Best advice to give someone

[Aimster]

A friend of mine she is 19 years old and is having trouble deciding which one of these is the best route. She went to a 4-year university and after 40-credit hours there her GPA is a .89. She is currently suspended and is now allowed to return to the university in the spring. The problem is she wants to become a doctor. Does she still have a chance to go to a good medical school if she gets all As/Bs from this point on?

She also has 30-credit hours at a community college. Her GPA at the community college is a 3.0. I told her to just go to the community college and forget the university ever happend. To finish up 2-years at the community college and transfer out of there to a new university. Is this the best thing for her to do or should she stay at the university and try to rebuild what she messed up?

(she finished H.S early for those of you wondering how she has so many hours). She's young and isn't even close to being 20 yet. If she really wants to become a doctor and she realizes her mistakes I don't see why anyone should give up hope if that is what they really want to do.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

She has a .89 GPA and wants to be a doctor? A 3.0 isn't all that good to get into med school either (even at a university). Basically, I doubt that she'll get a shot at med school at this point; probably not what she wants to hear, but it's the truth.

 

[rocadelpunk]

she should go to a different university if she's serious about medschool, assuming that the grades won't transfer.

she could get into medschool with a 3.0...but that's after all the chem's and ochem's and whatever else required, it wouldn't be a top 30-40 med school though maybe even lower.

but there's always a need for doctors so..::shrug::

if there's a will there's a way, and she might be one of those "exception" cases when it concerns gpa.

I'd tell her to take some chem/biochem/ ..pre-req courses at the community college and see if she likes it at all, otherwise it could be another huge mistake.

if she's dead serious about becoming a doctor, tell her to find a doctor she can shadow.
my mom (doctor last 30-40 yrs) has told me on several occasions, it's a profession that you'd have to want to do and nothing else (i.e. wanting to help others), it's so much sacrifice and non-stop work and a lot of bullshit you have to put up with..

 

[virtueixi]

She can take the classes over that she failed. In my school, the new grades replace the old. I don't know how you can fvck up so bad and then say "I wanna be a doctor".

 

[sniperruff]

the first question to ask her is "do you REALLY REALLY want to be a doctor? or do you just want a nice-paying job? or do you just want to help people?"

if the answer is "doctor", then tell her that she really has to work her very best for it. there are many people will big dreams and all that, and changed their minds within a year or two. that is the reason for biochem/organic chem being so hard, because those classes basically separate the people with just a dream, and those who have a dream of becoming a doctor, have the smarts for it, and are willing to work for it

if she made a mistake and is willing to work hard from now on, then it is possible. i'd go to a community college first and build up a really good GPA (3.5 and above at least), then transfer to a 4-year school with any science program (state schools are nice), and again get a 3.5 or higher.

after those, she should be ready for the MCAT and make it big. it is all in her own hands.

being a science major myself (never considered med school tho), and getting a 1.7 in my 6th semester, i came into the 7th and 8th semester both with a dean's list while taking the hardest 400 level major classes (3.5 and above GPA), and turned my GPA from a 2.78 into a 3.0, so i'd say improvement is always possible when you make the right friends and study hard, and it was not like i buried my face into books all day either; you don't have to study harder, just smarter

 

[mugs]

Haha, .89 GPA and she wants to be a doctor. If she's too dumb to pull off a better GPA, good luck. If she was just being lazy... again, good luck being a doctor. Maybe she should get an early start on a career she might succeed at - sanitation engineer maybe?

Edit: My school also allowed you to replace a lower grade if you took a class again. But if she only managed a 3.0 at a community college... keep dreaming.

 

[Buttzilla]

Originally posted by: mugs
Haha, .89 GPA and she wants to be a doctor. If she's too dumb to pull off a better GPA, good luck. If she was just being lazy... again, good luck being a doctor. Maybe she should get an early start on a career she might succeed at - sanitation engineer maybe?

Edit: My school also allowed you to replace a lower grade if you took a class again. But if she only managed a 3.0 at a community college... keep dreaming.

i'm sorry but med schools won't even consider prereq courses that are taken at a jc (unless she wants to go to the carribben island or the domican republic for med school....they'll accept anybody)

if she's seriously thinking about med school tell her to finish college. thats the first step, and it doesn't matter that she got a .89 gpa her first year. as long as she show's improvement (consistant improvement) then most med schools (and professional schools) will overlook that. that means, no c's and below. and a damn good explanation on ur personal statement to why u did so bad and why you improved so much.

thats what the schools are looking for, it's not just good grades, it's perserverance, and a level head. (and good MCAT scores)