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3.3You could have failed several courses and still be competitive. It's not about individual course grades it's the entire transcript. What are your year by year gpas?
I cannot understate again my concerns that 1. A T50/MD would not accept me (Even after reinvention) when more reliable applicants exist who got it right the first time and 2. A lower ranking med school/DO would make matching into competitive specialties far more difficult. I do not know if competitive specialties are what I want, but I certainly do not want them off the table.You could have failed several courses and still be competitive. It's not about individual course grades it's the entire transcript. What are your year by year gpas?
I don't know. You've focused on all the reasons why you can't get into medical school in this post. I have no idea why you want to be a doctor, and you don't give me confidence you can. Fixation into a top specialty and fretting over B's to the point of "reinvention" plus excessive anxiety over perfectionism is a very bad recipe. Your list of challenges makes you sound like a student who will require more resources to pass than most that I would be very hesitant to recommend advancing your file or admission.Why would a medical school take me in when they have swaths of students with straight track records, good numbers, and a reliable shot at completing medical school compared to the story my transcript tells? ... But schools care about the numbers - even if I can reclaim that MCAT score, wouldn't there be loads of *reliable* applicants who completed school in four years and had better numbers than me? It just makes me wonder whether this endeavor of reinvention is worth it.
1. What is with the fixation on T50 medical schools? Basically any MD can match competitively if you get a high Step score and do well in your rotations (which you will need even if you do get into a top school). Additionally, you are really downplaying the value of nontraditional experiences that can really pique the interest of reviewers and interviewers. Do you have a job? Have you done any interesting research or other extracurriculars? You are spending more time on your school than a traditional student yes, but that also generally means you have more time to spend on the other stuff that goes into an application.I cannot understate again my concerns that 1. A T50/MD would not accept me (Even after reinvention) when more reliable applicants exist who got it right the first time and 2. A lower ranking med school/DO would make matching into competitive specialties far more difficult. I do not know if competitive specialties are what I want, but I certainly do not want them off the table.
I didn’t know that…I feel like I read a lot of threads or talked to people who say that LoR from high ranking schools are so vital to getting matched into competitive specialties. I do want to have *access* to competitive specialties in case I find that one of them calls to me once I enter medical school. For example, pathology seems the most interesting to me right now based on doctors I have shadowed and my own clinical experience.I don't know. You've focused on all the reasons why you can't get into medical school in this post. I have no idea why you want to be a doctor, and you don't give me confidence you can. Fixation into a top specialty and fretting over B's to the point of "reinvention" plus excessive anxiety over perfectionism is a very bad recipe. Your list of challenges makes you sound like a student who will require more resources to pass than most that I would be very hesitant to recommend advancing your file or admission.
You took an MCAT before you were ready to apply? That shows poor judgment and lack of using trusted advisors or resources to prepare a solid application. Now you are panicking because your "ace" in your hand is losing its power to get you into medical school. IMO, you are not doing a real reinvention unless you had an overall GPA below 3.0 one semester.
We have so many examples of successful applicants who started at a more difficult GPA than you. Yet you don't believe.
We first see your application GPAs by year before seeiing specific grades. (If you did have a 3.8x overall, I won't go into your CAS transcript to see where your A-minus or B-plus course is. I'm not that reviewer. )
Have you talked to your prehealth advisors? Admissions recruiters? Where are your thoughts about T50 or failure coming from?
1. Gotcha. Thank you for this. Yes, I have a clinical (PCA) job. Yes, I am trying to pursue volunteering, some non-clinical with disadvantaged children and I wish to get into some clinical as well.1. What is with the fixation on T50 medical schools? Basically any MD can match competitively if you get a high Step score and do well in your rotations (which you will need even if you do get into a top school). Additionally, you are really downplaying the value of nontraditional experiences that can really pique the interest of reviewers and interviewers. Do you have a job? Have you done any interesting research or other extracurriculars? You are spending more time on your school than a traditional student yes, but that also generally means you have more time to spend on the other stuff that goes into an application.
2. This one really bothers me. You don't even know if you have a passion for any competitive specialties, but you're terrified about not getting to do them??? I'm all for giving yourself as many options as possible, but buddy, you have no options right now. This reads like someone that doesn't know if they want to be a doctor. Part of your clinical experiences/shadowing/etc should be used in determining whether or not you actually want to be a doctor, and if you aren't sure, don't do it. The mental and financial burdens are not worth the risk for someone that does not have the passion.
I'm just a lowly non-trad applicant with moderate success this cycle so maybe I'm off-base here, but you need to make sure that the "worst case scenario" of having to be a FM/EM/IM doctor is something you truly want to do.
Do well in these last two semesters and you'll be fine.3.3
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Again, planning for 2 semesters full time and one semester part time for a total of ~35+ credit hours
Thank you for the honest words and thank you to everyone else in this thread who helped me clear up the unhealthy nonsense about low-ranking schools not getting competitive specialties.Do well in these last two semesters and you'll be fine.
Stop worrying about getting into Harvard. Your job now is to get into A medical school.
What will you do if the only school that accepts you is Drexel or Rosy Franklin???
You will need to get your mental health issues under control completely, or medical school will destroy you. It can break even healthy students. The perfectionism that you're displaying here and the anxiety is not healthy.
I applaud you for working on this, but realize that going to medical school will expose any additional weaknesses you haven't worked on, and it could blow up any effort you are currently making. @Goro notes medical school is a mental health crucible. Things are much more intense.You’re also absolutely right in that I have a lot of issues over perfection and fixation. A big reason that I am taking this extra time is to work on my mental challenges and self, too. I would like to be confident and active, rather than reactive, upon entering (and interviewing for) medical school. But I am worried that my dip in performance after my junior year will raise eyebrows that I am not a reliable student to admit into medical school. That's why I want to spend a year patching up my health and doing consistent, good work in extracurriculars and a DIY post-bacc.
The ‘current’ issues ought to be resolved, and I ought to condition myself to be ready to accept unknowns and sacrifices when they present themselves. YessirI applaud you for working on this, but realize that going to medical school will expose any additional weaknesses you haven't worked on, and it could blow up any effort you are currently making. @Goro notes medical school is a mental health crucible. Things are much more intense.
I'm still working through your OP.The problem with those options, in my eyes, is that it would make competitive residencies much harder to get into. I wouldn't want to be half way into my time at DO school, find that I have an incredible passion for Derm or Radiology or oncology or some other specialty, only to realize that those doors are much more open to people who ended up at nice MD schools and can get solid LoRs into said residencies. I want to keep my options open by going to a T-50 medical school, and preferably returning to the state where I attended undergrad (California) rather than staying in my state of residency (Ohio).