Thinking about going back to school - do I have a chance?

Hi Erin,

I think it's great that you've been able to turn things around. You're correct that you may still
have problems getting into medical school, since your overall GPA will still be low. However, there
may be some schools that give more weight to your more recent 4.0 work, especially if your MCAT
scores are above average (say 33 or better).

I suggest you consider one more thing. During the 15 months your medical school application is being
processed (from June through the following Sept), start working on a graduate degree in biology,
chemistry, or physics. This way, if you have to reapply to medical school, you'll have a 4.0 GPA
over your 30 post-bacc premed credits plus another 30 or more graduate credits. This, combined with
an above-average MCAT score, should make you a competitive applicant.

I talk about this on my web site under the topic "Second Chance".

Best of luck.

--
Mike
George Washington University School of Medicine
nontraditionalmedicalstudent.comnontraditionalmedicalstudent.comOpen ↗

"Erin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi. I've been doing my pre-requisites for a post-baccalaureate
nursing program, but for various reasons I'm thinking about applying
to medical school instead. I'm wondering, though, if I'd have a
chance or if I'd be wasting my time. I'm 25, and I earned a B.A. in
French when I was 21. My grades from that degree are a little spotty,
and my overall GPA was 2.95. Honestly, I wasn't very motivated and a
little immature.

I took a couple of years off to get married and start a family (I'm
expecting our second baby this summer), and now that I'm back in
school this year, I am handling school much better. Last semester I
took Chemistry, Anatomy, and Psychology and got straight A's. From
that and from my high school honors science courses (I took no science
classes when I got my French degree) I know I am good at science and
can get A's when I apply myself.

So, I'm thinking about taking two years to complete my pre-requisites,
and applying to medical school. My thinking is that though my overall
GPA won't be very good, if my science classes are good and if they see
that I improved after returning to school after a 2 1/2 year break,
they may be willing to forgive my earlier record. I'm sure I'd need
great MCAT scores, too.

Am I just kidding myself though? Even if I do well from here on out,
are medical schools likely to not accept me because of my undergrad
GPA? I want honest opinons. I don't want to waste my time, but on
the other hand, I don't want to not try and then always wonder if I
could have been a doctor.

If you read this far, thanks for bearing with me. 🙂