Need Advice to Improve App

[amberlynnp13]

This is going to be long and I apologies now for it,,
I have a stupid question guys!! Undergrad I went to two community colleges.. The first cc I got 2.69 gpa which I'm taking classes now and redoing a class to bring my gpa up.. The other cc I got 2.93. Got my BSN at the university my gpa there is 3.69. So do I average the three gpa's? I put every class into this app I have on my iPad ( I believe it's called four point) and it says my overall gpa is a 2.990 which is making me want to cry and throw in the towel!!!!! At the cc that is 2.69 I have an F for not dropping the class properly I am going to retake that class and I am taking 3 summer classes there now and 3 classes in the fall and 2-3 in spring then I'm done my pre-reqs and should be taking my MCATs next summer..with these numbers is it even possible for me to get into med school?

I've been a nurse for 5 years so not much formal shadowing. None to be exact! I have been in codes and helped physicians with procedures at bedside. I interact with MDs and DOs all day long.

No research experience .

And as far as ec I started a back pack drive 3 years ago and I get back packs and school supplies...set the back packs up and donate them to needy families. In July I usually throw a big party and have people donate crafts and art supplies and I donate them to a children's hospital. I have done a soup kitchen a few times and sometimes I donate my time and teach therapeutic groups to patients on a pediatric psych floor.. I am joining a science club in the fall and hopefully starting a pre-med club at my cc.

I had a child at 16 so things have always been tough! I always worked multiple jobs and juggled being a single parent with my own place and school so my grades suffered in the beginning..

Why do I want to be a physician? This is a hard question! I just feel like it's my calling! I feel that I can really give back to people and do so much more for others as a physician...

What can I do do better my chances of getting into med school!! Now that I wrote it all out I don't think it looks good at all and I just want to cry! I now feel just hopeless!

I am taking chem 1 now chem 2 right after and trig/ alegbra during chem 2... Then organic chem1 and physics 1 in fall and organic chem 2 and physics 2 in the spring.. I have to say chem is tricky and the fact that I think it is trick makes me feel like I'm not smart enough to go to med school!

So please tell me what I can do do better my app for med school as of now it looks terrible! What should I shoot for on my MCATs? Obviously I want to get the if heat grade I can but with evrything else on my yahoo what would be a safe score? Now that the mcat is changing I'm even more nervous! I pray I can get my gpa up higher.. What should I get my gpa up too?? Are my ecs ok? Should I do something different? Shadowing I plan on getting like 50 hours is that ok? I have no research but I'd love to if possible.. will this help my app if I can some how get research? Who are the best people to get LORs from?

Is there anything else that will make me more appealing to adcoms or make yet app stand out or look better then it does. Give my any ideas guys this really is my dream and I don't want to give up but for some reason tonight I just feel defeated!!!!

Thanks so much and I am so very sorry for the long post

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[dorian baltar]

Why do I want to be a physician? This is a hard question! I just feel like it's my calling! I feel that I can really give back to people and do so much more for others as a physician...

I am taking chem 1 now chem 2 right after and trig/ alegbra during chem 2... Then organic chem1 and physics 1 in fall and organic chem 2 and physics 2 in the spring.. I have to say chem is tricky and the fact that I think it is trick makes me feel like I'm not smart enough to go to med school!

If that's all you can say about why you want to be a physician, you have almost no chance of being accepted, no matter how great the rest of your application is.
You need to be able to clearly state why you think being a physician will be better for you and your patients than being a nurse and why you think you will be a great physician (definitely mention your nursing experience for this).
This is even more important if you want to do primary care, since you could much more easily become a NP.

Are you only taking first semester chemistry right now? If so, saying Chemistry is "tricky" is probably a cause for concern (since you plan on taking two courses next semester). If you don't understand the concepts very well you will very likely not get an MCAT score high enough to make up for your GPA. I tutored a lot of people in general and organic chemistry and physics while I got my second degree. Among the courses you listed, first semester general chemistry was the easiest for almost all of them.
Also you basically have to get an A in this chemistry course for your GPA to improve. A 3.5 GPA in post baccalaureate work will probably be enough of an upward trend for a DO school, but a 3.0 GPA with your 3.0 overall GPA from previous course work isn't going to look very good.
FYI, DO schools will ignore grades of courses that you retook (as far as I know) so that should improve your GPA. Unfortunately MD schools will not.

My advice:
Really think about why you want to be a doctor instead of a nurse so you can state your reasons clearly and convincingly
If it seems like you won't get an A in your Chemistry class, withdraw, study Chemistry and Physics independently until next semester and then proceed with your academic plan.
While you won't have to worry about a full-time job during medical school, the classes will be much more difficult than what you're taking right now. Make sure your child(ren), family, and friends are going to support you as well as they can. Try to figure out whether your issues with Chemistry are due to lack of time to study or lack of ability to understand.

