Nontraditional Paramedic

[aaron5661]

1. Age: 27
2. cGPA and sGPA
3. cGPA: 3.34
   sGPA: 3.61
   Undergraduate cGPA: 3.04
   Undergraduate sGPA: 3.12
   Post Bac cGPA: 3.84
   Post Bac sGPA: 3.71
   
   
4. MCAT: Not yet. (Early 2017)
   
   
5. Residency: MA
   
   
6. Race: Caucasian
   
   
7. Education:
   Undergraduate: BA - Sociology 3.1 GPA
   
   
8. Post Bac Education:
   Associates Degree - Paramedic Sciences - 4.0 GPA
   Boston University Postbac
   
   
9. Clinical experience:
   5 years volunteer EMT. (BLS) Basic Life Support
   1 year volunteer EMT-I/P (ALS) Advanced Life Support
   2 years Paid EMT-I/P (ALS) Advanced Life Support
   2 years ER Technician (thousands of hours)
   7 years total prehospital experience (thousands of hours)
   
   
10. Research: None
    
    
11. Shadowing: None officially. 100+ hours as part of my paramedic program. ICU, Cardiac Cath Lab, OR, OB. Also, worked alongside doctors in the ER for 2 years. Both my parents are also physicians. (I have an idea what is involved with being a physician)
    
    
12. Non-clinical volunteering: Harvard Medical School Med Science Program - Teaching health sciences to high school students. 1 year.
    
    
13. Other extracurricular activities: None
    
    
14. Relevant honors or awards:
    Chief of college volunteer rescue squad
    Assistant Chief of city volunteer rescue squad

I am trying to get an idea of where I need to be with my MCAT scores to be competitive with MD schools. I feel like I have great clinical experience and a good story but am concerned that my grades may not be good enough to get schools to actually look at me... As a nontraditional student, I know things are slightly different. That being said, I have no idea if I am in a good positon or not. I plan to take the MCAT in the next few months and apply June of 2017 for Fall 2018.

What are your thoughts on my chances? Do you think MD school will be too much of a stretch? Do you have any advice for me between now and June? Do I need to do research or shadowing?

Thank you in advance!
Aaron

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[Faha]

You are fine for most DO schools as long as your MCAT is 500 or higher. You need a MCAT of 508 in order to be competitive for some MD schools.

 

[aaron5661]

You are fine for most DO schools as long as your MCAT is 500 or higher. You need a MCAT of 508 in order to be competitive for some MD schools.

Thank you for the response. With an 80th percentile score (508), would the only make me competitive at a few MD schools, or would I have a chance with a bunch? UMASS would be ideal...

 

[Faha]

You are fine for most DO schools as long as your MCAT is 500 or higher. You need a MCAT of 508 in order to be competitive for some MD schools.

Thank you for the response. With an 80th percentile score (508), would the only make me competitive at a few MD schools, or would I have a chance with a bunch? UMASS would be ideal...

You would have a chance at a few MD schools with a score of 508:
UMass
Quinnipiac
Vermont
New York Medical College
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
any private schools that open for 2018 (Seton Hall, Roseman, etc.)

 

[aaron5661]

What do those "unofficial" shadowing hours consist of?

The hours were part of my Paramedic training. So, not exactly official shadowing. As a part of the program, I shadowed the following physicians... ER, interventional cardiologist, OB (Labor and Delivery), and anesthesiology (in the OR). I also have worked alongside physicians in the ED for years. I have worked with just about every specialty in that regard... Cardiology, Trauma, Neuro, Plastics, Peds, Ortho, etc.

 

[Gurby]

I think you need at least some "official", dedicated shadowing. You've seen a lot of the hospital and pre-hospital, try to connect with a more outpatient / primary care-focused type of doc.

Add in some more volunteering with the underserved, do well on the MCAT, and you'll be in decent shape.

 

[aaron5661]

I think you need at least some "official", dedicated shadowing. You've seen a lot of the hospital and pre-hospital, try to connect with a more outpatient / primary care-focused type of doc.

Add in some more volunteering with the underserved, do well on the MCAT, and you'll be in decent shape.

I am currently teaching for a program through Harvard Med School. It is a STEM education program that attempts to get inner city kids excited about health sciences and close the achievement gap. Do you think that will cover the volunteer side of things? I want to do more of that stuff but I currently work almost full time, take 2 classes, and volunteer.

 

[libertyyne]

These are the Schools that you would meet the requirements of being between 10-90 for both GPA and MCAT.
Virginia Tech
EVMS
Frank H Netter
Wright State University
Rosalind Franklin Chicago
Michigan State
Cooper Medical School Rowan

Your postbac may be rewarded by schools that like reinvention.
You should aim for 512+ score to have a good shot at MD schools.
DO schools will like you with 505+

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

For what it's worth, I was accepted to DO school and got a handful of interviews with a 501 MCAT. My GPA was slightly worse than yours and I think if you apply to both allopath and osteopath schools you'll have a good chance of being accepted. Best of luck fellow traveler.

 

[aaron5661]

Thank you all for your advice so far!

Update:

I am currently working on my application list for MD schools (2018).

Applying with the following stats...

27 years old
Overall GPA: 3.33
Overall BCPM GPA: 3.49
Post Bac GPA: 3.76
Post Bac BCPM GPA: 3.55

Anticipating a 510 on the MCAT (Testing on Thursday)

My questions are as follows...

1. While making my list what GPA should I be using? If my cumulative GPA is below the listed 10th percentile of a school should I not apply there? Should I pick schools based on my PB GPA?

I know that most places will look at the big picture but, I don't want to apply anywhere that will throw my application out without looking deeper.

2. Any recommendations of schools that either put more weight on the PB courses or tend to ignore UG GPA all together? (I know that this is a stretch)

I know this has been asked before but, the answers are far from informative. A list of schools is a start, but details on why/how those schools are different would be ideal.

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!