Should I apply to med school?

WayOutWestMom
Tue, 15 Mar 2016 02:37:28 +0000

You’re in a very difficult spot and it will be hard to give your definitive answer.

1. Those Ds are going to hurt you. They’ll lower your overall and science GPAs, particularly for allopathic (MD) program which do not allow for grade replacement, even if your college does. It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of As to redeem your GPA. Whether you will be able to do that–only time will tell.

If you’re willing to consider attending a osteopathic medical school, you may have a better chance since DO program allow grade replacement and will only use the most recent grade in GPA calculations.

Either way, you need to place some distance between your poor grades and your application to medical school. Plan right now to take 1 or more gap years before applying. (The extra time will also give you a chance to improve your academics.)

Remember the road to med school is a marathon, not a sprint.

2. Difficult life situations-- sometimes adcomms may give a little slack for students who have gone through bad situations (moreso if the situations are outside of your control–like a major illness or a death in the immediate family–than if you fail to adequately address your mental/physical health problems because those are under your control). However, you only get 1 “pass” on poor academics and only if it’s early on in your college career. Any repeats of poor academic performance and it will definitely and irredeemably hurt your application.

(Unsolicited advice–next time you find yourself having difficulties, do the mature thing: seek help immediately and take a medical withdrawal if you can’t salvage your grades.)

Mental illness raises alarm bells for adcomms–and justifiably so. Medical school (and residency even more so) is a meat grinder that can destroy even mentally & physically healthy individuals. You need to be honest with yourself and evaluate whether you’re stable/healthy enough to survive that kind of stress. If you have your illness under control–and there are no additional future incidences and you can demonstrate your resilience and your ability to manage high levels of stress–then maybe a career as physician isn’t out of your reach. But getting there isn’t going to be easy or fast. And only time will tell.

3. There are so many other medical careers beside physician. You may find these fit your life better. Don’t rule these out without exploring them. Keep an open mind.