2007-2008-What should I do thread? (where to accept, apply, and chances!) Part 2

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You may be confident in your abilities, but that dosn't mean that the adcoms will be. I did the same thing, and sucked it up and retook classes that I did bad in and improved my GPA to 3.1. I am not sure why you think that you should be exempt from the hoops that we all have to jump through. Most of us are confident in our abilities, but the fact of the matter is that there are thousands of confident applicants that schools have to sift through, and your stats need to meet their minimum standards to even be considered. If you are interested in the Carribean, go for it. They do have GPA requirements as well, though usually less stringent. The application deadlines for many of the Carribean schools are later though, so you can apply DO if you want and if you don't make and don't want to wait you can go for the Carribean. Just be prepared to explain why your GPA is where it is, and have a backup plan in case you don't get in anywhere.

I dont think I should be the only one exempt from those hoops, it just amazes me how what I did 10 years ago, has such a major part in what I am doing now. Cant they see things have changed...drastically?!! My first years werent even at a real school, I was at a community college, now I am at a real university.
 
Yep, under the Texas Fresh Start provision... Keep in mind that you will be "tabula rossa" for anything older than 10 years meaning that you will have to retake all pre-requisites. Bummer, I'd think, but might be the only way. I'd considered "Texas Fresh Start" but my undergrad GPA was at a 3.0 and then I had over 40+ hours graduate-level science coursework at approximately 3.5 to pull attention away. You could overshadow that with post-bacc work but the consensus is you might need to retake some of those ugrad courses and do well on the MCAT.

What exactly is this?? How do I find out about it? And why is Texas the only ones who do it??
 
I ride with ER docs first of all, and I dont do any stunts or shows unless it is in a controlled safe environment. Im performing in the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh in January, dont think I will get hit by any cars there..

I find it surprising that ER docs would ride crotch rockets in public simply based on the accidents that come through EC. I guess there's always an exception. I'm not a bike "hater" I just don't think it's wise to ride with so many idiots on the road. A controlled environment is something totally different. 👍
 
What exactly is this?? How do I find out about it? And why is Texas the only ones who do it??

Here's a good resource: Anne Diamon at the TMDSAS. Just drop her an e-mail (to TMDSAS and put to her attention in the subject line) and she'll be more than willing to assist. She's seems to be up to speed on the program and can point you in the right direction and help with how it relates to the Texas application process.
 
http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm

You have to be a TX resident. So you could move here, re-take anything that they would wipe off your record, but that you would still need, and apply in-state.

TX is the only state that does this, because I told them to.

Unfortunately, I was making bad grades until I was about 23, so it wouldn't do me much good.
 
I also had to retake so classes I did poorly in. I don't doubt you will get in, but you will be retaking classes if you do. If you don't, just remember it takes a lot of As to bring a D up. Goodluck.

BTW, Meg is only telling you the reality of the situation. I believe EVERY school has a cutoff around ~2.8. Its nice that you have done well, but they will NEVER see it. The schools only go deeper into your app after you pass the initial screening. Go ahead and apply if you want though, the money would be better spent on retaking a couple of classes. They should be a breeze if you have taken more advanced science courses in recent years. Its just a bunch of hoops, it will show if you truly desire to become a physician. If your tired of taking courses now, maybe you should think of doing something else, med school is like a fulltime job of taking courses.
 
Here's a good resource: Anne Diamon at the TMDSAS. Just drop her an e-mail (to TMDSAS and put to her attention in the subject line) and she'll be more than willing to assist. She's seems to be up to speed on the program and can point you in the right direction and help with how it relates to the Texas application process.

http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm

You have to be a TX resident. So you could move here, re-take anything that they would wipe off your record, but that you would still need, and apply in-state.

TX is the only state that does this, because I told them to.

Unfortunately, I was making bad grades until I was about 23, so it wouldn't do me much good.

Thanks!! I have friends that live in Austin, should be no problem.

Heres a question for everyone that went back for such a long period of time, how did you live and pay for all of this? Im a full time student and accumulating debt as we speak. I was told not to go part time as it would be looked down on.
 
