A few questions

[pooker]

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I have been searching and found alot of information. I downloaded the CIB for aacom and did not find the information.

1. Is their a list of courses required?

2. According to AACOM a bachelors degree is preferred, but not required. What are my chances of getting in without one? I have taken alot of 300-400 classes, but alot of my classes never really correlated with a distinct degree. Genetics, biochemistry, immunology, etc.

3. Is it seen as advantageous if I have taken harder classes? I have taken cal 1-4, physics with calculus, and regular physics, along with all general and one organic chem class ( still in school finishing the other).

4. What is seen as a competitive GPA? I see some posts of above a 3.5, and others that lead differently. I have a 3.33 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA. Should I work on pulling this up more?

5. Could anyone reccomend any good study guide books that they personally used for the MCAT, and that they believe contributed to their positive score? I found like 100 books online, and I would like to devote my time to just one.

Thanks

 

[Melicopter]

I have been searching and found alot of information. I downloaded the CIB for aacom and did not find the information.

1. Is their a list of courses required?

2. According to AACOM a bachelors degree is preferred, but not required. What are my chances of getting in without one? I have taken alot of 300-400 classes, but alot of my classes never really correlated with a distinct degree. Genetics, biochemistry, immunology, etc.

3. Is it seen as advantageous if I have taken harder classes? I have taken cal 1-4, physics with calculus, and regular physics, along with all general and one organic chem class ( still in school finishing the other).

4. What is seen as a competitive GPA? I see some posts of above a 3.5, and others that lead differently. I have a 3.33 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA. Should I work on pulling this up more?

5. Could anyone reccomend any good study guide books that they personally used for the MCAT, and that they believe contributed to their positive score? I found like 100 books online, and I would like to devote my time to just one.

Thanks

1. Did you see the school-specific section in the CIB? For example, on page 31 you'll see that Midwestern requires biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and English. It's broken down by school. I found a compiled list on the aacomas website once... too sleepy to hunt for it now, but I know it's listed by school in the CIB.

2. Most schools require a bachelor's degree. I've heard that a few don't - I don't know which schools. I'd say just get a degree. I had a similar problem, with lots of classes and nowhere near a degree. It took time, but I picked something I was interested in and got a degree.

3. Yes, taking harder classes is good... I don't know if they care that much about high-level math classes, but if you got A's in them it's certainly not a bad thing.

4. GPA debates are all over the place. You're probably average, but not competitive with that. I'd pull it up if I were you - do it while you get a Bachelor's degree.

5. ExamKrackers. I loved them. They rock.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Not to burst your bubble, but people getting in without a bachelors degree is usually an anomaly. And though your GPA would be respectable (with a strong MCAT and a Degree) I'd be surprised if you were able to get by the degree requirement.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

I have been searching and found alot of information. I downloaded the CIB for aacom and did not find the information.

1. Is their a list of courses required?

2. According to AACOM a bachelors degree is preferred, but not required. What are my chances of getting in without one? I have taken alot of 300-400 classes, but alot of my classes never really correlated with a distinct degree. Genetics, biochemistry, immunology, etc.

3. Is it seen as advantageous if I have taken harder classes? I have taken cal 1-4, physics with calculus, and regular physics, along with all general and one organic chem class ( still in school finishing the other).

4. What is seen as a competitive GPA? I see some posts of above a 3.5, and others that lead differently. I have a 3.33 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA. Should I work on pulling this up more?

5. Could anyone reccomend any good study guide books that they personally used for the MCAT, and that they believe contributed to their positive score? I found like 100 books online, and I would like to devote my time to just one.

Thanks

1. The standard for premed is 2 semesters English, Calc I and possibly II, Bio I and II, Gen Chem I and II, Orgo I and II, Genetics, Physics I and II, Behavioral Science and Stats http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Pages/default.aspx

2. I would recommend waiting for a degree. However call the various colleges, most will take you with 90 credits if you are an outstanding candidate.

3. A rigorous course load is good, however most people will be doing it.

4. At your GPA, you will be competitive with a respectable MCAT.

5. Go to you local bookstore and look. There are so many formats you should look first and find the one that you like the best.

