<p>My current GPA: 2.8. Years of school finished: three. Situation im in: pretty much screwed from every possible angle and every possible way.</p>
<p>trends (doing this out of memory so it may not be exact):
1st year: 2.3/3.0
2nd: 2.8/2.5
3rd: 2.6/2.25</p>
<p>Someone in my situation should logically give up and pursue dreams at McDonalds. But I can't get the desire to want to be a physician out of my head. Call it a stupid addiction or whatever you want, but I need to get into med school.</p>
<p>Obviously my grades suck and my trend is downwards. Im transferring to a new university this fall to delay my graduation by a year.</p>
<p>Even if I get a 4.0 from here on out (highly unlikely) my cGPA will only be a 3.3 which is still terrible.</p>
<p>But im not focusing on that, I just want to take this one semester and one exam at a time, so what is the best way for me to do a complete 180 on my academic performance? How do I develop a self-discipline and good work ethic to succeed? I know thats its late, but better late than never.</p>
<p>The reason my grades are so bad was because of a lack of focus, goofing off, and severe depression. Its nothing really tragic or understandable - its my fault and I wish I wasn't in this situation.</p>
<p>If anyone has never had a bad GPA and is going to suggest that I look into doing other things than being a doctor, well thank you but you don't know what its like to want something that bad and not be able to have it. I can't live with that pain so Im not going to listen to anyone who says to look into other careers, and due respect if that is your advice then its better just not to respond to this.</p>
<p>If anyone has helpful/useful advice, it would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Actually, if you get straight A’s next year you will be looking at a 2.9 (going off your memory). If you get straight A’s the year after that, you will be looking at a 3.14. Even if you take another year and get all A’s, you will be looking at a 3.28. But anyways, most of the work ethic has to already be there, and if it isn’t you will have to find your own way to develop it. Since you have your heart set on it, here are some general tips. Find where your weak points are first, besides the fact you don’t try hard. Academically, not trying hard usually means things are too challenging. If they were easy, then you wouldn’t need to try hard. So find things like “I study three days before the test”. Then, fix these weaknesses. Now, you are going to “study a week and a half before the test.” Organize work well. Don’t just plan to do the work whenever. Look at the syllabus and mark off calendars for days you MUST do work. Join a study group. Everyone is at a different level academically, so to have somebody you can learn from and bounce ideas off is good. Colleges do have FREE tutors. Pay them a visit. Most of all make school your first priority. If you don’t have the will power to not play COD when you should be studying, then you will fall flat on your face attempting such. But if you want to become a doctor…</p>
<p>Your only chance is to take some time off after graduating; you really need to put some real time between your whole undergrad experience and your applications.</p>
<p>Do something useful and beneficial…like Peace Corps or Teach For America, then take a post bacc program and do VERY well so that you can improve grades and have a decent shot at getting good LORs…rock the MCAT, get in the required medically related ECs and then apply as a non traditional student. By the way, that’s a very tall order for anyone in the time constraints at hand.</p>
<p>Probably not what you want to hear but in all honesty, it or something similar is your only true shot unless you are a URM and even then it would be a big time challenge.</p>
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<p>You’re going to have to seriously address these issues because even the slightest bit of “goofing off” or “lack of focus” in Med school will have you flunking out. You really have an uphill climb ahead of you…good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your responses, I wasn’t aware that my GPA was terrible even though I mentioned that in my opening post. Now that all of you have stated that, I feel very comforted with that eye opening piece of knowledge.</p>
<p>What if I showed a strong upward trend and had a high mcat with that? I know it wouldn’t make everything ok but how much damage would it mitigate? I’m planning on doing that and going abroad to do research after I graduate.</p>
<p>^The thing is, saying you will do better and actually doing better are totally different. I am sure you have been saying that the last 3 years, but instead you went the opposite direction. That must mean, when faced with challenge, you degress. So, you MUST think about what happens if you don’t get into med school. And, you MUST find out why you can’t perform at a high level. Some people need to study harder, some study as hard as possible and usually come out with C’s instead of A’s. If the stuff is really just to challenging for you, then assuming an upward trend is pointless. Med school is not for everyone. Thats why only 44% get in. All of them feel like you do, but a majority of them MUST find a different career path. But if the problem is just you not studying hard enough, then fix that. Even if you do have your upward trend and do well on the MCAT, you still are looking at an overwhelming chance of being denied to med school. Going abroad after you graduate? Why not get a MS or something instead so you can up your GPA. Schools won’t care about you research if your GPA is low, because you won’t get pass the initially screening for anything ‘personal’ to be reviewed.</p>
<p>OP,
