A curious pre med student.

[nekrogg]

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hey everyone!

I am currently a senior attending Cal State LA. I am 17 years old and am currently a senior. My GPA is 3.77 and I am about to take an MCAT preparatory course. I have a few questions for all the pre-med or current med school attendees.

First off will my age (i am only 17) be a factor in the admitting board's decision?


Second what sort of extracurricular activites did the current med school applicants partake in?


Third what sort of MCAT scores do i need to be considered a competitive student?
My target school is John Hopkins Medical school.


Fourth, what sort of GPA do I need?


Fifth, Kaplan vs Princeton for MCAT prep classes?


Sixth, how does alumni affect admissions into a med school?



Seventh, do private schools such as Johns Hopkins look down on my current school and tend to not accept people coming from the Cal State system?
(I didn't really have a choice of colleges because Cal State LA was the only college that offered me a chance to skip high school)

Any help in answering my questions will be GREATLY appreaciated =).

 

[DarkFark]

hey everyone!

I am currently a senior attending Cal State LA. I am 17 years old and am currently a senior.

Department of Redundancy Dept.

1) If anything it may be more impressive.
2) Do what you like, just make sure you get some clinical experience. Your average cookie-cutter volunteer position is fine for this, but keep your eyes open for something better.
3) For JH med, I would target at least a 35 with nothing worse than an 11 per section. You can make it with less, but itll get dicey.
4) Your GPA is good. JH is a little bit higher, though.
5) Dunno, I went do-it-yourself
6) If you're a legacy, you certainly wont have to 'take the stairs' to get into that particular school.

 

[nekrogg]

Department of Redundancy Dept.

1) If anything it may be more impressive.
2) Do what you like, just make sure you get some clinical experience. Your average cookie-cutter volunteer position is fine for this, but keep your eyes open for something better.
3) For JH med, I would target at least a 35 with nothing worse than an 11 per section. You can make it with less, but itll get dicey.
4) Your GPA is good. JH is a little bit higher, though.
5) Dunno, I went do-it-yourself
6) If you're a legacy, you certainly wont have to 'take the stairs' to get into that particular school.

awesome.. i got 1 year left in school (im taking 5 years to finsih everything) so hopefully i can raise my GPA by then. (been getting straight As for the past 2 years)

I havent even started organic chemistry though (continuous cancelation and scheduling conflicts) so I will be going into my mcat prep course with a handicap...

 

[taddpole]

I dont know that being 17 is going to look "more impressive". Talk to the pre-med advisors at your school. You might have to go out of your way to prove your maturity. All that said, with good stats and EC's, I can't see it getting in your way.

 

[Daichi Katase]

hey everyone!

I am currently a senior attending Cal State LA. I am 17 years old and am currently a senior. My GPA is 3.77 and I am about to take an MCAT preparatory course. I have a few questions for all the pre-med or current med school attendees.

First off will my age (i am only 17) be a factor in the admitting board's decision?


Second what sort of extracurricular activites did the current med school applicants partake in?


Third what sort of MCAT scores do i need to be considered a competitive student?
My target school is John Hopkins Medical school.


Fourth, what sort of GPA do I need?


Fifth, Kaplan vs Princeton for MCAT prep classes?


Sixth, how does alumni affect admissions into a med school?



Seventh, do private schools such as Johns Hopkins look down on my current school and tend to not accept people coming from the Cal State system?
(I didn't really have a choice colleges because Cal State LA was the only college that offered me a chance to skip college)

Any help in answer my questions will be GREATLY appreaciated =).

you rock

 

[la gringa]

don't take the mcat w/o organic!!! it's a a huge mistake... you have all the time in the world, don't rush the mcat. wait and take orgo...

 

[v j]

don't take the mcat w/o organic!!! it's a a huge mistake... you have all the time in the world, don't rush the mcat. wait and take orgo...

i dunno - i took the mcat without organic and i did fine. obviously i would've done a little better with organic, but the timeline didn't workout. but i bought a textbook and spent a 2 months learning organic before i started studying for the mcat.

now - i rushed it b/c i'm 28 and wanted to start med school this fall. you're 17 so you don't have a "time crunch" like i felt i did. so think about waiting, or take the course and see how you do on practice tests.

princeton review/kaplan? i work for princeton review so i'm biased towards them. but either one will work. the key is doing the homework (which is a buttload of passages)

good luck!

 

[odbasucanc]

(I didn't really have a choice colleges because Cal State LA was the only college that offered me a chance to skip college)

wtf? 😕

 

[nekrogg]

wtf? 😕

oops i meant skip high school =P

 

[Quynh2007]

.

 

[LabMonster]

school's like JHU probably emphasis research, and also, i think 17 is actually not a plus simply because cornell's dean (and so take this with a grain of salt) said that ppl who TAKE OFF a year or two to do research or other things (he specifically said peace corp and teach for america) would strengthen your application.

I would take some time off... It's not what you want to hear, but I changed a great deal from 17 until now...

Travel, see the world, experience things; these things get more difficult later on.

Good Luck no matter what! 🙂

 

[bewitched1081]

hey everyone!

I am currently a senior attending Cal State LA. I am 17 years old and am currently a senior. My GPA is 3.77 and I am about to take an MCAT preparatory course. I have a few questions for all the pre-med or current med school attendees.

First off will my age (i am only 17) be a factor in the admitting board's decision?


Second what sort of extracurricular activites did the current med school applicants partake in?


Third what sort of MCAT scores do i need to be considered a competitive student?
My target school is John Hopkins Medical school.


Fourth, what sort of GPA do I need?


Fifth, Kaplan vs Princeton for MCAT prep classes?


Sixth, how does alumni affect admissions into a med school?



Seventh, do private schools such as Johns Hopkins look down on my current school and tend to not accept people coming from the Cal State system?
(I didn't really have a choice colleges because Cal State LA was the only college that offered me a chance to skip high school)

Any help in answer my questions will be GREATLY appreaciated =).

hmmm. i shall never again base intelligence on grammar and spelling. hahaha. jk. as far as creating the best application profile possible, your situation is quite unique. your age might work for or against you, depending on how you explain your situation. the key things are to show that you have a passion for medicine and to become involved in ec's that demonstrate your passion. if Johns Hopkins is your dream school, then go for it. don't base your confidence in your gpa and mcat. just do your best to get the highest gpa and mcat score. it probably doesnt matter whether you take princeton or kaplan. there are other test preparation companies out there as well. you just need to practice a lot and get the timing down.

 

[nekrogg]

school's like JHU probably emphasis research, and also, i think 17 is actually not a plus simply because cornell's dean (and so take this with a grain of salt) said that ppl who TAKE OFF a year or two to do research or other things (he specifically said peace corp and teach for america) would strengthen your application.

haha yea. I am considering taking a year off for research and such. I knew my age would some how work against me considering that medical school requires a great amount of maturity, something I must prove I have.