take premed courses).

I have taken all the courses required for med school except the last physics with lab. I take the MCAT in about 5 weeks. I have been preparing for the MCAT since January and am averaging about mid 30's on the practice tests.

Here is where my problem comes in. I graduated several years ago with an associate degree. At that point, I had graduated high school and cared very little about being in college and essentially wasted my time. When I graduated, my GPA was a 2.76. Since I have "grown up" a bit, I have returned to college to get the premed courses and my bachelors. Since returning I have made mostly A's in everything but science courses. In the science courses I have made straight B's in the lectures and A's in the labs.

This work has brought my overall GPA up to about a 3.37. The problem is that I took some science courses (biology and chemistry) during my first degree and didn't do so hot. This takes my otherwise mid 3 science GPA and turns it into a 3.07.

I have 2 main questions. The first is will the schools I apply to take into consideration the drastic difference between the two "phases" of my life or will they simply look at the overall GPA? I mean I don't need those science courses for my first degree, but they are science courses I have taken and thus will be averaged in with my current ones I assume.

The second question is, if they don't look at my current work and just look at the overall stats, assuming I do pull off a low to mid 30 MCAT score, what are my chances of getting in somewhere? I kind of like the philosophy of DO based on what I have read, but MD will be fine too. I think that I can "explain" myself in an interview, but I could be off there.

Anyway, any help into answers to those two would be fantastic.


Do consider that DO schools will only use the most recent grade in terms of retakes. So if you have retaken your biology and chemistry courses, or any other courses, and received a higher grade the second time around, your second attempt will be the one that is used in GPA calculations. So I would recommend taking a year or so to retake any courses that you have performed poor in to give both your science and cummulative GPA a boost. With a 30+ MCAT you'll then be competitive for DO school.

If you want MD your going to have to spend some time in a postbac taking and A'cing upper level science courses to try and boost both your cGPA and your sGPA a bit.
 
I was in a similar situation. I received an AAS in guitar performance and my science GPA during that time (19-21 yo) was abysmal (around 2.2 I think). I returned to school at 25 and started getting A's in my classes. I mentioned this in my PS and yes, I do think that if you mention how you have grown in maturity and intellectual capacity it says A LOT, especially with a 30+ test score. But, it is essential that you play this up and mention how/why it happened. For me, I didn't care about anything except music so I didn't try very hard in my other courses. If you can show/prove that you are a different person now, it can be very powerful. Hope that helps. Do not get discouraged, you can use this to your benefit. :)
 
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