I wouldn’t speak to an advisor at Princeton Review. Instead, talk to academic advisors at Syracuse.
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Anti-epileptic medications used for migraine prevention (specifically, topamax, also known as “Dopamax”) certainly could explain the poor grades. I’m assuming that you are stable now, no longer on medications that affect your cognition?
I should warn you that the path to get into medical school, and med school itself, and residency, are extremely stressful. Stress is a key trigger of migraines. For the decade or so before I began med school, my classic migraine frequency was approximately once every 3 months. During the first month of med school, I studied constantly, and had 3 migraines a WEEK. For me, at that time, a migraine meant 8-10 hours of agony and vomiting - total incapacitation. I did well on the first set of exams, and decided that I had to back off a little, and be a B student in med school, without migraines, rather than a straight A student who was sick 3 days a week.
Do yourself a favor. Look into the BA to BSN program at the public colleges near you. If you can successfully complete that, you can eventually try to become an NP. Whether it’s right or not, an NP can practice independently in most states, without any supervision. And it is FAR, FAR easier to become an NP than an MD. In fact, at this point, I think that it may be truly impossible for you to become an MD or a PA. If you have already successfully worked as a medical assistant, you probably have the people skills to succeed in a nursing program, which will be so much less academically challenging than the path to becoming an MD. I hear you that what you want is to become an MD. But wouldn’t it be better to become something else in medicine, than to expend a lot of time, energy, and money in a futile attempt at getting into medical school?
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I rarely recommend this to any pre-med wannabe, but are you mainly interest in becoming a general practitioner or family doctor?
Google some Caribbean schools and look at what specialties are more likely to get residencies from there. Don’t look at the school itself, of course, because they’ll all sell themselves. Look for actual data on which schools place people where. Not all are the same, so find the best one you can. It could be worth it for you to try that route vs spending a ton of money on really unsure US options. I’m not sure, but it’s worth looking into I think.
Please don’t rule out other healthcare careers!
There are dozens of healthcare careers you have probably never even heard of.
This website will help you explore other options within healthcare.
BTW, you mentioned that you liked the independence that physicians had–consider becoming a nurse practitioner. NPs can work without having physician oversight in most states. PAs also have great deal autonomy–though they are nominally required to be supervised by a physician.
An if you have any interest in anesthesiology–both CNRAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists) and CAAs (Certified Anesthesia Assistants) work with only minimal physician supervision,
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Gotcha, so the best bet for me would be to just take a high course load of upper division classes and do well on them. I’m not sure if it’s mathematically possible for me to raise it past a 3 but I’m hoping an upward trend can take care of that! Thank you for the helpful information!
Definitely understood that SMP marketing thing. This masters program was marketed as an SMP but it really just provides graduate level science courses. I don’t think it woukd do me good to spend 70k on it. I did withdraw tho! I didn’t realize how careful I had to be with choosing one. Lesson learned!
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I did ask them but their appointments are booked :/. I reached out to my undergrad advisors at Stony though hopefully I hear something back.
Yes I was on tooomax! I was on 100mg for three years consistently. Didn’t realize how messed up it made me until it was too late. I still have long term health effects from it but my migraines are much better managed! I took 7 classes at Queens Community and aced them all with As. Granted they were much easier than upper division sciences but the workload was not enough to make my migraines a problem. I’ve actually been looking into a possible retroactive withdrawal actually. If that’s possible and if my advisors at stony Brook think im on a pretty good route then I think I’ll go for pre med. I definitely do have other healthcare professions in mind tho. Im willing to spend the money and time to become a physician but I also know I have to be realistic.
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I was looking at general practitioner! I can’t lie I’ve definitely thought about Caribbean schools. With my stats, advisors at Princeton review have said it should not be hard at all. However, that’s my last option. I also will be looking into other healthcare professions too so it really depends on how I can reinvent myself in the next 1-2 years.
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I’m definitely familiar with NP’s!! I would’ve given it more though in undergrad tbh but I just had so much going on! And I’ve worked with 3 amazing PAs as a medical assistant so that’s definitely something I’m considering. I think right I’m going to try to find a game plan and what I’m willing to put in and do for med school. After that I will work to plan something I can fall back on! Of course in healthcare, I can’t imagine doing something else! I’ll check out the website too! Thank you!
That’s the best way to do it. (Start slow–don’t overload yourself starting out.
If you can manage ~30-32 credits (8-10 courses) of As in upper level bio electives–you will have successfully re-invented yourself and made yourself a creditable candidate for med school.
Now not all med schools reward reinvention, but at those that do you’ll have just as good of a chance as anyone else.
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BTW, I disagree with advice given above re: Caribbean med schools.
First of all Caribbean med schools are meat grinders. Their business model requires that at least half or more of their students fail out or drop out before clinical training starts. Because these school don’t enough clinical placements for all their students, they place all kinds of artificial roadblocks to make sure that the number of students who pass didactics is equal to or less than their very limited number of clinical placements. (NOTE also that outside the of the Big Three Carib med schools, students must find and schedule their own US clinical rotations. And must do so without help from the school.)
Second, Caribbean med schools are very much less than transparent about how they calculate their “success rates”. They don’t tell how many students start every year. (And some schools have 3 starting classes each calendar year.) They don’t tell how many students are required to repeat a year before advancing to clinicals. They don’t tell how many of their “successful” matches are to one year, dead-end, non-renewable preliminary programs. (Caribbean medical grads are required to complete at least 3 years of residency to get a medical license in the US.)
