Econ major considering medical school--need advice

[hopefulmommy]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping you can help me out. I am definitely a non-traditional medical school applicant. I am graduating with my BS in Economics from Penn State next summer. Right now I have a 3.55, but I am working hard to pull my GPA up. I hope to have a 3.6-3.7 when I graduate. I am a mother to 4 children, and my husband is in the military (but getting out next summer). We currently live in Germany.

I have always wanted to be a doctor but I either doubted my abilities or it didn't make sense to go to medical school...we were young parents working all the time, school was difficult enough, and medical school didn't even seem attainable at the time. Now that I've talked to my husband about my desire (that has remained consistent for over 10 years now) to try to get into medical school, he completely supports me, even with all the long hours in school and beyond.

Since I am in Germany and my school options are limited, I have to wait until after I graduate and we get back to the states to take the medical school course requirements, which will be fall of next year. I am looking at a year and a half of course requirements, and then I am going to spend 4 months solely studying for the MCAT. I hope to apply by summer 2018.

Being a mother of 4, a student, and a military spouse, I haven't been afforded much time to spend on a lot of volunteer work. I plan to hopefully start volunteering at a hospital and shadowing a doctor when we get back to the states next year. Other than that, I don't have any volunteer work. I'm going to volunteer at the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society until we leave Germany because I had already planned to volunteer before considering medical school, but that obviously is not medical related.

The only thing I have that has been a constant in my life for the past few years (besides my family of course) is fitness. I love to exercise.

The questions I have are:

1. Should I even bother applying? I see that so many of you have research (don't know how I'd start that), perfect grades, tons of volunteer time, and some of you even have masters degrees.

2. If I should bother applying, what can make me more competitive?

3. If my husband has to take a job out here in Germany when he gets out of the military, would it make me more or less competitive to take my medical school course requirements at a German university?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide. I just want to make sure I don't waste my time.

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[clausewitz2]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping you can help me out. I am definitely a non-traditional medical school applicant. I am graduating with my BS in Economics from Penn State next summer. Right now I have a 3.55, but I am working hard to pull my GPA up. I hope to have a 3.6-3.7 when I graduate. I am a mother to 4 children, and my husband is in the military (but getting out next summer). We currently live in Germany.

I have always wanted to be a doctor but I either doubted my abilities or it didn't make sense to go to medical school...we were young parents working all the time, school was difficult enough, and medical school didn't even seem attainable at the time. Now that I've talked to my husband about my desire (that has remained consistent for over 10 years now) to try to get into medical school, he completely supports me, even with all the long hours in school and beyond.

Since I am in Germany and my school options are limited, I have to wait until after I graduate and we get back to the states to take the medical school course requirements, which will be fall of next year. I am looking at a year and a half of course requirements, and then I am going to spend 4 months solely studying for the MCAT. I hope to apply by summer 2018.

Being a mother of 4, a student, and a military spouse, I haven't been afforded much time to spend on a lot of volunteer work. I plan to hopefully start volunteering at a hospital and shadowing a doctor when we get back to the states next year. Other than that, I don't have any volunteer work. I'm going to volunteer at the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society until we leave Germany because I had already planned to volunteer before considering medical school, but that obviously is not medical related.

The only thing I have that has been a constant in my life for the past few years (besides my family of course) is fitness. I love to exercise.

The questions I have are:

1. Should I even bother applying? I see that so many of you have research (don't know how I'd start that), perfect grades, tons of volunteer time, and some of you even have masters degrees.

2. If I should bother applying, what can make me more competitive?

3. If my husband has to take a job out here in Germany when he gets out of the military, would it make me more or less competitive to take my medical school course requirements at a German university?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide. I just want to make sure I don't waste my time.

Mst important point here: do NOT take any of your pre-reqs at anything other than a US or Canadian institution. Pre-reqs taken at a German university simply WILL NOT COUNT. You will not even be able to enter them into the application system.

 

[hopefulmommy]

Mst important point here: do NOT take any of your pre-reqs at anything other than a US or Canadian institution. Pre-reqs taken at a German university simply WILL NOT COUNT. You will not even be able to enter them into the application system.

Thank you for the advice, I won't take any classes here.

Anyone else??

 

[Eccesignum]

Without knowing an MCAT score or final cGPA and sGPA or final ECs, there's only so much we can say about chances. Nobody can tell you with full certainty whether it is or isn't worth it. You have to decide if it's what you want to go for and get your package of You ready, then when it comes time assess what you're competitive and not competitive for.

Very few of us (especially we older ones) have "perfect grades". And FYI master's degrees don't help you with MD schools (though they do for DO). Research isn't strictly necessary but it doesn't hurt. Easiest way to get into that will probably be through a university when you go back for classes. Either on-campus research or your advisor or department may be able to suggest places to look.

What can make you more competitive right now are:

1) Get your pre-reqs done at an American university and get the highest grades you can. Take additional upper-level hard science if possible. You want to show schools you're capable of high-level work, and a good amount of it at once. Make sure you know what pre-reqs you need.

2) Give yourself time to study for the MCAT. Take it when ready. Don't underestimate it. A good or lackluster MCAT can make or break your application in the early stages.

3) Find something to do volunteer-wise that you like and stick with it. Quality and longevity > multiple things for ten hours each. It can be medical or non-medical (many schools like to see a bit of both).

4) Get clinical exposure. This is important. You need to have been around sick people and know it won't make you run screaming.

5) Shadow. They want to know you've seen what a doctor does day in and day out. You sound like you're getting started on that, so that's good. If you plan on applying DO make sure you shadow a DO and cultivate a good relationship. Most DO schools want a recommendation letter from a DO.

Once you know what kind of shape you're in once classes, MCAT, and additional experiences are together in a cohesive package, then people can start helping you figure out how to proceed. Yes, it's a risk. We all took the risk that we wouldn't get good enough grades, that we wouldn't get a good MCAT score, or that we wouldn't get in despite the prettiest app in the world. It's a risk right up to the first acceptance. Up to you whether you take it.

Best of luck to you!