2nd year med student willing to answer your questions

[Thankful]

Hello all,
Just thought that I'd 'give back' since I've made it through my 1st year at med school. Here is my backgroud:
Ethnicity:African American
Age: 30-ish
School: A top 30 research school (I'll keep this private to avoid any problems)
MCAT Score: 30
GPA: I went to a postbac program, and got a 3.8

I've been through a lot of stuff, and can probably address most of the questions out there. I'll try to answer any questions you may have, in particular, regarding:
1) Chances of getting into med school
2) What to look out for as a URM
3) How to choose med school
4) What med school is like (the good, bad, ugly)
5) How to succeed
6) All minority issues (you name it, I've gone through it)

Just feel free to post your questions, and I'll answer them as soon as possible. I feel that this is a chance for me to share what has been given to me, in the hopes that other people succeed.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Postbacprmed]

Hi

Thanks for this thread. I am (23 female yo, Black, career changer) currently looking into appyling to various postbaccs.

What type of preparations did you make before entering your postbac?
How many med schools did you apply to?
I have heard other posters suggest contacting the Office of Diversity at med schools, did you employ this and if so was it helpful and how?

Appreciate any info you can offer.

 

[Thankful]

Dear Postbacprmed,
Great questions. Let me answer them 1 by 1:
1) Career changing may be a plus, since medical schools often look for 'out of the ordinary' people to create a diverse class. I see a lot of engineers/computer science people in my classes.

2) Regarding preparations: I had a computer science degree, so I lacked many of the pre-med req's (i.e. organic chemistry, higher level bio, physiology, etc.). So basically I didn't have any type of preparation. Actually, I did take an anatomy/physiology course, but that was after I had applied to a post-bac. 99% of my preparation for med school was obtained in the post-bac I attended. But if you want to bulk up on pre-med classes before going to a post-bac, I'd say jump right in... just be careful that you do well since you don't want to mess up your GPA. Basically, the more preparation that you do before med school, the better. I know of people who have taken medical school-level classes, and now the first year of med school was review for them. If you could get there, you'd have an advantage.

3) How many med schools did you apply to?
I applied to about 15 medical schools. The post-bac that I attended (MEDPREP in Southern Illinois University... you can google them) was EXCELLENT in so many ways; one of which was the fact that the students from previous classes could tell you which schools were a good fit for your profile (i.e. grades, preferences, financial options, chances of getting accepted, teaching styles, etc.). In my opinion, you need to have 3 catagories when applying for med school:
A) Med schools that you have a slight chance of getting into (AKA 'Reach schools')
B) Med schools that you have a good chance of getting into (Where you have seen others with similar scores/profiles attend... and make sure that you look at the minorities when you are comparing your profiles, since minorities fall under a different grading system in many schools)
C) Med schools that you KNOW you can get into (or at least you think you know you can get into). These will be your 'safety net' schools.

If you apply to about 5 of each, you should have success. The absolutely essential part of all of this is to do you research and know which schools are really in which catagory... I've seen people apply to schools that they were certain would take them, only to be dissapointed. Also know that the reason you apply to several in each catagory is because some schools that you should get into will not accept you for various reasons (sometimes they know that you wouldn't go there, so they save themselves a 'rejection'). If you have low MCAT scores (below 24), you may have to increase the numbers in you safety-net schools. An MCAT of 25 or above should get you in somewhere. MCAT's above 30 are good enough to be competitive in schools like Case Western and U. Chicago, and anything above 35 and you can apply pretty much anywhere you want to. Remember: MCAT is THE most important factor in many of the med schools out there.

4) I have heard other posters suggest contacting the Office of Diversity at med schools, did you employ this and if so was it helpful and how?

