HELP! Dropout returning to undergrad for shot at med school

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>hey ya’ll. i’ve decided to return to school and i just stumbled upon this forum whilst frantically scouring the internet to help me decide which route to take. this is a good thing goin on here, and ill be mighty grateful for any advice or opinions. i went to University of Tennessee for two years out of high school working on a biochem degree. in the last semester i became really disenchanted with college and stopped going to most of my classes, then left and traveled for a few years and cultivated a lot of life experience; i don’t regret my decision, except that i wish i would have dropped some of those classes before it was too late! that semester i ended up with 3 D’s and an F, dropping my GPA from a 3.85 to a 3.0.</p>

<p>it has been 4 years since then. i am going on 25 now and i have a strong resolve and desire to attend university and apply to med school - something that was missing originally during my first sojourn through the academic realm. back then i was on cruise control, doing what i thought i was supposed to and trying to please my parents. i didn’t really care all that much, you know? i didn’t have the perspective that allowed me to care and appreciate the opportunity in the way that i can now. </p>

<p>so this is my situation: i was originally thinking of attending CSU - Chico, but it seems that might put a hamper on my med school ambitions. i would really like to attend a school in the University of California system - ideally Berkeley or Davis. i reckon there is no chance of me transferring into either of those universities right now having a 3.0 and no recent classwork. what is it gonna take to get into one of these schools? right now my plan is to attend a community college in cali for a year or two and maintain upwards of a 3.8, fluff up my extracurricular resume, and give UC a shot. i dont mind sacrificing the 50 credits i received originally and re doing a full four years. is this my best option?</p>

<p>also, say i am able to get into UC and graduate with a nice GPA and an impressive MCAT score and the works. is that 3.0 i got in my first go around going to weigh heavily on my chances of getting into med school? for what its worth, i am hoping to specialize in psychiatry, which i hear is one of the easier concentrations as far as acceptance into med school goes.</p>

<p>thanks for reading. cheers!</p>

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<p>Moving to UC Transfer forum. Also post your questions on the Pre Med Topics forum.</p>

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<p>ah, thank you</p>

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<p>I see a few issues here. The biggest is that most UCs cap the number of college credits you can come in with at I believe 60. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to transfer all of them or not, if you’ve taken more than that they won’t consider you.</p>

<p>Next, I think you need to take your question about how the 3.0 will be seen directly to a few med schools. In general, med schools are very numbers driven, but maybe some will show you understanding because of the gap if you get a stellar record wherever you go, have strong research and a high MCAT. Keep in mind however that CA state med schools all have a very high GPA requirement, so check some with lower GPA averages.</p>

<p>I think you should just go to a CSU for a couple of reasons, lots of kids get into med school from them. You can go now and not lose more time. As it is, you won’t be a doctor until you’re at least 35. Maybe more important is overall cost. With what you’re going to have to pay for med school, keeping undergrad cost low is key for most.</p>

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<p>hi waverly, thanks for taking the time to reply. i think you make a good point about going straight to CSU and not spending two extra years at a community college, just for the sake of not drawing out the schooling process for so long. the financial aspect doesn’t seem like too much of a concern as the community college will be relatively cheap and ill be attending a state university for two years regardless. </p>

<p>i was under the impression that you could transfer with over 60 credit hours, however only 60 hours will actually transfer to the college regardless of how many you have. they want you to obtain 60 credits within their university. am i wrong here?</p>

<p>i reckon i really don’t have a good grasp on how much of a difference it will make to the adcoms at the med schools between, say, a 3.8 at Cal state and a 3.8 at UC, all other variables being the same (including the damn 3.0 from many years ago). if anybody has any advice regarding that uncertainty, that would help a lot in me making a decision.</p>

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<p>the more i read about this the more things im discovering that i need to think about. if i went to a more competitive school like UC Berkley or Davis it would be harder to keep up a good GPA as opposed to attending somewhere like Chico. what looks better in the eyes of an adcom, a 4.0 from CSU or a 3.5 from UC? is there maybe some middle ground to be found at Cal Poly? im not sure how important the prestige of a college is and how much i should be concerning myself with it. really i would be happy to go to Chico but if graduating from a UC college would make a huge difference then id certainly like to give it a shot.</p>

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<p>Yes, it is possible. You have a good chance of getting into Davis! Berkkk is possible.
Med schools won’t mind that you have a 3.0…as long as you state why and get a 3.5+ science gpa! :] </p>

<p>PM for any additional questions!
Good luck.</p>

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<p>A 4.0 at cal state is better than 3.5 at a UC, however, a 4.0 at a UC is better than a 4.0 in a Cal State. Also, the UC’s provide better opportunities for clinical research as well as studying opportunities that medical schools like to see.</p>

<p>To keep it short, wherever you decide on going work your butt off. Prestige of your school doesn’t really matter a whole lot if you can prove that you know your material through GPA and MCAT score. The research opportunities and resources are the only thing that I see that could be a big difference between the two school systems though.</p>

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<p>Please read this regarding unit limitations:
<a href=“http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/articulation/PDFs%20for%20Site/ucunitlimits_4yr_2yr.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/articulation/PDFs%20for%20Site/ucunitlimits_4yr_2yr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Long story short, if you want to have a chance at many of the UCs that do institute a cap on an applicants allotted units, then you’ll have to limit the units you take at a CC. If you decide to transfer and continue with biochem, you need to make sure that you’ve fulfilled the lower level pre-reqs for the major. It’s slightly difficult to figure out what classes from your 4yr will transfer, but try looking at assist.org so you can get a better idea of the courses you will need to finish in order to transfer. Overall, look into IGETC and additionally your major pre-reqs.</p>

