Admissions question

[johnnycash]

Hello. Newbie here. I would like to apply to DO school and I am currently taking my pre-reqs at my local CC. I practice law full-time and the CC is the only program that is close to my work and cost-effective. I finished BIO & Gen Chem with 3 As and a B. Orgo I is next. I can only take 1 class at a time b/c they are at night. My UGPA is a 3.4. Being that I graduated law school and own my own practice, is it going to hurt my chances taking my classes at a CC? Thanks.

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[Beau Geste]

Hello. Newbie here. I would like to apply to DO school and I am currently taking my pre-reqs at my local CC. I practice law full-time and the CC is the only program that is close to my work and cost-effective. I finished BIO & Gen Chem with 3 As and a B. Orgo I is next. I can only take 1 class at a time b/c they are at night. My UGPA is a 3.4. Being that I graduated law school and own my own practice, is it going to hurt my chances taking my classes at a CC? Thanks.

I am also taking courses at a CC and am a full-time practicing speech-language pathologist in private practice. I've posted this before - (and if you do a search on "community college" you will find more threads on this topic) - since I already have a graduate degree I talked with the schools I was interested in applying to. They did not look down on the CC courses since through graduate school it was apparent I could handle a rigorous course load. They did say that it was important to do well on the MCAT, so that's what I'm shooting for now.

As long as you continue to do well in your courses and on the MCAT you should do fine. But, talk to the schools you are interested in for sure. It will set your mind at ease.

 

[Beau Geste]

Also,

I dig your username.

 

[njbmd]

Hello. Newbie here. I would like to apply to DO school and I am currently taking my pre-reqs at my local CC. I practice law full-time and the CC is the only program that is close to my work and cost-effective. I finished BIO & Gen Chem with 3 As and a B. Orgo I is next. I can only take 1 class at a time b/c they are at night. My UGPA is a 3.4. Being that I graduated law school and own my own practice, is it going to hurt my chances taking my classes at a CC? Thanks.

Hi there,
Some medical schools will not allow pre-req courses taken at a community college. Check with the admissions offices of the medical schools that interest you to be sure this is not the case before you spend the money applying there.

Whether you graduated from law school and own your law practice is not going to carry much weight in terms of admission to medical school. Law school is considered graduate school and is weighted as such. Your undergrad GPA, your MCAT score and your extra curricular activities are the main factors in medical school admission. If the medical schools that you apply to do not have a problem with your community college coursework, you stop getting "B"s and you get a competitive score on the MCAT, you should be OK.

Good luck with your studies.
njbmd

 

[Wahoos]

Taking courses at a CC should not hurt your chances for addmissions to medical school given your background. (unless the med school does not accept class from CC) Given that you have to do well in the classes and also well in your MCAT (>30, with preferably 10,10,10). The things that you should also have in your app, esp with your background is hospital experience (volunteering, etc), because I can already see the type of questions that you will be asked in an interview. Why the career change, why medicine now, etc... and if you have a good reason then it also has to be backed up by experience.

Another suggestion... why DO? I would apply to MD schools only, unless you are not able to get into an MD school, then maybe consider DO. Graduating as a DO might narrow your career choices in terms of specialities.

Also you should consider University of Virginia Med school. Our dean tends to like the non trad applicants. I seen people with law, MBA, phDs, etc get interviewed with us. Having the Law degree will give you an advantage over a lot of other applicants due to the unique factor...but you still need to do well in terms of classes, MCAT, and have the essential hospital/volunteer experience. One of the most important thing that the admissions committee tries to decide is whether you can do the work and finish med school or not. That is usually determined by your MCAT score, GPA, and science classes grades.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Wahoos]

I agree with njbmd that you should try your best to pull off "A"s from your CC classes. Having B's on your transcript does not look good and esp if it is from a CC. I would say that you need a 3.7 or greater GPA to be considered competitive.... but in your case the law degree can offset that a bit.

 

[Beau Geste]

The number of medical schools that do not accept CC courses can be counted on one hand. The best thing to do is to contact the schools you are applying to and get it straight from the horses' mouth.

