Advice and suggestions needed

[Azizi]

I grew up in California and then had to move to Iran because of my dads company when I was in 4th grade.Going to school there completely threw me off because they were teaching me everything in a different language.
When I came back to California for high school,things were really difficult.I didn't know how this whole college system,significance of having a 4.0 were.etc...

I have a single mother,with financial struggles.So there was a point where i had 3 jobs.As a Car dealer,Pianist and at Hollister.

I've always wanted to be a surgeon.Always.it's been my passion to one day help people,especially kids.

Im at De Anza college (cc) right now as a bio major hopefully waiting to transfer. It's only my second year at my CC as I have another year of chemistry and biology waiting to be taken.My GPA here is 3.3 as of now...

I am also a pianist. I've performed at Columbia university and held my own concert.It's a great way for me to stress relief. I've performed with the professor of music at Stanford also.

I've volunteered at kaiser hospital 160 hours.And right now im starting direct patient contact volunteering at Packard children's hospital of Stanford.

I might be getting a C in my first quarter of general chemistry at de anza ,and I've been really stressed out about it. It was hard because I am also on the path to getting my EMS and EMT certification.

Please help me guys,i made an account on here because I've read alot of your great advices for other people and I thought this forum is very helpful.
Where are some Schools that i have a shot at transferring to,and what other things should I do?

Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Pio97]

Really use that musical talent and international experience to your benefit, it can help make you stand out from other applicants with similar stats. Keep working to get high marks, especially in the sciences and make sure you can score well on the MCAT; these two aspects are the most important.


Aside from that beware of the EMT certification. Just getting it will not do anything for you unless you put it to good use in the field or as an ER tech, but many hospitals and response agencies (at least where I am from) will not hire until you are 21 and have put in a great deal of training hours. Research experience would also be a plus.

You could probably transfer to a number of UC or Cal State schools or one of the many smaller private schools in California. The only ones which would be a hard sell I think would be Stanford, Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Cal Tech. There are so many out there you'll be fine.

 

[Azizi]

Thank you Very Much Man I appreciate your advice.
What about out of state schools? including privates

Do you think ill have a chance to get into boston college? vanderbilt? Urbana champaign?

And is it really horrible that I got a C in chem? i still have 4 more chem classes to go

 

[Azizi]

I grew up in California and then had to move to Iran because of my dads company when I was in 4th grade.Going to school there completely threw me off because they were teaching me everything in a different language.
When I came back to California for high school,things were really difficult.I didn't know how this whole college system,significance of having a 4.0 were.etc...

I have a single mother,with financial struggles.So there was a point where i had 3 jobs.As a Car dealer,Pianist and at Hollister.

I've always wanted to be a surgeon.Always.it's been my passion to one day help people,especially kids.

Im at De Anza college (cc) right now as a bio major hopefully waiting to transfer. It's only my second year at my CC as I have another year of chemistry and biology waiting to be taken.My GPA here is 3.3 as of now...

I am also a pianist. I've performed at Columbia university and held my own concert.It's a great way for me to stress relief. I've performed with the professor of music at Stanford also.

I've volunteered at kaiser hospital 160 hours.And right now im starting direct patient contact volunteering at Packard children's hospital of Stanford.

I might be getting a C in my first quarter of general chemistry at de anza ,and I've been really stressed out about it. It was hard because I am also on the path to getting my EMS and EMT certification.

Please help me guys,i made an account on here because I've read alot of your great advices for other people and I thought this forum is very helpful.
Where are some Schools that i have a shot at transferring to,and what other things should I do?

If i maintain a 3.5 GPA and for example an average good score of 32 on the MCATS,what would my chances of getting into Med Schools be?

Thank you!

 

[aspiring20]

I grew up in California and then had to move to Iran because of my dads company when I was in 4th grade.Going to school there completely threw me off because they were teaching me everything in a different language.
When I came back to California for high school,things were really difficult.I didn't know how this whole college system,significance of having a 4.0 were.etc...

I have a single mother,with financial struggles.So there was a point where i had 3 jobs.As a Car dealer,Pianist and at Hollister.

I've always wanted to be a surgeon.Always.it's been my passion to one day help people,especially kids.

Im at De Anza college (cc) right now as a bio major hopefully waiting to transfer. It's only my second year at my CC as I have another year of chemistry and biology waiting to be taken.My GPA here is 3.3 as of now...

I am also a pianist. I've performed at Columbia university and held my own concert.It's a great way for me to stress relief. I've performed with the professor of music at Stanford also.

I've volunteered at kaiser hospital 160 hours.And right now im starting direct patient contact volunteering at Packard children's hospital of Stanford.

I might be getting a C in my first quarter of general chemistry at de anza ,and I've been really stressed out about it. It was hard because I am also on the path to getting my EMS and EMT certification.

Please help me guys,i made an account on here because I've read alot of your great advices for other people and I thought this forum is very helpful.
Where are some Schools that i have a shot at transferring to,and what other things should I do?

If i maintain a 3.5 GPA and for example an average good score of 32 on the MCATS,what would my chances of getting into Med Schools be?

Thank you!

with that GPA, MCAT, and solid ECs, your chance of getting in somewhere is quite good.

 

[Fivo]

Just try to get the best grades you can from here on out. If you don't plan on using your EMT license to work as an EMT or similar, then don't do it. Focus more time on your schooling, because your GPA is the most important factor at this point in your schooling. Make sure you transfer to a UC if you can, rather than a Cal State (no offense CSUers). After you transfer, assuming you've kept a great gpa, and you take the mcat and destroy it, then you will have a pretty good chance of getting in. In the meantime, aim higher than a 3.5

 

[Azizi]

Thank you! How about private universities or out of state public schools? Would I absolutely have to be a resident?
And I am going to volunteer as an EMT,so hopefully it'll work towards my goal.

 

[gyngyn]

Your biggest obstacles in CA will be your gpa and later the MCAT. The UC's (any of them) are the best bang for your buck, but a strong ap even from a CSU (sorry fivo!) is more important than the prestige of the institution (with the possible exception of a "for profit" school). There are so many over-qualified candidates in the golden state that the majority have to leave CA to attend medical school. For MD schools, your gpa (like herpes) is forever! Protect it all cost, even it you have to take longer to accomplish your goals.

 

[TheShaker]

You have a cool life story and EC's so that goes a long way. It sounds like you're overloading yourself with the whole EMT thing which doesn't actually help you very much in terms of applications. Focus on school and get those grades since you're facing some stiff competition being from CA.

As for the UC vs. CSU thing, an important factor is the faculty support for premeds. I have heard from my friends over at UC's that professors are very difficult to reach over at the big UC's but in my personal (n=1) experience, CSU has been very supportive. I can meet with profs whenever I want, I get a good education, and opportunities are easy to come by. Don't get too hung up on the name of the institution, go to whichever one that will support you the most. I was really thankful for this when I was applying since it made it much easier for a quiet person such as myself to get good LOR's from people who were willing to work with me to get to know me better.

 

[Azizi]

Thank you I really appreciate it. Yeah I can totally understand. Even at De Anza CC its not too easy to establish a good bond with a professor to get LOR,so I can imagine how hard it would be at a UC with 150+ people in a lecture.

How about schools like vanderbilt,or privates? Would you reccomend applying to out of state public/privates?

 

[Tots]

Threads have been merged. The "What Are My Chances" forum is the appropriate place for this discussion.