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<p>It wont hurt your chances. I dropped out, joined the military, and applying to schools now 10 years after hs. My engineering classes transferred from my freshman year. What I would do if I was you, do not take classes you have taken before. If you do, find out the policy on auditing. Usually you can audit a class per semester. This lets you take the class, but you cant take exams, and you will not receive a grade. You can do this to find out if you still know enough of the material. Audit a class you have taken before, and sign up to retake your failed courses. Also you can apply for academic renewal which will wipe your grades and they will NOT be used in g.p.a. calculation. Look up in the college catalog of your university academic renewal. Some schools forgive a semester, some an entire year. Use it to your advantage. </p>

<p>Do what I did. You have the credit, you know the material. Study on your own the pre req classes- chem 1 and 2, calculus, whatever. Believe me, after you read through the text books and do the problems, you will remember it. </p>

<p>Read up on unit caps on the schools that have it. If you went to a university before, and not just purely c.c. credits, they accept up to 90. Each campus has its own requirement, look it up on their website. </p>

<p>As far as going back to c.c. for a year, depends on what classes you failed. If they were sophomore classes do it. Retake the classes you bombed and apply as a transfer student. If they were upper division, it will be harder, and you might have to attend a cal state. </p>

<p>If your gpa dropped from one bad semester, you can get into a UC. Explain it on your app, show you are a california resident, and you should get in. After your academic renewal, send your transcripts to your c.c. that you will attend, and use <a href=“http://www.assist.org%5B/url%5D”>www.assist.org</a> to find out what classes you need to take. You will have a high g.p.a. </p>

<p>Send me a p.m. if you have any questions.</p>

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<p>thanks for all the great info. the link about the excess credit hours was very helpful; i just received my transcript from University of Tennessee and as it stands i have 54 earned credits (3 of which are Ds) and 57 attemped, with a 2.93 GPA. according to the link i will be able to remain full time my first year with 12 or 13 hours a semester and still stay under the 80 credit limit which some of the colleges impose, which is good news. i didn’t know about the assist.org resource, so kudos for that as well.</p>

<p>i learned that D.O. programs have a grade replacement policy where they take the most recent grade when one retakes a class instead of averaging the two, so that gives me a lot less to worry about as far as the haunts of my GPA are concerned. </p>

<p>as of now i think i will apply to some UCs just to give it a shot. if i dont get accepted i will attend a CC for a year, retake some classes and complete the rest of my pre-reqs, then give UC another go. i appreciate all of the great advice, cheers!</p>

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<p>Why spend the money on a UC if you don’t have to. You can’t apply to a UC until you have 60 or more credits anyway. I would just go to C.C… It’s a helluva lot cheaper and wont her your med school chances. If you are only sophomore standing, why are you looking at D.O. programs? </p>

<p>It’s not that serious and you are seriously selling yourself short. Worry about what programs to apply to in your senior year.</p>

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<p>well i have 57 earned credits (i said 54 in my previous post but forgot about a class i took at a local CC), and i am planning on going to a CC for a year as i said, and then transferring to a UC. that’s what your recommending, right? the only reason i am already considering a D.O. program is because they have a grade replacement policy, so it will likely be easier for me to get into one of those programs as my GPA will be significantly higher if i retake the classes i bombed.</p>

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<p>Thats false. First did you look up the grade forgiveness of your university? Your g.p.a will jump. If you can travel, there are tons of M.D. programs in California. Davis, SF, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Irvine, San Diego. And those aren’t all of them. </p>

<ol>
<li>Your ability to get in an M.D. program will depend not only on your g.p.a. but your MCAT score as well. Since you haven’t taken it, and you are no where near your senior year, don’t sell yourself short on particular programs. </li>
</ol>

<p>I was thinking about med school. With my engineering program, all I would really need would be a year of o-chem and biology to apply. So I know whats up. Hang out here and ask around [Student</a> Doctor Network Forums | An educational community for students and doctors spanning all the health professions.](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]Student”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>

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<p>don’t get me wrong, i am still going to apply for M.D. programs, but with a 2.97 now and sitting at 57 credits, i can’t get higher than a 3.6. realistically, i bet i will pull a 3.6-3.8 at a UC school, not a 4.0, so i’ll probably be graduating with a 3.4 at best if i put in the hard work. i know GPA is just one part of a whole, and a 3.4 isn’t that bad if my ECs and MCAT are good, but ill still be more competitive in the eyes of D.O. program because my GPA will be significantly better. i guess im saying that i feel like it is worth retaking four or five classes so ill have a nice GPA when applying to D.O. programs, even though those retakes won’t matter much in regards to M.D. programs. plus i could use some refreshers in math and the physical sciences. </p>

<p>im not sure what you mean about my universities grade forgiveness policy. i got D’s and F’s at University of Tennessee, but i have no intentions of returning there, and i’m not sure which university ill be going to in the future if that is what you’re referring to.</p>

<p>thanks for the link to that forum by the way</p>

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<p>Undergraduate grades aren’t the only ones that can factor into your GPA for med school. If you’re willing to sacrifice a year, there are SMPs as well that can boost your GPA for med schools.</p>

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<p>@Koeeoaddi: I believe you can get into a MD program. Work your ass off and you’ll be fine :] I am also pre-med. I have considered DO schools as well. Have you looked into the Caribbean, like SGU or Ross?</p>

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<p>thanks for the encouragement =0. i had never heard of SMPs - it definitely makes me reconsider whether i oughta spend the time retaking all of those classes. i am going to talk to an adviser about all of this; its great to know which questions i need to be asking.</p>