Good luck!

 

[amberlynnp13]

If that's all you can say about why you want to be a physician, you have almost no chance of being accepted, no matter how great the rest of your application is.
You need to be able to clearly state why you think being a physician will be better for you and your patients than being a nurse and why you think you will be a great physician (definitely mention your nursing experience for this).
This is even more important if you want to do primary care, since you could much more easily become a NP.

Are you only taking first semester chemistry right now? If so, saying Chemistry is "tricky" is probably a cause for concern (since you plan on taking two courses next semester). If you don't understand the concepts very well you will very likely not get an MCAT score high enough to make up for your GPA. I tutored a lot of people in general and organic chemistry and physics while I got my second degree. Among the courses you listed, first semester general chemistry was the easiest for almost all of them.
Also you basically have to get an A in this chemistry course for your GPA to improve. A 3.5 GPA in post baccalaureate work will probably be enough of an upward trend for a DO school, but a 3.0 GPA with your 3.0 overall GPA from previous course work isn't going to look very good.
FYI, DO schools will ignore grades of courses that you retook (as far as I know) so that should improve your GPA. Unfortunately MD schools will not.

My advice:
Really think about why you want to be a doctor instead of a nurse so you can state your reasons clearly and convincingly
If it seems like you won't get an A in your Chemistry class, withdraw, study Chemistry and Physics independently until next semester and then proceed with your academic plan.
While you won't have to worry about a full-time job during medical school, the classes will be much more difficult than what you're taking right now. Make sure your child(ren), family, and friends are going to support you as well as they can. Try to figure out whether your issues with Chemistry are due to lack of time to study or lack of ability to understand.

Good luck!

Thanks for the response.. I am Taking chem 1. It's a five week summer class with lab.. I was confused at first I believe lack of studying and that its fast pace but I got it now I think.. My grade is a 92.2 so it's not an A :/ but almost and i still have 3 weeks left.. There are actually many reason I want to become a physician.

 

[familyaerospace]

DO is probably your best chance or SMP if you can find one that will accept you with your GPA.

If your AMCAS GPA is below 3, that's going to be a huge problem. Luckily you can retake some of those and your DO gpa would be better because of the grade replacement. AMCAS ideally should be 3.5+.

The DOs require shadowing though, luckily you have an automatic in with some of the doctors and you have clinical experience.

Research is not required but it helps. Some schools might not care about the research though. Aim for those. Then if you happen to get research great. A lot of non-trads have problems getting into research apparently.

Your non-medical volunteering is probably ok.

You also have a lot of work experience which is fine.

Highest grade you can get on the MCAT. If you are taking before the score changes, 30+. Hard to know where to aim next year with the change.

LORs... find out what individual schools require. Most require at least a few science professors. Now one of your benefits is that you can "load up" on clinical LORs which is what a lot of people cannot do easily.

 

[dorian baltar]

Thanks for the response.. I am Taking chem 1. It's a five week summer class with lab.. I was confused at first I believe lack of studying and that its fast pace but I got it now I think.. My grade is a 92.2 so it's not an A :/ but almost and i still have 3 weeks left.. There are actually many reason I want to become a physician.

Grades: 92.2 isn't an A? That sucks but I guess you're really close if it's a 93-100 or something like that.
Reasons: That's great, but this is a really important thing to be able to express well. Especially since you're already in healthcare, you're going to be asked why being a doctor is so much better than being a nurse. You need to think about these things deeply and have good, honest reasons. You should probably also cover this in your personal statement.

 

[FutureDrB]

Grades: 92.2 isn't an A?

That's what I was wondering too...

 

[Mars41]

93 was an A at my college. Grrrrr... And my first 2 years they didn't have a + - system... 92 "B's" are brutal lol.

 

[FutureDrB]

93 was an A at my college. Grrrrr... And my first 2 years they didn't have a + - system... 92 "B's" are brutal lol.

Man that sucks.
I took a BIO class last semester and the syllabus stated you needed 830 points for an A. I took the final exam and ended up with 830 points exactly. I was jumping up and down until I received my final grades...B?
I wrote the professor like WTF? Her response..."oh sorry, I sent out the wrong syllabus at the beginning of the semester, I changed it to 840 points for an A.
I probably could've gotten it changed if I filed an official complaint form, but I knew I was going to have her again this semester. Haha.
So yeah, B's are brutal, especially then they should be A's.

 

[Mars41]

@FutureDrB It's the 84 C's that were really tough to swallow haha

 

[AkGrown84]

OP, a few things...some that were previously addressed:

You have a much better shot of DO than MD because of grade replacement. If after your prereqs, you still don't have around a 3.5, retake EVERY OTHER class that you received a C/D/F in to boost that GPA. With your previous performance, aim for all A's in your prereqs. A couple B's are ok, but absolutely retake any C's that you get.

