How to recover from a low GPA and show medical schools you are worth an acceptance letter

General Premed Discussion
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I am writing this coming from the viewpoint of a used-to-be failure of a student to having a good chance of attending medical school. Here is how I did it and overcame the hurdles. Hopefully this will help those of you who were in my situation and wanting to pursue a MD/DO.

Pull yourself out of the hole you dug

  1. DISCIPLINE is key in all aspects of life, especially when doing something as hard as medicine
  • make a morning and nightly routine that allows you to create beneficial habits(Ex. wakeup-workout-breakfast-shower-study)
  • create the best way to study. Everyone is different and tailor your STUDY METHODS to what helps you best remember information
  • if you say you will do something, DO IT
  1. WORKOUT and EAT WELL. I cannot stress this enough you need to feel good and look the part to
  • have a proper diet healthy diet
  • push yourself in the gym
  1. Fix your damn grades and do NOT attend a community college
  • most of the time universities offer grade replacements(this will not help if you want MD, as far as I know they do not accept grade replacements in most cases)
  • There are plenty of online sources for you to use that, most of the time, teach BETTER than your professors. Use this to your advantage
  • if you already did poorly in some classes it is not the end. Brush up on the subject and take the next higher level course and DO BETTER
  • when completing assignments or projects go above the expectations. Don’t just do enough to make a 90, make the 95 so there is buffer room in case anything happens
  • most important thing to do is show a UPWARD TREND in grades (Ex. going from Cs to Bs, or Bs to As)
  • if you make a 2.8 or lower by the time you graduate undergrad consider Specialized Masters Programs focusing on medicine; then make the grades you need
  1. Either get involved with RESEARCH or CLINICAL work (R&C)
  • ask your professors to get involved in research
  • if your reading this your GPA is too low to do TA work so don’t try(unless it happens to be the one class you made an A in); you learn more from R&C anyways
  • even if the subjects don’t interest you do it anyways, medical schools look at the EXPERIENCE you have and take that into consideration heavily
  • also builds great recommendation letters which will help you get in easier
  1. SCORE WELL ON THE MCAT
  • the biggest factors on a application are the GPA and MCAT
  • if you are sitting around a 3.0 you still have a chance; do not give up hope
  • if you have a lower GPA(3.0) and you can offset this by a higher MCAT score and credentials take a year off and study the hell out of the MCAT to make preferably a 505-510 if not HIGHER (if you score a 520+ chances increase to almost 52% acceptance)

Biggest takeaways from this advice
Know your abilities and if you are even able to make these standards

Discipline is key and you must focus on your studies heavily

If you graduate with a 3.0 in undergrad, make the MCAT the biggest priority and score high

You MUST do clinical work like being in the room with patients to get an idea of how a practice/hospital works(min. year+ of experience)

Research is very beneficial and opens many door to rec letters and learning opportunities

Your physical and mental wellbeing are key to succeeding

Know how much you can handle at a time and set HIGH STANDARDS for yourself

APPLY to 10+ med schools if necessary both MD and DO programs(the stigma behind DO being easier to get into is true; but both MD and DO have same curriculum/tests/residencies so no issue there)

“Through struggle, greatness is achieved”

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