Hey everyone,
I have been lurking around here for a few weeks now and reading some really inspiring stories, which has been a blessing because most of my friends and family think I am crazy for wanting to go back to school and start a whole new career at 31. I have a BA and MA in sociology and have spent the last couple of years in education (high school and higher education) teaching sociology, but that calling to practice medicine has always been there and the older I get the louder that calling gets.
My main obstacle to getting into med school is that my undergrad GPA was a 3.1 however once all attempts are included it drops to a 2.9, but the bright side is that I have not taken any of the pre-med classes so I am planning to do well in all these classes. I hope that doing well in the pre-reqs, grad school gpa of 3.9, a solid MCAT score, and 2 years of volunteering at a low income clinic is enough to at least get me some interviews. When thinking about med school my biggest fear always was that I spend all this time (about 2.5 years) and I get denied everywhere because of my low UG gpa, but now my biggest fear is looking back 2.5 years from now and wishing that I would have given it my best shot.
Welcome, welcome. As you know from lurking, you’re in the right place. It sounds like you’re doing everything you can to get yourself in good shape for applying. 3.1 isn’t insurmountable if you can bring it up with pre-reqs, plus your your sGPA will be high if you do well.
Ignore the skeptics and pursue your dream. Are you planning a DIY post-bac or a formal one? Depending on what you want, it might not be too late to get into formal one for fall. Personally, I took 2 years to do mine and thought that was perfect because it allowed for solid shadowing and volunteering while ensuring that I had enough time to actually do well in my classes and prep for the MCAT.
Tallulah,
I will be doing a DIY at my local state university (FIU) because the only formal program I could find near me was at University of Miami and the price was just too high.