A little help, please?

[Chamahk]

I've made up my mind that D.O.'s where I want to go. I'm trying to apply and start school (Fall 2013 / 2014) this is the part where I need help in terms of advice, planning, and registrations, etc.:
(I've done a little bit of research on some old threads, but I'm still unsure of certain things):

Part 1: GPA, pre-reqs, shadowing
Currently I'm at a 2.26 cumulative don't know what my science is. For pre-reqs I've taken Bio I, II and I'll be retaking Chem I in the summer and taking Chem II for the first time. In the fall/spring I'll be doing orgo, physics to finish up my pre-reqs. I have to re-take Bio I, II because the grades are D, C respectively.

Question: To meet the deadline to apply for the 2014 fall, should I put all other classes on hold and re-take Bio I, II along with physics and organic to finish the pre-reqs in time? the bios are not offered in the summer. I'm done with my gen-eds after this semester.

Question: MCAT's offered April / August (based on threads I've read). so, should I take April 2013 / August 2013? April 2013 I'll be taking orgo II, physics II. this forum stresses on applying early and I think one of the MCAT threads mentioned that April's the better option.

Question: I sent an e-mail to a hospital in the area asking if I could shadow the answer basically was: NO! It's too complicated, and a long process. we'd have to deal with paper work and get a doc's permission and deal with confidentiality with patients and basically, just forget about it. so... what do I do now?

Part 2: Registrations, etc:
I'm really ignorant in this area, so please pardon my noob questions.
Question:
is there like a common app for all schools, etc.,? how do I go about filling for fin aid for med school, possibly getting a fee waiver for MCAT, applications etc., (I qualified for one in high school for the SAT's)
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Plan:
- By this weekend, I'll be finished browsing all the schools and making my choice on where I'm interested in going.

- Yeah I know my GPA's awful, but I'm working on it. by the end of the summer I should be in the 3's. by the end of spring 2013 I should be around 3.4ish

So I need some help / advice. Please I've considered the wait 'til senior year to apply and have grades factored in, but the issue with that is, I have to hurry up because financial aid only goes to a certain amount of years. Also, after graduation if I don't get into school within 6 months, I'll have to start repaying back some loans.
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I'm one confused pre-med. Please help (I'm really trying here)

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[CpGisland]

To be honest its gonna be really hard for you to get in with a 2.something I know you said you should be up to a 3.4ish but thats probably assuming your gonna get all As.

In regards to the MCAT question I don't think it matters what month you take it unless you would like to retake it. In the case that you might want to retake it then sign up for April. But if your concerned with how your going to do on the MCAT don't take it early.

Shadowing: Contacting a physician will allow you a better opportunity to shadow than a hospital. Try to find some DOs email address and send the a message about wanting to shadow. Just keep trying till you find one that will let you. Also Private practice might be easier than a hospital.

Common app: https://aacomas.aacom.org/ this is the website that you will use to submit all your primaries. for the fee waver on the mcat you need to check out their website. I am not sure what qualifies an individual to get a fee waver for that.

I know i did not cover all your questions but I hope this will provided some useful info.

 

[AgDoc84]

I agree that private practice will be easier for shadowing. If you want to go DO, while its 100% required, you really need to have a letter or two from a DO.

For the cycle you want, you probably don't want to take the MCAT after say early September at the latest. I agree that you really want to be ready for it. That being said, if you are ready in April, go for april. I know you can get fee waivers but I have no clue how?!?

 

[Iliketoytles]

I've made up my mind that D.O.'s where I want to go. I'm trying to apply and start school (Fall 2013 / 2014) this is the part where I need help in terms of advice, planning, and registrations, etc.:
(I've done a little bit of research on some old threads, but I'm still unsure of certain things):

Part 1: GPA, pre-reqs, shadowing
Currently I'm at a 2.26 cumulative don't know what my science is. For pre-reqs I've taken Bio I, II and I'll be retaking Chem I in the summer and taking Chem II for the first time. In the fall/spring I'll be doing orgo, physics to finish up my pre-reqs. I have to re-take Bio I, II because the grades are D, C respectively.

