Hello Old Pre-meds!
Hope everyone is doing well! I want to thank you for putting together a great site, with inspiring journals and supportive forums.
After scouring your forums and journals for two-years, I would like to participate actively in the community. As a new member I do not have much to contribute, but hopefully other newbies can learn from those who answer my questions. I would like to ask for you to share your sincere thoughts, advice and experiences.
Let me begin by introducing myself. I’m a University of Michigan graduate. I completed my studies in 2011. I was a Sociology and Business major with a 2.8 cumulative GPA. I worked full-time to support myself all throughout my time at the university and unfortunately my gap poorly reflects that. Upon graduation I began my career working in marketing and sales for a medical device manufacturer. After three months an industrial supply-chain multi-conglomerate recruited me. I was employed as a technical representative for one year before being promoted to management, a position that I currently hold. What started as a means to be responsible for my college loans turned out to be a rewarding and rich career. However, my focus and career plans have always remained elsewhere.
From my time as a high school student I have always been involved in volunteer activities dealing with hospitals. In high school I created a non-profit computer camp for underprivileged youth that included a segment on medical recording software. Part of the camp included my outreach to different professors and other professionals to volunteer their time in leading our summer camp. That exposure allowed me to work closely with many doctors and hospital administrators. In college I worked very intimately for a non-profit to promote community outreach and fundraising events for pediatric rehabilitation programs. Working with the rehabilitation programs and medical personal I began to realize my passion for that line of work.
I hope to begin graduate work that would allow for me to succeed in the medical profession. The program I’m interested in is referred to as a career-changing Post-Baccalaureate. The schools that I’ve been in close contact with have high rates of students matriculating into medical schools, as well as interesting clinical experience working with at-risk clinics across the globe.
I know my undergraduate GPA is not by any means a proper reflection of one qualified for the strenuous and highly competitive field of medicine. Financially I am much more comfortable then I was as an undergrad. When I return to school I plan to focus solely on my Post-bac, which will equate to an additional 40+ hours/week towards academics that I could not have as an undergrad.
Here is where I need your help Old Premeds. Will my new Post-bac GPA be weighted more so than my undergraduate GPA? What are your general experiences and thoughts on formal Post-bac graduates? Is this journey plausible given my weak undergraduate GPA of B- average? How favorably do medical schools view career success?
Please advise.
Best regards,
EYP,
Your journey is very plausible, possible, and doable. I had a ug of 3.0, a post bacc of 3.9 and was blessed with multiple acceptances last year. I did an “informal post bacc” for two reasons. 1) I was able to make my own schedule which turned out faster than the formal program(no lag year) 2) I saved a tremendous amount of money by doing my informal post bacc through my state university v. the “fancy” post bacc at the expensive private university. My recommendation is to investigate both options, weigh pros and cons and GET STARTED! The biggest disadvantage was that my state u pre-med advisor would not even schedule an appt with me because of my low ug GPA, so I had to do a bit of research on the fly and probably spent more energy on certain things that would have been much easier via a formal programs support. I have/had a great physician mentor who guided me throughout. His guidance was/is invaluable. If you do not already have a mentor I recommend connecting with one.
My leadership and upper management experience was looked upon positively at all of my interviews and gave me a lot to talk about. The key question was always, why did you give this all up to be a physician. Look into shadowing/research/volunt eer opportunities that will fuel your passion for this journey. You want experiences that will be more than “look good on a CV”, but things you are passionate about, you will get more out of the experience, and it will show in your future personal statement and interviews. Best of Luck, Cheers.
Not only what celt said, but your undergrad was not “hard science” heavy, so your cGPA will skyrocket in your postbacc! Just keep those grades up.
i meant sGPA 
Thank you both for your honesty. This community continues to motivate me!