Your answer of "why medicine/physician" is very vanilla and the ADCOM's at every school have literally heard that exact response millions of times. Not to mention that it can be the answer to "why nursing?" or "why counseling?" or any number of other professions. You should be able to articulately explain (both in your PS and in potential interviews) how your experiences have shaped you into KNOWING that you're meant for medicine. Saying it is one thing...."showing" it is another.

Your past 5 years as a nurse is great, and it will most definitely count for clinical hours. Try to tailor your experience into how it demonstrated that you really want to be a physician. Talk about meaningful experiences and interactions with patients. Make sure to think of a couple of these experiences and practice talking about them (I know, this seems weird, but it helps when it comes interview time) out loud. However, it does not count as shadowing, and although I agree that you most likely understand what it is to be a physician, ADCOM's will still want to see some shadowing hours. With your clinical experience, I'd say 50-100 hours would be sufficient, and then be able to talk about your experience (again, both PS and interviews) and what you learned from it. IE: the differences you saw in exactly what a physician does/says/interacts vs when you observe as a nurse.

Research is great, but you're realistically looking at DO schools with your grades, and there is a lot less emphasis in research at DO schools. It's a great bonus, but I found that none of the schools I interviewed at (4 DO, 2 MD) really cared at all (the MD schools were not research-heavy schools, otherwise, this would not have been the case). I honestly wouldn't bother unless you have a specific interest in it AND you're rockin' all your classes.

Also, because you have a child, you need to figure out how you want to address this (or if you want to) in your PS and in interviews. Because being a mother is very central to who I am and my experiences (I have 4 kids), I obviously included it in both. I have heard from others that they omitted the fact that they're a parent. I think it's a two sided coin: If you explain that you've overcome obstacles (having a child at 16, working, going to school) and STILL have succeeded, then I think it's one more "plus" to your application. However, this also opens up the questions of "can she/he make it through medical school with this extra responsibility?". IF, and only if, you can answer this question WELL, would I try and emphasize being a parent. Despite my answering this very well (I was actually told by two interviewers at different schools that my answer was among the best they've heard for this), I still felt at two schools (different ones, obviously), that it really was a detriment to my application/interview. I think it's all in who your interviewers are and how you present yourself as a mother/father. I have spoken to one of my interviewers at the school I'll be matriculating at next month post-acceptance, and she said that hands-down, the two things that basically landed me the acceptance was how I handled the "extra responsibility as a parent" question and speaking about my experiences shadowing a DO who does OMM exclusively.

If you need any advice about anything above, I'm happy to talk further, just PM me! Good luck, and study hard!!

 

[amberlynnp13]

OP, a few things...some that were previously addressed:

You have a much better shot of DO than MD because of grade replacement. If after your prereqs, you still don't have around a 3.5, retake EVERY OTHER class that you received a C/D/F in to boost that GPA. With your previous performance, aim for all A's in your prereqs. A couple B's are ok, but absolutely retake any C's that you get.

Your answer of "why medicine/physician" is very vanilla and the ADCOM's at every school have literally heard that exact response millions of times. Not to mention that it can be the answer to "why nursing?" or "why counseling?" or any number of other professions. You should be able to articulately explain (both in your PS and in potential interviews) how your experiences have shaped you into KNOWING that you're meant for medicine. Saying it is one thing...."showing" it is another.

Your past 5 years as a nurse is great, and it will most definitely count for clinical hours. Try to tailor your experience into how it demonstrated that you really want to be a physician. Talk about meaningful experiences and interactions with patients. Make sure to think of a couple of these experiences and practice talking about them (I know, this seems weird, but it helps when it comes interview time) out loud. However, it does not count as shadowing, and although I agree that you most likely understand what it is to be a physician, ADCOM's will still want to see some shadowing hours. With your clinical experience, I'd say 50-100 hours would be sufficient, and then be able to talk about your experience (again, both PS and interviews) and what you learned from it. IE: the differences you saw in exactly what a physician does/says/interacts vs when you observe as a nurse.

Research is great, but you're realistically looking at DO schools with your grades, and there is a lot less emphasis in research at DO schools. It's a great bonus, but I found that none of the schools I interviewed at (4 DO, 2 MD) really cared at all (the MD schools were not research-heavy schools, otherwise, this would not have been the case). I honestly wouldn't bother unless you have a specific interest in it AND you're rockin' all your classes.

