messed up

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

Hi guys,

I really messed up this last semester. Going into the semester I was the ideal pre-med 3.5 gpa, founder of clubs, chair positions, volunteer with rescued animals, working, shadowing, and interning at local hospital. The problem is I completely overloaded myself this semester and ended up getting two C’s in two of my science classes. The reason why this is so significant is because I am in my senior year and about to start applying for Osteopathic med schools ( do not want MD). I have done a lot of research and I know med schools are forgiving to students who struggled but showed an upper ward trend. I do not know what this will do to my total GPA but I am sure my sgpa will drop significantly. I need advice if I chose to re-take these classes then I have to wait a year to apply for med school I am maxed out on units for next semester. So my question is should I wait a cycle and re-take the classes or should I apply and hope for the best.

Thank you for reading and any advice you give :slight_smile:

For more detail

I basically had an insane boss that would schedule me during classes and made me miss my most important classes. She would schedule meetings the nights before my science exams even when I begged her not to. She made me come in even when I took time off and on top of all this I went through some major personal issues. I didn’t want to leave because I actually enjoy my job minus the crazy boss and I thought I would preserve and have a great story for med school.

I do not know if these stats will help but I will add them just in case:

sgpa: 3.45 ( with the two C’s) (30)
non-sgpa: 3.9 (70 units)

Haven’t taken the MCAT yet but my average AAMC full length practice test score is a 34.

2

I don’t think you need to retake. Your GPA/sGPA looks good enough to get consideration from adcomms, even with the Cs. Plus you have another semester to prove those Cs were flukes by doing well in other upper level science courses. It’s imperative that your science classes from this upcoming semester have strong grades.

I would strongly suggest that you do NOT discuss your dip in grades anywhere in your PS. Maybe not in your secondaries either. (Looks like you’re making excuses.) Prepare a short statement along the lines of “I had work-related issues that semester but I’ve learned how to to better manage my time” for when you’re asked about it during interviews.

Assuming your PS and LORs are good and your MCAT score is in the range of your practice exams, I’m sure you’ll have interviews next fall if you apply broadly to DO programs. (Broadly = ~15 or so)

Let this be a life lesson for you. Don’t let short-term issues (job) get in the way of your long term goals (med school).

P.S. Letting someone put unreasonable demands on you and your time is all on you. You’re not the victim here. You could have stopped it at any time by quitting your job and/or refusing to accede to her demands. Consider this a lesson from the school of hard knocks.