Overqualified?

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Podiatry students aren't unintelligent. Just because you have a higher GPA doesn't mean you're more intelligent than someone else. The school and circumstances count as well. A lot of podiatry students have really good GPAs and apply and judging from your MCAT score, you may not be able to get into med school.

In my opinion, this post is quite pointless because if you want to do it, then just do it. My advice to you is to not be as arrogant as you seem during your interviews.

If you apply broadly MD/DO then you would probably be accepted somewhere. I would go that route since it sounds like your heart was set on being in medical school previously.

I'd recommend you retaking the MCAT and trying to do better because with your current outlook on the field you would not be accepted to a POD school. Unless of course you lied your face off in the interviews. Yes, there are people that sneak by with low MCATs right before the school year begins, but that is not the norm. Plenty of people, who are likely more intelligent than you think you are, apply to POD school every year. Many of which have 27 or higher on their MCAT. The thing that is most important is that you love whatever field of medicine you enter. Going to POD school for any other reason will probably cause you to be unhappy in the long run.

emilyelevator said:

I'm thinking about applying to podiatry school. I have a 27 MCAT and 3.8 GPA. I know this is way above the averages for most podiatry schools and that sort of makes me feel like I might be undercutting myself? I have extra-curriculars, research experience, and volunteering/clinical experience. I was originally aiming for medical school, but with my MCAT I don't think I'll make the cut for MD schools. I still think I'd be interested in podiatry - I like the idea of having a specialty and a much shorter residency than MD professions. And podiatry schools offer scholarships, so that's a plus.

I guess my question is am I going to be surrounded by people not nearly as intelligent as me? (I know that sounds super arrogant, but I don't know how else to word it). I mean people with 18s on their MCATs being accepted into podiatry schools seems a little substandard to me. I know podiatry school can be just as rigorous as med school, but with my stats and experiences do you think I'm overqualified and therefore undercutting myself by going into podiatry (considering that there's people with much lower stats that get in)?

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hahahha. ^ Troll. Please don't apply. You are way too smart for everyone. You should probably be in outer space working on some aeronautical engineering while thinking of a cure for cancer in your spare time. Nice work trolling. Get a life.

emilyelevator said:

I'm thinking about applying to podiatry school. I have a 27 MCAT and 3.8 GPA. I know this is way above the averages for most podiatry schools and that sort of makes me feel like I might be undercutting myself? I have extra-curriculars, research experience, and volunteering/clinical experience. I was originally aiming for medical school, but with my MCAT I don't think I'll make the cut for MD schools. I still think I'd be interested in podiatry - I like the idea of having a specialty and a much shorter residency than MD professions. And podiatry schools offer scholarships, so that's a plus.

I guess my question is am I going to be surrounded by people not nearly as intelligent as me? (I know that sounds super arrogant, but I don't know how else to word it). I mean people with 18s on their MCATs being accepted into podiatry schools seems a little substandard to me. I know podiatry school can be just as rigorous as med school, but with my stats and experiences do you think I'm overqualified and therefore undercutting myself by going into podiatry (considering that there's people with much lower stats that get in)?

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Whether or not you are "undercutting" yourself largely depends on what your life goals are.

If you are actually interested in the field of podiatry and that's the type of physician you'd like to become, then I would say that as long as you choose a school with a challenging curriculum and fosters your success, you will be pleased with your choice, as well as with the rigor of the work (of course I'm biased, but AZPod has an awesome curriculum if you're looking for a challenge and to learn a ton).

If you are choosing podiatry only because you "couldn't get into" medical school, I absolutely think you would be undercutting yourself because your dream isn't actually to work in podiatry, but rather in some other medical field/specialty. With this scenario, I actually have my doubts as to how good of a podiatrist you would actually become, because it's much more difficult to be exceptional in a field that you're not that enthusiastic about.

With your grades and MCAT, I honestly would think you could get into a general medical school somewhere, and perhaps all you need to do is work on your extracurriculars, personal statement, letters of reference, and/or interview skills. Your MCAT is above the lowest score for the University of Arizona College of Medicine (Phoenix) for the past four years, and your GPA exceeds the average for those years' classes, as well. Also, you would probably get many interviews, and likely acceptances, from D.O. schools if you apply there. If that's what you really want to do, I don't think there's anything really stopping you except tenacity and getting your applications in early. If you're really desperate, go work in Texas for a year (or buy a condo or something), become a resident, and apply there (you'll probably get into at least one of their medical schools as long as you're a resident, but don't bother trying if you're out of state).

Podiatry as a specialty has some attractive advantages over many allopathic/osteopathic specialties as far as lifestyle, residency, scope of practice, and practice setting, but I think the most important thing before committing to the field would be making sure you actually enjoy the work. If there's a practice in your area, you might want to drop by and ask the staff if you could speak to the doctor about shadowing, then take a couple of days off work and spend some time in their practice (some DPMs have different focuses, so you might want to look into what the local podiatrists are mainly seeing in their clinics and choose to shadow based on what you think your interest is). I wouldn't worry too much about whether or not your peers seem intelligent enough for you based on their numbers, as your performance and success does not depend upon them, and you may be surprised at how capable many of your peers actually are.

Best of luck on whichever path you decide on - don't sell yourself short whichever way you choose.

