Ok, so where do I begin…
I am now a lower senior in my college and would like to go into medical school. Some facts about me,
I was academically dismissed from my college during what would’ve been my first semester of my junior year ( two years ago). I had to sit out of school for a year as the school policy and was thankfully accepted back in. For another year by the school’s policy, I had to be part time, and within that one year, I was in good academic standing. These past two years I’ve been working on bringing up my GPA because I know it’s an important part of being accepted into medical school. I went from a 1.8 to a now 3.0, and I still have a semester left, but I have not taken all my science courses. I took Chem and got an F (that’s what placed me in academic probation before I was dismissed) but when I was accepted back in I retook the course, did an F replacement and got a B. I’ve worked very hard these past two years to earn as many A’s and B’s as I can. I don’t know if I should continue taking the rest of my science courses at my college and stay perhaps another year or so or just graduate (9 credits short of graduating) and go for my post bacc or special masters.
I’ve had a lot of finanacial responsibilities so I’ve had to work throughout my time that I was in and out of college, so I’ve had to balance that and haven’t been able to do any volunteer work or research.
I’ve had that same job for almost 4 years and I do have an upward trend in my grades
So in all I haven’t done volunteer work or research or anything of that sort yet and I’m still at a low GPA
What routes do you all suggest I should go for seeing that my chances are very low right now in being accepted into medical school? Thank you!
Right now you are not a viable candidate for medical school. But you know that.
To give you the best advice, we need more information.
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First, neither AACOMAS nor AMCAS allows grade replacement, even if your college does. So that F in gen chem will be counted when your GPA and sGPA are computed. Does your 3.0 GPA include that F in gen chem (and any other replaced grades)? If so what is your GPA and sGPA with all your grades, including retakes?
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How many pre-req classes do you have left to take? Have you taken Ochem and biochem yet? Physics? Can you list all your grades (including original & retakes) for your pre-reqs?
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Post-baccs and SMPs are expensive. They’re full time and academically intensive. Will you be able to afford a SMP or structured post-bacc? How much debt are you willing to take on for a <25% chance to go to medical school?
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state of residence?
1) Your academic dismissal is too recent for med schools to give weight to your upward trend. Rule of thumb-- the number of semesters of an upward trend must equal or exceed the number of semesters of poor grades. You'll need 4-6 semesters (or more) of near perfect grades to counter-balance your poor academic start in colleges.
2) If you are serious about med school or a SMP, you need to start working on getting your volunteering hours in. ECs are just as important as grades when it comes to med school/SMP admission. Even a couple of hours each month will help. You can get by without any research experience if you apply to the right med schools, but you cannot get by without community service, clinical experience or physician shadowing.
(D1 worked more than 40 hours/week at 2 different part-time jobs, took 8 credits/semester and still found time to volunteer a couple of hours each week when she did her do-it-herself career-changer post-bacc. If she can do it, so can you.)
3) Would you be willing to work as medical scribe, CNA or patient assistant to gain clinical exposure even it means taking a cut in pay?
4) Do your financial obligations include helping provide support for your family? If so, if you really want medical school, you may have to let that obligation go, as cruel as that sounds. Medical school (and getting there in the first place) requires a certain amount of selfishness of the part of the applicant. Med school is an all-in, all consuming experience that doesn't allow you any time to tend to outside obligations.
5) Right now you're not eligible for SMP. You need to finish your pre-reqs, have a MCAT score and have your pre-med ECs done.
6) Lastly, not every one who wants to go to medical school is cut out for that path. Are you willing to consider other healthcare careers?
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I personally think your best path would be to graduate, work full time for a few years and bank your money to give you a financial cushion. While working, start engaging in volunteering--both clinical and non-clinical activities. Maybe do some physician shadowing. If, after you have done this you still feel a call to medicine, then enroll in full time post-bacc and give it your best shot. Here is my take on your situation. WOWM is correct that you are not competitive in med school application now and perhaps you need to be a non-traditional applicant as WOWM suggested. However, you have not taken the Mcat yet, so there might be a chance for you depends on the Mcat score. Based on your self claimed “come back”, you should try out the Mcat if all your basic pre-reqs have been completed. You do not need too much research to get in a med school but if you have been working in a medical field with clinical experience, that is good enough, you did not explain the nature of your work, so I am just guessing.
Suppose you have score high (85%+) on Mcat, you might have a chance in DO schools. Since the calculation of your 3.0 has not been proven it is truly an AMCAS 3.0, so that is a problem. Suppose your 3.0 is a true 3.0 than with a high Mcat and a good med ECs you may be accepted by a DO school.
All else failed and if you have a decent Mcat, you can goto an SMP program. A DO school SMP program is easier and some school will let you in if you maintain a decent GPA. An MD school SMP is very hard and much riskier with only about 25% success rate. Either way, SMP is expensive and with risk.
Otherwise you need to work longer, with heavy involvement in clinical medicine and after 4 years, you can revamp your sGPA and Mcat in a post bacc program and re-apply for med school.
Good Luck.