I also had to retake so classes I did poorly in. I don't doubt you will get in, but you will be retaking classes if you do. If you don't, just remember it takes a lot of As to bring a D up. Goodluck.

BTW, Meg is only telling you the reality of the situation. I believe EVERY school has a cutoff around ~2.8. Its nice that you have done well, but they will NEVER see it. The schools only go deeper into your app after you pass the initial screening. Go ahead and apply if you want though, the money would be better spent on retaking a couple of classes though. They should be a breeze if you taking more advanced science courses in recent years. Its just a bunch of hoops, it will show if you truly desire to become a physician. If your tired of taking courses now, maybe you should think of doing something else, med school is like a fulltime job of taking courses.


Thanks!!!!👍
 
I think this is only for gpas within the Texas schools. You would still have to provide any and all transcripts to AACOMAS/AMCAS. Don't believe me? Ask AACOMAS and AMCAS themselves.
 
Thanks!! I have friends that live in Austin, should be no problem.

Heres a question for everyone that went back for such a long period of time, how did you live and pay for all of this? Im a full time student and accumulating debt as we speak. I was told not to go part time as it would be looked down on.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't work and I'd knock out large credit segments with good marks. It shows you can handle advanced coursework in volume - which is what the adcoms want to see. I had a tough time working full-time at a consulting firm during the day and then cramming in advanced grad-level neuroscience and genetics courses, to name a few, in the evening...knock it out full-time if you can!
 
I think this is only for gpas within the Texas schools. You would still have to provide any and all transcripts to AACOMAS/AMCAS. Don't believe me? Ask AACOMAS and AMCAS themselves.


This is true but the old grades will not be used in your GPA calculations (at least in all Tex schools) - bypassing cutoffs and possibly landing you interviews. I think the added effort to replace the coursework with great grades will be enough to satisfy the adcoms. I'd take advantage of this as opposed to a SMP (Special Master's Program). In fact, I'd do a la carte grad coursework before going SMP. It's just my opinion but I was told by a Texas admissions dean that MCAT improvement is viewed more favorably when compared to SMPs. Some might argue that true MS programs with thesis would be more beneficial and I'd probably concede as long as it's with thesis.
 
Ive seen some 1 year post bac programs at different med schools, is this what will help?
 
This is true but the old grades will not be used in your GPA calculations (at least in all Tex schools) - bypassing cutoffs and possibly landing you interviews. I think the added effort to replace the coursework with great grades will be enough to satisfy the adcoms. I'd take advantage of this as opposed to a SMP (Special Master's Program). In fact, I'd do a la carte grad coursework before going SMP. It's just my opinion but I was told by a Texas admissions dean that MCAT improvement is viewed more favorably when compared to SMPs. Some might argue that true MS programs with thesis would be more beneficial and I'd probably concede as long as it's with thesis.

What I mean is, at the very most, only TMDSAS will cut off those scores without having to retake them after 10 years. AACOMAS requires all transcripts, regardless of how long ago, even if they were taken in Texas and the applicant went through the Texas grade forgiveness program.

Of course, AACOMAS gpa can be remedied by retaking courses with poor grades - as I said in an earlier post.
 
Ive seen some 1 year post bac programs at different med schools, is this what will help?

Likely, but that's probably just a certificate program if they even designate it as such. The certificate it worthless, really. The adcoms just want to see successful completion as a full-time student with great marks. A way to save some dough possibly is to go in as a "special grad student" without a degree track and take a bunch of uppper level science courses (of your choice and take advanced levels of those you did poorly in as an undergrad) and make good grades. You save time in the long run and you circumvent the possibility of being locked into a declared degree program that you'd have to complete typically before adcoms will invite you to interview. The trick is to do it in blocks of at least 12-15 credit hours - all this assuming that you choose not to do the Texas Fresh Start.
 
Dear Tiretrauma,
As of right now your GPA is fairly low and I am sorry about that but there is no way you will get into medical school with that gpa.

There are a few things you can do right now.
1) Retake the courses , do well in them and reapply.
2) forget about medical school, who wants to be a doctor anyway? just go about your merry life.
 
