Hey guys, fairly new to the board but have been browsing for quite some time and have come to appreciate most of the feedback ive seen here.I am currently in need of a reality check and would really appreciate honest feedback for my situation.
I started school in 2009 at an average university because i wasnt sure what i wanted to do. I ended up doing very poorly in most of my classes with my gpa fluctuating from a 2.4-2.8, as i was only attending school for the loans primarily, received about 50 total college credits from this institution, ended up dropping all my classes and currently owe a decent amount of money to the school.
Since then i have started two successful companies that allow me to live a comfortable lifestyle, but am not in the field that i want to be in. I ended up spending quite a bit of time with a psychiatrist ( he allowed me to shadow him ) and have decided that being a psychiatrist and working in a similar environment would be something that would truly bring me enjoyment.
I know that the odds are already against me due to the fact that i did not take college seriously the first time around. What i would like to know is : Is it possible for me to go to a community college, make perfect grades, then transfer to a state university or similar university and eventually apply to med school with a reasonable chance to attend?
Is a high MCAT, EC’s, and upward trend after 3 years off enough to give me a reasonable chance to attend medical school?
Does anyone have any advice for my current situation? Is going to a community college to “reset” GPA and show upward trend pointless since they will still see previous course work at the first college?
Is the chance of me actually being accepted so low that i should just stay focused with my companies or find a different major of study?
Really appreciate any feedback/help.
You have a number of issue you need to resolve:
- how much money do you owe to your previous college? Are your loan payments up to date? And have you defaulted on any of your student loans?
The reason I ask this is because you will need to be in good standing with your previous college in order to get transcripts from the registrar to enroll in any degree-seeking program.
Additionally the med school application process requires official copies of your transcripts from every college you’ve ever attended. Failing to mention or concealing your 50 credits will at best delay the processing of your application by weeks or at worst be construed to be a fraudulent application. A fraudulent application gets you blackballed from every single US med school. Also, med schools reserve the right to revoke your diploma retroactively should any evidence of falsehood (intentional or not) in your application be revealed at any time for the rest of your career.
Lastly if you have defaulted on your student loans, then you cannot received any additional federal financial aid until your defaulted loan has been cleared --and fed loans are how every med student pays for med school. (Even Ben Bernacke’s kid took out fed loans to pay for med school.)
- Your GPA isn’t quite a total non-starter, especially if you are willing to consider osteopathic medical schools. Osteopathic med school allow for grade replacement. If you are willing to consider this route, you should begin by retake every single course in which you earned a C/D/F.
You can start your path to medicine at a community college, but adcomms will want to see 2 full years of grades from a 4 year college when you apply. This means you need to plan to apply after your graduation and have 1 or 2 gap years.
If your heart is set on a allopathic med school, 3 years of good grades may not be enough to redeem your low GPA in the eyes of adcomms, especially if you do go the community college & transfer route. You will need to consider a SMP (Special Master’s Program) or a grade enhancing post-bacc (basically a specialized bio grad degree) unless you’re a 4.0 student from Day 1 of your GPA redemption process.
- Medicine is a calling as much as it as it a career. If you feel the call to serve, then you can certainly start on the path to GPA redemption and see where it leads; however, you need to expand your timeline. You won’t be a viable candidate in 2 years (applying after junior year like a typical applicant)–you’ll probably need 4-6 years or longer. If you’re willing to put your nose to grindstone and do this, there are schools (all DO and a few MD schools) that reward re-invention.
I appreciate the response.
I currently owe 18k, maybe less currently. That’s to the school specifically, as I have not fallen behind on my loan repayments to the feds.
You mentioned grade replacement…I imagine that would have to be done at the same school which in my case is in another state that I’m no longer a resident of.
Do you recommend me going back to that school to try and improve or go to a different school, finish my bachelor’s, then apply for a post bac?
Are for profit schools, Colorado tech university for example, that offer 4 year degrees looked down upon like community college?
I really want to make this work because I’ve finally found something that motivates me.
Thanks!
Osteopathic grade replacement does not have to be done at the same school. It can be done at any accredited US or Canadian college, including community colleges. The requirement is that the new class cover the same content and have equal or greater credit value. You may be asked to provide official course descriptions for the original and the replacement classes as part of the verification process for AACOMAS.
You do not need to return to your previous state of residence. Go to whatever local college is most convenient for you.
Under no circumstances should you consider taking coursework at for-profit school. (It’s very frowned upon by adcomms.) Nor should you take online courses. Medical schools, with very few exceptions, will not accept online coursework, especially for science classes. (Besides you’ll need to develop good relationships with your professors because you’ll need LORs from them for your application.)
As for a recommendation about what path to take— there are many, many routes to med school. What works for someone else may not work for you.
I think your most direct route would be to take advantage of osteopathic grade replacement–retake your C/D/F grades, possibly at a local CC, then transfer to a state U and finish your degree. Rock the MCAT, and apply DO after graduation. Use the gap year to polish your ECs.
Psychiatry is not an especially competitive specialty so a DO degree won’t prevent you from matching into that field.
Really appreciate all the information; you are an awesome person.
Will do as you recommended. Thanks again!
I’d also recommend thinking about what elements of psychiatry specifically appeal to you and if there’s potential for entering the field in a different, easier manner, than an MD + psych residency (which is not the only way to participate in the field of psychiatry - maybe you really want psychology even. Depends on what kind of psychiatrist exactly you shadowed). E.g. is it talk therapy? An MSW will get you there faster. Is it the pharmacology? Maybe you’d be satisfied as a pharmacist or pharm tech on a psych unit. What about nursing or NP/PA and working in psych? A quick start to looking at different options could be here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health_professional#Comparison_of_American_mental_health_professionals
If you are planning to apply for med school you should try to pay back the money you owe to the prior institution ASAP, without that you cannot proceed.
You may have to start college all over again and it will take you a long time to complete your degree, so by that time you MAY qualify as a non traditional student for MD schools in addition to DO schools as suggested. Most important is that you have to target all As in your study.
You will need to show to the medical school your conviction in medicine as a non traditional applicant. In that you need to have a lot of medical ECs such as working as paramedics or other medical related jobs.