Hi-
I'm an M1 who got into NSU-COM with a 2.6 cum. GPA and 27 on the MCAT. "Laughable" numbers. Oh, by the way, I'm on a full scholarship.
Obviously, there's more than meets the eye, here. I graduated undergrad in 1991 with a 2.4 gpa in Mechanical Engineering. My science pre-reqs (taken over the past 2 years) were 25 credits of 4.0.
I've spent 10 years as a Naval Flight Officer, as well as Mountaineering up and down the Sierras...obviously lots to talk about in interviews.
I took a combat medicine course (plus my every-3 year Aviation Physiology classes) and shadowed a local doc (not from base) for about a year (I followed him around like a puppy a couple of nights per week at the hospital). I had my flight surgeons write recommendations for me (in addition to the doc I shadowed, and my O-Chem and Anatomy & Physiology professors)
I'm on an Navy HPSP scholarship, which I got mainly because of my prior service (and good fitness reports)
I applied to about 10 schools (An even MD/DO split), got into Nova and waitlisted by PCOM. Rejected by all others.
The bottom line is that everybody has a story to bring to their application, and you never know what is going to strike a cord with the admissons board. Getting in takes perserverence, hard work and a little luck. (or maybe a lot of luck
I think that most admissions boards look favorably on a former-military person, You've already demonstrated your ability to handle stress and a sense of comittment. On a personal note, I thought the whole Medical school admissions process was more gruelling than 2 weeks at SERE school!!! That's a no-****ter.
I currently have a 94% average in Anatomy, and low 90's in my other classes (Histo, Clinical, Biochem, etc.) We'll see how the grades hold up after finals
Apparently, my MCATs and GPA were *not* indicative of how poorly I would do in the first semester of medical school. We'll see about boards in a year and a half...
In my opinion, almost *anybody* can get into medical school, but the path is going to be longer for some, shorter for others. Being a doctor is a whole lot more than statistics, and that's what you should take to heart. Good Luck
If you have any other questions, just lemme know.
Cheers,
-sb