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How hard was it to get to medical school?

Are there possibilities of getting into medical school from a lower-class home and decent grades but not perfect?

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Michel’s Answer

These are great answers but I’ll give you great hope. I was a bad highschool student. I wasn’t interested I hated being there. I really disliked my teachers and a lot of them treated me poorly. I had teachers tell me to drop out of school because I was going to be a bum and work a dead end job anyway. I wasn’t focused and was mad at the world. I ended up going into the military and enjoyed my first couple years. I ended up wanting a little bit more from my life than the military. I asked if I could go to college and my leadership laughed and said you will never be good enough to finish a degree. I ended up just getting through my contract in the military and I ended up getting out. I went back to school at the age of 24 at a Community College in my home town. I ended up falling in love with the environment of college. There was freedom. I didn’t constantly have a teacher over my shoulder. We didn’t move slowly because half the class was behind. Things moved on and I was able to do what I wanted. If I missed class it was my job to learn the material and get caught up. I ended up loving the Psychology classes and decided I wanted to go into the medical field. I spent a year thinking nurse. After I kept achieving high grades I decided to go for medicine as a doctor. I transferred from a tiny community college and went to a tiny state school. I achieved well in that school and I spent time volunteering, shadowing doctors, researching, and leadership roles in clubs. I ended up with a great GPA, but a lower MCAT for the schools I was shooting for in interview season. I ended up applying to 15 schools and received 12 secondary applications. I ended up with 8 interviews, and had 6 acceptances and one of the interviews I declined because I had my school. That all being said is you can achieve anything. I was a first generation college student. My dad never finished high school and my mother went to community college for a year and then had life events come up where she needed to drop out. I came from a lower middle class family. I did horrible in high school, but once I decided on medicine I kicked everything into high gear. Medicine is not about being perfect. Medicine is about what brings you in. Not every applicant is going to be a 528 MCAT and 4.0 GPA student. What drives you is what you need to be answering to get into medicine. Why are you different than the other applicants. You already have something interesting by coming from a lifestyle that is not as common to other applicants. Use that and understand that you are unique and you bring something to medicine from your upbringing. You may not have perfect grades, but there are programs that can help you bring a GPA up depending on what your GPA is. You can do a post bac if that is something that can bring you up. Or if you are a little lower you can look at DO schools which will still allow you to be a doctor and extremely well trained. Hopefully this helps, and know that we believe in you.
Thank you comment icon Gahahahah!! Michel, this sounds like me! I tested out of high school because I wasn't going to graduate, joined the army, and did a few classes while I was in. Got out, did a biomed degree, and got into med school! It sucks, it's hard. I do believe people from not-the-best-areas are going to face more challenges than most. But it is absolutely possible. :) Kess French
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Rita’s Answer

Yes. It's not all about grades. Of course, you cannot have poor grades.
I tell this story a lot. I have a friend from medical school. She told me she had better grades and scores than her sister (also a doctor) but her sister got into a better medical school. Her sister was an opera singer.
I think you just need to stand out and do something unique and excel.
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Austin’s Answer

There is absolutely a chance. The best way to find out what you need to get into medical school is to first decide which one(s) you would like to apply to. Those schools will all have a support system that will tell you the necessary requirements to be considered as an applicant (such as required college level courses that you must complete). You will also have to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Austin recommends the following next steps:

Research schools of interest
Reach out to selected schools for requirements for admission
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Briana’s Answer

There is definitely a chance. Austin offered some.grrat advice on where to start.

Professional schools have a holistic application process. GPA in undergrad is important but not the only factor they look at. Getting an impressive MCAT score can help compensate for lower GPA and show that you know the foundational material med school requires. You can also take advantage of recommendation letters, med school application essay questions, and university interviews in order to discuss what would make you a great candidate outside of grades. Many professional schools also offer financial grants/fellowships/scholarships based on need and merit for students from undeserved backgrounds. I attended professional school with one such fellowship. There are also private scholarships for students from undeserved backgrounds that can be applied to separately, in addition to the FAFSA, which is federal student aid.

It's a good idea to narrow down your search to particular medical schools so that you can research what financial aid they offer. I typically tell people to have at least one "safety" school with a higher admittance rate, one "match" school, and one "reach" school.

Briana recommends the following next steps:

Study for the MCAT
Narrow down your schools research their admissions requirements
Research federal student aid
Research private and school-based student aid
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Craig’s Answer

More so than grades: Cultivate relationships with your college teachers early and often. Drop by to ask questions about the course material. Ask them career questions. At some point you will be asking them for letters of reference. The more people know you, the more positive things they can say about you. Network!
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