Want to do med school, but have horrible GPA. What is a realistic timeline when I could start?

[flyingalamo]

As the title says, my GPA is crap. It's in the 2.0-2.4 range. No good reason, just didn't care about grades and school in undergrad. Now I'm 27, been out of school for 2+ years.

Wondering what I'll have to do to make med school possible?

What age will be a realistic starting point?

Is it worth it at that age (for those of you who have or are currently there)?

Thanks.

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[DSM_302.0]

Welcome! There are lots of threads I'd recommend you read through here on this site. It's definitely possible, but many factors go into getting into med school. Many have done the work to make it possible, but it will take years, and lots of very focused work to make it possible because your GPA is basically a deal-breaker for medical school as it is. Did you do your prereqs yet? If not, you'll need to ace them to pull it up as much as you can. If you already have, you can consider a 'grade repair' post-bac to redo lots of the science coursework and get better grades (and keep in mind, bad grades are never replaced for med school applicants, so a C in chem and then an A in chem is still just a B average at 3.0)

Like I said, your GPA is not competitive for medical school. Check out this grid:
https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

Let's say you can get your GPA up to a 2.59 after taking all your pre-reqs (this could be very difficult to do. After a 3.8 taking all my premed requirements across 35 units and four years in a DIY postbac, my cumulative GPA only went from a 3.57 to a 3.63). Let's also assume you can get a solid MCAT, a 506-509. At this point, numbers in the chart above say you have a 16% chance of getting into any medical school. So yes, this is possible! But you can see, odds are not in your favor, unfortunately.

If you live in Texas, they have a fresh start program where they don't consider grades from over a decade ago in your GPA.

I'm 31 and excited to be applying now. It's been a real slog, though!

Good luck!

 

[mk04447]

I'll be 50 when I can hang a shingle on my own. Hasn't been fun, but I think it will be worth it. Just depends how much and what you're willing to sacrifice. It won't be easy and you may end up doing a lot for rejection.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

As the title says, my GPA is crap. It's in the 2.0-2.4 range. No good reason, just didn't care about grades and school in undergrad. Now I'm 27, been out of school for 2+ years.

Wondering what I'll have to do to make med school possible?

What age will be a realistic starting point?

Is it worth it at that age (for those of you who have or are currently there)?

Thanks.

How many units down the hole are you? How much science have you taken?

The most likely case scenario is you won't get into medical school even with massive effort and years of work, so you need to prepare for that. If you choose to still move forward, you need to find a way to at least hit a 3.0 on all GPA calculations to be taken seriously and have an MCAT above average.

 

[workaholic181]

It's probably been done but honestly man it's going to be really, really hard and take years. You're looking at years of taking college courses to get your GPA up or prove that the student you used to be is not who you are now. It's gonna be expensive and take a staggering level of commitment. Only you can decide if it's worth it, just know going in it's gonna be more taxing than you think.

 

[de Ribas]

As the title says, my GPA is crap. It's in the 2.0-2.4 range. No good reason, just didn't care about grades and school in undergrad. Now I'm 27, been out of school for 2+ years.

Wondering what I'll have to do to make med school possible?

What age will be a realistic starting point?

Is it worth it at that age (for those of you who have or are currently there)?

Thanks.

It is definitely possible. It all comes down to your passion and what you are willing to do to become a doctor.

Otherwise, more info is needed as to how many total credits you have, how many science credits and so on.

I would say the very least it will take young least 3 more years to become ready to apply.

 

[Goro]

As the title says, my GPA is crap. It's in the 2.0-2.4 range. No good reason, just didn't care about grades and school in undergrad. Now I'm 27, been out of school for 2+ years.

Wondering what I'll have to do to make med school possible?

What age will be a realistic starting point?

Is it worth it at that age (for those of you who have or are currently there)?

Thanks.

I estimate you're two-three years out from applying at a minimum, assuming everything goes well.
Read this:

• Goro's Advice for DO Applicants in Absence of Grade Replacement (2016-17 cycle)