25 and need to hear the truth

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
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Hello! I’ve come across this community not knowing who to talk to, but If you would kindly read further I’m in desperate need of guidance. I’ve decided that I’m going to make a career change into medicine, however I’m concerned that my academic history is going to hold me back. I’ll try to get straight to the point as possible and only include essential details.

A little background info… I graduated from a 4 year University in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and a 2.9 GPA. To be honest I really had no idea why I was there at the time. I didn’t know what I wanted out of life, I didn’t know what my plan was, it was just the “next thing” after high school.

Since graduating in 2018 I’ve experienced a lot of self reflection. I’ve found more purpose in my life. I’ve decided what my values are, who I want to be, and what I want to do.

This now leads to my question. What can I do to put myself on a good path towards Medical School as a Nontraditional student? I was just accepted to a local 4 year University and I’ll be starting this August majoring in Biology (This will be my second undergraduate degree). To be honest, I’m EXTREMELY excited to go back to school and take it seriously and LEARN! However when I applied to this new school I also had to send in my previous college transcripts with my 2.9 GPA. I guess part of me just feels a little discouraged like my poor GPA will come back to haunt me. It would help to hear the truth though. If I bust my butt and earn straight A’s at this new school and earn a second Bachelor’s in Biology, would I have a shot at getting into Med school? (Given I score well on the MCAT and complete the shadowing/volunteer work of course)

Furthermore it would help to know what I’m shooting for. Will a 4.0 in a second Biology degree stand alone by itself or is it just factoring into the total GPA I already have in the eyes of medical school admissions? If It’s the latter it’s a little discouraging and I wonder how one can come back from a poor academic record.

Sorry if this sounds silly, but I’m extremely serious about going forward with this and would be grateful for any input. Thanks again.

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To be honest, it seems like you could do a post bacc just to complete pre-reqs instead of getting a full degree. If you can ace it, you will still be fine! Your old GPA shouldn’t be a problem if you do well in the post-bacc. It will also take less time if you’re worried about that.

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@NeurobioGuy Thanks for the input! Yeah a postbacc might not be a bad move… I felt like declaring a second major all together would give me more options as well as contacts for letters of recommendation. I’m not too worried about the time a second degree would take. I will look into postbacc though.

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2nd on the post-bacc. Just get your pre-reqs done with as close to a 4.0 as possible. Your sGPA should be high enough and your cGPA will go above a 3.0 given what was stated above. Kill your MCAT and apply broadly.

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You’d be surprised, even without doing a degree, many friends of mine were post-baccs and they managed to get research positions and solid rec letters. This is just anecdotal, but it also seemed like professors took more post-baccs than undergrads, perhaps because they seemed more mature? Either way, good luck to you! Hope everything works out.

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You can do this. First step own that you screwed up and it was totally your fault and no one else’s. Why so harsh? Because when it’s 11:30pm you’re exhausted and you have a Chem 1 final the day after. You need to remind yourself it was your fault and no one else’s - then proceed to redeem yourself and study harder, study smarter.

Do a post-bac get ALL A’s you can do this. I’m here to help.