Admissions

[rossiter]

I am intrested in going to school to become a DO. However, my undergraduate education is horrible. I was diagnosed as manic-depressive and spent a long time trying to get treatment. While this was happening my GPA went down to a 2.7 with sciences even lower. I graduated with two degress. A BS in chemistry and a BS in chemical engineering. I went on to graduate school and am now in my second year as a PhD in medicinal chemistry.
I have completed 2/3 of the course work with a GPA of 3.6. I am published in the area of chemical engineering and have volunteered extesively at the local hospital. I have yet to take the MCATs but I was just wondering if it is to late with my undergraduate GPA. I have since learned to control my illness with the help of medicines. I guess that is the reason my I am intrested in medicine. Any help would be appriciated.

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[Paul's Boutique]

Fast response (I'm in a rush...):

1. Don't panic. The grades/performance can be explained in your "Personal Comments" section on your app.
2. Take a prep course (e.g. Kaplan) to do well on the MCAT. I started in Nov. 98 for the April 99 test: got 11V, 12P, 12B, R. Kick *ss on that test---will surely help.
3. You've started a program in ChemE for your PhD---you'll have to explain why you want to leave that program for Med School.
4. Other info: work experience? life experience? age (approx?)?

Flesh it out a bit---we'll discuss further.

PS It's -never- too late to pursue your dreams.

 

[Daisy]

From what I've gathered Medical schools, Osteo or Allo, look for impressive individuals. The fact that you have overcome Manic Depression and have gotten on with your life is very impressive. I agree with the Kick *ss on the MCAT bit. You might as well Kick *ss on your personal essay. Good luck. You sound like a very driven person.

 

[rossiter]

Dear Paul's Boutique and Daisy

Thank you for your responses. I actually am going for my PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. I thought that I would learn a lot more about the body and how it worked than I have. You would be surprised how little the people who make the drugs know about the human body. The whole system of drug design is inefficient. To tell you the truth I am most concerned about how the medical community works with people. There are people like me who need a little bit of help but can not afford it. It is just amazing to me that the government allows the pharmaceutical industry to charge the prices it does. I can go over to Canada and get the same medication for half the price. I think that things have to change.
As for myself, I am 24 years old and about to be very happily married to the most magnificent woman I have ever known. I attended Clarkson University for my b.s. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. I was premed there, however that did not mean anything. While I was at Clarkson, I was a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the national service fraternity. I served as V.P. of Service for a year and was President for a semester. I also was the Station Manager of the college radio station. I help coordinate the the activities of the station and helped set up a night club at the university. At the end of my senior year I was given an award for service to the college community. My junior year I logged in over two-hundred hours at the emergency room of the local hospital. At the end of my junior year is when I started to have problems and had to stop volunteering. I figured I could not help anyone with the problems I encountered. My grades have never been spectacular, I could not figure out how I got some grades in the 90?s and others in the 30?s it the same class. Needless to say my average in that class would be poor and my grades would not be good. My last three semesters of my undergraduate degree my GPA was about a 2.0. I don?t know how I got into graduate school. I think that they never saw my final transcript. I ended up putting off graduate school for a year and just worked at Clarkson University trying to learn about myself. While I was there I worked in a chemical engineering lab. I did extensive research in three different areas, one was the dissolution of copper in SC2 solution, the second was electroless deposition of gold onto silicon wafers and the third was a variation on that theme. As for work experience, I have been everything from a farmer, dish washer, cook, lifeguard, sales to research. I have been working since I was 12 years old. I am a very poor student who lives off of life?s riches. I want to give something to the community to help people. They way that I would like to do that is to teach. To teach the new doctors that sometimes its just not medicine that is needed but a sense of hope that things are going to get better. I am sorry for writing so much my mind has a tendency to be filed with to many ideas and I tend to be passionate about them. I am going to try to take the MCAT in April and apply next fall. Besides the MCAT, should I talk to someone in admissions about my situation or should I just send in my application. Thank you for your advice and passion to help others. Sincerely Cliff

 

[mightymouse]

I am impressed and i dont even know you. Everyone has their stengths as well as their weaknesses. You seem to have a grasp on that and if you can impress a med student stranger in a chat room, you can do the same with an admissions committee. You have many experiences on which to draw, Id include them in your statement and play to them. They are your strength.

 

[jdaasbo]

i think the word is electrolysis. i could be wrong.

 

[rossiter]

Dear jdaasbo
Just in case your intrested, I was correct when I said that the process was electroless deposition. The deposition of a metal onto a substrate can be done in two different ways, with and without the use of electricity. Say one wants to cover a ring with gold. They can put the ring into a solution that has gold as an ion. In order to reduce gold from its ionic state to gold with no charge, such as on a ring, the charge on gold must be reduced to zero. This can be done by using a potentiometer to reduce the voltage of the solution, thus reducing gold to a charge of zero or through the use of a redox reaction between the gold and another material. Since the redox reaction does not use an outside source of electricity, it is considered electroless. In my case, the gold losses its charge and becomes zero while the silicon gains a charge. The solution that does this for gold and silicon is potassium gold cyanide, a silicon wafer, and hydrofluoric acid. Not a safe reaction so don't try this at home!!

 

[Daisy]

I must reiterate: I AM IMPRESSED! YOu have very impressive credentials--plus it has seemd that you have already lived life a little more than the other students that will be applying. Medical schools are very concerned about that.
Good luck to you!!!

 

[reddog]

Take one step at a time. After you take the MCAT in April, you'll know if you should apply or hold out for a better score. MCAT scores aren't everything. More and more schools are finding the benefits of looking at the "whole" person. On some of the schools applications, they provide you with an opportunity to explain any unusall circumstances or different grading systems that were used at your undergraduate institution. Be wise in sharing the information about your past psychiatric history. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of prejudices out there. Even in the medical community. Beleive me, I know!