Accounting Degree

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wasvsdal

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I have an accounting degree and I would like to get into Medical School. What is the procedure? I have taken some science classes during my undergraduate with mediocre grades.

AP'ed out of General Chem I & II
General Bio: B
Genetics: C
Physics I: B
Physics II: A
Orgo I: B
Orgo II: C
Microbio: C
Cell Biology: D/A
Math I (Calculus for Engineers): A
Math II (Calculus for Business/Bio Majors): A (its Calc II but way easier than Calc II for engineers)

Thanks!
 
I have an accounting degree and I would like to get into Medical School. What is the procedure? I have taken some science classes during my undergraduate with mediocre grades.

AP'ed out of General Chem I & II
General Bio: B
Genetics: C
Physics I: B
Physics II: A
Orgo I: B
Orgo II: C
Microbio: C
Cell Biology: D/A
Math I (Calculus for Engineers): A
Math II (Calculus for Business/Bio Majors): A (its Calc II but way easier than Calc II for engineers)

Thanks!
Moving from accounting to medicine is an unusual path - but I did it, so I'll try to be of some help.

Basically, you need to finish your medical school prerequisite courses and take the MCAT. It's impossible for me to tell you what you need to do with your grades - you have some C's that are unhelpful but not fatal - you need to calculate your GPA using the AMCAS method - you probably have a number of other math/science courses you took along the way that will also figure in to your BCPM GPA (biology, chemistry, physics, and math). If you read the instructions at the AMCAS website, it will tell you exactly which courses are included in BCPM.

In my opinion, your BCPM GPA is a little more important than your overall GPA but both have to be acceptable. Admission to medical school is extremely competitive - below a 3.0 is a real problem - 3.4 and up is much better.

You will also need some volunteering and/or shadowing a physician time. I don't know what your motivation for medicine is, but you need to have a coherent and logical reason for wanting to study medicine - my own opinion is that business majors get hit pretty hard on this issue in interviews.

Small details: testing out of Gen Chem I & II may be OK at some schools, but many schools have an absolute requirement for lab credit in Gen Chem I & II, Orgo I & II, Biology, and Physics I & II. Not having lab credit could be a problem. Only a few schools require calculus, and I've never seen a requirement of more than one course - since your first course was engineering calc, you're fine on that. Calc for business majors is not acceptable for medical school purposes. The only class I see missing from what you've taken is Biochem. It's not necessary at all, but it certainly makes life easier when you get to med school biochem if you've seen much of it before.

Be happy to give you more help with more details!

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine - Class of 2010
 
Actually, some schools now require Biochemistry.

I think it's under a dozen that do. I wouldn't (and didn't) bother.

At any rate, OP you seem to have taken nearly all of the prereqs. What you do next depends a lot on your numbers/details, which you haven't provided. Trying to tell you what to do next is a lot like trying to diagnose a patient one has never seen.
What is your cumulative GPA? How long ago was your undergrad? (From another thread it looks like you haven't even graduated undergrad yet -- am confused). Have you worked and for how long? How old are you? We need a better picture of who you are and what you are trying to do, if you want useful advice. And the biggee-

What is your reason for wanting to go to med school?
 
yeah sorry bout that...i didnt know if i should post here being an undergrad and all.

allright, so that was my projected plan but things and plans have changed since yesterday.

basically, i never got those A's...they were projected! so heres the real deal.

I am a Junior..Second Semester in the Spring. I shall be getting my undergrad completed in 2 more semesters including the Spring (a semester early). My cumulative GPA is 2.8, and Science GPA: 2.5

Expected Cum GPA (after 2 semesters): 3.1-3.27
Science GPA will be the same cuz I dont plan on taking any science courses until after I am done with my degree.

Classes that I have taken (No BS Projections)
AP'ed out of General Chem I & II
General Bio: B
Genetics: C
Physics I: B
Orgo I: B
Orgo II: C
Microbio: C
Cell Biology: D
Math I (Calculus for Engineers): A

So in other words, after two semesters I will have my accounting degree in my hand and then take Pre-Med etc. from there. Now thats where I need the help. What do I do? I have to get into a Medical School in USA otherwise my parents wont allow it. Besides I dont even want to go anywhere else...call it me being arrogant but its just something I value a lot.

Couple things I was thinking...I can do a post-bac program for a year and then apply to med-school but I hear that Medical Schools focus on the undergrad science class more than the post-bac stuff.

Also, when do I take my MCats?

Sorry for the confusion and thanks for your help.
 
