1 year into pre-med, need advice

[BostonPsych715]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello, all.

I'm a senior at a state school in Massachusetts. It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year that I realized I wanted to go to medical school. I started out as a psychology major (initially interested in clinical psych), but changed gears after picking up minors in biology & chemistry.

Right now, my GPA is a 3.8, but I still need to complete the majority of my pre-reqs. So far, I've taken:
Intro Bio I&II - B+s in both
Gen Chem I - A-
Physics I - B

Other science classes I've taken that I think would classify as BCPM include:
PSY Stats I & II (took through the psychology department) - As in both
MAT Math for the liberal arts major - A
PSY Biological Psychology - A-
PSY Physiological Psychology - A-
PSY Cognitive Neuroscience - B+
BIO Intro to Genetics - A
BIO Human Structure/Function - B+

While my cumulative GPA is high, my science GPA is only around 3.5. I still have yet to take cell biology, anatomy and physiology, gen chem II, orgo I and II, physics II, and biochemistry - so I know this will change quite a bit.

Outside of school, I volunteer at a hospital. In addition, I've also completed an honors thesis in the humanities (designed my own survey to assess medical mistrust). I tutored for a semester at my college. I'm also in the Honors Program. Other honors include Psi Chi, Alpha Lambda Delta, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.

I have also held down a job as a waitress throughout college.

I guess my main questions are: Since I decided on this career path so late, will med schools expect the same amount of ECs as someone who started out as pre-med? Should I take a gap year to gain more experience in the field? Is a 3.5 science GPA competitive?

Some schools I am considering are:
UMASS Medical
Tufts
UVM
Albert Einstein
Quinnipiac
UCONN
Boston University
Drexel
NYU

Given my current stats and minimal ECs, I would appreciate any general advice on taking a gap year/critics on my school list/any other advice that will help me become a more successful applicant. Thanks!

 

[Cotterpin]

I would wait on thinking about a school list until after you have taken the other prereqs (gen chem II, orgo I & II, and physics II) and the MCAT. Your MCAT will make all of the difference in the world, so there's not much point in making a list until you know where you stand there.

As far as ECs go, I think you will want to get more non-clinical volunteering and definitely do some shadowing. More clinical experience is always a good thing. You would probably also want to do some research if you're looking at top tier schools like NYU. Don't be afraid to take a gap year. Tons of people do it and they never regret it.

 

[BostonPsych715]

I would wait on thinking about a school list until after you have taken the other prereqs (gen chem II, orgo I & II, and physics II) and the MCAT. Your MCAT will make all of the difference in the world, so there's not much point in making a list until you know where you stand there.

As far as ECs go, I think you will want to get more non-clinical volunteering and definitely do some shadowing. More clinical experience is always a good thing. You would probably also want to do some research if you're looking at top tier schools like NYU. Don't be afraid to take a gap year. Tons of people do it and they never regret it.

Thank you for your input. In regards to the school list, I figured it would be good to have a mix of lower, mid, and top tier schools. I do not have my heart set on a top school. As of now, UMass medical is my number one choice as I would like (if possible) to stay in Massachusetts and would prefer not to take out as much in loans. I agree that I'm only in the beginning phase and that ultimately the MCAT will be a huge deciding factor. Thanks for the help!

 

[haaaaaaaaaaveyoumetted]

Hello, all.

I'm a senior at a state school in Massachusetts. It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year that I realized I wanted to go to medical school. I started out as a psychology major (initially interested in clinical psych), but changed gears after picking up minors in biology & chemistry.

Right now, my GPA is a 3.8, but I still need to complete the majority of my pre-reqs. So far, I've taken:
Intro Bio I&II - B+s in both
Gen Chem I - A-
Physics I - B

Other science classes I've taken that I think would classify as BCPM include:
PSY Stats I & II (took through the psychology department) - As in both
MAT Math for the liberal arts major - A
PSY Biological Psychology - A-
PSY Physiological Psychology - A-
PSY Cognitive Neuroscience - B+
BIO Intro to Genetics - A
BIO Human Structure/Function - B+

While my cumulative GPA is high, my science GPA is only around 3.5. I still have yet to take cell biology, anatomy and physiology, gen chem II, orgo I and II, physics II, and biochemistry - so I know this will change quite a bit.

