Hi everyone! I stumbled onto this site by accident and it’s been very inspirational. I’ve been luring for a while but now I need a little helep. I’m 27 yrs old and graduated in '03 with a degree in History and minor in Bio. My GPA was uhhh not the greatest at 2.5. My pre-med reqs are complete… was pre-med in colllege but didn’t apply for obvious reasons. Since I graduated I’ve been working in a non-medical field but I really want to be a doctor. I’m looking into applying to post-bac programs but I’m afraid my current GPA won’t be good enough and I’m feeling like at 27 I’m too old to be thinking about med school. Any suggestions? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
mddreamer, you and I are in the exact same boat. I took my pre-reqs but got my degree in business administration in May 2004. I’ve been in the business world ever since.
I had the same concerns as you do about the poor pre-req GPA. The dean of admissions at a local medical school told me not to worry too much. He said to re-take the pre-reqs and just make sure to do really well in them the second time around.
Our old grades (the bad ones) will be included in the overall science GPA, but the medical school admissions board will make sure to notice the vast improvement on the re-takes. So we can’t exactly hide from our old grades, but we can prove that we are wiser and/or more disciplined the second time around by making good grades.
The dean also expressed that diversity is good. Everybody on this website brings diversity to a pre-med / med crowd, as we have taken non-traditional routes to get to the medical field.
I hope all of this makes sense and is not too jumbled. The whole point of my novel is to let you know that second chances are available. Don’t fret!
Judith- Would you suggest re-taking the pre-req’s at CC or at an extension instead of a post-bac??
My 2 cents…
You need to come away from taking your pre-req’s with very good grades (think 4.0) and with an understanding of the material that will allow you to kick some ass on the MCAT. Take the classes where you think both of these goals will be accomplished.
Good luck,
Tim
I believe most people will tell you to go the extension, i.e. University route over the CC. It will still be considered “post-bacc” since it will have been completed AFTER your B.A./B.S… If I were you, I wouldn’t get caught up on thinking that a formal or “official-looking” type of program will give you a better shot.
I can sympathize with your GPA situation… believe it or not, mine was a little WORSE! 
It’s just nice to know all of the people who have overcome from similar circumstances. You should do a search for CC vs 4 year on here to get a diverse set of opinions and keep in mind that they are OPINIONS, as is mine right now. In the end, you have to do what works for YOU… and that’s both academically and financially. Doing your pre-reqs over at a CC does mean you will be expected to maintain as close to a 4.0 as possible, but with an improved GPA you can qualify for special master’s programs, get the extra reinforcement you need - content-wise - for the MCAT and buy extra time for you to build your extra-curricular resume. It should take only 2 years or so, but as everyone echoes on this site: This race is a marathon not a sprint!
Good Luck
Thanks Chrystie! Just a little curious -you say your GPA was a little worse than mine- if you don’t mind asking are you in med school now or in the process still?
I am definitely still in the process. I’m taking each step of the way slow and deliberate. Since I’m approaching everything with the “second time around” mentality it helps me to make sure that I plan my course of action a little better. For example, I’ve called each school that I am interested in attending to ask them whether or not they will accept pre-req coursework taken at the CC level. For each school that doesn’t, I had to determine if this was a place that was high on my priority list. If it was then I had to ask myself if I was willing to pay the extra money and make the sacrifice to attend the local 4-yr.
Even though I’m a few years away from even applying I’ve told myself that each day I need to something to help me become one step closer to achieving my dream - whether that means I have to check the OPM site, contact dean of adm, make apt to shadow docs, read up on the state of healthcare in the U.S, etc.
Good luck with your journey - if God can give me a second chance, then anyone can make an academic “comeback” 