Would a second degree be more helpful???

[RevGood]

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I am a minister, and desire to go to medical school. I attended a Bible College (Central Bible College, Springfield, MO) and did poorly (2.6 GPA). The only science classes I took were basic Physical Science and Biological Science courses. These were 13 years ago, and I didn't do great in them.

I am wondering if a second degree (biology maybe) would serve me better. Going from a pastor to a doctor is quite a career shift. I want to do well, and living in Indiana I really want to attend IU Med. School. I need to boost my GPA, and want to have a great BCPM GPA.

Also, would the credits from my first degree make the time that it would require to complete a second degree shorter? Would they transfer over to a second degree? I am not sure how that works.

So, what do you all think? Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[RxnMan]

Get your transcript and calculate exactly how many credit hours (assuming a attainable GPA) of new classes it would take you to get a 3.6 or so (the average GPA of the current matriculant). If that is roughly equal to getting a new degree, then you have your answer.

As an aside, I will tell you from my experience (low ugrad GPA with a MS) that you will have an easier time getting an acceptance if you take ugrad courses, not grad courses. Grad courses, no matter how well you do, will not get you the same bang for your buck as a solid ugrad GPA will.

 

[stbxTechie]

I am wondering if a second degree (biology maybe) would serve me better. I need to boost my GPA, and want to have a great BCPM GPA.

One way or another, you need to do your prerequisites, and boost your undergrad GPA. Boosting it to a 3.6 would be best; boosting it to > 3.0 is the bare minimum.

2nd completed degree vs. just a bunch of undergrad courses won't matter, although depending on how low your GPA is you may well end up with enough credits to do the second degree in the end.

Only taking the two/a few undergrad science courses the first time around is actually a good thing, as it means your BCPM GPA will go up much faster with new courses than your overall undergrad one (both going up quickly would be even better, but if you can only have just one, BCPM is good!)

Going from a pastor to a doctor is quite a career shift.

Pastor to Doctor IS a big career shift, but if you can make a good application overall, it seems like the kind of life experience that medical schools will like.

living in Indiana I really want to attend IU Med. School.

Being a state resident will help, but depending on how much you can bring up your GPA, and on the other factors in your life, you will probably want to apply pretty broadly. Going for just one particular school is always kind of risky!

Also, would the credits from my first degree make the time that it would require to complete a second degree shorter? Would they transfer over to a second degree? I am not sure how that works.

It depends on the college you're doing the second degree at - there are no hard and fast rules.

Sometimes they'll simply waive the general education requirements if you already have a bachelor's degree, in which case it will be much shorter. Sometimes they will have to look at whether individual courses are equivalent, and how generous they will be in that case also varies highly from school.