Outside of school, I volunteer at a hospital. In addition, I've also completed an honors thesis in the humanities (designed my own survey to assess medical mistrust). I tutored for a semester at my college. I'm also in the Honors Program. Other honors include Psi Chi, Alpha Lambda Delta, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.

I have also held down a job as a waitress throughout college.

I guess my main questions are: Since I decided on this career path so late, will med schools expect the same amount of ECs as someone who started out as pre-med? Should I take a gap year to gain more experience in the field? Is a 3.5 science GPA competitive?

Some schools I am considering are:
UMASS Medical
Tufts
UVM
Albert Einstein
Quinnipiac
UCONN
Boston University
Drexel
NYU

Given my current stats and minimal ECs, I would appreciate any general advice on taking a gap year/critics on my school list/any other advice that will help me become a more successful applicant. Thanks!

I agree that you should wait on a school list, because the courses you have left will really affect your sGPA... but if you really like UMass (great school, I did undergrad in MA and shadowed there a bit 🙂 ), you should find out what kind of stats and experience they're expecting and maybe chat with some current attendees. As for ECs, do what you can and make sure you're actively seeking out a variety of opportunities. You have a lot of time to gain experiences and for your GPA to change (but even if it doesn't, you aren't out of the game).

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[Lost in Translation]

I would wait on thinking about a school list until after you have taken the other prereqs (gen chem II, orgo I & II, and physics II) and the MCAT. Your MCAT will make all of the difference in the world, so there's not much point in making a list until you know where you stand there.

As far as ECs go, I think you will want to get more non-clinical volunteering and definitely do some shadowing. More clinical experience is always a good thing. You would probably also want to do some research if you're looking at top tier schools like NYU. Don't be afraid to take a gap year. Tons of people do it and they never regret it.

Good advice all around. I have one quip: I wouldn't be so fast as to label NYU a top tier school. I have experience with their med students are more than a few have shown to be not of the caliber of a "top tier" med student. I know this will be the case at all med schools, but it should be next to non existent at top tier schools and the fact that it's this prevalent speaks volumes. Maybe future classes will change that? Who knows.

Also, OP, with those stats I wouldn't bother sending your money to NYU unless you can improve them drastically. They (NYU) are very numbers-oriented so if your sGPA isn't at least a 3.7 and your MCAT at least a 36-equivalent then they likely won't give you a second look unless you have connections.

 

[Ad2b]

AFAIK, psych classes do not count into BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) calculations. As such, you have a 3.41 in pre-req courses with physics 2, gchem 2, orgo, biochem left to take.

Nail those.

 

[Cotterpin]

Good advice all around. I have one quip: I wouldn't be so fast as to label NYU a top tier school. I have experience with their med students are more than a few have shown to be not of the caliber of a "top tier" med student. I know this will be the case at all med schools, but it should be next to non existent at top tier schools and the fact that it's this prevalent speaks volumes. Maybe future classes will change that? Who knows.

Also, OP, with those stats I wouldn't bother sending your money to NYU unless you can improve them drastically. They (NYU) are very numbers-oriented so if your sGPA isn't at least a 3.7 and your MCAT at least a 36-equivalent then they likely won't give you a second look unless you have connections.

This is what I meant about NYU being top tier. When you look at their stats averages on the MSAR, they're up there on the level of the top schools. Mainly what I am trying to convey to OP is that if she wants to aim high, she should think seriously about doing research.

 

[BostonPsych715]

AFAIK, psych classes do not count into BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) calculations. As such, you have a 3.41 in pre-req courses with physics 2, gchem 2, orgo, biochem left to take.

Nail those.