 

[pooker]

Thank you all for your opinions, this forum is truly helpful ! I taked to an advisor today and he said I can have a bachelors in microbiology with a minor in mathematics (only requires a few more math classes since I have had so many ) In a year if I am motivated.

After going through a ton of schools it does seem to be an rare to not have a bachelors. Most list acceptance rates with bachelors at 97% 😵

Would microbiology be what you consider a good degree for medical? What do you consider competitive MCAT. When I searched I found that mid to high 20's was considered competitive, while 30's was considered awesome!

Thank you for all your help!

 

[FutureCTDoc]

Thank you all for your opinions, this forum is truly helpful ! I taked to an advisor today and he said I can have a bachelors in microbiology with a minor in mathematics (only requires a few more math classes since I have had so many ) In a year if I am motivated.

After going through a ton of schools it does seem to be an rare to not have a bachelors. Most list acceptance rates with bachelors at 97% 😵

Would microbiology be what you consider a good degree for medical? What do you consider competitive MCAT. When I searched I found that mid to high 20's was considered competitive, while 30's was considered awesome!

Thank you for all your help!

Your major doesn't matter, a family friend went to Yale med as an English major and went into a ROADs specialty. You can do anything really as long as you complete the pre-reqs. Micro is fine. For the MCAT, the higher the better, a 28 would likely be enough for you to be competitive at most DO schools. However if you are also applying at allopathic schools a 30 is the bare minimum and in your case a 32 would be better, as your GPA while not horrible is below both DO and MD averages.

 

[Everglide]

Any major is good, all that matter are the pre-reqs in terms of gaining entry.

The opinion of a competitive MCAT will vary, a 27+ is probably good for D.O. schools, 30-31+ for MD schools.

Taking hard classes can help a bit, assuming you do well in them. Some schools have unusual course requirements that no other schools have, look into the specifics of each school.

 

[beckhunter116]

Any degree is fine for medicine. Most say that even with a bio degree that you cover what you learned in undergrad very quickly so it is only slighlty beneficial. Really you should major in whatever you want, but as you have taken so many different classes it's just going to prolong graduating if you choose something else. I suppose you should think about what you will do with your degree if you don't get into med school.

A competitive MCAT would be 27+.

In the MCAT section they always talk about ExamKrackers, Berkeley Rewiew, and buying a lot of the old AAMC MCAT tests for practice so you get timing down.

My piece of advice is to do the practice tests and make sure that you have your timing down. I have never had timing issues in school, usually finished tests with time to spare, and when I took my MCAT screwed up my PS section b/c I ran out of time...now I have to retake it and I am dreading the process again. Good luck!

 

[beckhunter116]

Damn...we are all on the ball today...3 post with practically the same thing.

 

[pooker]

Thanks for the advice guys. I cannot really see not doing something in the health profession, and the more I think about it the more I become enthralled with the life of a doctor.

What I love about the DO programs and admittance is their leniency with course overrides. If my GPA is to bad I would plan on retaking classes to raise my GPA, since my understanding is that when applying, it only calculates in your most recent class that you had taken for a particular course.

 

[beckhunter116]

You are correct about the gpa replacement, but I would think about other aspects of your application too. You never mentioned if you have volunteer hours/shadowing/etc things that show you want to help out and give your time to those things. Also, do you have a DO letter? If not, then get on that ASAP.

 

[pooker]

You are correct about the gpa replacement, but I would think about other aspects of your application too. You never mentioned if you have volunteer hours/shadowing/etc things that show you want to help out and give your time to those things. Also, do you have a DO letter? If not, then get on that ASAP.

My family is low income so I have had to work every semester. I took 24 credit hours (six of which where an accelerated calculus class with 17% pass rate). I plan on calling next week to do volunteer work, but I do have an extensive work history.

It seems like everyone of my checks goes to books and school Luckily this year my classes are not as strenuous, so I have free time. I have already filled out an application for our local hospital, but will be going up their on monday.

 

[The Poet Sings]

not to be rude, but i noticed you have a problem with "their". you have been using it in some instances when you should use "there". so just make sure that when you write your personal statement, you have people proofread (you can find a list of people willing to do that on another thread) because it isn't an error that a spell check will catch.