Hi everyone! I’ve enjoyed seeing how others have managed to overcome all sorts of obstacles to get into and through med school, but I don’t even know how to begin to deal with my own situation. I feel like every time I get one path figured out, two more walls pop up. I haven’t seen anyone with a situation quite like mine and I would love to hear from all of you. Here goes.
I’ll skip the beginning. I was a super bright kid who always planned to be a doctor. Reading at 3, advanced classes, offers to skip grades (I never did because I was shy and dorky and didn’t want to alienate myself further). I have a certificate from the state for getting every question right on one of those standardized tests, lol. So imagine my surprise when I got to college and tanked, big time. Now I know it’s because I couldn’t study. I never learned how, because until then things came naturally to me. By the time I adjusted my style, I was already firmly rooted in mediocrity. I had the potential to do well, but I’d lost my drive because I wasn’t going to be a doctor and I had no plan B.
I muddled along and became pretty depressed. I took 2 years off, got married and had a baby. I went back to school and did MUCH better. Then came another monkey wrench. I thought I might be a science teacher, so I started taking education classes. Educational psychology was fascinating but my heart wasn’t in the rest. Going into classrooms clinched it- I’m no science teacher. shudder I withdrew from those classes and focused on finishing my bio degree. I only had one last class, an independent study about Parkinson’s disease and stem cells. No worries. Until I find out that I couldn’t drop those education classes because it was too late in the semester. I appealed to the dean and they said ok, but it’s all or nothing. I couldn’t keep my A in my independent study and graduate- I had to keep the classes as F’s or drop everything, even the A. So I kept the F’s. It made me angry but since I wasn’t worried about med school anymore I let it go.
I worked in unrelated jobs for a few years, trying to ignore that feeling. You all know what I mean. A few years ago I wandered over to check on the possibility of maybe going to grad school, and ended up getting an MPH. I learned a lot, had a good time, did some exciting things. It gave my confidence a big boost and I liked it very much but didn’t scratch that itch. It was sort of like what I want to do, but not really. I understand that I might not get into medical school, but I have to try.
So here’s where I am.
Challenges:
I’m 35, married, with 4 kids (12, 5, 5, 5 months)
I work full time (I wanted to shadow/volunteer since I was unemployed, they offered me a job. Not complaining, but I still need to shadow/volunteer and now I have less free time)
My undergrad GPA is abysmal after adding mediocre grades to a block of I/F’s.
It’s been 10 years since I graduated so all of my classes are older than that.
I’m terrified. It’s not just me and my dream, I have a family to think about.
Advantages:
I want to, and I have the ability.
100% supportive husband
I know that some people have succeeded with a family, or with a bad undergrad gpa, or starting over after being out of school… but has anyone done it with ALL of those things going on? HOW?
- MoreCoffee Said:
Advantages:
I want to, and I have the ability.
100% supportive husband
I know that some people have succeeded with a family, or with a bad undergrad gpa, or starting over after being out of school... but has anyone done it with ALL of those things going on? HOW?
Rule 1: Take a Breath
Rule 10: Beware of FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.
Anyone with the screen name of morecoffee deserves a supportive, nurturing response (not my normal near mid-night cranky postings).
The winds and the waters have etched their path hillside. In true Buddhist fashion the past cannot be changed and therefore not considered. Focusing on it and your past GPA is paddling against water that has already flowed past. It may sound trite but it the ancient Zen Buddhist adage remains true: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
What should be considered is what you are considering: 10 to 15 years of your life in medical education and training. If you are considering this total in time, money, and effort, then perhaps a few years in a part-time post-bacc to redo your horrible science grades may be in order. Informal post-bacc (DIY), a formal program, a SMP , etc, all present possibilities to show what you can do NOW!
I always stress two things to those who worry that past GPA and grade baggage can never be overcome. When a GPA is sliced and diced it shows up as
original undergraduate (science/BCMP and non-science)
post-bacc (science/BCMP and non-science)
above cumulative (science/BCMP and non-science)
graduate (science/BCMP and non-science)
overall cumulative
Adcoms will see a separate post-bacc GPA and that may show a vast improvement
You have a further possibility with the application mechanics of Osteopathic/DO. Here if you repeat a course, only the latest grade is used in a GPA calculation. Imagine if you retake those science classes with 'F' and now have A's.
Do you possibilities on this journey now? Is it worth investigating the next step?
And if I was incoherent or otherwise off the wall in this posting its likely because I needed more coffee
“I’ll skip the beginning. I was a super bright kid who always planned to be a doctor. Reading at 3, advanced classes, offers to skip grades (I never did because I was shy and dorky and didn’t want to alienate myself further). I have a certificate from the state for getting every question right on one of those standardized tests, lol. So imagine my surprise when I got to college and tanked, big time. Now I know it’s because I couldn’t study. I never learned how, because until then things came naturally to me. By the time I adjusted my style, I was already firmly rooted in mediocrity. I had the potential to do well, but I’d lost my drive because I wasn’t going to be a doctor and I had no plan B”.
This is a very good description of me. I ended up salvaging my final year when I figured out how to study and somehow managed to get accepted into an MBA program - my plan B pulled out of a hat at the 11th hour. I did OK in my MBA and from there I had a good career but it just wasn’t quite what I wanted.
I took a bunch of online courses at one point (both business related and sciences) and dropped them after the deadline so I ended up with a whole bunch of W/F’s.
Then I decided to really try and did an informal postbacc. As Gonnif says, your grades a broken out into different categories so the ad comms saw the differences in my grades. I will be attending a DO school in the fall. Your education courses will be separated from your science courses. Then if you do a post bacc that will be separate. Your graduate studies will be separate. You can address the education courses in your personal statement - just explain concisely and don’t make excuses.
I don’t have a family but I think it is doable as long as you have support on the homefront.
Lynda
Thanks for your responses.
Fear and uncertainty are holding me while doubt is giving me a massive wedgie, or so it seems. I’m feeling a little better about it all today.
Is there any easy way for me to break down my grades the way that adcoms will, so I can get a better idea of what I’m working with?
Hi, keep going for your goal!
You asked how to break down your grades the way AdComs will. I’m no genius at this, but from Gonnif’s listing of the categories, I suggest you just take out all your college transcripts (or order them from the colleges if necessary).
Make a table or use a spreadsheet program (Excel or free downloadable Open Office 3.3).
Do this separately for each of Gonnif’s categories (undergraduate; post-graduate / post-bacc, graduate degree etc.)
When listing the courses, note whether each one was a science course, or all other non-science courses.
List everything you took under these column headings:
(1) The Course Name
(2) Science or Non-Science?
(3) Each course’s Number of Credit Hours (as semester or quarter hours and use a formula to make common denominators if your various schools used both semester and quarters. Pick one and use it throughout).
(4) Your grade on the 4-point scale.
(5) Multiply each grade X its credit hours into the right column.
Then total the right column #5, and divide by the total number of credit hours in column #3.
That is your GPA for that phase, such as undergraduate, or post-bacc, etc.
Repeat that for all the categories Gonnif listed.
Then find the grandtotal by adding all the subtotals in the right column and dividing by the grand total of all hours (semester or quarter-credit hours). There you have the individual and cumulative breakdown.
At the end, calculate your GPA for the same subtotals for these breakdowns:
(A) All science courses, and all non-science courses at each of Gonnif’s categories.
(B) Then do the averages for all those in each of Gonnif’s categories,
© Finally, calculate one grand cumulative science GPA and one grand cumulative non-science GPA.
Does this help?
Thank you! I didn’t realize so much time had passed since I last checked this thread, lol. I’ll see what sense I can make out of my transcripts.