Question: To meet the deadline to apply for the 2014 fall, should I put all other classes on hold and re-take Bio I, II along with physics and organic to finish the pre-reqs in time? the bios are not offered in the summer. I'm done with my gen-eds after this semester.

Question: MCAT's offered April / August (based on threads I've read). so, should I take April 2013 / August 2013? April 2013 I'll be taking orgo II, physics II. this forum stresses on applying early and I think one of the MCAT threads mentioned that April's the better option.

Question: I sent an e-mail to a hospital in the area asking if I could shadow the answer basically was: NO! It's too complicated, and a long process. we'd have to deal with paper work and get a doc's permission and deal with confidentiality with patients and basically, just forget about it. so... what do I do now?

Part 2: Registrations, etc:
I'm really ignorant in this area, so please pardon my noob questions.
Question:
is there like a common app for all schools, etc.,? how do I go about filling for fin aid for med school, possibly getting a fee waiver for MCAT, applications etc., (I qualified for one in high school for the SAT's)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Plan:
- By this weekend, I'll be finished browsing all the schools and making my choice on where I'm interested in going.

- Yeah I know my GPA's awful, but I'm working on it. by the end of the summer I should be in the 3's. by the end of spring 2013 I should be around 3.4ish

So I need some help / advice. Please I've considered the wait 'til senior year to apply and have grades factored in, but the issue with that is, I have to hurry up because financial aid only goes to a certain amount of years. Also, after graduation if I don't get into school within 6 months, I'll have to start repaying back some loans.
-------------------------------------------------------------

I'm one confused pre-med. Please help (I'm really trying here)

"I've made up my mind that D.O.'s where I want to go." - hmm... I wonder why...

Gradewise... your basically starting at nothing science-wise, since you've only taken 3 classes and you're retaking 2 of them. Study hard and do well and keep that science GPA as high as possible. The cumulative GPA will come up slightly as well.

You don't have to complete all class prereqs before you apply... you just have to have them completed by the time you graduate and matriculate into medschool.

For the MCAT... it's offered a couple dates each month from January THROUGH September (or August)... so my advice would be to take it April, since you'll be indirectly doing physics II and organic prep that same semester just by being in class (of course, you'll need to do additional outside prep for this as well).

Shadowing... don't email. Just google D.O.'s in your area, call their office directly and say "my name is blah, I'm a premed at blah university. I'm very interested in the [insert specialty] field and would like to learn more about it... Does Dr. Blah allows students to shadow him/her?" If the secretary says no, call another office. If yes, yay for you.

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DO schools (except TCOM) use the AACOMAS application, which is different from AMCAS (MD schools). As for fee-waivers and financial aid info... googling it would be the fastest way to get answers. Here's a bit about the fee waiver:

Application Fee Waiver: http://www.aacom.org/infofor/applicants/pages/FeeWaiver.aspx

MCAT site: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/

I did a brief search for MCAT fee waivers... I don't think the AAMC does MCAT fee waivers for students who aren't applying using the AMCAS application (so to MD schools)... but feel free to search and correct me if I'm wrong.

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When are you planning on graduating? If you apply the summer of 2013, and graduate Spring 2014, then there's no issue as far as loans go... as long as you got into a medschool. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Oh, and don't forget about your extracurriculars/clinical volunteering (shadowing is typically not considered clinical volunteering). Load up on those, as it'll help cushion your GPA a bit.

Hope this helped. Good luck!

 

[cabinbuilder]

If you are looking for a DO to shadow go to Osteopathic.org and click in the find a DO link and go from there.

Anyone is always welcome to shadow me if
1) You can find me
2) you can get yourself to Nevada when I am there.

 

[Bisbee]

If you are looking for a DO to shadow go to Osteopathic.org and click in the find a DO link and go from there.

Anyone is always welcome to shadow me if
1) You can find me
2) you can get yourself to Nevada when I am there.

That is so nice...wish I lived in Nevada. Any friend in upstate NY who would like a shadow?

 

[cabinbuilder]

That is so nice...wish I lived in Nevada. Any friend in upstate NY who would like a shadow?

You don't have to live in Nevada. I don't. I live in Oregon. Get on a plane. I will pick up anybody you wants to shadow me. Just have to coordinate and get to Vegas close to the same day I get there. It's a two week gig. Easy.