Will Transferring help my chances?

[tryin2suxede]

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I have had a dismal college career so far, and i have finished sophomore year. right now I am taking a semester off to study MCAT, volunteer, EC and basically reflect on myself. I have thought about transferring to another college for the last yea and a half, but extenuating circumstances didn't allow for it. On top of that, I absolutely hate the college I am at,and this has had a negative effect on my grades and health. I finished my second year with a 3.08 GPA and have a 2.2 science GPA which is far from good, even after retaking classes (I did not improve my grades at all). I am thinking of transferring for the spring semester and getting a "fresh" start, emotionally and environmentally, which means that I will lose time (which i am fine with) My question, however, is that if I transfer, and do better academically, will medical schools consider it, and not weigh the first two years of my college career?


Another question I have is, What is the difference between an SMP and a Post-Bacc, and which would you suggest?

 

[Total180]

I have had a dismal college career so far, and i have finished sophomore year. right now I am taking a semester off to study MCAT, volunteer, EC and basically reflect on myself. I have thought about transferring to another college for the last yea and a half, but extenuating circumstances didn't allow for it. On top of that, I absolutely hate the college I am at,and this has had a negative effect on my grades and health. I finished my second year with a 3.08 GPA and have a 2.2 science GPA which is far from good, even after retaking classes (I did not improve my grades at all). I am thinking of transferring for the spring semester and getting a "fresh" start, emotionally and environmentally, which means that I will lose time (which i am fine with) My question, however, is that if I transfer, and do better academically, will medical schools consider it, and not weigh the first two years of my college career?


Another question I have is, What is the difference between an SMP and a Post-Bacc, and which would you suggest?

Unfortunately the "fresh start" that colleges allow for doesn't count for anything for med admissions. However, if you finish your last 2 years with a large upward trend they will notice that and take it into consideration. The fact that you retook classes and didn't improve also doesn't bode well.

An SMP is basically a last ditch effort to get into medical school. You basically take the first year with med students, and it is almost like an audition. You do well, and it can negate a bad undergrad gpa. You do poorly, and your chances of getting into medical school are pretty much shot (since you have effectively proved you can't hack it in medical school). You usually have to have taken and done fairly well on the MCAT to get into an SMP program.

There are two types of post-baccs. You can just enroll in a school and start taking classes unofficially. If you take this route, the best thing in your situation is to retake the classes you have done poorly in (but you HAVE to do better...like A's....in them) and apply to DO schools when the time comes. It is definitely the fastest way to bring up your gpa. If you are dead set on MD you should probably just retake any pre-req you got lower than a C in (MD apps won't count the class if you don't get a C), and then take upper level science classes until you get your gpa over 3.0. The other option is a formal post-bacc program, but those are usually for people who have not taken any of the pre-req classes yet...sounds like that isn't quite your situation.

I think the best thing for you to do is to get your head together, figure out what went wrong your first two years and fix it for your last 2 years so you can end with the highest gpa possible. Then you can think about post-baccs and SMPs. I would also hold off on the MCAT until you know you have the basic sciences down pretty well, and with a 2.2sgpa it doesn't seem like you do. Why not wait until you retake/take more science and do well? It expires after 3 years anyway, and with a 2.2 gpa you probably won't be able to apply until after your senior year, if that. You don't want to dig yourself into a bigger hole than you are already in. Just a thought. Good luck with everything!

 

[Irish Football]

Of course medical schools will consider your first two years. You can't just push a magic button and erase the mistakes you made. With that in mind, if you really can pull it together and get great, and I mean GREAT grades your last two years, medical schools will notice and weigh the more recent grades more. That still might not be enough, but you can always try, and like you mentioned, there are also options post undergrad to improve your chances with a post-bacc or SMP.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I'm struggling to understand how not liking your college has a negative impact on your grades, much less your health. I also don't see how transferring schools is going to help your GPA, unless you're transferring from MIT to McEasy Podunk State College.

Also, no, med schools will not ignore your first two years just because you switched colleges. Med schools ask for your transcripts from ALL colleges you attended (even if you only took a single summer class there) for a reason. Furthermore, the fact that you retook classes and didn't improve your bad grades is really bad for MD admissions; they consider all grades, including the original grades and the retake grades. So even if you retook your classes a third time and got straight A's, they'd still be getting averaged with the two C's you got previously (I assume that with a 2.2 sGPA you've been getting mostly C's). (2+2+4)/3 = 2.3 = C+....there's really no way to pull up your grades up anymore.

