- Joined
- Dec 11, 2008
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Here's my story. It began a few months ago and it still continues. I've received some very informative PMs from older members and I really appreciate it. I wanted to share a bit more about myself and give a more in depth look. If you think some things are extraneous, my apologies...I'm trying to give a complete picture of myself beyond basic GPA/mcat scores.
Stats:
B.A. Mathematics:3.7 cumul, 4.0 math dept.
M.S. Mathematics: 4.0
I did a post bacc since my grades are really old.
Postbacc: 4.0, my committee letter states that I was the top student in that class
I entered the postbacc on the promise of a linkage program with Drexel, UMDNJ-Robert Woods, PCOM, UMDNJ-SOM
No one from my class got into med school from the linkage. Basically a false promise by the postbacc admissions director. Since then they have 'altered' the promise.
Age: 34, turning 35
MCATs:
Good news: 32
Bad news: 14P, 12V, 6B. I know my bio is low, but I didn't have much time to prepare due to my hectic schedule. If I re-take I think I can boost the bio up to a 8 or 9. I essentially brushed up on physics/gen chm & did no prep for bio. Just took a couple of practice exams and then went into the exam.
Research: NONE
Clinical experience: NONE
Volunteer: Tutored at a transitional home for abused women/children. I've had to stop doing this since I've moved further away from the home to get much cheaper housing.
Work: Teach at a prep school geared to 'at risk' students (i.e. 1st generation, etc) Since being there there math scores on SATs have dramatically increased.
Family bkgrd:
Father: MD/Ph.D. Yale --->faculty at a US med school --->short stint as surgeon general of Korea ---> started bio tech co --->director of nat'l cancer institute, Korea. When he was a poor, starving grad student with 3 kids, he discovered a surface protein that has ramifications to T-cells...his research involving that got subsequently sold to Bristol Meyers Squibb....a cancer drug is in the works involving that. BMS is in clinical trials in the US & my father's company is handling the trials outside of the US. A large portion of royalties go to the US med school that he used to be at.
Middle bro: law student
Youngest bro: US med student
Finances: I've used up a large portion of my Staffords. My credit was hit last year from the market downturn & forced to leave my corporate job. My debt became huge after no job. I was unemployed for a long time. I'm not eligible for grad plus.
I applied very late to US D.O. schools & 4 caribbean schools. A mad rush at the beginning of the year to get applications in.
After more thought, I concluded I definitely do not want to be a D.O. (wished I thought of this before spending on AACOMAS fees...) I applied VERY late. I made the Feb. 1 deadline. I was accepted to 3 out of the 14 I applied to.
I've been accepted to SGU for the fall, Saba/AUC/Ross for May.
SGU: Too expensive for me. $20K/semester for just tuition. I think you'd need about $30K/semester for everything. Staffords only give $20,500 per year. Also, I don't have enough in my Stafford aggregrate limit to go all 4 yrs of SGU
AUC: Cheaper in tuition, but its as expensive to live there as here (NYC) Their student budget is also approx. $30K/semester. Don't have enough in Stafford aggregrate limit.
Ross: Essentially same situation in terms of money.
Saba: Pay out of pocket for 2 semesters (supportive friends/family who are willing to put up for me to realize this goal) & then do Davenport online MBA program to fund the rest of my education.
It'll be a miserable existence since I won't have that much extra money. So it looks like a lot of rice & ramen.
Costs: $8500 for tuition $2200 for dorms 1st semester, second semester plan on getting a cheap apt ($300/mth), so $10.7K 1st semester, $9,700 for second semester and on....
My other option: Re-take mcats this summer & grab a couple more points in bio. Apply to US med schools. Take a year and repair the financial issues that I'm dealing with at the moment. (Not sure what that would entail)
My fears: Even with an improved bio section I don't get accepted. By then I'll be 35 turning 36.
Will I do more research/volunteer/clinical? Absolutely NOT. I don't have time for it. I'm just going to try to survive and repair whatever I need to.
Will I have a reliable co-signor for GradPlus? I don't think so.
Other fears: If I go to caribb I'm screwed when it comes to residency. Everyone knows how competitive it was this year and how much more it will be in the years to come.
Am I going for a competitive residency? Not sure yet.
