I will graduate in the fall with my B.S. in Chemistry with Biochemistry Concentration. I am currently in the process of applying physician assistant schools, but if I don't make it I want to try my luck at med school. I should have a sGPA: ~3.4 and cGPA: ~3.3 once I graduate. I have around 2700 hours as a Home Health Aide. 60 hours of working as a ER Scribe, as well as 60 hours of shadowing a ER Doc. I live in PA, and am a Eastern European immigrant. What score should I try to achieve in order to be a competitive applicant? What else can I improve on? And How
What MCAT score should I aim for?
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Um. MD/DO is your fall back plan? 
Edited: my blond moment kicked in; obviously, what you asked for is what score should you get to be competitive.
My guess is very high, 515+ ? I don't know if Eastern European quals as URM; the sGPA is lower than many (maybe DO school? it might be too low for them as well).
Edited: my blond moment kicked in; obviously, what you asked for is what score should you get to be competitive.
My guess is very high, 515+ ? I don't know if Eastern European quals as URM; the sGPA is lower than many (maybe DO school? it might be too low for them as well).
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I wouldn't say it is a fall back. I just have had conflicting emotions about going PA or MD. My main concern life/work balance. I have gotten conflicting information from both professions. So I first wanted to try to see if I can get into a PA program, then if it did not work out, take that as a sign to improve my stats and try for MD as well. I know I need to improve my GPA, but apparently this should not be done at a community college. I know that I should be aiming as high as I can on the MCAT, but I was wondering what score should be good enough so I don't have to retake it.Um. MD/DO is your fall back plan?
MCAT score?
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@kuzya4236 - I edited my comment for I need to lrn 2 read sometimes
Upper division bio/chem/ type classes and A's + MCAT above 512? 515? Good enough for one person =/= good enough for another. Dude(ette) with 3.9 trying to get into a state school probably doesn't need more than a 510 (the old 30). Someone with outlying credentials probably wants 512+... for me, I'm hoping for 516+...
Right now, the new scaling is being figured out. I'm not sure what the adcoms will think and not sure they know when they'll know until after this cycle is over sometime next year and possible, even later as the new matriculants start to take tests and they can correlate the new MCAT with actual grades in med school.
It's sort of a crap shoot right now.
If your grade trajectory is upward, that speaks well. No doubt the real adcoms/in-the-know types will chime in!
Upper division bio/chem/ type classes and A's + MCAT above 512? 515? Good enough for one person =/= good enough for another. Dude(ette) with 3.9 trying to get into a state school probably doesn't need more than a 510 (the old 30). Someone with outlying credentials probably wants 512+... for me, I'm hoping for 516+...
Right now, the new scaling is being figured out. I'm not sure what the adcoms will think and not sure they know when they'll know until after this cycle is over sometime next year and possible, even later as the new matriculants start to take tests and they can correlate the new MCAT with actual grades in med school.
It's sort of a crap shoot right now.
If your grade trajectory is upward, that speaks well. No doubt the real adcoms/in-the-know types will chime in!
@kuzya4236 - I edited my comment for I need to lrn 2 read sometimes
Upper division bio/chem/ type classes and A's + MCAT above 512? 515? Good enough for one person =/= good enough for another. Dude(ette) with 3.9 trying to get into a state school probably doesn't need more than a 510 (the old 30). Someone with outlying credentials probably wants 512+... for me, I'm hoping for 516+...
Right now, the new scaling is being figured out. I'm not sure what the adcoms will think and not sure they know when they'll know until after this cycle is over sometime next year and possible, even later as the new matriculants start to take tests and they can correlate the new MCAT with actual grades in med school.
It's sort of a crap shoot right now.
If your grade trajectory is upward, that speaks well. No doubt the real adcoms/in-the-know types will chime in!
Thanks for the input. How do you feel about taking classes at community college to boost GPA?
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Unless your CC is in CA, no. And even then, probably not. You need to take classes at the best university you can to show that you can do the work.
Someone once told me: remember, this isn't all about you or your GPA, it's about how you stack up against the competition. CC < uni < Ivy
Someone once told me: remember, this isn't all about you or your GPA, it's about how you stack up against the competition. CC < uni < Ivy
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505+ for DO. 510+ for MD.
I personally do not think the prestige of the university matters but of course, I'm sure people have different opinions about that (undergrads with notorious deflation often do get some lee-way for a low GPA). If you can avoid CC credits, I would do so although CC credits doesn't hurt nearly as much for DO as it may for MD schools.
I personally do not think the prestige of the university matters but of course, I'm sure people have different opinions about that (undergrads with notorious deflation often do get some lee-way for a low GPA). If you can avoid CC credits, I would do so although CC credits doesn't hurt nearly as much for DO as it may for MD schools.
