Success stories please :( need some positivity in my life: anyone have low first 2 years GPA and high last two years?

[sinusoid]

I just,

I am 22. 

I went to University later because of a lot of life factors. I honestly didnt know anything about anything. 

Going into my third year I feel like I am really REALLY late on life. 

My GPA is like a 3.3; I have been feeling very very low. 

there are 21-year-olds who got into medical school, and I am 22 and I dont have a competitive GPA. I feel so old; I feel so useless and I really REALLY want to keep pushing. I taught myself from first year but despite working hard I was only able to increase my gpa from an omsas 3.2 to an omsas 3.4. 

 

I would REALLY really love to hear any success stories or how someone kind of figured themselves out. 

Because this summer is killing me; I am looking for research positions, job positions, volunteering and no one has responded yet; I am working a job not related to medicine and I feel like a complete failure. I am trying to keep positive so my GPA can be amazing third and fourth year but it's just so discouraging right now, I dont think I have ever felt this upset in my life. 

 

It's like the reality of life just hitting you. 

[erythrocyte]

A 3.2 to a 3.4 is still an improvement, maybe not med school worthy, but you’re doing something right. Some schools only look at your 2 best years so if you can continue how you’ve been improving, keep working at it. 

In regards to you saying you feel old, I’m 28, will be 29 when I start in September. 22-25 were the years I was really figuring myself out and trying to gather a clear direction with my life. 

Of course, I can sit here and be like “follow your dreams!!”, the outside realities of life really sting, seeing others getting on with their lives etc. Honestly, those things don’t really matter though. Be happy for those successes your friends are having, continue on your path and just see to it what you want to do. If 3 years pass and you say you don’t want medicine anymore, that’s not a failure, its a learning experience. 

[sinusoid]

2 hours ago, Monocyte said:

A 3.2 to a 3.4 is still an improvement, maybe not med school worthy, but you’re doing something right. Some schools only look at your 2 best years so if you can continue how you’ve been improving, keep working at it. 

In regards to you saying you feel old, I’m 28, will be 29 when I start in September. 22-25 were the years I was really figuring myself out and trying to gather a clear direction with my life. 

Of course, I can sit here and be like “follow your dreams!!”, the outside realities of life really sting, seeing others getting on with their lives etc. Honestly, those things don’t really matter though. Be happy for those successes your friends are having, continue on your path and just see to it what you want to do. If 3 years pass and you say you don’t want medicine anymore, that’s not a failure, its a learning experience. 

Man, thank you monocyte, i’m happy for anyone honestly I don’t wish anyone misfortune it’s more so me feeling like I’m actually like less than them and like I respect them a lot to be honest, is it weird to say I look up to people younger than me? Its just hard to keep a positive headspace but I really am trying; I’ll keep on going; thanks man! 

[BernieMac]

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[sinusoid]

1 hour ago, YesIcan55 said:

As someone who has been applying for 4 straight years and still yet to be accepted, I can empathize with you. It is heartbreaking seeing people that you applied with and practised with in your first cycle be finished medical school before you are even accepted. I am not going to lie to you. The feeling sucks and it takes a huge toll on your self-esteem. What keeps me coming back year after year is how badly I want this, coupled with the success stories of people who have gotten in after 5, 6, or 7 tries! I personally know multiple people who fall in that group and seeing them achieve their dreams after so many attempts motivates me to keep trying. In the end, no one is going to care how long it took you to get in (either starting undergrad later like you, or being rejected multiple times, or both, etc)...people will care about having a caring, smart, great doctor which you can be!

You're a huge inspiration buddy! People like you keep me going! You are the definition of resilience and I have the utmost respect for people like you!

[HisLovePerfects]

Hey, I just posted this in another thread but it seems even more applicable to you. There's definitely hope you can salvage your GPA, but you should ask yourself why you are not doing well in your courses. If you can identify and change these factors, then you should have no problem attaining a competitive GPA as long as you are patient.

 

[2020medvision]

Hey Sinusoid, don't give up!! If you keep pushing yourself and if you are passionate about medicine, you can do it, I 100% believe in you! I just got accepted to an Ontario school and have a similar GPA story as you do. My GPA in my first two years was even worse than yours at 3.3. In third year I realized something had to change if I was going to have a future in medicine. I took a break from volunteering and working and stopped seeing friends as much. I dedicated every. last. second. I had into studying. I went to office hours and asked questions to the profs. I tried so hard to pull up my GPA. In third year I achieved a 3.7, in fourth year 3.94 and I did a fifth year and got a 4.0. Try to figure out what you need to do to improve your GPA, whether that includes changing your study habits (I started using flashcards and quizzing myself everywhere, and writing out and condensing notes multiple times), meeting with an academic advisor, or even changing the types of courses you are taking. 