I just looked at LECOM's post bac program and apparently you only need a 2.7(recent) to get in. After successful completion, you need a 21MCAT and your basically accepted. Any thoughts??


(I guess no more riding...its like the tundra up there)
<waits for the hate>
 
I just looked at LECOM's post bac program and apparently you only need a 2.7(recent) to get in. After successful completion, you need a 21MCAT and your basically accepted. Any thoughts??


(I guess no more riding...its like the tundra up there)
<waits for the hate>

You need to get over the fact that people here aren't "hating", but just telling you how it is.

No one is making anything up to make you cry or being mean to you. I keep telling you to check this stuff out for yourself because a) you don't believe me and b) you keep calling me a hater because I'm telling you the truth.
 
What I mean is, at the very most, only TMDSAS will cut off those scores without having to retake them after 10 years. AACOMAS requires all transcripts, regardless of how long ago, even if they were taken in Texas and the applicant went through the Texas grade forgiveness program.

This is not correct. Texas' fresh start wipes the slate clean and gives you a do-over. Do + over = retake.
 
I just looked at LECOM's post bac program and apparently you only need a 2.7(recent) to get in. After successful completion, you need a 21MCAT and your basically accepted. Any thoughts??


(I guess no more riding...its like the tundra up there)
<waits for the hate>

couldn't hurt to apply, yes?

I tried to apply to one of those programs last year, realized that they would only take some one who is supposedly underserved. Not the same program though, it was called GEMS and is at a different school.
 
I just want to throw one more thing out there. Some schools have those 2.75-3.0 cutoffs. There are some schools out there that will take your last 60 or so credit hours into consideration(must be darn high) if you fall into that category. I say good luck, but everyone is trying not to delude you in any way. Don't look at the responses as attacks but a swift kick in the arse to do what it takes to get in. I personally think you can do it if you work hard at it, be patient and stick with it. Even if it takes a few more years.
 
I think your early transcripts can be from anywhere.

As for Academic Fresh Start... it's like you never took any of the classes that you took 10+ years ago. You don't have to re-take anything UNLESS these classes are required for admission to med school, etc.
 
Ok, I just e-mailed AACOMAS to ask about the texas fresh start policy. This is my e-mail verbatim:

Hi there,

Texas has a program that can be found here http://www.collegefortexans.com/applying/academic.cfm indicating an "academic fresh start" where applicants/reapplicants to Texas schools can erase courses from 10 years prior to admission to this program to alleviate a bad gpa.

I am under the impression that AACOMAS requires all college transcripts, no matter how old, and this Academic Fresh Start is not applicable with the AACOMAS system. Would you please inform me of the AACOMAS policy regarding this and any other Academic Fresh Start programs in Texas or any other state?

Yours sincerely,
megboo
 
What if your early transcripts are not from Texas? This is a good question to pose to AACOMAS themselves.

There's nothing I've seen that says your wiped record has to be from TX. Absolutely correct that this is a detail that any interested party should verify.

AACOMAS doesn't recognize Texas fresh start. Only the DO school in Texas would recognize it.

Assuming that an applicant INTENDS to retake coursework (unlike the OP), AACOMAS' retake policy may be quite a bit cheaper than TX fresh start. TX fresh start wipes out GOOD grades too.
 
As for Academic Fresh Start... it's like you never took any of the classes that you took 10+ years ago. You don't have to re-take anything UNLESS these classes are required for admission to med school, etc.

I think I should be saying "meta-retake" as in "redo entire years of schoolwork" not "redo exact specific classes you took before."

If fresh start is wiping out multiple years of coursework that led to the completion of an undergrad degree, then the student is now going to need multiple years of coursework (maybe at a different school) to re-earn a degree.

Yes, you can get into some med schools without having completed a degree. No, it's not a good idea to plan on not getting a degree.
 
There's nothing I've seen that says your wiped record has to be from TX. Absolutely correct that this is a detail that any interested party should verify.

AACOMAS doesn't recognize Texas fresh start. Only the DO school in Texas would recognize it.

Assuming that an applicant INTENDS to retake coursework (unlike the OP), AACOMAS' retake policy may be quite a bit cheaper than TX fresh start. TX fresh start wipes out GOOD grades too.