Are you URM? If so, you have a chance. If not, you have given up “desire to want to be a physician” long time ago. Stating that you have a desire is NOT the same as having a desire. You never had it. Straight A’s (if you know how to get them) will not work mathematically. The fact is you are not honest with yourself. You are the only one who could make a difference, nobody’s advice will do it for you. “you don’t know what its like to want something that bad and not be able to have it.” - is not an honest statement. Everybody, every single person (aside from some handicap that prevents you from being successful) can do what he sets up to accomplish. People do this without essential skills like English, typing, driving cars, yes, some people have to overcome tremendous obstacles before they can even start being committed to their goal. What were your obstacles? Why you did not overcome them? You are very young person, you can do many things. But first you have to learn to be honest with yourself. Having a low GPA did not happen by itself. You seem to think of it as independent entity. It does not work this way. If you do not identify yourself, what prevented you from having better grades, if you do not put yourself in complete control of your future life, how are you planning to be successful at whatever you set to achieve? How you do it? Just sit down and study for however long it is needed. If 30 hours are needed for single test, then you do your 30 hours. There is no magic, and I suspect it is not the answer that you were looking for.</p>
<p>This is the third time you’ve made this post, under 3 different screen names. You receive the same advice each time. You give the same responses each time. I would honestly seek some mental help if I were you.</p>
<p>^ what? I honestly don’t know what your talking about but believe whatever you want.</p>
<p>Yea I know I need to study like crazy and obviously want is different from have. I get that. I have a reason for wanting to be a doctor and my mistakes are my own, I take responsibility for it. I felt so guilty about my failure and I had no motivation to do anything about it since I believed at the time that it was not my fault that I was doing poorly in school - that it was out of my control. This is obviously not true.</p>
<p>You want my life story? I was a loser kid in high school. I was made fun of, beat up, and had no friends. I came to college depressed with self hatred. By year three it was awful, I wouldn’t bathe or shave for days. Counseling, therapy, SSRIs, all didn’t work. I gave up on myself until I had the opportunity to work with an oncologist. I’ll never forget that experience because it was that moment I realized why I wanted to be a doctor because I could give to people what I never had growing up as a kid - hope. And that actually makes me feel GOOD which is a rare thing for me. That is why I want to be a doctor and I know it now. I just did it for the hell of it before.</p>
<p>I’m not expecting any sympathy or a pat on the back, but that is my reason and I am sticking to it. I’m not going to give up on what makes me happy just because I didn’t study enough for Chem and ochem.</p>
<p>^Yeah you do post here a lot under different screen names. I’m sure many of us can tell, because your story is the same and the way you take advice is generally the same; saying things like, “just because I have low grades doesn’t mean I should just give up. I really want to be a doctor. But I don’t want to go DO or Caribbean because I am obviously far to great for that”). And if I’m not mistaking, that is a different story than one you told before lol. But hey, we gave you advice anyway. You shouldn’t be so desperate to catch a dream so far away. Its like the 40 year old that still wants to lace up the cleats, get on the field, and play football. Reality will hit you some day. Good luck becoming a doctor, but you need to think about a back up already before its too late. You are a senior for goodness sakes, and excuses don’t matter anymore. Everyone has excuses.</p>
<p>^ uh no I don’t. If you want to play down my story then whatever, it doesnt matter. I am not a URM.</p>
<p>As for the advice part, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me wanting to be a doctor. If you don’t think that I’m good enough then fine. But don’t assume that you can determine my reality for me. There are plenty of people who become docs with bad gpas. If they can do it, I can too. If you don’t know what to do in my situation thats ok. Stop posting here. If all you can think of is to tell me that I should give up and apply to McDonalds, and that my dream is not realistic then you can go to hell. :)</p>
<p>That said I do appreciate the advice you gave in your first post about studying harder. I will do my best to follow that. They aren’t excuses with due respect, that is my reason. I already said this was all my fault so I’m not making excuses.</p>
<p>See, you just told me to go to hell lol. Thats what you always do when someone tells you to be realistic. Thats why I said that because I knew if you were who I thought you were, you would get mad lol. But nah, plenty of people DONT become doctors with bad GPAs. Not sure where you got that information from. And by telling you to think about an alternative career while youre pursuing med school is not saying work at mcdonalds. I have a pretty high GPA and I am planning for both med school and a backup just incase I dont get in. You could be a researcher, a lawyer, teacher, architect, anything as a back up. Not sure why you think not being a doctor = failure. Your lack of work ethic, which you acknowledge, =failure if anything.</p>
This is a great reason to be a doctor. But there are also other professions that can be just as rewarding, and may not have the obstacles you’d be facing if you tried to get into med school. Teach. I know it sounds flakey for me to say that, but honestly, it’s a great profession. You help others. You see progress. You’re a part of the student’s lives that is so special. You watch that “ah-ha” moment and you know you enlightened someone. Try it out. Be a substitute teacher for awhile. (Just be aware, the first day is often the hardest.)</p>