Also, because you have a child, you need to figure out how you want to address this (or if you want to) in your PS and in interviews. Because being a mother is very central to who I am and my experiences (I have 4 kids), I obviously included it in both. I have heard from others that they omitted the fact that they're a parent. I think it's a two sided coin: If you explain that you've overcome obstacles (having a child at 16, working, going to school) and STILL have succeeded, then I think it's one more "plus" to your application. However, this also opens up the questions of "can she/he make it through medical school with this extra responsibility?". IF, and only if, you can answer this question WELL, would I try and emphasize being a parent. Despite my answering this very well (I was actually told by two interviewers at different schools that my answer was among the best they've heard for this), I still felt at two schools (different ones, obviously), that it really was a detriment to my application/interview. I think it's all in who your interviewers are and how you present yourself as a mother/father. I have spoken to one of my interviewers at the school I'll be matriculating at next month post-acceptance, and she said that hands-down, the two things that basically landed me the acceptance was how I handled the "extra responsibility as a parent" question and speaking about my experiences shadowing a DO who does OMM exclusively.

If you need any advice about anything above, I'm happy to talk further, just PM me! Good luck, and study hard!!

Thanks for the reply

 

[amberlynnp13]

93 is the lowest A at the school I attend..

 

[Indianarn]

This is going to be long and I apologies now for it,,
I have a stupid question guys!! Undergrad I went to two community colleges.. The first cc I got 2.69 gpa which I'm taking classes now and redoing a class to bring my gpa up.. The other cc I got 2.93. Got my BSN at the university my gpa there is 3.69. So do I average the three gpa's? I put every class into this app I have on my iPad ( I believe it's called four point) and it says my overall gpa is a 2.990 which is making me want to cry and throw in the towel!!!!! At the cc that is 2.69 I have an F for not dropping the class properly I am going to retake that class and I am taking 3 summer classes there now and 3 classes in the fall and 2-3 in spring then I'm done my pre-reqs and should be taking my MCATs next summer..with these numbers is it even possible for me to get into med school?

I've been a nurse for 5 years so not much formal shadowing. None to be exact! I have been in codes and helped physicians with procedures at bedside. I interact with MDs and DOs all day long.

No research experience .

And as far as ec I started a back pack drive 3 years ago and I get back packs and school supplies...set the back packs up and donate them to needy families. In July I usually throw a big party and have people donate crafts and art supplies and I donate them to a children's hospital. I have done a soup kitchen a few times and sometimes I donate my time and teach therapeutic groups to patients on a pediatric psych floor.. I am joining a science club in the fall and hopefully starting a pre-med club at my cc.

I had a child at 16 so things have always been tough! I always worked multiple jobs and juggled being a single parent with my own place and school so my grades suffered in the beginning..

Why do I want to be a physician? This is a hard question! I just feel like it's my calling! I feel that I can really give back to people and do so much more for others as a physician...

What can I do do better my chances of getting into med school!! Now that I wrote it all out I don't think it looks good at all and I just want to cry! I now feel just hopeless!

I am taking chem 1 now chem 2 right after and trig/ alegbra during chem 2... Then organic chem1 and physics 1 in fall and organic chem 2 and physics 2 in the spring.. I have to say chem is tricky and the fact that I think it is trick makes me feel like I'm not smart enough to go to med school!

So please tell me what I can do do better my app for med school as of now it looks terrible! What should I shoot for on my MCATs? Obviously I want to get the if heat grade I can but with evrything else on my yahoo what would be a safe score? Now that the mcat is changing I'm even more nervous! I pray I can get my gpa up higher.. What should I get my gpa up too?? Are my ecs ok? Should I do something different? Shadowing I plan on getting like 50 hours is that ok? I have no research but I'd love to if possible.. will this help my app if I can some how get research? Who are the best people to get LORs from?

Is there anything else that will make me more appealing to adcoms or make yet app stand out or look better then it does. Give my any ideas guys this really is my dream and I don't want to give up but for some reason tonight I just feel defeated!!!!

Thanks so much and I am so very sorry for the long post

Hey there, I find you in the same boat I once was in. I am an RN and starting Osteopathic Medical School later this month. Your thought process is right, you need to do more things to be a better candidate. The most important of them is to bring your GPA up to at least 3.25 or above. Keep your grades up for the classes you are taking and retake some of the classes you got F's in. Even if you take then in CC, its ok. That would be the most important thing for now. IM me if you want some more help.

 

[amberlynnp13]

Hey there, I find you in the same boat I once was in. I am an RN and starting Osteopathic Medical School later this month. Your thought process is right, you need to do more things to be a better candidate. The most important of them is to bring your GPA up to at least 3.25 or above. Keep your grades up for the classes you are taking and retake some of the classes you got F's in. Even if you take then in CC, its ok. That would be the most important thing for now. IM me if you want some more help.

I messaged you