Now that makes more sense. And I didn't buy from the beginning that AACOMAS honored the Texas fresh start.

Sounds like the TX Fresh Start would benefit the OP more since his bad grades were out of HS
 
I dont think I should be the only one exempt from those hoops, it just amazes me how what I did 10 years ago, has such a major part in what I am doing now. Cant they see things have changed...drastically?!! My first years werent even at a real school, I was at a community college, now I am at a real university.

Hm...I thought a community college was a real school. Must be if it counts on all med school apps. Although most med schools require/want pre-req's at a 4-yr, don't knock down a CC. You may find in certain states, although adcoms do not care, CC's are actually much more competitive academically compared to some state 4 year universities.

Adcoms will notice your achievements since it appears that you have changed your ways and are doing well academically, EC's, etc. 🙂 Good luck with whatever path you choose tiretrauma. 👍
 
Heres a question for everyone that went back for such a long period of time, how did you live and pay for all of this? Im a full time student and accumulating debt as we speak. I was told not to go part time as it would be looked down on.

Oh, you don't know debt yet. After med school you'll be about $200k in debt. During residency you'll do some serious sweating to hold off repayment while you're making $40k.

The bet continues to be that on the other side of residency, you'll be making sufficient money to substantiate the insane debt level you'll accrue getting there. You have to work pretty hard to find a physician salary under $100k, and the norm is about $150k. There are scholarship and loan forgiveness programs that can ease this load. You can look into military support (but only if you dig the military - don't do it for the money). If you are a rock star, the private practice that hires you might repay your loans for you (but in that case you're making $300k anyway).

In my state, at a public school it's normal to take on $80k in debt for undergrad, and another $150k for med school. That's doing it the cheap way.
 
You have to work pretty hard to find a physician salary under $100k, and the norm is about $150k.

Not really hard to get under $100K. I know a doctor who was working in a hospital , he used to get around $180,000. He then quit and opened his private practice, now he makes around $75,000 after his business related expenses are covered. I can tell he is not happy when he sees healthy people. He almost rejoices if a patient needs care, tells the patient to come see him-and charges the patient money unnecessarily.
 
I just turned 31, and not interested in taking more classes. I think I have proved my abilities in the last few years. Why should what I did as an idiot teenager make a difference now? My application otherwise is pretty strong i feel.

Let this be the last time you allow yourself to think that you're not accountable to the same standard as the rest of the applicant pool. Otherwise you're just going to embarrass yourself.

Getting into med school is hoop jumping. Nobody asked you to help design the hoops. Getting past boards, into residencies, past more boards, and into a practice is one very, very long hoop-jumping process. I suggest you learn to love, or at least accept, the hoops that are between you and your goal.

I gave up a six figure salary, a beautiful house, a fiance, a couple of friendships, and innumerable intangibles to go back to undergrad to EARN my way into the competition. The crappy ancient GPA I had to fix was over 3.0. AACOMAS didn't murder you: it's candidates like me who are murdering you.

Here are some numbers to help put things in perspective.

For the MD degree, in 2006, there were over 42,000 applicants for 17,800 seats. 10,000 people re-applied that year.

For the DO degree, in 2005, there were over 8000 applicants for 3900 seats.

Personally I believe that the applicant pool is increasingly well-informed and decreasingly underqualified. Crazy high numbers of good applicants don't get in. The number of med school applicants is increasing dramatically every year right now: everybody wants to be House instead of working in a cubicle.

Best of luck to you.
 
TexasTriathelete is an exception, not the rule. Most won't get in with his GPA, let alone yours. Take the MCAT, and go for the caribbean or one of the other overseas schools.

Also, I believe Texas will discard anything over ten years old, so maybe you can apply there?


I agree here, T_T is the exception. He's worked very hard to prove where he is right now and his acceptance is proof positive that you can turn things around, but you have to work VERY HARD to get to that position.

I busted my butt to get from a 2.86cum GPA to a 3.19 GPA which included 46hours of post bacc work at 3.685 post bacc gpa.

One thing I don't think you realize is that it's all about hoops. They require you to play the game, being older doesn't exempt you from the rules set forth from AACOMAS.
 