I think that it could help. Like I said, many schools have a general profile of what kind of student they are looking for (i.e. MCAT scores, GPA, etc.). Some schools pay a lot of attention to whether or not they think you can survive at their school; especially if you are applying to a school that has very low diversity statistics. So in those cases, its good to emphasize your ability to adapt and your access to support. But going back to the original question: I was fortunate because my post bac program (MEDPREP) had a big enough 'name factor' that most schools already know what kind of students came out of it. So for the most part, when I came down for the interview, the diversity deans and I talked about the other MEDPREP students that came through. Many times it seemed that they were recruiting me, which is a great feeling! If you went and called the office of diversity, it could help to show that you are very outgoing and interested, but don't overdo it... the last thing you want is to be a nag. Give them a call, show enthusium (i.e. 'I LOVE your school!'), and tell them why. Hopefully these deans will pursue you, if your scores are within their ranges. Let me go off on a tangent for a quick second: I can't overemphasize the importance of your MCAT score: DO YOUR BEST TO ACE THE MCAT!! Trust me, a good MCAT score (over 30) will earn you serious brownie points with whomever you come in contact with. I know its not fair, but that one score can pretty much sum up your relationship with schools... with several exceptions, I'd say that a complete jerk with a 30 has more of a chance of getting into med school than a great person would with a 20. It's just a sad fact of life.

I have a question for you... did you take the MCAT yet? If so, how did you do (if you don't mind sharing). Also, you should know which medical schools are going to be more 'minority friendly'... this is hard information to come by sometimes, so getting to know other minority med students can really help.

Hope this helps http://img.studentdoctor.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[MedMotivated]

First, thanks a lot for offering your insight. I recently finished undergrad and I'm taking pre-med courses outside of a structured program. I am applying to post-baccs to strengthen my app and I wanted to know if schools focus more on the post bacc grades or are the undergrad grades still weighed heavily? Also, is it possible to have a subpar GPA (2.9) with a high MCAT and still be competitive?

 

[aaj117]

First, thanks a lot for offering your insight. I recently finished undergrad and I'm taking pre-med courses outside of a structured program. I am applying to post-baccs to strengthen my app and I wanted to know if schools focus more on the post bacc grades or are the undergrad grades still weighed heavily? Also, is it possible to have a subpar GPA (2.9) with a high MCAT and still be competitive?

It is definitely possible if you have another stand-out feature of your app such as lots of clinical expereince or published research, etc. I have a 2.94 science gpa, 3.15 overall, with a pretty high mcat (35) and have been really successful so far because of my experiences. For the most part schools see in your MCAT that you can handle the rigours of med school if you do well, and aren't as concerned about gpas...or at least that's what most of my interviewers have told me.

 

[mimi2kul]

ms. aaj117....what did you do to prepae for the MCAT?

 

[aaj117]

ms. aaj117....what did you do to prepae for the MCAT?

I studied on my own, because i was out of the country most of the time (living in france for the summer). I used the exam kracker's books and audio osmosis, a series of audio cds with lectures on them. Quite helpful, although the corny jokes get really really really annoying they do help you remember things.

 

[UTDoc10]

Thankful, thanks for taking the time to do this for us. I'm a African-American male at a top public university (it's rather obvious) biology major. I pretty much wasted my first 2 semesters here (sup-2.0 GPA!) but have since turned around my academic performance. this past summer i made a gpa within the 3.0-3.5 range and this semester i'm looking at finishing with a 4.0. God willing, I'll have ~3.4 overall GPA (3.2 BCPM) when it comes time for me to apply (spring of Jr year). what are my chances? do admission committees look at my gpa's on a per semester basis or will they just have a single number? this is assuming that i do well (35+) on my MCAT. thanks again

 

[LovelyMD]

Thankful, thanks for taking the time to do this for us. I'm a African-American male at a top public university (it's rather obvious) biology major. I pretty much wasted my first 2 semesters here (sup-2.0 GPA!) but have since turned around my academic performance. this past summer i made a gpa within the 3.0-3.5 range and this semester i'm looking at finishing with a 4.0. God willing, I'll have ~3.4 overall GPA (3.2 BCPM) when it comes time for me to apply (spring of Jr year). what are my chances? do admission committees look at my gpa's on a per semester basis or will they just have a single number? this is assuming that i do well (35+) on my MCAT. thanks again

On AMCAS, your cumulative GPA will be shown, as well as your BCPM and AO (non-BCMP) GPA's. Your GPA will also be broken down by year, so you will have a total GPA, BCPM GPA, and AO GPA listed for each year. This will allow med schools to see your grade trend.