Can I ask my parents for help? Nope. I'm too old to crawl back to them and frankly I would never ask my parents for any help. My father has accomplished a lot in his lifetime. Born in a small Korean village...moved to Seoul at the age of 14, top of his class in high school (survived by tutoring rich kids), Seoul Nat'l Uni for college/med school, top of class, moved to the US, had 3 boys while doing his Ph.D., blah blah blah...
Are they supportive of the Caribbean? Nope. Incredibly embarassed in fact. Considering that my youngest bro was never academically gifted and got into a top ranked US med school with a 31mcat & 3.6 gpa....they sort of don't understand how I can't go to a US school.
Actually, after I got accepted to the 4 caribb schools...I asked my father to ask around (he still has research facilities at Tulane & LSU med) his colleagues and see if they've ever heard of SGU/Ross/Saba/AUC and get their take on the offshore route, and he FLATLY said no. He will not be involved in the process at all. I don't think he wanted to admit that
his oldest son is going to the caribbean.
Didn't even congratulate me on any of the acceptances (US DO, caribb)
Its been a frustrating year. Should it be this hard to go to med school? Maybe its too late for me?
Some other fears: Say I get accepted to fall 2010 in the US. Are there any schools whose tuition is cheap enough that it can be taken care of without relying on any credit based loans, like GradPlus?
Should I wait out a year. I'd be teaching during that time and could probably save half a year's salary. I could also get a handle on my credit issues. Not sure however it would be repaired enough to get private loans.
Bottom line is I have a chance to go right now in May to Saba.
In conclusion:
1. may/may not get into US med. I've had friends with similar stats that did not get accepted. Actually my friend got a 36 and she tried for 3 yrs. Didn't get accepted so went to SGU and now is chief resident at Columbia.
2. even if get accepted, can I afford it?
3. should I just make the most out of the opportunities given to me? Go to Saba in May or am I forcing the issue?
4. Timeline for Saba: Start in May '09, finish basic sciences Dec. '10. Take a STEP 1 review retreat from Jan - end of Feb., Take STEP 1 in March. Get scores in April. Begin clinicals in May '11. Taking some breaks + STEP 2, be scheduled to finish by Dec. '12. Try to pre-match in 2012, if not enter match, graduate 2013.
Also, after taking STEP 1, if scores are stellar, try to transfer to a US school for 3rd & 4th year.
Sorry for the long post...And thank you in advance for any advice.
Stats:
B.A. Mathematics:3.7 cumul, 4.0 math dept.
M.S. Mathematics: 4.0
I did a post bacc since my grades are really old.
Postbacc: 4.0, my committee letter states that I was the top student in that class
I entered the postbacc on the promise of a linkage program with Drexel, UMDNJ-Robert Woods, PCOM, UMDNJ-SOM
No one from my class got into med school from the linkage. Basically a false promise by the postbacc admissions director. Since then they have 'altered' the promise.
Age: 34, turning 35
MCATs:
Good news: 32
Bad news: 14P, 12V, 6B. I know my bio is low, but I didn't have much time to prepare due to my hectic schedule. If I re-take I think I can boost the bio up to a 8 or 9. I essentially brushed up on physics/gen chm & did no prep for bio. Just took a couple of practice exams and then went into the exam.
Research: NONE
Clinical experience: NONE
Volunteer: Tutored at a transitional home for abused women/children. I've had to stop doing this since I've moved further away from the home to get much cheaper housing.
Work: Teach at a prep school geared to 'at risk' students (i.e. 1st generation, etc) Since being there there math scores on SATs have dramatically increased.
Family bkgrd:
Father: MD/Ph.D. Yale --->faculty at a US med school --->short stint as surgeon general of Korea ---> started bio tech co --->director of nat'l cancer institute, Korea. When he was a poor, starving grad student with 3 kids, he discovered a surface protein that has ramifications to T-cells...his research involving that got subsequently sold to Bristol Meyers Squibb....a cancer drug is in the works involving that. BMS is in clinical trials in the US & my father's company is handling the trials outside of the US. A large portion of royalties go to the US med school that he used to be at.
Middle bro: law student
Youngest bro: US med student
Finances: I've used up a large portion of my Staffords. My credit was hit last year from the market downturn & forced to leave my corporate job. My debt became huge after no job. I was unemployed for a long time. I'm not eligible for grad plus.
