(URM) I need help drawing a comeback plan for a decent med school hopefully...?

[OREdwardsJR]

I go to an unknown state school. I didn't care about my GPA and really did some damage to it. I won't go into the typical life story but I'll just give you the numbers


9 W's (none because they were challenging, I was just immature)

After this semester (14 hours w/ Chem 1, I'm sure I'm going to pull out a 4.0) my gpa will be 3.01. BUT, including the retaken courses I will have a 2.45. I'll be sitting at 68 attempted hours with 59 passed hours. At the minimum, I'll be volunteering this summer while taking Gen Chem II and I'll be a resident assistant while taking Organic Chem I in the Fall.


Seriously SDN, I'm willing to take as many extra classes as needed or go to graduate school or SMP or whatever to get into a school like Univeristy of Florida. I'm black, if I weren't then I don't think I would have any shot at all, so I'm hoping that will help me make it.

Help me out SDN.

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[theseeker4]

I go to an unknown state school. I didn't care about my GPA and really did some damage to it. I won't go into the typical life story but I'll just give you the numbers


9 W's (none because they were challenging, I was just immature)

After this semester (14 hours w/ Chem 1, I'm sure I'm going to pull out a 4.0) my gpa will be 3.01. BUT, including the retaken courses I will have a 2.45. I'll be sitting at 68 attempted hours with 59 passed hours. At the minimum, I'll be volunteering this summer while taking Gen Chem II and I'll be a resident assistant while taking Organic Chem I in the Fall.


Seriously SDN, I'm willing to take as many extra classes as needed or go to graduate school or SMP or whatever to get into a school like Univeristy of Florida. I'm black, if I weren't then I don't think I would have any shot at all, so I'm hoping that will help me make it.

Help me out SDN.

Keep going the way you are. Keep getting 4.0 semesters. You might need to wait until after all your senior year classes are done to apply, but you should get your GPA up to a competitive range by then. Certainly for DO, probably for many MD schools as well.

Is it possible to get any of your failing grades retroactively withdrawn? Go to the department heads, the deans, etc. with the best (truthful) excuse you can and see if you can get some F's changed to W's. That would help you immensely for MD purposes, and worst case they will say no, you can't change them to W's.

Focus on grades first a foremost. Worry about the MCAT and EC's once you have a well-established habit of getting all A's. If any EC's start to hurt your GPA, drop them immediately. Other than that, sounds like you corrected the problems you were having with your focus/maturity/etc. and you are on the right track.

 

[OREdwardsJR]

Keep going the way you are. Keep getting 4.0 semesters. You might need to wait until after all your senior year classes are done to apply, but you should get your GPA up to a competitive range by then. Certainly for DO, probably for many MD schools as well.

Is it possible to get any of your failing grades retroactively withdrawn? Go to the department heads, the deans, etc. with the best (truthful) excuse you can and see if you can get some F's changed to W's. That would help you immensely for MD purposes, and worst case they will say no, you can't change them to W's.

Focus on grades first a foremost. Worry about the MCAT and EC's once you have a well-established habit of getting all A's. If any EC's start to hurt your GPA, drop them immediately. Other than that, sounds like you corrected the problems you were having with your focus/maturity/etc. and you are on the right track.

I know one should be thankful to be able to become a physician by any means necessary but candidly speaking I don't want to go to DO unless I HAVE to. Matter of fact, I want to get to at least a mid-tier MD school which is why I'm willing to do whatever is necessary.

I'm digging up what I can find now, at my school, for any type of grade forgiveness. That would help IMMENSELY but I doubt they'll allow it since immaturity is my only excuse seriously. Thanks for the reply.

Any more ideas SDN? I'm trying to draw out a concrete plan instead of just going with the flow as I have in the past.

 

[theseeker4]

I know one should be thankful to be able to become a physician by any means necessary but candidly speaking I don't want to go to DO unless I HAVE to. Matter of fact, I want to get to at least a mid-tier MD school which is why I'm willing to do whatever is necessary.

I'm digging up what I can find now, at my school, for any type of grade forgiveness. That would help IMMENSELY but I doubt they'll allow it since immaturity is my only excuse seriously. Thanks for the reply.

Any more ideas SDN? I'm trying to draw out a concrete plan instead of just going with the flow as I have in the past.

Well the good thing is the flow is currently working for you, GPA wise. Having a plan is great, but be sure to be flexible.

Ignoring grade replacement then, you have 68 credits at 2.45. I assume your science is similar (though if it is higher, that will help you). Another 70 credits (assuming you need around that many for graduation) puts you at a 3.24. This with a decent MCAT score will give you a good shot at SMP admission, which is probably the most likely way to gain admission to a mid-tier + med school. Alternatively, you could apply directly for MD schools, which AMCAS tells me you would have >80% chance at acceptance with a 30+ MCAT. This, importantly, includes low-tier and historically black med schools, so the percentage would probably be lower if you exclude those from your target.

Another year of undergrad in a post-bac or delayed graduation would be able to bump you up to a 3.37 GPA, which I would doubt would help you as much as an SMP would.

If I were you, I would continue to take the classes toward your major, + the pre-reqs (obviously) + as many upper-level science courses as you can fit in and get A's in. Boosting your science GPA will help you a lot, and increase a lot faster than your GPA as a whole. Fit in some research (a year or two would be great), volunteering, shadowing, tutoring, and any other EC's you can get in without hurting your GPA. Take the MCAT early enough for it to be released when SMP's start taking applications. Apply for SMP's and take the best one with good linkage to a med school that you can get into. Do well in the SMP and you should be golden for med school admission.