What should I do?

[btolbert]

I am concerned about my GPA because I performed not so well when I was an undergraduate student at Georgia Tech some 12 years ago. I am concerned because the AMCAS will average all of my BPCM grades and back then, I wasn’t thinking about medical school but just to have a good time and act a fool. Looking at the breakdown, My averages per semester (quarter) were very low – around 2.1 to 2.5 per semester until I got to my senior year which I believe is a 2.7.

I am trying to get into any medical school but my GPA in my former career as an engineer with both my undergraduate electrical and mechanical engineering degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology (graduated 11-12 years ago) was 2.2/4.0 with over 310 hours but currently (as of today), I have a 3.90/4.0 GPA in my post-baccalaureate (Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, Human Genetics, Cell Biology, Microbiology, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics,Modern Physics, as well as advanced math classes – Modern Algebra, Differential Equations, Game Theory, Introduction to Real Variables) etc with between 90 – 100 hours and a MCAT of 36 and writing portion of Q) so it is going to be rough just to get into any medical school. I also have a graduate level GPA of 3.84/4.0 with about 13 hours taken however in advanced mathematics classes. I am an AAM (African-American male). I also have numerous Cisco certifications from networking engineering. I do not have experience in the medical field. I am as I have said before very concerned that my academic performance at Georgia Tech will pull my overall GPA down (on the AMCAS and TMAMCAS applications) even though it is not representative of my potential. It only comes up to a 2.6 or 2.7. I am so ashamed of what I did back then that I could strangle myself but there is nothing I can do about it. I have 3 art competition awards, 2 music awards, and I have one short novel award, and 2 poetry awards. I have worked at Motorola, Robert Bosch, Siemens, GM (really briefly), and a few other companies as an engineer (test and manufacturing). I do not have any medical experience.

A radiology career would be perfect with my engineering background and my personality that is why I am looking at this field specifically. If I am able to get into medical school,I will graduate with a very high ranking because I am especially motivated now as opposed to way back when. I would like to know your opinion and if there is anything I can do to help me stand out.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

BT

[y82benji]

I’d tell you to repost on the “Ask Admissions Consultants” thread but something like this just came up not too long ago so it is easy to tell you with confidence.

There is a statute of limitations, in writing or just sort of de facto, on grades and MCATs. Your grades from 11-12 years ago, whether a 4.0 or a 1.0 will tell medical schools absolutely nothing about whether or not you are academically capable now. You have to put them in and while there will probably be an expectation that you should offer a very brief explanation about your poor performance (a sentence or two) in your personal statement or elsewhere, those grades will not be given hardly any consideration.

The 3.9 in your 90+ postbacc credits and 3.8 in 13 advanced credits will be the only things they’ll really consider. Yeah, you have a 2.6 or a 2.7 overall, but for all intents and purposes you have about a 3.88 overall. That plus the 36 on the MCAT should make you academically competitive at some of the top schools in the country. You definitely should apply to several top 50 programs and several non top-50 programs to give yourself some choices and more chances of getting in and getting award monies. The “Q” for the writing score is fairly average and simply having a well-polished application and strong essays will cover for any perceived weakness in your writing.

WHAT WILL COUNT AGAINST YOU is that you have no medical experience. Have you had the opportunity to see healthcare being delivered by a professional other than as a patient? You don’t have to work in healthcare – you could have volunteered or shadowed a doctor. If you have none of this you should get some, because how do you really know that you want to be a doctor and do you really have an accurate perception of what it is to be a doctor? That’s what med schools will want to know. They will also want to know if you take on leadership roles, stay committed to things, and care about serving your community. All of these things usually require actual activities to back up what you are saying. However, with the clinical experience side, if you can write a very convincing and strong argument of why you feel you really want to do the doctor thing then you’ll have a better chance. This non-numerical side of the application is very important, especially at the better schools.

[btolbert]

I am interested to hear from RWorkman if that is his name on my credentials just to hear a different opinion.

[y82benji]

Then you should post this on the “Ask Admissions Consultants” thread to get a response from the Admissions Consultants professional.

You might also go here and read the second post from the bottom:
http://www.admissionsboards.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19&whichpage=14

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