 

[njbmd]

Another suggestion... why DO? I would apply to MD schools only, unless you are not able to get into an MD school, then maybe consider DO. Graduating as a DO might narrow your career choices in terms of specialities.

Hi there,
Osteopathic medical school graduates can get into any specialty and do practice in all specialties. I would not let this guide your choice. In attempting to get into medical school in 2006, apply to any medical school (osteopathic or allopathic) that interests you and where you feel that you are competitive.

njbmd

 

[johnnycash]

Thank you for the replies. I really appreciate the information.

 

[MJB]

I'd call the schools you want to apply to and ask...and I'd apply where you want to.

As an applicant, my top choice at the moment is the local DO school, not the MD program.

 

[Wahoos]

You can get into all the specialities with a DO degree, but it will be an uphill battle if you wanted to do something competitive, trust me on this. There are ~3000 Orthopedic residents throughout the US, and less than 1% are DO. Given there is less DO applicants to MD Orthopedic programs, but still with a DO after your name, it would be harder for you to match MD Ortho programs. This is true across the board in all competitive surgical sub specialities like Plastics, Optho, Ortho, ENT... even Derm, Rad Onc etc. I know in my particular program, we definitely have DO applicants every year, but I have not seen any that was interviewed in the last couple of years. Also one of my friend from U of Pitt told me that there surgical program do not take DOs, period. (not sure if this last statement is true or not) I agree with njbmd that is do able, but my point is that it is much harder. The DOs that are in these competitive specialities are often "Superstars". Now if you know for sure that you do not want to do these competitive specialties, then I think it does not really matter much if you go to a DO or MD.

You will get a great training in both DO and MD schools. I am just throwing out something for you to consider when deciding which one to apply or attend. You can apply to both DO and MD schools and see which one will accept you. Once you have multiple acceptances, esp between DO and MD schools, then you really need to sit down and think which choice would be the better one for you.

 

[Law2Doc]

Whether you graduated from law school and own your law practice is not going to carry much weight in terms of admission to medical school. Law school is considered graduate school and is weighted as such.

Totally disagree. Having already worked as a professional, subject to professional pressures, ethical canons, long hours, having worked with clients (analagous to patients), and having worked in a service industry are all transferable skills which are regarded quite positively by med school admissions. At least according to some adcom members, having succeeded in one profession increases the likelihood someone will succeed in another. Having other careers and advanced degrees is also looked at as a nice EC and adds to the diversity of a med school class. So this can carry quite a lot of weight, if you spin it well. (I do agree the law school grades/GPA was not particularly relevant, though).

 

[RxnMan]

...Having other careers and advanced degrees is also looked at as a nice EC and adds to the diversity of a med school class. So this can carry quite a lot of weight, if you spin it well...

I agree - Interviewers told me in the interview that my rank in their applicant pool was helped considerably by my advanced degree, thesis project, and my job.

 

[johnnycash]

Since I am taking Orgo I & II this year and Physics I & 2 next year, do you think buying the EK books now would help me get a better grade (not to mention prepare for the MCAT)? Thanks again.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Since I am taking Orgo I & II this year and Physics I & 2 next year, do you think buying the EK books now would help me get a better grade (not to mention prepare for the MCAT)? Thanks again.

It really depends how your Organic and Physics classes are geared. For example, the EK books would not have helped me with my physics classes because my prof doesn't teach for the mcat. He teaches us physics instead. We had very few mc questions on our exams, and the algebra in the algebra based (let alone the calculus in the calc based) were more difficult than anything we'd see on the mcat. I have a feeling it was the same with organic(although I haven't looked at the Organic EK book yet to know for sure). Some teachers do teach for the mcat though so the best I can suggest is to wait and see how the first exams are, and then decide if the EK books would help or not.

 

[Beau Geste]

Since I am taking Orgo I & II this year and Physics I & 2 next year, do you think buying the EK books now would help me get a better grade (not to mention prepare for the MCAT)? Thanks again.

I think if you go through the material for Physics and Ochem and you understand it, then it should help when it comes to class time. Like the previous poster mentioned, you will cover waaaay more in your classes than the MCAT covers, but getting the basics down never hurt anyone.