I personally had a bad sophomore year but an excellent senior year. On my interviews, my interviewers have noted my improvement. Having a high MCAT helps a lot too.

 

[aaj117]

Hey UTdoc,
my first two years were terrible, which is reflected in my overall gpa now. But i had a 3.9 senior year, and did well junior year as well. Schools have definitely noted the improvement, they all comment on it. As long as your MCAT shows that you can do the work and your gpa shows that you did improve, especially if you didn't decide to go into medicine right away, you should be fine. The one thing i've definitely learned from this process, as all of my college roommates either applied last year or this year, is don't count your chickens before they hatch. We never know how we'll do on the MCAT before we get our score, especially before we even start studying, so make sure you do work hard to bring up the GPA even if you think you'll rock the MCAT, just in case. Similarly, don't assume you can pull off a 4.0 every semester now that you know what you want to do, and that you'll definitely be applying with X.XX gpa. I'm definitely not saying this to discourage you, because you DEFINTELY seem like you can do it, i'm just trying to give fair warning and keep you grounded...work with what you've got, work your hardest now to overcome your past, and you should do fine.

 

[rapidreader]

Ethnicity:African American
Age: 19
School: cleveland state

GPA:4.0, will remain atleast a 3.8 throughout.


1) Chances of getting into med school

What is a person's chance of getting into a top med school from a 4th tier school? I want to goto case western or higher, but I'm concerned they won't even look at my app unless I have a 4.0 gpa and a 38+ mcat. What was your experience, if you came from a not so known stateschool and applied to an ivy league?

2) What to look out for as a URM
I am a african american, and I'm considering applying URM to all the school's I apply to. What tips should I consider getting involved in, avoid, or do communcations wise with other people (or whatever) as a minority? I know scholarships are abundant.

3) How to choose med school
I'm going to tell the truth, I want to go too case western. That is the school for me. I MUST be near my family for personal reasons, if not, than it better be a top 10 school to lead me away. So, what should I look for in these out of ohio schools?

4) What med school is like (the good, bad, ugly)
what is the atmosphere when your the only african american in the class? Sure I want to go to case or an ivy, but when the demographic is 70 % caucasion, 29% asian american (i'm going off stereotypes, please excuse me). How do you not seem anti-social, and break through whatever communcations and culture barrier there may be. For instance, how do you make yourself seem friendly and establish non-awkward relationships with fellow medical (or pre-med) students?

5) How to succeed
How did you succeed? Right now I have only the preqs to deal with, how did you do with those in your post bacc? Also, how did you build relationships with your professors, if they were not so kind to minorites? This is what I worry about if I transfer to case. At cleveland state, more than half of the student body is african american, so the instructors are naturally inclined to speak with you and be comfortable doing so. But I'm worried if I transfer to case, there might be some problem, or gulf of awkwardness that cannot be crossed over. What's your advice?

6) All minority issues (you name it, I've gone through it)
Since your out of state with your med-school, how do you balance being a father AND going to med school?

thanks for all the help

 

[dr1day]

I am a african american, and I'm considering applying URM to all the school's I apply to.

I don't have an answer to your questions, but I was just wondering what you mean by this. You don't CHOOSE to apply URM. If you check the AA box, schools will consider you a URM because AA is one of the groups in this category.

 

[rapidreader]

I am a african american, and I'm considering applying URM to all the school's I apply to.

I don't have an answer to your questions, but I was just wondering what you mean by this. You don't CHOOSE to apply URM. If you check the AA box, schools will consider you a URM because AA is one of the groups in this category.

Please excuse my ignorance.

 

[rgarrig]

I am a african american, and I'm considering applying URM to all the school's I apply to.

I don't have an answer to your questions, but I was just wondering what you mean by this. You don't CHOOSE to apply URM. If you check the AA box, schools will consider you a URM because AA is one of the groups in this category.

Thus checking the box is the choice.

 

[rgarrig]

GPA:4.0, will remain atleast a 3.8 throughout.

[...]

What is a person's chance of getting into a top med school from a 4th tier school? I want to goto case western or higher, but I'm concerned they won't even look at my app unless I have a 4.0 gpa and a 38+ mcat. What was your experience, if you came from a not so known stateschool and applied to an ivy league?