It's not an easy thing seeing people you know achieve your dream. It's an uncomfortable reality that you have to try to get comfortable with. No one else's success matters except yours. Keep applying for jobs/research/volunteer positions. Maybe ask a trusted friend or your university's registrar to help improve the layout of your resume. Your future is not over and doors will open for you if you keep knocking! Good luck

 

(*edit- wrote 3.0 gpa and meant 3.3 for first 2 years)

[sinusoid]

On 6/3/2019 at 5:27 PM, HisLovePerfects said:

Hey, I just posted this in another thread but it seems even more applicable to you. There's definitely hope you can salvage your GPA, but you should ask yourself why you are not doing well in your courses. If you can identify and change these factors, then you should have no problem attaining a competitive GPA as long as you are patient.

 

That post was all types of good vibes; thank you! 

[sinusoid]

On 6/3/2019 at 7:34 PM, 2020medvision said:

Hey Sinusoid, don't give up!! If you keep pushing yourself and if you are passionate about medicine, you can do it, I 100% believe in you! I just got accepted to an Ontario school and have a similar GPA story as you do. My GPA in my first two years was even worse than yours at 3.3. In third year I realized something had to change if I was going to have a future in medicine. I took a break from volunteering and working and stopped seeing friends as much. I dedicated every. last. second. I had into studying. I went to office hours and asked questions to the profs. I tried so hard to pull up my GPA. In third year I achieved a 3.7, in fourth year 3.94 and I did a fifth year and got a 4.0. Try to figure out what you need to do to improve your GPA, whether that includes changing your study habits (I started using flashcards and quizzing myself everywhere, and writing out and condensing notes multiple times), meeting with an academic advisor, or even changing the types of courses you are taking. 

It's not an easy thing seeing people you know achieve your dream. It's an uncomfortable reality that you have to try to get comfortable with. No one else's success matters except yours. Keep applying for jobs/research/volunteer positions. Maybe ask a trusted friend or your university's registrar to help improve the layout of your resume. Your future is not over and doors will open for you if you keep knocking! Good luck

 

(*edit- wrote 3.0 gpa and meant 3.3 for first 2 years)

Wow, thank you so much for the words encouragement; I really appreciate it! It means a lot!!!!! I will definitely be taking your advice; thank you again! 

[bruh]

Don't give up, no matter what. It's sometimes extremely difficult being motivated to persevere through all the hardship when you see so many others with amazing stats and qualifications getting into med school like it's a piece of cake. A friend of mine who got into med school after 5 years of applying once said "if you want it bad enough you'll get it", no wiser thing has ever been said, in my opinion. My first year in uni was an absolute mess, with a GPA way lower than yours (<3.00), my first attempt on the MCAT was below 500. I had ZERO EC's in my first two years of university and ZERO research.. Many people told me to give up, "cut your losses and go into another career". But they don't understand! They don't understand how badly we want this. They don't understand the pain and misery we are willing to go through to get into med school. So I didn't listen. I repaired my GPA, I retook the MCAT  and I became heavily involved in research and EC's. I got two interviews last year to an Ontario and Alberta med school. I didn't get into med school yet, so my story hasn't concluded yet. I am retaking the MCAT a third time, still persevering, still not giving up. You can do it too!

[sinusoid]

On 6/8/2019 at 3:56 PM, RiderSx said:

Don't give up, no matter what. It's sometimes extremely difficult being motivated to persevere through all the hardship when you see so many others with amazing stats and qualifications getting into med school like it's a piece of cake. A friend of mine who got into med school after 5 years of applying once said "if you want it bad enough you'll get it", no wiser thing has ever been said, in my opinion. My first year in uni was an absolute mess, with a GPA way lower than yours (<3.00), my first attempt on the MCAT was below 500. I had ZERO EC's in my first two years of university and ZERO research.. Many people told me to give up, "cut your losses and go into another career". But they don't understand! They don't understand how badly we want this. They don't understand the pain and misery we are willing to go through to get into med school. So I didn't listen. I repaired my GPA, I retook the MCAT  and I became heavily involved in research and EC's. I got two interviews last year to an Ontario and Alberta med school. I didn't get into med school yet, so my story hasn't concluded yet. I am retaking the MCAT a third time, still persevering, still not giving up. You can do it too!

Thank you so much for this I really appreciate it