Not really hard to get under $100K. I know a doctor who was working in a hospital , he used to get around $180,000. He then quit and opened his private practice, now he makes around $75,000 after his business related expenses are covered. I can tell he is not happy when he sees healthy people. He almost rejoices if a patient needs care, tells the patient to come see him-and charges the patient money unnecessarily.

That doctor chose that salary by being naive about business. Medical education doesn't give you anything like an MBA. Running a business profitably is a whole 'nother world. It's unfortunately very common for MDs who have been practicing for a few years to think they'll be happier if they can escape the administrativia and BS of a hospital, or to think that they'll make more money on their own compared to joining an established practice with salaries subject to a competent MBA at the helm and staffed to handle the crushing load of paperwork.

I view a lack of corporate work experience as a detriment to the success of physicians. If a hospital is the first place you've seen administrative gridlock, you might think that it occurs only in hospitals. If you view administrativia as a trivial, simple, easy-to-streamline bunch of silly details that you can pay a high-schooler to handle for you when you start your practice, you're doomed.
 
I'm sending out all my secondaries on Monday, LORs and the applications
What do you think my chances are with the following stats?
Degree- Molecular Biology
MCAT 27O 9 on all parts
GPA 3.489
Science 3.335
Non-Science 3.710
Strong increasing trend in the science classes( Getting 3.5+) Junior and Senior year
Volunteered in the ER department
2.5 weeks of D.O. shadowing
Now volunteering in the ICU department
No research experience, other than a research class I took researching A.thaliana heat shock proteins.
A really good letter from my D.O., he said it was good, I didn't see it.
Decent letters from my 2 science professors.
 
I'm sending out all my secondaries on Monday, LORs and the applications
What do you think my chances are with the following stats?
Degree- Molecular Biology
MCAT 27O 9 on all parts
GPA 3.489
Science 3.335
Non-Science 3.710
Strong increasing trend in the science classes( Getting 3.5+) Junior and Senior year
Volunteered in the ER department
2.5 weeks of D.O. shadowing
Now volunteering in the ICU department
No research experience, other than a research class I took researching A.thaliana heat shock proteins.
A really good letter from my D.O., he said it was good, I didn't see it.
Decent letters from my 2 science professors.

Tachy, you sound good to me! I would expect some interviews!
And, oh my gosh is that an American Eskimo puppy in your avatar? I used to have two!
 
Where are you applying? Your stats look fine, you should get in.
 
Help me choose anyone... between KCUMB and NYCOM.

as of right now, this is how i see them.

n my opinion, Aspects that Both KCUMB and NYCOM have equal status on are the following:

1) kcumb and nycom are well respected and tend to get their students into good residency programs.

2) Faculty I have seen at kcumb was impressive. The faculty I have talked with in nycom interview: (A pathology professor, OMT professor and anatomy professor ) have impressed me.

3) Their instituitions are both very high tech. Kcumb and nycom both have robot dummies. I saw only one dummy in kcumb, but Nycom has two dummies (one adult and another kid).

4) They both have practice doctor offices, they both have actors who come in and act like patients or patient's families etc. There is early clinical exposure at both kcumb and nycom.
At kcumb they have said there is early clinical exposure.
At nycom, I talked to second year students, and the students said that they have to learn to perform exams like rectal exams etc.
----------------------------------------------
In my opinion, aspects that make nycom fare better than kcumb:
I live very close to nycom, it is in commuting distance to me.
The location is better (it is in the suburbs), certainly has less crime when compared to area around kcumb. The campus is more impressive than kcumb. The nycom library is certainly much bigger than kcumb library. Nycom is a bigger campus than kcumb and the students have alot of places to go and do their quiet studying.
PBL or problem based learning seems to be a success. Their students from pbl sessions last year did 30% higher on usmle compared to their lecture based students.
I have talked to a resident ( an MD) who worked at one of the queens hospitals who claims nycom's students are very competent clinically, she said nycom is a very good school.