Ethnicity: European mutt dog.

I came from an unknown state school (not even the best state school in my state!) and my GPA was about 3.71 (less than your 3.8), but I did have a 39 MCAT. Obviously, the MCAT score is high but the GPA is not amazing, and certainly less than you have proposed achieving. I am now a medical student at Stanford, and I know they have a significant URM push here; in fact, white people are NOT a majority at Stanford (we are a plurality, but >50% of students in my class are non-white, esp. Asian and Hispanic). For more info, google stanford SUMMA, or check our the School of Medicine's diveristy center:

http://med.stanford.edu/diversity/


I figure that if I, being white (some say 'ORM'), from an unknown state school, with no publications/friends in high places/money/nobel prizes/etc., can get accepted to Stanford, you've got a shot at your top-10 dream school/Case Western.

Just work hard, keep that GPA up, and shoot for a 32+ on the MCAT. Make sure you have some good LORs and make sure you have some quality research experience (the more, the merrier). With everything you do, try to be the best. It's a platitude, perhaps, but it's true; as a pre-med, what you do is not nearly as important as how you do it.

Also, I told this to another pre-med yesterday who asked what he should major in:

This is an easy one... pick a major that you enjoy, and become an absolute rock star in it. Seriously - be the guy that every professor in your department knows by name and likes. NOT from brown-nosing, but because you're johnny-on-the-spot, enthusiastic without being annoying, knowledgeable, etc. The key is to pick something YOU enjoy.

For instance, I am medical student at Stanford with a college degree in computer science. Learning to model problems and program computers and complete math proofs did nothing to teach me the inner-workings of the cell or the best way to run an immunoassay, but I really enjoyed my work so it was easy to shine. Some people are so damn brilliant they'd do well in any field whatsoever, from Agriculture to Journalism to Engineering, but for the rest of us, the secret to being a successful premed is to do what you love and do it with all of your heart (and more importantly, with all of your mind).

There are former English teachers, philosophers, mathematicians, biologists, chemists, and more in my class of 85 MD candidates; the one common theme is that regardless of the degree we pursued as pre-meds, we made sure to kick ass and take names. You like Business and Economics? Awesome; pursue it with vigor.

​

So that's my opinion, and I could be wrong.

Good luck, rapidreader.

 

[rgarrig]

Also, glad to see Thankful make his OP; you'll run into a lot of malignant fools on the pre-med trail who think "getting ahead" means "pushing the other pre-meds down". But thankfully, there are some good guys and gals out there like Thankful who are happy to help. Embrace it, and replicate it.

 

[flaahless]

Ethnicity:African American
Age: 19
School: cleveland state

GPA:4.0, will remain atleast a 3.8 throughout.


1) Chances of getting into med school

What is a person's chance of getting into a top med school from a 4th tier school? I want to goto case western or higher, but I'm concerned they won't even look at my app unless I have a 4.0 gpa and a 38+ mcat. What was your experience, if you came from a not so known stateschool and applied to an ivy league?

2) What to look out for as a URM
I am a african american, and I'm considering applying URM to all the school's I apply to. What tips should I consider getting involved in, avoid, or do communcations wise with other people (or whatever) as a minority? I know scholarships are abundant.

3) How to choose med school
I'm going to tell the truth, I want to go too case western. That is the school for me. I MUST be near my family for personal reasons, if not, than it better be a top 10 school to lead me away. So, what should I look for in these out of ohio schools?

4) What med school is like (the good, bad, ugly)
what is the atmosphere when your the only african american in the class? Sure I want to go to case or an ivy, but when the demographic is 70 % caucasion, 29% asian american (i'm going off stereotypes, please excuse me). How do you not seem anti-social, and break through whatever communcations and culture barrier there may be. For instance, how do you make yourself seem friendly and establish non-awkward relationships with fellow medical (or pre-med) students?

