I graduated school over 2 years ago after struggled in undergrad. I graduated with a low GPA: ~2.4 and another issue was that I majored in Biology so I’ve taken all the prerequisites but did average or poorly in them. I didn’t take my studies seriously and now I’m trying to combat the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I’ve been volunteering at a medical and it’s corresponding hospital since 2013. I slowly started taking classes: microbiology, biochemistry and genetics. I received 2 As and 1 B+. I’m just wondering if I should continue on the path of retaking prerequisites or try to get into a hard science master’s program. If anyone has advice, that would really help. I feel like I’m going at this without a concrete plan and I need one.
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The osteopathic route offers grade replacement that can help you bring your GPA up quicker. Unfortunately the undergrad GPA that is typically part of the first steps of “screening” does not include grad work, though your grad work will show up on your app. It might help to retake the prereqs to show yourself and the ADCOMs that you can handle the rigor of a science course load. It may also be wise to either look into a linked post-bacc program (with ties to a med school) or a follow up SMP program that includes medical school type courses (after bringing up your GPA). I don’t know the entry requirements for either of the 2 routes but some programs are designed for people in your situation (I haven’t done much research on them). AAMC offers help searching for programs here: https://services.aamc.org/postbac/
I don’t think there’s a short path to your GPA repair. Your plan should center around not only bringing up the GPA but also demonstrating that you wouldn’t be an academic gamble if accepted to med school.
ADCOMs at some schools do appreciate a recent upward trend in GPA when looking at an academic record. You should definitely be able to explain your undergrad record and how you’ve changed to overcome the issues that led to a low gpa.