You have two options at this point:
1) Continue chasing MD and apply to an SMP with the hopes you'll do great in the SMP and med schools will thus be willing to overlook your crappy undergrad GPA. Doing this will make you incur a lot more debt, greatly delay your entrance into med school, and if you don't do well you essentially just dug your grave even deeper.
2) Apply DO. Unlike MD programs, DOs have grade forgiveness, so if you retake all those classes you did poorly in for a third time and this time get A's, your GPA will be much, much higher in DO admissions.

 

[lobo.solo]

Is not about the school is about the student. If you're gonna transfer get your mindset on making As from now on. Good luck.

 

[tryin2suxede]

I think I should have worded my questions differently. I know that medical schools will not completely "ignore" what I did my first 2 years. I am asking whether they will consider the fact that my transferring had a good impact on my GPA, and maybe see that the previous two years are not a TRUE depiction of my abilities. Also, I am not worried about my MCATs my practice tests have me scoring pretty well (haven't gotten lower than a 30 as of yet) so there is no question that I can understand the material.

I'm struggling to understand how not liking your college has a negative impact on your grades, much less your health. I also don't see how transferring schools is going to help your GPA, unless you're transferring from MIT to McEasy Podunk State College.

The environment of the school was not suitable for me. I have had extremely bad experiences with the administration and counseling from the start. These experiences, coupled with the fact that I was commuting nearly 1 hour both ways from the early morning to late night, definitely had an impact. I simply dreaded going to the campus every single day simply because my mood became depressed as soon as i stepped onto the campus. There are more personal reasons than this, but I don't want to discuss them.

Also, the schools which I am thinking of transferring to (1 has given me admission, waiting on the other two) are equivalent and/or better than the school that I am at currently (academically, ranking, program-wise) So it is not that I am trying to go to "Podunk U" to get better grades. I have done classes (auditing, guest, etc.) and have performed better there.

 

[theseeker4]

I think I should have worded my questions differently. I know that medical schools will not completely "ignore" what I did my first 2 years. I am asking whether they will consider the fact that my transferring had a good impact on my GPA, and maybe see that the previous two years are not a TRUE depiction of my abilities. Also, I am not worried about my MCATs my practice tests have me scoring pretty well (haven't gotten lower than a 30 as of yet) so there is no question that I can understand the material.

The environment of the school was not suitable for me. I have had extremely bad experiences with the administration and counseling from the start. These experiences, coupled with the fact that I was commuting nearly 1 hour both ways from the early morning to late night, definitely had an impact. I simply dreaded going to the campus every single day simply because my mood became depressed as soon as i stepped onto the campus. There are more personal reasons than this, but I don't want to discuss them.

Also, the schools which I am thinking of transferring to (1 has given me admission, waiting on the other two) are equivalent and/or better than the school that I am at currently (academically, ranking, program-wise) So it is not that I am trying to go to "Podunk U" to get better grades. I have done classes (auditing, guest, etc.) and have performed better there.

Even if you were transferring to Podunk State, you would be better off doing that than continuing your current track record. You need As if you are going to have a hope of getting to med school. Your best bet is to transfer, re take anything you got a C or less in, get As in everything and apply DO. With re takes and assuming you have only taken half of he credits needed for graduation so far, you could have a very solid GPA for DO schools, and possibly one that some MD schools would look at. The catch is, you actually have to perform at a level that you haven't yet been able to perform at, which will be difficult and maybe undoable. If you think about it, you won't be able to perform at the level of the average pre med student who gets into med school; you are behind to the point that getting good grades isn't good enough. You need to get a 4.0 from now on, something that very few can do, to have a good shot at admission. The occasional A- wont completely destroy your chances, but a handful of Bs can at this point. Basically, you have no room for error, so you better not mess up any more if you really want to be a doctor. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but you need to see what is necessary to get in to see if it really is something you can and want to do.

P.S., don't take the MCAT yet, since you have so much GPA repair ahead of you that it will probably expire before you are ready to apply.

 

[Parklife]

You're unhappy.

Yes. Transfer you nut.

Happiness>everything in the whole damn world.

The new environment will help. I posted a poll here on SDN about who has transferred unis. Search my threads and take a look. You'll find your answer on if it's common and should you do it.