Getting in to Med School

[medmon]

Hi! I have a quick question/predicament.

I am currently a "freshmen" at a top 20 college. Coming out of high school I had top of the line stats (4.0 GPA, 5.2 weighted, 2300 SAT etc). My father went to a private college that was fairly small and though I got into better schools I decided to go there as it is somewhat of a family tradition. This school was completely different then any school I had attended before (high school, middle school etc). Essentially it was a party school where almost no one cared about their grades and eventually I got extremely flustered (I was a bit naive going into college =/) and for two semesters did extremely badly in my classes (2.5ish GPA).

This next year after talking to someone I had done lab research with, I was accepted into a very good public university on their credit. At the moment I am classified as a freshmen as the only credits I allowed myself to take were my AP credits from high school and college classes I took while in high school (all together thats about 28 credits). I am doing research at my university (and I should have published work by next year). I work at a local grocery store, I shadow in my spare time, I am in several clubs, I have and intend to maintain a 4.0 GPA (at least so far I have straight A's in this semester) and I have volunteer/patient hours and a summer med program already set up. I intend to make sure I can be the best candidate I can be with absolutely no lapses. In short, I feel like I have forged myself anew and am doing pretty well in terms of time management, getting my life together.

So essentially my rather longwinded post boils down to, am I still capable of getting into med school?
I understand that I may have and probably have ensured I cant get into a top tier med school, but what about other med schools?

[cheechootrain]

You're still a freshman, so you can take as long as you want. Some can do it in 3 and some do it in 5 years. As long as you keep your grades up and keep focus, you can get into a top med school. You're just a freshman, so you have plenty of time to make up. What school are you attending?

[Vonsmack]

This story is all too common, so rest assured you are not alone in your situation. IF you succeed in getting a 4.0 the rest of the way or close to it, you still have a fine chance of med school. You're right, top tier schools will be tough since you won't be able to raise your gpa much higher than 3.5-3.6. But you have a good attitude, this is the attitude you'll need to get into and succeed in med school. It takes more than attitude though, you need to show you're capable (high school stats don't mean beans) you need to prove it.

[medmatt]

I made it. My first semester I had a 1.7 GPA. Playboy's number one party school that year. Those were the days....You can do it!