I have been contemplating the best approach for getting into medical school. I think I have something solid now, but worry/doubt is starting to creep in. I’m scared of making the wrong choices, so hopefully I can bounce some ideas off of you.
For many reasons, some sound and some not, my academic history is weak. Here are my stats:
General Ed - Community College, 1997-2001
Upper Division Computer Science Electives, BS in Computer Science, completed at University of Phoenix Sacramento Campus, 2001-2003
Overall GPA 3.43
I have been working full time with the same employer through out college to present.
Just started a clinic volunteer position at the local VA hospital (on the wait list for a few others).
Missing all of the Science Pre-Reqs for Med School
So…I know University of Phoenix puts me at a HUGE disadvantage…wish I hadn’t have done it, but I can’t change the past obviously. I do think that I can point out some positives about it in my essays, explain the poor choice in school and that only my CS electives were taken there. I also thought about getting a second bachelors in Bio, but all of the 4 year universities I have looked into have cut that program. MS programs require science prerequisites to be met before hand, which is open university only. I am told by the school advisors that it is near impossible to get a class right now as open university, since the schools are heavily impacted. So I am thinking my best route is a formal post-bac program.
Do you think the post-bac program will be enough to lift concerns about my previous academic history (namely UoP)? Am I even likely to get into a post-bac program? Any advice on how to turn this all around?
First off, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Are you qualified to get into medical school now? No. Your degree isn’t strong enough (the UoP issue) and you lack the prerequisites.
But don’t take that to mean more than it does. It means you’re not qualified to get into medical school now. It doesn’t mean that you can’t get into medical school eventually. It’s like climbing a 10’ wall. Can you jump over that? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean you’ll never get over. It just means you need to build a stair case. Build the first step and you can get further than now. Take the next step and you can get even further.
I’m not in medical school yet. I started a rather high-risk plan 10 year plan when I was 24. It looked like this.
Start -> MS program -> PhD program -> finish pre-reqs -> MD/DO program
A lot of people can get into medical school eventually- it’s just a matter of time and money. I accepted that it would take me ~10 years and ~$150k in loans to get there. But I felt I could pull off my plan and I got my fiancee’s endorsement. So far, it’s working. Back when I was at START, and looking for MS or post-bacc programs, I remember seeing a cool-sounding program at Tulane: PhD in Tropical Medicine. I thought two things. One, holy shit, that sounds awesome. Two, with my credentials they’d never even give my application a whiff. And I couldn’t blame them either; my undergrad GPA was a 2.59.
That was four years ago and a lot of stuff happened since then. I applied last winter and began classes in August.
As I said at the beginning- it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Circumstances change. Opportunities arise. What you need to do is position yourself for them.
So stop focusing on whether you can ever get into medical school. It’s like Christopher Columbus wondering what goods he’ll trade in India before he’s even found a ship. Instead, what opportunities are available to you now? Are you near any local colleges, community, 4-year, whatever? Do you have stable employment doing what you’re doing now? Is there any way to take night/weekend classes?
How did you get into a Masters Program with a low GPA? Mine is 2.42. Any tips would be helpful.
I’ll be honest that there was both a process as well as fortuitous circumstances involved.
- When I say my GPA is 2.59, that's the AMCAS calculation with no grade replacement. It's actually a 2.92 with grade replacement, which graduate schools allow for. I tend to say 2.59 on this board, though, because most people are talking about GPAs in AMCAS terms.
- Destroyed the GRE General. 1450/1600 Overall, 6/6 Writing. That was 99th percentile.
- I lived in NJ, so within 8 hours of me was every school from Boston through Washington DC. I was willing to relocate to a nearby area of the country, so I had tons and tons of options.
- I had a number of unique opportunites (volunteerism and leadership), so I had things to build a personal statement around.
- I went to a school that takes lots and lots and lots of students. In my position I decided not to be picky.
- Good letters of recommendation. I had a hard time in undergrad but a few profs I was friendly with knew my talents well. I'm told their recommendations were strong.
- The school I was accepted to was willing to accept me on a probationary basis; I had to get a 3.0 in my first semester. Obviously I did.
Also, it wasn't a fluke that I got in. Two other MS programs I was interested in (George Mason, U of SC) both seemed on the verge of accepting me but later expressed regret they couldn't due to funding losses: public schools in conservative anti-spending states. This was in Spring/Summer 2010. I was also waitlisted by an SMP at Tulane: number sixty-something on the second waitlist for a program with, IIRC, forty-something seats.
The program I got into was very good, not great, but certainly not poor. It has a lot of students because there's a large biotech sector in its city. I got in, killed academically and got some good research experience. When it came time to apply for PhD programs I wasn't applying with my undergrad record. I was applying with a bright shiny graduate record with recs, experience, and a good grad GPA.
Thanks! I guess I was getting overwhelmed trying to figure out even my first step. Since I have written this post, I did actually find a program for 2nd Bachelor at USF (private but reputable school). If accepted, I can get a 2nd bachelors in Biology.
I know it isn’t usually recommended to do a 2nd Bachelor degree, but I think the fact that my first is from University of Phoenix has little chance of recovering from, even with a Post-Bacc. I even think it will be difficult to get into the Post-Bacc with my UOP degree.
So…I am in the process of completing my transfer application for USF for Spring Admission. Their curriculum requirements for Bio Majors is near identical to Pre Med requirements, and they seem to have a pretty supportive Pre-Med committee.
So, one-foot-in-front-of-the- other, here I go. 
- Loganberry76 Said:
I know it isn't usually recommended to do a 2nd Bachelor degree, but I think the fact that my first is from University of Phoenix has little chance of recovering from, even with a Post-Bacc. I even think it will be difficult to get into the Post-Bacc with my UOP degree.
So...I am in the process of completing my transfer application for USF for Spring Admission. Their curriculum requirements for Bio Majors is near identical to Pre Med requirements, and they seem to have a pretty supportive Pre-Med committee.
So, one-foot-in-front-of-the- other, here I go.
Your University of Phoenix degree, IMO, isn't something to worry about as much as you are. If you performed poorly in that degree, then that would be an issue. But you didn't. The issue isn't that it'll hold you back. The issue is that it's not going to get you anywhere. If you get a 2nd BS in Biology, I think that would negate the issue. It's like the bartending course I took a few years ago. Is it getting me anywhere? No, but it's not going to cause me problems either. Of course it's also not going into the AMCAS system, so there's that too.
Of course, I'm not on an ADCOM. So take my advice with the appropriate measure of iodized salt.
As for getting into the program, do you currently have a job paying the bills? If so, that helps out quite a bit. Nearly all colleges (all public colleges, at least) will let any Joe register for classes- you just usually need to pay at a higher rate and you're dead last in line to register. If you don't get in, take some classes and kill them. Get to know the profs teaching them. And then apply again in the next cycle. You could also consider applying to your local community college. This is less preferable, but most community colleges have infrastructure in place to help you transition to a four-year program at the end. Take some gen eds and intro bio. ADCOMs prefer to see your base requirements (including bio courses) not taken in a CC setting, but you can negate this by taking upper division courses as a four year school later. I can't imagine an ADCOM making hay over your BIO-201 being from a CC when you have multiple 300/400 level courses at a regular university.