In my opinion, aspects that make kcumb fare better than nycom:
Kcumb is only ~36,000 per year. Nycom is 40,000 per year + 7% increase every year. So, your first year it is 40,000. the second year, it is going to be 43,000 etc.
Second, kcumb's class is 250 people but nycom's class is 300. more people = less individual attention in my opinion.
kcumb has a genesis program that seems very attractive to me, while nycom is strictly lecture based or problem based learning program.

My interview experience at kcumb showed that they really cared about their school, while at nycom they weren't selling the school as people at kcumb interview were trying to do.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

As of right now, i am having a tough time choosing, please your comments are welcome.
 
KCUMB is building a new library that is supposed to be pretty big. I don't remember when they said it would be done.
 
As of right now:

BCPM GPA: 3.1
Cummulative GPA: 3.3
I still have to take Orgo

MCAT: haven't taken it yet

Extracurriculars: I am an active member in several various subject-related student clubs and hold leadership positions in a few of them. I also have tons of volunteer hours.

Research: had a summer research internship and a semester-long research position

Clinical experience/shadowing: Shadowed my mom who is a nurse, a podiatrist (out of curiosity), and I am scheduled to shadow both a DO and a n MD

LORS: 3 strong ones from both science and nonscience related fields

So, what minimum score should I go for on my MCAT? am I a competitive applicant? Solid? What do you honestly think?
 
You should get some interviews with a 26+ on the MCAT. With a 29-30, you should be extremely competitive at all DO schools.
 
Sar - change your mdapps 🙂

Do you have time/$$ to visit the schools again? At least NYCOM? Maybe on a non-interview visit you will get a more genuine reaction from the students/faculty there.

KCUMB is def. going to be cheaper, with both tuition and living costs.

In the end you gotta make the decision. Do you have family in NY? Are you married with a spouse who has a settled job?

When do you have to decide by?
 
I know I have not been contributing much to this forum when it comes to posting wise; however, I do read alot of the threads though, and I think you guys are wonderful and give alot of good advices. Anyway, I submitted my application on AACOMAS in early September, and it finally got processed in late October. I just finished submiting about 13 secondaries about 1.5 weeks ago, and I am in the waiting process =/. Do you think I applied too late and what are my chances? I am really starting to worry.
 
I know I have not been contributing much to this forum when it comes to posting wise; however, I do read alot of the threads though, and I think you guys are wonderful and give alot of good advices. Anyway, I submitted my application on AACOMAS in early September, and it finally got processed in late October. I just finished submiting about 13 secondaries about 1.5 weeks ago, and I am in the waiting process =/. Do you think I applied too late and what are my chances? I am really starting to worry.

What's your stats if you dont mind sharing?
 
It should be in my MDapps.
 
Sar - change your mdapps 🙂

Do you have time/$$ to visit the schools again? At least NYCOM? Maybe on a non-interview visit you will get a more genuine reaction from the students/faculty there.

KCUMB is def. going to be cheaper, with both tuition and living costs.

In the end you gotta make the decision. Do you have family in NY? Are you married with a spouse who has a settled job?

When do you have to decide by?

Thanks for reminding me, yes I updated my profile.

I am visiting nycom again, because it is very close by my place. I am not married or anything, it is just that I am thinking that it would be great to visit parents and the other family members (aunts and uncles) during weekends... have some good food and de-stress.

I realize that having something like that is better than living at a distance that you couldn't visit at all.

The decision needs more time, which I will find most likely.

KCUMB is building a new library that is supposed to be pretty big. I don't remember when they said it would be done.

They said they are working on it, but didn't give the specific date or deadline.
 
Your GPA is fine and I think your MCAT is a bit weak but you should get in somewhere. If it doesn't work out this cycle, retake the MCAT and apply earlier next year.

Best of Luck!
 
I know my MCAT is weak. The reason why my scores were low because I was going through my divorce process at the time. It was emotionally and physically tiring, and I hope the addmission people will look beyond my MCAT scores.
 
If I don't get in this time, that's probably the smartest thing to do by my part. Hopefully, I will not have to resort to that.
 
If I don't get in this time, that's probably the smartest thing to do by my part. Hopefully, I will not have to resort to that.

absolutely, you still have a chance, it is not over until april.
 
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