Really? I've researched quite a bit around student doctor and people have said that they were able to count courses taken in the psychology department if the course content was interdisciplinary. I've also seen on the websites for some of the schools I've looked into that statistics in the humanities is fine. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've seen numerous people post that they successful categorized classes like biopsychology as BCPM.

 

[ndafife]

Really? I've researched quite a bit around student doctor and people have said that they were able to count courses taken in the psychology department if the course content was interdisciplinary. I've also seen on the websites for some of the schools I've looked into that statistics in the humanities is fine. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've seen numerous people post that they successful categorized classes like biopsychology as BCPM.

The AMCAS Manual ( https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...6a2-49cefdb39bc9/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf ) puts psychology as BESS. So yes, you are wrong.

 

[GrapesofRath]

The truth of the matter is while technically the AMCAS manual puts these things as such if you list courses such as Physiological Psychology in your BCPM GPA, AMCAS is rather unlikely to change it. They are not nearly as strigent about alot of these classifications as SDN makes them out to be. I know of a number of people arguing some really questionable things and getting AMCAS to classify it as BCPM classes even after AMCAS initially wanted to change it(and many times AMCAS doesnt even try to initially change it). There are far less extreme examples of people putting these types of courses as BCPM and getting away with it all over this site as well. If you put Cognitive Neuroscience and Physiological Psych in as BCPM courses when the time comes, there's a very solid chance theyll be left as such.

 

[Lost in Translation]

This is what I meant about NYU being top tier. When you look at their stats averages on the MSAR, they're up there on the level of the top schools. Mainly what I am trying to convey to OP is that if she wants to aim high, she should think seriously about doing research.

If top tier was defined by numbers, I guess that works. But does NYU have a program that can command numerical stats equivalent to HMS, Yale, UPenn, Duke, Stanford? I don't see it.

 

[Cotterpin]

If top tier was defined by numbers, I guess that works. But does NYU have a program that can command numerical stats equivalent to HMS, Yale, UPenn, Duke, Stanford? I don't see it.

😕 Does it bother you that I called NYU a top tier school?

 

[Lost in Translation]

It bothers me that NYU presents itself as a top tier school when it's not quite there yet. Within the past 5 years their average MCAT has gone from low 30s to mid-high 30s. Not sure what that's supposed to accomplish other than image.

Could also be salt from not showing me any II love.

 

[OGLoc23]

Good advice all around. I have one quip: I wouldn't be so fast as to label NYU a top tier school. I have experience with their med students are more than a few have shown to be not of the caliber of a "top tier" med student. I know this will be the case at all med schools, but it should be next to non existent at top tier schools and the fact that it's this prevalent speaks volumes. Maybe future classes will change that? Who knows.
.

I'd be careful with generalizing about the NYU med student population via anecdote.

Don't let a few bad eggs spoil the bunch.

 

[BostonPsych715]

The truth of the matter is while technically the AMCAS manual puts these things as such if you list courses such as Physiological Psychology in your BCPM GPA, AMCAS is rather unlikely to change it. They are not nearly as strigent about alot of these classifications as SDN makes them out to be. I know of a number of people arguing some really questionable things and getting AMCAS to classify it as BCPM classes even after AMCAS initially wanted to change it(and many times AMCAS doesnt even try to initially change it). There are far less extreme examples of people putting these types of courses as BCPM and getting away with it all over this site as well. If you put Cognitive Neuroscience and Physiological Psych in as BCPM courses when the time comes, there's a very solid chance theyll be left as such.

I just figured I would try to count them because the majority of the courses focused on biology, not psychology. If AMCAS wants to change the classification, it won't make me or break me. I just figured, because my college makes intro bio a pre-req for these courses, that it would be considered interdisciplinary. Biological psych focuses on the different parts of the brain and how they relate to proper brain functioning. Physiological psychology was all about the endocrine system. Those courses aren't my main concern. I am more concerned about my 4-credit stats courses with labs - I really hope they count!