What should I do- apply '16 or '17

[Louie3]

I graduated with a bachelors degree in May 2015. When I initially started college I was interested in going to medical school after I completed a bachelors degree, but I was discouraged because I got a C in Genetics and my main hesitations were the debt I would have to incur during medical school and the lack of ability to get a steady career with just an undergraduate degree. The college I went to is known for high acceptance rates into graduate science/health programs, so they will only support students who their almost sure will get accepted and with a B in Gen. Chem and a C in Genetics, they weren't thinking too highly of me and medical school admissions.

I then decided to study nursing. During the last semester of the program, spring 2015, my clinical instructor failed me on my clinical evaluation, which resulted in me receiving a D in two courses due to the way the syllabus was written. This occurred about a month before graduation. I chose to still graduate, but with a Bachelors degree in Natural/Social Sciences instead of nursing. I obtained my LPN instead of RN license.

June 2014 I started working as a nurse tech and July 2015 I started working as an LPN. After I started working in July there have been times that have come up when I have wanted to do more for my patients- for example figure out why their WBC count is critically low, what is causing a person to become weak, confused, and have seizures, and understand more of how medications work, not just the basics of what they do.

In August I started taking the rest of my pre-reqs for medical school. I'm currently in Gen. Chem II & Physics I. I have O. Chem I & II, Physics II, Biochem, and possibly Calculus left to take.
Spring 2016: O. Chem I & Physics II
Summer 2016: O. Chem II
Fall 2016: BioChem & Calculus

I know I need to shadow more, I've barely done any. What about volunteer, clinical, and research experience? I've read on the forum that work experience as a tech, nurse, etc. can cause Adcoms to overlook lack of consistent volunteer & research experience. I completed a research project in the McNair Scholars program Summer 2013. How reliable is the Gold Standard free half-length MCAT?

Would it be possible for me to put together a good application and apply during the summer of 2016?

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[GreenDuck12]

You really need to finish your pre-req courses before applying to medical school. If you do this without biochem and calculus, you would submit your transcripts to AMCAS in July/August at which point it will take several weeks to process. At best, your application would be sent out to schools at the end of August or early September, which is really late in the cycle. With med school admissions, the prevailing wisdom is that it is much better to apply early rather than late. My advice would be to take the extra year, finish up all of your courses, do the necessary shadowing and volunteer work, really prepare for the MCAT and focus on making your application as strong as possible.

I graduated with a bachelors degree in May 2015. When I initially started college I was interested in going to medical school after I completed a bachelors degree, but I was discouraged because I got a C in Genetics and my main hesitations were the debt I would have to incur during medical school and the lack of ability to get a steady career with just an undergraduate degree. The college I went to is known for high acceptance rates into graduate science/health programs, so they will only support students who their almost sure will get accepted and with a B in Gen. Chem and a C in Genetics, they weren't thinking too highly of me and medical school admissions.

I then decided to study nursing. During the last semester of the program, spring 2015, my clinical instructor failed me on my clinical evaluation, which resulted in me receiving a D in two courses due to the way the syllabus was written. This occurred about a month before graduation. I chose to still graduate, but with a Bachelors degree in Natural/Social Sciences instead of nursing. I obtained my LPN instead of RN license.

June 2014 I started working as a nurse tech and July 2015 I started working as an LPN. After I started working in July there have been times that have come up when I have wanted to do more for my patients- for example figure out why their WBC count is critically low, what is causing a person to become weak, confused, and have seizures, and understand more of how medications work, not just the basics of what they do.

In August I started taking the rest of my pre-reqs for medical school. I'm currently in Gen. Chem II & Physics I. I have O. Chem I & II, Physics II, Biochem, and possibly Calculus left to take.
Spring 2016: O. Chem I & Physics II
Summer 2016: O. Chem II
Fall 2016: BioChem & Calculus

I know I need to shadow more, I've barely done any. What about volunteer, clinical, and research experience? I've read on the forum that work experience as a tech, nurse, etc. can cause Adcoms to overlook lack of consistent volunteer & research experience. I completed a research project in the McNair Scholars program Summer 2013. How reliable is the Gold Standard free half-length MCAT?

Would it be possible for me to put together a good application and apply during the summer of 2016?

 

[Ad2b]

You don't need calc. You do need biochem. I would take your courses as you stated, take the MCAT in April 2017, and apply June 1, 2017 for the 2018 cycle.

Get A's in your courses now. Keep working as an LPN. Find volunteering as suggested above.

 

[Louie3]

Thanks for your advice. I will go ahead and plan on applying during early summer 2017. O.Chem. II during the summer is intense and a big commitment- lecture is 2.5 hours a day, four days a week and lab is 4 hours 3 days a week. I could start studying for the MCAT over summer 2016 and take the MCAT early 2017. I would prefer to take O. Chem II and Biochem during the fall. The reason I mentioned taking calculus is that several schools require Calculus or two math classes (statistics + another one such as college algebra or trig.). I have not taken a math class in college because I took the college algebra CLEP test and Calculus in high school, but don't have AP credit. The pre-med advisor suggested I should take calculus if possible because it'll broaden the schools I can apply to. If I really end up needing it I could take it in the spring or taking a different math class.

 

[Ad2b]

These are the schools listed by Dartmouth as REQUIRING calculus (I've removed MN both TC and Duluth because they do not; you'll have to check the others for yourself; I know Harvard still did last summer):

Green = top tier/A list per Dawg's list
Blue = #1, and #2 in country

All others ...

Brown University
Dartmouth Medical School
Duke University
East Carolina University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins
Texas A & M
Uniformed Services
University of Nebraska
University of California - Irvine
University of Louisville
University of Texas - Southwestern at Dallas
University of Texas at Galveston
University of Texas at San Antonio
Washington University

 

[heartsink]

I think you need to solidify why it was that you failed your nursing clinical class and pulled a C in gen Chem. if you're not able to pull mostly A's going forward it will be tough regardless.