Don’t believe what you read on their websites!
Lastly, the number of MD and DO medical graduates is increasing every year. The number of MD grads has increased by more than 30% in the last 10 years. There are 6 new MD school opening in the next 2 years. The number of DO grads has increased even faster–there’s been a 40% increase in DO grads in the last 10 years and there are 2-3 new DO schools opening every year.
However, there hasn’t been an corresponding increase in the number of residency positions. This means it is becoming increasingly difficult for Caribbean grads to compete for residency positions.
BTW @Creekland, there is essentially no such thing as a GP anymore. While in theory any US medical grad with at least one year of residency training can get a medical license and hang out their shingle as a GP, they can’t in reality because without at least board eligibility (which requires finishing an accredited residency), a physician cannot buy malpractice insurance and cannot receive reimbursement for services from insurance companies or from medicare.
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I went to an Ivy, but I did my sophomore year at CUNY Queens College, NOT Queensborough community college, which I’m assuming is what you mean by Queens Community. Even though Queens College was considered at the time to be the “jewel in the crown” of the CUNY system, the classes there were SO much easier than at the Ivy. They covered only 2/3 the material that the Ivy did, and honestly, about 90% of the people who were in the classes didn’t even belong in college. I can only imagine how easy the classes at Queensborough Community college would be. I can tell you that the classes at my current local community college are a joke. So please, don’t assume that because you could get A’s at Queensborough community college, that you can get into medical school. And don’t assume that because you could handle the classes at Queensborough without it triggering migraines, that you can handle the premed classes at Stony Brook, and the classes at medical school, should you obtain admission, without it triggering migraines from the stress of it.
Did you take the SAT or the ACT? How did you do on it? A high SAT/ACT score is somewhat predictive of a high MCAT score, assuming adequate preparation. You say that you have long term effects from having been on Topamax. Maybe you should have a neuropsych evaluation done, and get an opinion on whether you are likely to be able to succeed in premed classes and medical school. I’m serious - a good neuropsychologist will be able to evaluate you and tell you this.
I’ve just seen too many young people who have wasted their youth trying to get into medical school, when it was clear that it just wasn’t going to happen for them. They would have been so much better off if they had simply gone into an ancillary medical field, which would have been an attainable goal for them.
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That’s super encouraging! It’s tough and tedious but it’s good I got even just sliver of hope! I’ll trying to start classes at CUNY’s this fall but if not I will get on it next semester! Also need to continue with my ECs! Thanks 
Along with accommodations like extended time, you could have had a reduced course load. I am glad you are looking into retroactive withdrawals but since you have graduated, that may be difficult.
I guess you were on Topamax and hope your current med is working for you.
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While the OP may get accommodation for undergrad classwork, she’s unlikely to get accommodations for medical school coursework. The bar for getting any accommodation is much, much higher. Plus there are basically no accommodations for the clinical portion of medical education. Medicine has a real ethos of “toughing it out”.
My older D had an emergency appendectomy at 3am Sunday and reported back for work at 7am Monday when she was a M3. She was lucky she was on a relatively light rotation (inpatient psych) and was able to go home at the end of assigned shift. Med students can’t always go home on time.
And @Greenstrawberries FWIW, D1 developed migraines for the very first time in her life during her 3rd year of med school, during a very long, very high stress clinical rotation.
If stress, lack of sleep or irregular work shifts are triggers for you, then medical school and residency are both going to be very, very difficult. You will have all three of those in spades, including high stress in-hospital overnight shifts that last up to 25 hours (plus allow another 2-4 hours for paperwork and handoffs.) This will be true even for FM since FM does include 1-2 years of hospital-based training.
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So are you saying that people with disabilities or chronic health conditions cannot go to medical school?
They can go to medical school, but they must have their conditions managed and well controlled. Their medical issues cannot interfere with patient safety, nor can their conditions cause them not to work their regular assigned work shifts during residency. (Because that affects staffing and staffing affects patient safety.)
Both Ds had type 1 diabetics in their classes. One of D2’s friends in med school had military service related PTSD. There were several students w/ dyslexia and students with ADHD. (including D1 who is both dyslexic and has ADHD–but she got no accommodation for either.)
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While I agree with most of this post, I really need to make clear that with proper treatment, people with migraines (and epilepsy, and other health conditions as well) can achieve at the highest levels. A person with migraines should not limit choices in life but instead should find the right treatment regimen, including meds and lifestyle management.
The whole point of accommodations is to level the playing field so people with disabilities/conditions can achieve what they are capable of achieving if they didn’t have that disability.
That said, the OP did not get properly accommodated or properly treated (why did the Topamax go on so long?) and I do think the net result is that the OP needs to be more flexible about future plans.
Still I want the OP to understand that certain accommodations are non-existent in medical school. A reduced course load is simply not possible. Extended time for tests and standardized exams is only rarely granted. (Quiet room accommodations are granted fairly commonly, though.) Missed work shifts during a clinical rotation can cause a student to fail that rotation.
And everyone works overnights during residency. No one ever get exempted from those because nocturnal medicine is different from daytime medicine and physicians need to know about both.
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