2nd Bachelors Almost Complete: Discouraged

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

steveoh5111

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I'm 28, with two semesters left in a mechanical engineering w/pre-med option degree, (fledgeling BME program at my school.) and have yet to take the MCAT. I have previous degree in business from 2007, 2.83 gpa. I'll have 80+ hrs doctor shadowing, 200+ hrs non-clinical volunteering, and plan to start doing some type of clinical volunteering soon. No research.

My current gpa from only the new classes I've taken (around 100 hours):
gpa: 3.78
sgpa: 3.84

Cumulative gpa with every class I've taken:
cgpa:3.14

I go to a large state school, and I've only heard of a few people with a higher gpa in mechanical engineering here, and only one 4.0 - obviously these guys didn't do the pre-med requirements either. I know that "major doesn't matter", but I felt I needed to show aptitude in a scientific field over a long period of time. I feel that I've shown that over what will be 8 semesters and three summer sessions of full loads, while commuting 3.5 hours a day to/from school. Engineering has been extremely rigorous even without the pre-med classes, and I've also taken a few additional upper level biology/zoology classes in addition to the normal pre-reqs.

Yes I need to have an amazing mcat, yes I need to cast a wide net, yes I need to consider DO(no objection whatsoever), yes I need clinical volunteering, yes every single situation is different, etc. etc., but at the end of the day, even with 4 years of strong academic performance and average ECs, is it even going to matter? I'm 10 months from applying, and I just want to be able to feel like I've got more than a 2% shot.
 
Yes, you can get in. Maybe MD. You're already doing the most important, most difficult thing, which is getting a large pile of A's in ridiculously hard classes.

If you happen to live in Michigan, you're golden. At MSU and Wayne State, they'll focus on your most recent coursework.

If you apply early and broadly with a maximally compelling app, including an above average MCAT (average is 31+), you'll get some love because of your recent coursework.

I suggest taking a look at my ridiculously long, detailed review of common causes of rejection, in the reapplicants forum. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=942893

Best of luck to you.
 
Top Bottom