Start from scratch? Divorce undergrad grades?

[reddirt]

Hi:

Long story short, I have always wanted to be a doctor since I was like 5 or 6. Decades later, I still do. However, I have a horrible GPA & even worse BCMP GPA, all based on a TON of credit hours.

Cumulative Undergrad AMCAS GPA Incl. Post Bac: 2.485629336
Cumulative Hours Incl. Post Bac: 201.8
Cumulative Quality Points Incl. Post Bac: 501.6

Cumulative Undergrad AMCAS BCPM GPA Incl. Post Bac: 2.243298969
Cumulative BCPM Hours Incl. Post Bac: 97
Cumulative BCPM Quality Points Incl. Post Bac: 217.6

There are many reasons for why this happened (ADHD, family situation, partied, blah blah blah). It seems pointless to mention that I have a BA history & ** cellular biology from the flagship university of a southern state (not UVA or Chapel Hill). Additionally I have about 5 years bench research but no pubs (DNA/RNA/protein/ELISA/*tons* of cell culture/embryonic stem cells, animal cloning, malaria vax development). I also have a few years of volunteer experience at a free clinic. I hate working in a basic research lab & also hate the lifestyle/culture of working in industry as a research assistant/associate (and may be underqualified for latter).

I spent the last 3-4 yrs working menial jobs/retail & traveling (recovering from & enjoying life). I have no kids nor mortgage.

I'm contemplating a few plans but wonder how viable they are in terms of having a sustainable like AND getting into med school (very open to Carribean, DO):

I am contemplating a few plans:

A) Working menial jobs & taking classes to nudge up my GPA (meaning I'd disclose previous undergrads). Currently looking into phleb/med tech/patient care tech programs which all take 3-6-9 months. Where I live the lowliest of tech jobs all require certification.

pro:
-can't think of any other than not working in research lab
-can get phleb/med tech/patient care tech certs & work during school
con:
-really broke life until?
-my GPA seems terminally unimprovable so it may be a lost cause
------------------
B) Get phleb/med tech/patient care tech certs & start from scratch at community college w/ high school diploma in hand, no disclosing any college work already done. Get RN. Work. Get BSN (only b/c med schools require a bachelors for admissions). Do BCMP classes along the way then med sch or apply for postbac/medsch combo program.

pro:
-programs local to where I live
-a way to make a living regardless of getting into med school
-can get phleb/med tech/patient care tech certs & work during school
con:
4? yrs til BSN
---------------------
C) either starting from scratch or disclose undergrad grades to transfer credits: some sort of bachelors in medical technology/clinical laboratory science, take BCMP courses along side, then apply to med school.

pro:
-a way to make a living regardless of getting into med school
-can be combined w/ BCMP classes from local CC
-can get phleb/med tech/patient care tech certs & work during school

con:
-don't know of local programs; there are online programs
-if I don't start from scratch & disclose undergrad grades, its less time but more impossible for med sch
-start from scratch = years before med school apps

Any thoughts?

[devildoc8404]

My .02: Whatever you decide, do not lie about your academic background. Yeah, it's unethical (and you want to be a doctor, right?), but above and beyond that it could come back to bite you soooo hard in the rear end.

Do what you need to do to get into a Carib or European school, and go from there. If you decide to shoot for a DO school, it will take some work to get the GPA up there, and you will need to crank on the MCAT.

[swimchick]

Well...given your massive number of credits, I think you already know your undergrad GPA isn't going to budge too much :) That being said, I think admission to a U.S. MD program might be out of the question.

If you decide to go the DO route, I recommend you retake your BCPM classes. AACOMAS (unlike AMCAS) replaces grades in the GPA calculation (AMCAS averages). Many DO schools have a GPA requirement before they send a secondary. That requirement can be anywhere from a 2.5 to a 2.7. Your other options are Caribbean or European schools.

Either option will is going to require that you rock your MCAT. With a good MCAT score, you can work surely work your way into the international school route. Whatever you do, do not lie about your academic past.

[reddirt]

Thanks for the nonjudgemental replies. For the record, it was not my intention to deceive by omission. I posted that msg after looking through the app, supplemental & other app info of a nonAMCAS school. The almost complete lack of mentioning "state *every* course & college you attended" got my hopes up just a bit.

[ol' man]

C) either starting from scratch or disclose undergrad grades to transfer credits: some sort of bachelors in medical technology/clinical laboratory science, take BCMP courses along side, then apply to med school.

This probably is not an option. In most states if you want to do a bachelors in medical technology you must have a GPA above 3.5. At least the programs my daughter has applied to require that.

[swimchick]

Thanks for the nonjudgemental replies. For the record, it was not my intention to deceive by omission. I posted that msg after looking through the app, supplemental & other app info of a nonAMCAS school. The almost complete lack of mentioning "state *every* course & college you attended" got my hopes up just a bit.

Haha...that's understandable. The 2 Caribbean schools I applied to only asked me to list my pre-med classes. But, they will see your entire transcript at some point.

And (most) people here on VMD aren't here to judge. We've all made mistakes along the way to getting into med school :)

[devildoc8404]

And (most) people here on VMD aren't here to judge. We've all made mistakes along the way to getting into med school :)

Hear, hear, swimchick! :shock:

The point is, OP, you CAN get there from here. It's not easy or necessarily fun all of the time, but you still have options. Good luck!