Would love some advice

[xyzdt]

I used to think it was impossible, but after reading some of the stories here I don't want to give up before I get more information.

I'm 28 years old and am working in retail. I graduated in 2013 with a BS in Neuroscience (minor in Spanish) from a top 50 university. Neuro was interesting as an undergrad, but I read a lot of horror stories about people finishing graduate programs and not finding any jobs...so I scared myself off and didn't do anything at all. I'm in the process of applying to better jobs, but retail does not really lead anywhere and what's worse is that the "skills" are basically worth nothing. I really have no options unless I continue my education. I have been very passive my whole life and scared to make big changes but to be honest I work at Wal-Mart right now and my co-workers making remarks about how weird it was I was working there kind of opened my eyes.

However, during undergrad I did do a little preparation so even if it was ~6 years ago I was wondering if I could utilize any of it.
~100 hours of hospital volunteering (brain/spinal cord traumatic injury unit)
~30 hours of physician shadowing (family practice in small rural town)
1 semester of research > measuring the effects of a new drug on testosterone level in rats


Undergrad cumulative gpa: 3.357

relevant courses:
Gen Chem I/II + Lab I/II: A
Physics I/II + Lab I/II: A
Gen Bio I + Lab I: A
Gen Bio II: D+
Gen Bio II Lab: A-
Orgo I: B
Orgo I Lab: B-
Orgo II: C
Orgo Lab: B

Right after I graduated I took the MCAT, but I voided my score because I felt it wasn't strong .

Obviously my grades do not recommend me and with a downward trend it's hard to speak positively about my academic performance, but I was reading a lot about post-bacs and a few of them seem geared towards students of a science background with weak scores, so that's an angle I was looking into.

I tried to get into academic research labs in my area, but even just offering to volunteer I'm not getting any responses, never mind getting a job as a lab tech.

To get into an official post-bac program, I'm lacking current lab work and academic recommendations, so I am considering:

1) enrolling in a community college and taking some upper level science courses + retake Orgo/Gen Bio and labs. Not sure if this would be enough to make up for my undergrad performance. While I'm there I want to try do some current research/clinical volunteering and see where that goes
2) go to community college to get an associates then transfer to 4 year school + research/clinical/volunteering
3) Try to go for a Master's (either in Neuro, or try for a different Bio discipline) + research/clinical/ volunteering

Any non-trads out there who've been through something similar I would love your take on this. I'm kind of overwhelmed by everything right now but I want to be proactive.

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[curbsideconsult]

For option 2, are you talking about doing a second bachelor's? If so, I'm not sure that would be worth your time. I think you'd be better off retaking your upper level science courses and also adding biochem and cell bio.

Taking these courses at a community college can be iffy. Some med schools absolutely do not care where you took your science courses, some med schools will accept only those science courses taken at a 4-year, some med schools will accept cc science courses but only if you took them the first time around and did well in them. You'd have to look into particular medical schools to determine the best post-bacc route for you.

Any volunteering/ECs after high school are fair game to put in your application.

As an aside, and more of a general piece of advice, I think you need to do some introspection to figure out why you didn't do well in those courses the first time around. You're going to have to explain it in your application anyway so you might as well start thinking about that early. You also need to think very hard about whether or not you actually want to do medicine or if you're just looking for a more meaningful career. Medicine might not be the meaningful career you're looking for. Lastly, you need to find a way to boost your confidence. Medicine and the journey into it is difficult on a good day and a lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities will not help.