I applied very late to US D.O. schools & 4 caribbean schools. A mad rush at the beginning of the year to get applications in.
After more thought, I concluded I definitely do not want to be a D.O. (wished I thought of this before spending on AACOMAS fees...) I applied VERY late. I made the Feb. 1 deadline. I was accepted to 3 out of the 14 I applied to.
I've been accepted to SGU for the fall, Saba/AUC/Ross for May.
SGU: Too expensive for me. $20K/semester for just tuition. I think you'd need about $30K/semester for everything. Staffords only give $20,500 per year. Also, I don't have enough in my Stafford aggregrate limit to go all 4 yrs of SGU
AUC: Cheaper in tuition, but its as expensive to live there as here (NYC) Their student budget is also approx. $30K/semester. Don't have enough in Stafford aggregrate limit.
Ross: Essentially same situation in terms of money.
Saba: Pay out of pocket for 2 semesters (supportive friends/family who are willing to put up for me to realize this goal) & then do Davenport online MBA program to fund the rest of my education.
It'll be a miserable existence since I won't have that much extra money. So it looks like a lot of rice & ramen.
Costs: $8500 for tuition $2200 for dorms 1st semester, second semester plan on getting a cheap apt ($300/mth), so $10.7K 1st semester, $9,700 for second semester and on....
My other option: Re-take mcats this summer & grab a couple more points in bio. Apply to US med schools. Take a year and repair the financial issues that I'm dealing with at the moment. (Not sure what that would entail)
My fears: Even with an improved bio section I don't get accepted. By then I'll be 35 turning 36.
Will I do more research/volunteer/clinical? Absolutely NOT. I don't have time for it. I'm just going to try to survive and repair whatever I need to.
Will I have a reliable co-signor for GradPlus? I don't think so.
Other fears: If I go to caribb I'm screwed when it comes to residency. Everyone knows how competitive it was this year and how much more it will be in the years to come.
Am I going for a competitive residency? Not sure yet.
Can I ask my parents for help? Nope. I'm too old to crawl back to them and frankly I would never ask my parents for any help. My father has accomplished a lot in his lifetime. Born in a small Korean village...moved to Seoul at the age of 14, top of his class in high school (survived by tutoring rich kids), Seoul Nat'l Uni for college/med school, top of class, moved to the US, had 3 boys while doing his Ph.D., blah blah blah...
Are they supportive of the Caribbean? Nope. Incredibly embarassed in fact. Considering that my youngest bro was never academically gifted and got into a top ranked US med school with a 31mcat & 3.6 gpa....they sort of don't understand how I can't go to a US school.
Actually, after I got accepted to the 4 caribb schools...I asked my father to ask around (he still has research facilities at Tulane & LSU med) his colleagues and see if they've ever heard of SGU/Ross/Saba/AUC and get their take on the offshore route, and he FLATLY said no. He will not be involved in the process at all. I don't think he wanted to admit that
his oldest son is going to the caribbean.
Didn't even congratulate me on any of the acceptances (US DO, caribb)
Its been a frustrating year. Should it be this hard to go to med school? Maybe its too late for me?
Some other fears: Say I get accepted to fall 2010 in the US. Are there any schools whose tuition is cheap enough that it can be taken care of without relying on any credit based loans, like GradPlus?
Should I wait out a year. I'd be teaching during that time and could probably save half a year's salary. I could also get a handle on my credit issues. Not sure however it would be repaired enough to get private loans.
Bottom line is I have a chance to go right now in May to Saba.
In conclusion:
1. may/may not get into US med. I've had friends with similar stats that did not get accepted. Actually my friend got a 36 and she tried for 3 yrs. Didn't get accepted so went to SGU and now is chief resident at Columbia.
2. even if get accepted, can I afford it?
3. should I just make the most out of the opportunities given to me? Go to Saba in May or am I forcing the issue?
4. Timeline for Saba: Start in May '09, finish basic sciences Dec. '10. Take a STEP 1 review retreat from Jan - end of Feb., Take STEP 1 in March. Get scores in April. Begin clinicals in May '11. Taking some breaks + STEP 2, be scheduled to finish by Dec. '12. Try to pre-match in 2012, if not enter match, graduate 2013.
Also, after taking STEP 1, if scores are stellar, try to transfer to a US school for 3rd & 4th year.
Sorry for the long post...And thank you in advance for any advice.