Ok ... just an idea ... hold off on your accounting degree and do your pre-med stuff intertwined. Then you are eligible for the extra year of financial aid unless you plan on pursuing a second degree. Not every school will allow you federal aid as a non-degree student, although some allow you to enroll as a 2nd degree candidate. This way its also considered "undergrad" as well. You can apply coming out but with that low of a GPA your best bet would be DO schools. Then when you graduate and if you don't get in first round (or want to strengthen your app when applying) do a 1 year SMP program. You haven't done well in your current sciences classes that you've had so that is going to be a negative factor right off the bat ... just from what I've seen. Don't try to overload yourself and if your parents pressure you to graduate on time, you have to think about what is best for you, not for them. JMHO.
 
Sorry for the confusion and thanks for your help.
I can't tell you much about the MCAT - up until now, it has only been offered twice a year and timing was important but the MCAT is moving to an all-computer-based format which I understand will be offered much more often. I'd go to www.aamc.org and click on the "MCAT" link - I forget what the direct address is.

I hate to be a downer, but I'll try to give you honest advice. Medical schools say that you can major in whatever you want to, but business majors are unusual - be prepared in interviews to defend why you want to go to medical school straight out of business school.

You have a bigger problem, though. A 3.1 - 3.2 GPA, if you can do it, is marginal for a U.S. school - not impossible, but marginal. I know that a 3.5 is an "A" average, but there are plenty of people ahead of you in line with far higher overalls than that. Your MCAT score is going to be very important - don't try to take it until you've taken Physics II - Physics II has more practical application - like optics and electromagnetism, and that's what the MCAT tends to test on (in my opinion - people have done fine without Phys II, but I don't recommend it - especially since you need a great score).

A "C" in Genetics and Micro and a "D" in Cell Bio is a big red flag. That says to an admissions committee, loud and clear, that you're having a tough time with upper-division life sciences. Not a good omen at all. I understand perfectly well how that might have happened - accounting school is tough and there's a lot of homework, I know - but you're going to have to fix at least Genetics and Cell Bio. Maybe you can fix Genetics with some other upper division courses, but I'd retake Cell Bio since it's on your transcript and looks terrible.

One thing you should know - the AMCAS system used by allopathic schools does not allow grade replacement - both old and new grades for a course count. The AACOMAS system used by osteopathic schools allows old grades to be replaced with new ones for the same course. I don't know how you feel about osteopathic medicine - osteopaths are the equivalent of allopaths in every way, and don't believe the stories you hear about how much lower osteopathic admission standards are - in cases like yours with some bad grades that would really benefit from grade replacement, osteopathic is sometimes a good choice.

Your other alternative is a formal two-year post bacc program rather than an informal year of post-bacc self-directed course work. That's expensive, though, and I wouldn't do it unless you're sure you can perform better in upper-div science courses once you're out of business school.

Sorry - I do wish you well. The road to medical school is not easy.
 
Merry X-Mas all! Hope everyone is having a blast and getting good gifts haha

I dont get Financial Aid so thats not even something i would have to consider but otherwise I guess that would be a pretty hot option. I am thinking something along the lines of 1 year (including summer) formal post-bac program. I dont even know what to do right now.

Whats the deal with Dental school? Do I still have an option there? I really dont know if its something I want to do but the thing is I want to make a smart choice with my career. A job is something youll get to like overtime, whether its Accounting or Dentistry or being a Janitor...you just have to be excited about it. So why not do something thats actually worth something ya know (not just money wise but in other areas also).

In other words, hows Dental School looking for me? Regardless, I am taking all Accounting related classes this semester. I think I need to evaluate myself, and see what is going on here.
 
my degree was in Finance. you'll be in the minority, but who cares?
i would retake as many of the pre-req's as you can, in order to get that science gpa way up. also, get going in some healthcare related activities (volunteering etc), because the burden is on you to convince "them" that you know what you're doing in terms of changing directions so "drastically".

good luck and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
 
Whats the deal with Dental school? Do I still have an option there?
You'd have to post in the pre-dental forum - or at least find somebody who knows more about dental school than I do! But, dentistry is also extremely competitive for admission - the pre-reqs are, (I believe), about the same. I think you'd be facing the same issues - you'd need to re-take some of your pre-reqs to get your science and overall GPAs up.

Dentistry may be a valid option if you're determined to go into the health professions. If you're just taking accounting-related courses next semester, I'd give it a lot of hard thought. I do know several students who considered dental school - my own opinion is that you should only go to medical school if you can't imagine doing anything else at all with your life. It's way too hard a road to have any doubts.

Maybe you want to consider health administration. I used my CPA for twenty years in healthcare, and was very well paid as a planner doing major projects alongside the medical staff and nursing management in a big hospital. I finally reached the point where I had to go pursue medicine, but I had a great, fun, interesting job and was in the hospital environment every day.

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine - Class of 2010
 
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