Hi Everyone, I will be brief with my story. Thanks in advance for reading.
I’m 23 years old. I grew up in the Bay Area, California. Did well in high school, attended a moderately prestigious university. Majored in Political Science.
I graduated with a 2.3 cumGPA (partied hard and didn’t care). While this blocked off the vast majority of law schools, grad programs, etc., I was still able to make a suitable living working random odd jobs in IT and retail.
3 years ago, I made a very personal epiphany that it was my duty to work in medicine, particularly emergency medicine and/or related fields like urgent care. These guys are doing important work that help society. I have many friends who work in medicine and all of them, while tired, are fulfilled richly and deeply in a way that I can only dream of.
It goes beyond money, family, and friends. I realize I’m okay with not having any of that as long as I know I was able to really help someone in the style that medicine lets you do.
Everyone I know complains about the rigors of medical education and the sacrifices they have to make for their residencies. I would make any of those sacrifices in a heartbeat for the chance to do the work they do. My desire is absolute. I have never wanted something for as long and as deeply as I do now. Not being able to pursue this would absolutely break my heart. It already has.
Unfortunately, the cumGPA has been exceptionally problematic (if not fatal). Most post-bac programs have a cutoff GPA (unless someone can point out one that doesn’t). Even grad programs (ex. Biology, Chem) have cutoff GPA’s. I have tried looking into 2nd Bachelor’s degrees (as I already have a degree in PS), but most Californian colleges don’t allow this.
I can try looking into 2nd bachelor’s degrees in STEM out-of-state, but that’s been hard and I have no idea where to begin. And without proper advice or any assurances that a 2nd Bachelor’s is the answer out of my predicament, the financial costs are even more daunting.
It’s been tough finding something that works. And it’s been even tougher being laughed by admission reps, MCAT prep, and even my own family & friends. But that doesn’t matter, because ultimately I know what I want and I know what I’m willing to go through in order to get it.
I just need a plan. Someone pointed out this forum to me as a great place to ask for help. I’m sending this beacon out. So if anyone hears this…please respond.
P.S. I was going to let go of any hopes of doing this, but a close friend of mine recently got accepted into a DO program. I had a vivid dream where I was alongside him at his white coat ceremony, accepting my own. It was the happiest I’ve ever been. So when I woke up…it was clear to me what I wanted out of life. So any help would be appreciated.
Apologies if this post lacks proper etiquette on this forum. It’s my first post on this forum. Thanks for reading.
There is no reason you can’t do a 2nd bachelors degree, unless the reason you can’t is due to financial aid reasons. A career change often requires a different Bachelors degree.
I would look into several different schools, ask a lot of questions about Why and How.
Sounds like you should look into doing a Post-Bac. It will allow you to take undergrad classes without the expectation of a degree. Since your degree is non-science, this will allow you to take a bunch of required classes and boost your overall GPA with them. Most schools, even DO schools, have a hard GPA cutoff of 3.0. This is automatic and is applied to the digital filters. So getting above 3.0 is your goal. You need to round out your application with volunteering, shadowing, and I would encourage you to do research if possible. Build relationships with people that can help you and advocate for you when application season comes up. Obviously do as well as you can on the MCAT. Do not take it until you are confident you will do well. A higher score will help to open more doors. This will take time, it’s a marathon. If you can, talk to a pre health advisor to help build a road to your goal. You say your reason to pursue medicine is because of the way it would allow you to help people. I want to really encourage you to look at allied health professions. They will allow you to be involved in “helping people” the way you wish. Medicine is a team sport and other allied health professions are necessary, are fulfilling, and often have a better lifestyle. Good luck to you on your journey.
Hey humpbadump-
If I were you, I would start out by taking some classes at a local university or CC as a non-degree seeking student. If you can do well taking some hard science pre-recs full time, you might be able to convince a post-bac program to accept you. I know UC Irvine has a GPA boost post bac that only has a min GPA or 2.7 for example.
You mentioned in the title that you’ve been trying to get into med school for 3 years? Have you looked into the MCAT prepwork to see what knowledge base you need to get in? It’s a good place to start, since it’ll show you the gaps that need to be filled in with coursework.