- Joined
- Feb 21, 2018
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Hi!
This is my first post- it's kind of long so I apologize!
I'm enrolled in a dual MS/PhD program for the top engineering graduate program in the country in my discipline. I did my undergrad at this institution, as well. Long story, I always wanted to be a doctor (was an EMT in high school) but when I got to undergrad, I fell in love with research and I found the premed culture at my school really stressful (the premed advisors were ruthless) and after my sophomore year (lowest grades), when I met with my premed advisor who said that it would be hard for me to go to medical school, I focused my energies elsewhere but continued to volunteer and pursue service opportunities that I enjoyed doing (volunteering at clinics, STEM education outreach for minority/low SES students) without any intention of going to medical school.
After my first year of grad school, I just realized that while I love research, the most fulfilling experiences I have had are my service work opportunities and as opposed to doing it on the side through grad school and whatever career I'd pursue, I wanted a service-oriented profession that allowed me to help guide people in through their health while still allowing me to understand human health and develop technologies to better understand and treat diseases and conditions. There's more to this but this post is already getting long. My research is in biomedical engineering. I come from a low income background and my personal background also influences my decision to pursue medicine.
My grades improved through undergrad and I graduated with a 3.66 cGPA/3.3-3.4 sGPA (depending on what classes count from my engineering to BCPM) so while my cGPA isn't terrible, I didn't do well in my bio courses but did well in my engineering courses. I was a chemE/bioE double major for undergrad and am doing a different engineering discipline for grad school. For grad school, I have a 3.8/4.0 but my graduate program is really tough (only 10-30% of MS students progress to PhD) but this could also be a negative for medical school.
I am studying for MCAT and am planning to take it this late/summer or fall but I am wondering how much GPA repair I need to do. I am still at my undergrad institution so I can take up to 2 more undergrad classes as post-bacc at my institution and can also take some classes at an extension school (that interest me). I have no Cs or below, just lots of Bs. Does this look bad aka "GPA padding"? Does MSAR GPA include applicants' post-bac GPAs (those that had them) or is the MSAR GPA only undergrad GPA?
I will graduate with MS this December and I am also considering what to do for the next 1.5 years (applying 2019 cycle). I love research but I really want to do more service work (I have really got involved with my clinic and I want to do more of this work) so I was considering AmeriCorps or a fellowship my clinic has but this means taking a break from research and I come from a huge research powerhouse school and my premed advisor (who still thinks I will have a hard time going to medical school), says it would be bad to 'leave research.' I love research and I'm not leaving it; just would be a hiatus.
I am not aiming for any particular school but particularly am drawn to working in urban environments and underserved communities but it happens that a lot of these schools tend to be the most competitive to get into in the community.
I'm asking this now because if I have to take more postbac classes, I need to register in the next few months/prepare financially for it (extension school classes so expensive
).
I know MCAT is a huge factor but by the time I get my results, it will be past registering time. I have been studying for a month and scored a 500 on diagnostic and then 513 and 515. Will continue to study so hopefully 513+ (aiming for 518+).
I have a few publications, 1 poster and some large national awards if that helps and as I said, I come from a very top undergrad institution which I guess people can infer.
Sorry for long post! Thanks in advance!
This is my first post- it's kind of long so I apologize!
I'm enrolled in a dual MS/PhD program for the top engineering graduate program in the country in my discipline. I did my undergrad at this institution, as well. Long story, I always wanted to be a doctor (was an EMT in high school) but when I got to undergrad, I fell in love with research and I found the premed culture at my school really stressful (the premed advisors were ruthless) and after my sophomore year (lowest grades), when I met with my premed advisor who said that it would be hard for me to go to medical school, I focused my energies elsewhere but continued to volunteer and pursue service opportunities that I enjoyed doing (volunteering at clinics, STEM education outreach for minority/low SES students) without any intention of going to medical school.
After my first year of grad school, I just realized that while I love research, the most fulfilling experiences I have had are my service work opportunities and as opposed to doing it on the side through grad school and whatever career I'd pursue, I wanted a service-oriented profession that allowed me to help guide people in through their health while still allowing me to understand human health and develop technologies to better understand and treat diseases and conditions. There's more to this but this post is already getting long. My research is in biomedical engineering. I come from a low income background and my personal background also influences my decision to pursue medicine.
My grades improved through undergrad and I graduated with a 3.66 cGPA/3.3-3.4 sGPA (depending on what classes count from my engineering to BCPM) so while my cGPA isn't terrible, I didn't do well in my bio courses but did well in my engineering courses. I was a chemE/bioE double major for undergrad and am doing a different engineering discipline for grad school. For grad school, I have a 3.8/4.0 but my graduate program is really tough (only 10-30% of MS students progress to PhD) but this could also be a negative for medical school.
I am studying for MCAT and am planning to take it this late/summer or fall but I am wondering how much GPA repair I need to do. I am still at my undergrad institution so I can take up to 2 more undergrad classes as post-bacc at my institution and can also take some classes at an extension school (that interest me). I have no Cs or below, just lots of Bs. Does this look bad aka "GPA padding"? Does MSAR GPA include applicants' post-bac GPAs (those that had them) or is the MSAR GPA only undergrad GPA?
I will graduate with MS this December and I am also considering what to do for the next 1.5 years (applying 2019 cycle). I love research but I really want to do more service work (I have really got involved with my clinic and I want to do more of this work) so I was considering AmeriCorps or a fellowship my clinic has but this means taking a break from research and I come from a huge research powerhouse school and my premed advisor (who still thinks I will have a hard time going to medical school), says it would be bad to 'leave research.' I love research and I'm not leaving it; just would be a hiatus.
I am not aiming for any particular school but particularly am drawn to working in urban environments and underserved communities but it happens that a lot of these schools tend to be the most competitive to get into in the community.
I'm asking this now because if I have to take more postbac classes, I need to register in the next few months/prepare financially for it (extension school classes so expensive
).I know MCAT is a huge factor but by the time I get my results, it will be past registering time. I have been studying for a month and scored a 500 on diagnostic and then 513 and 515. Will continue to study so hopefully 513+ (aiming for 518+).
I have a few publications, 1 poster and some large national awards if that helps and as I said, I come from a very top undergrad institution which I guess people can infer.
Sorry for long post! Thanks in advance!
