Took an MCAT gamble and it paid; should I apply this upcoming cycle?

[BadDayMan]

Hello,

I began studying for the MCAT around the end of December with the goal of a May or June test date. Many called me crazy cause I had not finished the GenChem series or Bio series - I only completed the Physics series (this is true now). Less than a week ago, I got my scores released and I scored a 519.

This score did not surprise me a great deal because I had been scoring 514s on much harder third party tests and had similar scores on the AAMC FLs. I'm delighted but face a problem: I have so many medical school course prerequisites to go, over 9 total. I'm a CompSci and Mathematics double major so my SGPA would be strong from the Math courses, and my score is rather high (currently 3.43 CGPA/3.38 SGPA). FWIW I'm a low SES URM and paying for med prerequisites on my own would not be possible.

Could I just apply to medical schools without course prerequisites? I think I could succeed in medical school and I know of dozens of programs in the US without course requirements. Should I take a shot?

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[Criscarter25]

You could. What year are you in school? What are your extracurriculars, shadowing, clinical exp, state of residence, etc? Not having prerequisites will limit your school list at the end of the day. I would still try and take the prerequisites if you’re still in school.

 

[BadDayMan]

You could. What year are you in school? What are your extracurriculars, shadowing, clinical exp, state of residence, etc? Not having prerequisites will limit your school list at the end of the day. I would still try and take the prerequisites if you’re still in school.

I'm entering my fourth year (rising senior). I do lots of volunteering my house of worship, I have 300+ nonclinical volunteering hours, 60 hours of shadowing (and growing), and I live in WA state.

Both of my state MD schools have course prerequisites but I have a school list of those without course prerequisites and believe I can create a good school list. I'm cool with having that limitation. My senior year schedule is pretty set in stone so I'm not sure how many prereqs I can fit in.

 

[Xenith]

Honestly the GPA would hold you back from getting your best medical school placement. It’s well below the expected for MD programs and even for DO it’s below median I think. That being said, Compsci and Math are HARD so for those you might still be performing really well but might get screened out from MD programs. If you think you could boost this GPA… take extra easy classes, tease it to above 3.6 you would be perfectly safe. Take an extra semester if you have to. It’s worth it. But obviously if you have financial limitations that’s understandable and you need to do what you need to do. If you don’t think you can then there is nothing to lose. Down the line, the better the school you get into, the more money they can throw at you.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Why did you take the MCAT without taking the prerequisites? Nine still left to take?

Know that being OOS is a factor with getting accepted. GPA is important once you have all your prereqs in. Do your research on mission fit.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

I'd wait and apply next year. You won't be able to matriculate without the prereqs done anyway and getting your GPA higher could help you get into a better school.

 

[AveragePerson.Psych]

I had always thought everyone took the test after they had all of the classes. I just have to say I am proud of you!! I debated taking the test this year, but people told me to wait because I didn't have any OChem, Biochemistry, or Physics courses under my belt. My major is psych so on all the practice test, it is my highest scored section. Once again, GREAT JOB!!

 

[lacrossegirl420]

Curious why you didn’t just wait until the prereqs to take the MCAT? You probably could have scored in the upper 520’s with those given your current situation
Overall your stats should be fine, but your GPA will probably hold you back from some of the top programs (even though they are hard majors). Personally, I’d wait another year since a lot of schools do require the prerequisites

 

[BadDayMan]

Thank you for all the responses. I'm planning to make room in my upcoming schedule and plan to apply this next June. I will be able to take all of my prerequisites up to OChem 2 and BioChem1 which I don't mind taking after graduation!

 

[PalaceLover]

Great score but you have zero clinical hours? I would take a year to finish required coursework and boost gpa and then another to gain sufficient clinical hours before applying. You will do well extremely well I believe with this plan. You may also want to start clinical experience now so it does not look like everything was done at the last second!

 

[LizzyM]

Your sGPA needs all the help it can get. Apply after you have taken all the pre-reqs since you have to take them eventually anyway and they will (we hope) boost your GPA. Do not apply before you have the best application you can manage. This is a arduous, time-consuming, expensive, emotionally draining process and it is best not to have to do it more than once.

 

[Xenith]

Your sGPA needs all the help it can get. Apply after you have taken all the pre-reqs since you have to take them eventually anyway and they will (we hope) boost your GPA. Do not apply before you have the best application you can manage. This is a arduous, time-consuming, expensive, emotionally draining process and it is best not to have to do it more than once.

Listen to LizzyM! I implore you. The number 1 biggest thing that helps you get good residencies and then fellowships is your medical school. Period. Doesn’t mean you can’t get into good programs from a lower tier Med school. But the process is much harder and much more $$$. Knock it out now, when life is frankly a lot easier and the end product is a lot easier. You got 519 on the mcat, you will easily get As in your pre-recs. It’s a done deal. It only gets harder after this.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Yep. Congrats on the MCAT, but you've got to take the prereqs!

 

[MyOdyssey]

I'm entering my fourth year (rising senior). I do lots of volunteering my house of worship, I have 300+ nonclinical volunteering hours, 60 hours of shadowing (and growing), and I live in WA state.

Both of my state MD schools have course prerequisites but I have a school list of those without course prerequisites and believe I can create a good school list. I'm cool with having that limitation. My senior year schedule is pretty set in stone so I'm not sure how many prereqs I can fit in.

U of Washington has a heavy in state preference in admissions. Don’t give that up needlessly by not taking course prerequisites.

What clinical experience do you have? You can finance postbacc science classes by finding paid clinical work.

 

[eigen]

Could I just apply to medical schools without course prerequisites? I think I could succeed in medical school and I know of dozens of programs in the US without course requirements. Should I take a shot?

If you're applying to a school without requirements, then you aren't "applying without course prerequisites". The only "course prerequisites" are those that schools individually set.

The more correct question would be how many schools are you able to apply to given your coursework. Depending on the specific courses you're missing, that might be a lot or it might be very few.

Your post also doesn't detail many important factors, like your clinical experiences / research work / volunteer experiences, or anything else about how prepared you are to apply.