Hello everyone! I am a new college grad (May 18, 2008) and my goal is to go to medical school to become a psychiatrist. During my undergraduate years I did not do well in my science courses, due to being diagnosed with a serious disorder the summer of my junior year. From that point on I have been on a strong medication to try to give me pain relief for a few years. Due to this I will graduate with a cumulative GPA of 2.8. I have already taken the MCAT twice and did not do well. I do not feel that this is because I am not capable but more of my health and inability to focus. I have applied to a few post-bac programs in my home state but I have not had much luck due to my low GPA. Should I continue or just give up? I have read about do it yourself post-bac programs…is that basically receiving another BA/BS degree or is that enrolling in a continuing Ed program?
Thank you for your help
with the story you present it is really tough to be encouraging. Has your health improved? Can you focus now more than you could before? I think you will need decent MCAT and a better GPA to have a shot. I will never say never, but there needs to be some improvement somewhere.
Remember too, if you do get in, you will be embarking on a course of training that requires a lot of concentration and is also physically demanding. To attempt it with a learning dissability (poor concentration) and poor health is to start with two strikes against you.
can it be done? probably - would it be tough? yes! It’s a struggle without that.
if you feel like conditions have improved for you and you want it bad enough - then come up with a plan to retake some of the science you did poor in and start to boost the gpa… sounds like a long road…but worth it if it really is your passion.
OK lets focus here…
2.8 with poor science grades? Whats the Sci GPA?
Poor MCAT how Poor?
2.8 and 22 or better there is a shot to get into one of the Caribbean 4 schools
SGU,SABA, ROSS and AUC, these schools are on the California list and you can be licensed in all 50 states.
There is federal aid at 3 of the schools
I know this sounds contrary to what some premeds tell others to do,
but I went to a Caribbean school in Year 4 now. It can work if you are dedicated and focused. It is not a dead end as some think. They are just misinformed.
Other then that you need to get to a Post bac to go to a US medical school I think it would be the best, second best is to do another degree either one may be hard to overcome the poor Science grades depending on how bad.
OMD here overcame a poor GPA and now is a practicing DO physician.
I had difficulties as well ( still do at times LOL)
If you want it bad enough you can do it one way or another.
Good Luck.
If the disability is ADHD related, do a search on the posts, there you will find some success stories. Either way, as long as you believe you can focus and fully function in a competitive academic setting with minimal reasonable (as I have been told) accomodations, then you’ll do fine.
I opted for the second bachelor’s to erase the memory of my first - It was really brutal. But I think if you are unsuccessful with the post-bac and you are determined on a US school, then a do-it-yourself program at a University (as opposed to CC) will be best for you.
Hope that helps!
- KAustin2 Said:
Thank you for your help
KAustin2, you can recover from a 2.8 GPA. If you can get it over 3.0 by retaking some courses, especially science courses, and get an MCAT into the mid-20s you will be competitive at some schools. Note that osteopathic schools let you replace bad old grades with good new ones, but keep in mind your entire transcript is still available for their scrutiny, and your MCATs stay on your record so next time around be sure to do a few practice exams or take a Kaplan class and get that score as high as you can humanly or inhumanly achieve.
Post-baccalaureate programs are simply a way to re-take the 4 required science courses in a year or two and get a nice committee letter. You can also take the same courses on an a la carte basis from any reasonable 4-year university. You probably want to see if you can find a way to deal with this disorder before you invest a lot of time and money in this effort. Just as a suggestion, and not knowing anything about your condition or what you've tried, perhaps you can look into alternative treatment modalities such as acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, reiki, and so forth, just see if a combination of one or several of these will get you on an even keel so that you can concentrate on your course work. Best of luck and know that in the long term, your experiences will make you an even better doctor.