<p>Hi. I'm currently a high school junior in NY and was wondering if I applied to like a regular college, or something like Binghamton, and get accepted. Then I take the MCAT junior & senior year, and really mess up or don't do too well, maybe I get an average score, and my grades are, say like a B average, and then absolutely no Medical Schools accept me. What would be my next step? What would I have to do next to be on the path to becoming a doctor (not sure what kind of doctor yet, perhaps a physician/surgeon), after undergraduate school?</p>
<p>You’d probably have to find another career. If you get an average score on the MCAT and a B average, that’s a 25 with a 3.0 and you probably can’t be a doctor.</p>
<p>But that’s all hypothetical at this point. No sense worrying about it now.</p>
<p>Well, as the other poster said, it’s kind of early to be making a gloom and doom prediction, but I guess it’s something worth thinking about.</p>
<p>Not to scare you or anything, but the reality of the situation is that while a great deal of applicants do matriculate into medical school, there is a great deal of applicants that do not due to the limited amount of seats in medical school. These people that do not make it are often forced to consider, just like in your scenario, “What happens now?” Well, it’s not a simple answer. It really depends on the individual. </p>
<p>The bottom line is if you really do want to get into medical school, you’ll find a way. Some individuals may go off to graduate school to pursue a masters, making a much better GPA than they did in undergraduate school. While this doesn’t change their undergraduate GPA, medical schools will be able to see the graduate school GPA as well. Others might pursue other careers. Some of these individuals might see after some time that while their other career was adequate, they really did want to pursue a career in medicine. At that point, they might enroll in a post-baccalaureate program. </p>
<p>Ultimately, at that point, what you do is up to you. It doesn’t necessarily end when you’re rejected from all the medical schools you apply to unless you want it to. There’s always opportunities to retake the MCAT or to improve a GPA.</p>
<p>I hope that answered your question.</p>
<p>If you’re getting a B average, you’ll know that LONG before it’s time to take the MCAT. If you’re not maintaining a high GPA and you’re a sophomore, than the hand-writing will already be on the wall. </p>
<p>At THAT point, you’ll be seeking alternative career paths.</p>
<p>It’s not like you’re going to wake up on college graduation day and realize…Gee, my GPA is too low and my MCAT is too low, so now what do I do?</p>
<p>Thanks, and I guess you right, there’s no sense worrying about it now. =)</p>
<p>Good back-up plans would include Researcher at a large Pharma company (this would likely require a Grad degree), Pharmaceutical Sales (if you have the looks & personality), Pharmacy, and RN (with goal to be a Nurse Anethistist (sp), etc. down the road).</p>
<p>Go to a graduate program relevant to medicine and reapply after, go to a foreign med school (you would have to redo residency in the US though), apply to podiatry/dental/pharmacy school (these professions also make a lot of $$$, more than you would think)…or just pick a different career that your happy with. Becoming a doctor isn’t everything. Realize that doctors live very stressful lives and spend ridiculous amounts of time working their asses off (living to work)…you will have avoided all this. Maybe consider majoring in something that you can fallback on in case you get rejected. Keep an open mind during college, because most high school kids think the only careers out there are law, medicine, and business. But if you’re really serious about medicine, I doubt you’ll let your gpa drop below 3.0. Good luck with the rest of your life</p>