Ok I am going to try to make this thing brief. I am 29yr old and have decided, after much debate to become a MD. Problem is that I did not do great in college. I was a teen mom, worked 40+ hours a week and just wanted to get through college to give my son a better life. I did not know what I wanted to do so I just got by with 2.5gpa and a BS in Justice Studies. a husband and 3 kids later I have decided that when my youngest goes to school in 2 1/2 years that I want to do something that I have always wanted to do. I have taken most of the preq. but will definitely need to take them all over and I have not taken the MCAT. I did work in an emergency work in Phx for 4 years while going to school. I have a lot of experience w/ the medical field with my kids and pregnancies because of illnesses, diseases and numerous long stints in various hospitals and treatment for my kids at home. Money and time are not issues. My dh is a professional athlete who will be retiring and staying home with the kids while I search for my higher calling 
I want to know how do I get started. Should go for a 2nd undergrad degree since my gpa SUCKS, should I get a Masters? I know I need to retake the preques and kick BUTT on the MCAT. I am willing to go ANY medical school that will accept me. Any and ALL advise, even the bad stuff, will be GREATLY appreciated.HELPPPPPPPP!!!
Hey Mari,
Since I am in the process of taking my pre-reqs you should take my advice for what it is worth. A couple of questions first. When will your husband be retiring? How old are your med school pre-reqs and why will you need to retake them? Given what you have said, my suggestion is that since you have a 2.5 yr timeline before you can/will go to med school is to start out by re-taking your pre-reqs first with an plan for getting another undergrad degree. If you take things in the usual sequence this should take 2 years if you go during regular term. I.e. gen biol 1 and gen chem 1 and maybe physics 1 first fall semester, gen biol 2 and gen chem 2 (physics 2) first spring semester; and organic 1 (physics 1? maybe MCAT prep) second fall semester, organic 2 (physics 2, maybe MCAT in April) second spring semester. Then apply for med school admissions. If you can go to school full time you can add some additional classes to your schedule. This will help boost your GPA. Providing of course that you study hard and get good grades. In that glide year between applying and waiting you can take more classes to further your progression to a new degree, help prepare you for med school, and also boost your GPA more. You also have an opportunity to retake the MCAT and boost your scores if needed (but you won’t because your going to study like a fiend the first time and crush it right? ) If there are no takers in the meantime, continue with classes to progress towards a new degree and a better GPA and rinse and repeat. If you are in a city with a University that has a formal post Bac program, I would consider that. Particularly the ones that have good reps for having their students get into med school. I would probably not get a masters degree because admissions folks seem not to give them much weight in considering you for admission. There are a few out there who are “linked” with certain med schools but that limits your options there after. Another thing to consider is use one of the consultants that are advertising/linked with OPM. Somebody like that could really help you evaluate your situation and make a concrete plan to get in. What do think folks? More thoughts?
Good luck and welcome Mari!
Damon,
Thanks for that advise. My dh is set to retire at the end of this contract which is in 2 years, but …that is what he said 2 years ago. So I am crossing my fingers with that situation. I think the 2nd degree thing is a great idea. I will start to look into it. I am taking the prereps again for the MCAT and to refresh my brain b/c is has been 7-9 years since I took my first college science class. I also figured that I had enough time to really LEARN the stuff and not just get a grade.
Mari