First things first: a 27 is NOT extremely impressive for podiatry schools. I know of a handful of people who got significantly better MCAT scores than you, and are in podiatry school (myself included). None of us are "undercutting" ourselves, because podiatry is medicine. At my school, we take exactly the same classes with the DO students for our didactic years, so you'll need to work hard whether you got a 19 or a 39. Podiatry is presently an extremely dynamic field, and now more than ever it needs future leaders to excel our profession "forward."

Podiatrists operate on one of the most complicated musculo-skeleto regions of the body, and have full surgical range of scope in this area. You would be remissed to think that podiatrists are only sub-par wannabe doctors.

I can assure you that next year in class you will have to work hard and it won't be a cake walk for you or your 27.

Go DO, bro.

emilyelevator said:

I guess my question is am I going to be surrounded by people not nearly as intelligent as me? (I know that sounds super arrogant, but I don't know how else to word it).

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REALLY? You couldn't word it any better? Sorry, but you sound as arrogant as anybody I have ever heard speak before. So congrats on that.

I just had to say that b/c if you go into an interview with that mind set they will still accept you but will stare at you and think that you probably have poor interpersonal skills.

You should just work on math formulas in a dark room away from everyone all day, every day. You are THAT smart. Worst thread I have ever seen on this site.

Trust me, you haven't seen the caliber of some podiatry students and their intelligence. A 27 is nothing to compare to in terms of intelligence.

If you enter school with that attitude, you're liable to have one of those ingrates with a 19 mop the floor with you. A 27 isn't that impressive, even for podiatry, and it is in no way indicative of the work ethic required just to pass your classes. Reality is, once you get here, your MCAT means nothing. What matters is how bad you want it and how hard you're willing to work, something the MCAT doesn't measure.

emilyelevator said:

I'm thinking about applying to podiatry school. I have a 27 MCAT and 3.8 GPA. I know this is way above the averages for most podiatry schools and that sort of makes me feel like I might be undercutting myself? I have extra-curriculars, research experience, and volunteering/clinical experience. I was originally aiming for medical school, but with my MCAT I don't think I'll make the cut for MD schools. I still think I'd be interested in podiatry - I like the idea of having a specialty and a much shorter residency than MD professions. And podiatry schools offer scholarships, so that's a plus.

I guess my question is am I going to be surrounded by people not nearly as intelligent as me? (I know that sounds super arrogant, but I don't know how else to word it). I mean people with 18s on their MCATs being accepted into podiatry schools seems a little substandard to me. I know podiatry school can be just as rigorous as med school, but with my stats and experiences do you think I'm overqualified and therefore undercutting myself by going into podiatry (considering that there's people with much lower stats that get in)?

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I understand, and agree to a large degree, with the replies you are receiving on this thread. If you are not simply trolling, I would urge you to post this on a DO or MD forum/thread--you may receive the advice you are looking for through those media.

If anything I'd question your own intelligence for earning an MCAT score that doesn't reflect your GPA at all. I'm always very weary of people who have high GPAs but don't do well on standardized exams where inflation as a result of ease of classes/professors/cheating is completely eliminated.

I would not say over qualified but you are well qualified. You would not even be in the top 10% of scores at my school. Reason being is there is a decent amount of students with 29-30 MCAT's with high GPA's that do Podiatry because it's almost guaranteed to get them into a surgical specialty residency. I was like you when I applied and I thought Podiatry would be a lot easier and half of the class wouldn't be that smart, but that quickly changed for me.

Ask yourself these question:

Do I want to do procedures and be a specialist? If no then go M.D. or D.O. If yes then go M.D. or DPM

Do I have to have an M.D. behind my name to feel good about myself?

Do I want to be an A-list Podiatrist or do I want to be a B-list doctor?

Da Ghost said:

I would not say over qualified but you are well qualified. You would not even be in the top 10% of scores at my school. Reason being is there is a decent amount of students with 29-30 MCAT's with high GPA's that do Podiatry because it's almost guaranteed to get them into a surgical specialty residency. I was like you when I applied and I thought Podiatry would be a lot easier and half of the class wouldn't be that smart, but that quickly changed for me.

Ask yourself these question:

Do I want to do procedures and be a specialist? If no then go M.D. or D.O. If yes then go M.D. or DPM

Do I have to have an M.D. behind my name to feel good about myself?

Do I want to be an A-list Podiatrist or do I want to be a B-list doctor?

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You do know DOs can be specialist and perform procedures correct? I also find it quite funny how you call doctors B-list like Physicians are second tier?

Makati2008 said:

You do know DOs can be specialist and perform procedures correct? I also find it quite funny how you call doctors B-list like Physicians are second tier?

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B-list as in not in the top of your respective field, not a go-to name in your field. Obviously anyone can out work everyone else and start at the bottom of their class and rise to the top but how often does that really happen?

And yes I know DO's can become specialists too. This is another argument but realistically going DO is only a viable option if you are interested in becoming an Internist, ER, or Family doctor.

Let's not let this turn into a DO vs MD debate or MD vs DPM or DO vs DPM. Those threads never end up anywhere productive.

I wouldn't get worked up over anything you read here. The content of this forum tends to be at its weakest when it describes other medical specialties.

For example- did you know that every ortho has a chip on their shoulder and doesn't really know anything about the ankle. A fun fact I learned here. Someone should tell that to the podiatry residents who tout their programs by describing the opportunities they have to share cases with ortho. Don't they know we're the best?

PS - A 1-post OP asks if podiatry students are dumb. Somewhere there's a bridge missing a smelly-light-sensitive creature.