5) How to succeed
How did you succeed? Right now I have only the preqs to deal with, how did you do with those in your post bacc? Also, how did you build relationships with your professors, if they were not so kind to minorites? This is what I worry about if I transfer to case. At cleveland state, more than half of the student body is african american, so the instructors are naturally inclined to speak with you and be comfortable doing so. But I'm worried if I transfer to case, there might be some problem, or gulf of awkwardness that cannot be crossed over. What's your advice?

6) All minority issues (you name it, I've gone through it)
Since your out of state with your med-school, how do you balance being a father AND going to med school?

thanks for all the help

Yo man, don't believe the hype that GPA+MCAT=Acceptance, and that you need to go to an Ivy to even have a chance. I graduated from Cal State Long Beach (I doubt you've heard of it) with rather mediocre stats, yet I have been tremendously successful in applying to med school.

Adcoms look at the total package, numbers are great, but they are only half of the equation. Don't listen to the numbers BS that the neurotic premeds at your school or on this site may talk about. From my experiences, adcoms are looking for bright students, which obviously you are, who have a passion to serve and an ability to relate and communicate with a variety of people. With that said, focus on the non-numbers part of your application: service, research and PERSONAL STATEMENT. Nail the PS and schools will be kicking down your door.

 

[rapidreader]

Thank You flaahless and rarrig for the insightful replies.

A career service person today told me that I had to be a bio or chem student if I wanted to be pre-med. Of course, I trust your authority more than his, and thus I will continue with a major of my intrests, and graduate from whatever school will have me--with honors of course

It's just somewhat irritating that when people see that i'm a philosophy major and attend cleveland state, they immediatly shoot down any chances of my getting into any household name medical school.

I want to thank you guys again for taking the time out to answer my questions by your personal experiences, it truly helped me.

 

[MSKalltheway]

Thank You flaahless and rarrig for the insightful replies.

A career service person today told me that I had to be a bio or chem student if I wanted to be pre-med. Of course, I trust your authority more than his, and thus I will continue with a major of my intrests, and graduate from whatever school will have me--with honors of course

It's just somewhat irritating that when people see that i'm a philosophy major and attend cleveland state, they immediatly shoot down any chances of my getting into any household name medical school.

I want to thank you guys again for taking the time out to answer my questions by your personal experiences, it truly helped me.

I just want to throw in my opinion that it truly does not matter where you come from or what you majored in if you want to go to medical school. I have classmates that went to Princeton and Harvard, and others that went to schools so random, I never knew the town the college was in existed. My classmates range from the sciences and engineering, to someone with a Master's in Art History.

The way things have shaped up from just 40 years or so ago, a college degree means less and less these days. I would even argue that Master's degrees are beginning to not mean a whole lot by themselves anymore. If you think about it, a college degree in English compared to a degree in Biology will both get you a job earning no more than 40K a year to start. The field will be different, not the pay or amount of responsibility though. This fact reflects medical school admissions with the examples I gave above with my classmates too, so there's no need to worry about the school you come from so long as you do well. I actually recommend to any high school students coming through to pick the cheapest college they can if they're dead set on med school, not necessarily the "best" one (im hesitant still to say this though, because the number of people i saw drop the pre-med track once MCATs rolled around alone was crazy )

Get the best GPA you can, do the best on your MCATs as you can, shadow a bit, join a club or two youre really passionate about, volunteer, do some research if you really want to I suppose...and do yourself a favor and make sure to have a ton of fun in college!!! You do have to work hard to get into medical school, but when youre there the workload increase exponentially with every year until the end of residency (sigmoidal is more accurate in most cases actually...) So make sure to party hard in college too, and if youre not into partying, do whatever else you enjoy. That also goes for major...study what you want to study. I would actually advise against a science degree...if i could do it all over again, I might keep my psych degree, but drop bio for spanish for something. Youll get more science than you'll ask for in med school.

Don't worry so much about specific schools now. When you do get there, apply widely, and to a bunch of different schools with varying competitiveness. Applying early is a premium too, the early bird gets the worm in this case, even if birdies numbers aren't so hot. Also, going to a "top 10" versus anywhere else is not always what is best. In the end, your residency training is what matters most, not where you go to medical school or college; at every other stage you can succeed by doing well no matter where you are.

I dont know who this career service person was, but you'll definitely want to get your advice from someone else in the future...Best of luck to you!