medschool

[jchan]

well if anybody has read my last post you would know that my gpa is in the dumps for first year (i've only done one of year of college/uni and i was having problems, personal, and depression like symptoms)

 

but what i wanted to know is what's the likelihood for somebody to get into medschool with an almost non-existant first year gpa (when i mean bad gpa it's so low-e.g. below 1.0, yes i failed a lot of courses which is a contrast to what my abilities are)

 

i know that with a gpa like that i can't get directly into medschool just by applying alone. but i was wondering if you guys know if it's possible for a bad first year student like me to boost up marks in the course of 4-5 years and enter medschool?

 

i go to school in Canada and the requirements there are just tough let alone the courseloads and the expectation ,so even if i work really hard, i know my chances of getting are equivalent to the chances that a monkey would be able to type a sentence on a typewriter.

 

anybody have any clue whether the anywhere in Canada, US, overseas would accept people like me or do i lack any hope like what other counsellors and professor suggested?

[chai714]

jchan,

Many others can answer your question in another forum that I am a member of. It's called the Student Doctor Network. It's a very useful forum with lots of information and answers to your questions.

 

The url is link removed. This should help you, and good luck.

[michelemybell]

You asked if it was possible for a first year college student to do badly one year and recover and get into med school? You betcha!!!! I know many students who did just that. But it's going to take a lot of hard work on your part in the next few years. The question is, are you ready for the challenge? Getting high grades is next to impossible if you got a lot of other things going on in your life. You got to be focused. I'm a veterinary student (which believe it or not is more competitive in terms of admissions than med school because there are hardly any schools that offer it), and everytime a new semester starts I have to make sure that my personal life takes a backseat.

I'm curious--what classes did you get bad grades in? If you were taking general ed I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you were taking lower division prep courses in science and/or math, I would be concerned more in terms that it might be tough in the next level of classes if you didn't quite understand the material this year. If so, I would spend the rest of the summer reviewing the material in those classes. Do you have the option of repeating the classes? If so, do it and get good grades in them.

If it makes you feel any better, I was a poor poor student when I first started college, and managed to turn my grades around. Just make the commitment to it and prove those counselors wrong!!

[thoyneeka]

well, i'm in the us. and i went through a similar situation, not as bad though. but here're my advice. i think you should shoot to bring your GPA up and plan on medical school, but definitely have a plan B and plan C. GPAs do not recover very easily at all, and med schools will consider both your overall GPA as well as your cumulitive science GPA when you apply. you can always pursue a graduate degree after you finish your first. if you do well the entire time while working on your grad. degree, you will fair a bit better when applying to medical school.

 

medical schools everywhere are extremely competitive. i was a biology major with a chemistry minor in undergrad. i graduated with a 3.2 GPA & i took the MCAT 2x, but didn't fair very well. i never really studied for the entrance exam, so that was my fault. i never actually completed the application process for med school because i knew it was unlikely i'd get in. also because i was teaching a university level anatomy lab while working on a master's degree and fell in love with becoming a professor (did u know that a professor at a medical school or allied health school can potentially make the same salary as a physician, with far less stress!) but i think medical school just wasn't for me. i saw somehing else that i was really good at & i had to come to grips that medical school wasn't it. so i've decided to pursue a PHD instead of an MD, instead of being a doctor, i'll make doctors when things like what you're going through happen, it may be just part of someone or something trying to tell you that you may need to consider other career options.

 

schools over seas, like st. george's in grenada and such, used to be guarenteed placement for students who had less competetive scores, but these days those schools are becoming harder to get into as well. they've recently started requiring the MCAT when in the past they didn't. i know a friend who interviewed for a school in Dominica, but was rejected (she had finished her Bachelor's degree with a GPA of about 2.8 if i remember correctly and her Master's degree with about 3.1-3.2).

 

Don't be discouraged. Do everything you can to bring your GPA up, but just know every quarter/semester on your transcript counts when you're applying to medical schools. just be sure to work harder and get the "extras" in order: make sure you're volunteering with physicians, make sure you knock out ALL of your science classes with strong As no less than Bs especially organic chemistry, start preparing for the entrance exam as soon as you can, and start becoing familiar with the overall application process now, don't wait until its time to apply to do so. Good Luck!