I'm new, pre-med and scared

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A 3.2-3.3 is slightly below average but your strong upward trend should make adcoms pretty forgiving of it, especially if you can do pretty well on the MCAT. You don't necessarily need a 30, but that's a good score to shoot for. Unless you score much lower than a balanced 25 or so I think you're okay, as long as the rest of your app is strong. Ideally you'll want to apply with something like a 9,9,9 or better so that your MCAT will be above the average to make up for your GPA.

And you've picked out the key elements too; just keep chipping away at that GPA, do well on the MCAT, pick up some clinical experience, and shadow a DO. Also start asking some of your professors for LORs, or make an effort to make yourself known to some of your professors so you can get good LORs. I feel like LORs are much more important than most people realize.

You're in pretty good shape actually, and as long as you keep your focus I think you have an excellent chance.

Good luck!

D.O. schools look at the whole person. So if you show a pattern of academic success for the past however many years, especially in the tough science prerequisites, they'll see you are serious and capable of making it through medical school.

Your personal motivation will be very important, too. You want this because of your desire to serve and help people and you have real life experience to back it up.

Doing well on the MCAT will help. Do well in your sciences so you have a good background for it.

Whatever you do don't assume anything is going to keep you out. If a school says the minimum acceptable GPA is a 2.75 and MCAT of 23 (just an example) and you are at the absolute bottom apply anyway! Don't close doors on yourself. Do your very best, then let them decide.

Medschoolstats.com might help you get an idea, they have MCAT and GPA numbers for acceptances at every med school. Very helpful.

I think the biggest factor here is the MCAT. You MUST excel on it (27+; 30+ is even better)

You aren't in as bad of shape as you think.

I want to tell you that I am entering medical school and I also took the GED exam instead of finishing high school so don’t let that weigh you down. We had our reasons. One thing I wrote about on my essays was that I do not regret any of my mistakes for they have created who I am and I am happy to be who I am. You are going to take academic disaster to over a B average in college and that is great. The type of school you want to represent and make proud will look beyond a simple number.

Next, I want to encourage you to continue writing and speaking in complete honesty throughout this process. Believe it or not it is refreshing to hear someone say they had no direction or inspiration and so their grades are poor at first rather than “My dog died and I tripped over a stone which caused me to have a bad headache and fail calculus.” You write well and communicate an honest human being and that is going to help you, a lot. So that covers another step of your application process: essays and interviews.

Here is the lock and key, like others have said. MCAT MCAT MCAT
Live it, breathe it, sleep it, have sex with it. Okay, don’t have sex with it (unless you use a condom). Something turned on in you to drive that GPA from the gutter to acceptable status, you have a life story and experience, now you just need to prove that it is all real and do well on the MCAT.

Good luck and feel free to drop me a message anytime.

Nate said:

I want to tell you that I am entering medical school and I also took the GED exam instead of finishing high school so don’t let that weigh you down.

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Check this out, you have something in common with the current Surgeon General!
http://www.hhs.gov/about/bios/sg.html

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond to my post. Your encouragement strengthens my resolve. 😀

I look forward to becoming an active participant in this community and getting to know some of my future colleagues

Thanks

Eric

smc927 said:

Whatever you do don't assume anything is going to keep you out. If a school says the minimum acceptable GPA is a 2.75 and MCAT of 23 (just an example) and you are at the absolute bottom apply anyway! Don't close doors on yourself. Do your very best, then let them decide.

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This is absolutely true! I was told that COMP had one of the higher MCAT averages (27) and that my MCAT score was not high enough to get in there (I have a 23). But I applied anyway, because that was my top choice, and, well . . . you see my signature. 😀

I am really a non-traditional student...high school drop out, GED, RN and a Masters in Healthcare Management Information Systems. My overall GPA was 3.5 and my MCAT scores sucked. I did have almost 20 years of healthcare experience so I imagine that helped. Bottom line - don't get caught up in numbers. Do your best in school and do GREAT on the MCAT (unlike me 🙄 ) ! I would find an ER and volunteer, get a job, sweep the floor whatever it takes, but this will allow you to work directly with some docs and get some great LORs and healthcare experience. Shadowing tends to be a day or two and is not the same as a job.

If you want to be doctor then be a doctor. I spent to many years worried I was not good enough because of my background - what a waste of time. Now I get to juggle a family, finances and med school but I will love every minute of it. God luck and settle into the process it takes a long time..

TUCOM class of 2009

Buckeye(OH) said:

I think the biggest factor here is the MCAT. You MUST excel on it (27+; 30+ is even better)

You aren't in as bad of shape as you think.

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I think the major factor here is showing a passion for osteopathic medicine and also a passion for wanting to pursue a career in medicine in general.........Obviously it would be nice to get a 27 or above, so aim for that.........but if you don't get those marks don't be discouraged, there are people that get into DO schools (as sad as this may be) with score of 19 and low 20's.

From my experiences MCAT does not correlate with performance in Medical school. I know a friend who got a 19 on the MCAT, and scores average to above-average on every single exam. I personally scored 26 and am not doing any better than my friend with a 19.

I would suggest the following:

1. Be absolutely honest about your troubled academic beginnings. Show to the committees that you did not have any academic role-models to look forward to, and therefore your desire to become a physician is a recent realization.

2. To show your seriousness about your desire, do the usual volunteering and shadowing, but also see if you can work part time in a hospital or even hospice. After gaining some experience, if you feel like you would enjoy working in such a place with a position of leadership, let that show in your application.

3. The current dean of NSU-COM had a similiar school life. He was denied even an SAT test application by his highschool. My point being, you've realized where you have faltered and are working very hard to make up for lost time and effort. If you can bring this point across in your personal statement and interviews (without being arrogant!), I am sure you will be given a very thorough consideration by every admissions comittee.

Good luck, and Relax. You can't do anything about past poor grades, so focus on getting great ones from now on.

I had a VERY rough start myself and had a low GPA and came back and did really well... below average MCAT and still got into my top choice(s) and now having trouble deciding. Don't worry, just keep up the good work and you will succeed. PM me if you have any Q's. 😉