Advice please

[AnatomyGrey12]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Post-back is pretty much the same as SMP so I don't think my parents would support that decision at all.

Eh not really, a good SMP usually takes classes with the med students and you are grades against them on the same curve, they are usually an audition for medical school type thing. A post-bac usually just consists of taking a bunch of upper level science courses. If you were to get a 3.8 in the SMP like you did in your post bac there are a number of schools that will reward reinvention. If you get a high MCAT score, 513+, then there are some pretty great schools that will reward that.

Sorry if I have somehow missed it, but how many credits was your post-bac?

 

[GypsyHummus]

I won't go to Caribbean haha. I promise.

Post-back is pretty much the same as SMP so I don't think my parents would support that decision at all.

and again no to podiatry.

Yeah, SMP is a special masters program that is linked with a med school. You take the first year with the med students, its a do or die situation. And why do you parents have to approve of it? Thats a bit weird.

Why no podiatry? You still get to be a doctor, albeit the foot and ankle. Is it beneath you?

The only other option I can see is pharmacy school with your GPA.

You are not in a good position to be picky, even with a high post bacc GPA. Every school said no to you, you didn't even get a waitlist at MSU which makes me think something is up with your personality. You arnt listening to people on the forum, so I say, go to the caribbean, follow UR DREAMZ.

 

[gamieg]

are you IS for MSUCOM?
what's your MCAT breakdown?
why no DO shadowing?
when did you apply?
how did you feel about your LORs and personal statement?
what do you think went wrong with your MSUCOM interview?

 

[rebeccajkoo]

Eh not really, a good SMP usually takes classes with the med students and you are grades against them on the same curve, they are usually an audition for medical school type thing. A post-bac usually just consists of taking a bunch of upper level science courses. If you were to get a 3.8 in the SMP like you did in your post bac there are a number of schools that will reward reinvention. If you get a high MCAT score, 513+, then there are some pretty great schools that will reward that.

Sorry if I have somehow missed it, but how many credits was your post-bac?

71 semester credits.

i've talked to a few med schools and they kept on saying something like "ummmmm i would suggest an SMP for you but it looks like you did everything in the SMP in your post bacc. so i don't know what to say to you". And aren't the really good SMP's requiring a GPA of 3.0 to get in? which i don't have. so again, another roadblock.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

are you IS for MSUCOM?
what's your MCAT breakdown?
why no DO shadowing?
when did you apply?
how did you feel about your LORs and personal statement?
what do you think went wrong with your MSUCOM interview?

nope, oos for MSUCOM.
MCAT breakdown - 9,9,11. 11 in biological sciences.
i've tried to do DO shadowing but a lot of them said no. I've been able to shadow 1 DO a few times.
i applied twice for fall 2016 entry and fall 2017 entry.
personal statement was fine - i went over it with my advisor A LOT.
i only feel solid on 1 of my LORs to be perfectly honest.
it's so funny because i practiced hard for my interview and practiced all the things my advisor told me to say. and when i got to the interview i was so nervous that i got to say none of those things. and when 1 of the questions threw me off. i'm going to talk to them next week - i have an appointment set up.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

Yeah, SMP is a special masters program that is linked with a med school. You take the first year with the med students, its a do or die situation. And why do you parents have to approve of it? Thats a bit weird.

Why no podiatry? You still get to be a doctor, albeit the foot and ankle. Is it beneath you?

The only other option I can see is pharmacy school with your GPA.

You are not in a good position to be picky, even with a high post bacc GPA. Every school said no to you, you didn't even get a waitlist at MSU which makes me think something is up with your personality. You arnt listening to people on the forum, so I say, go to the caribbean, follow UR DREAMZ.

my parents are the ones that are going to be co-signing for every loan and if they refuse to support it, i won't be able to pay for anything. it's not like my credit score is so great that i can do it on my own - no bank would give me the money without solid financial support.

podiatry and pharmacy are all pretty much 9-5 jobs and i'm not interested in that. i'm used to pulling 11-12 hr shifts for 3 months at a time and believe it or not i like it.

i was considering pharmacy until i looked at my transcript and saw that i took mostly bio. pharmacy is chem and research which i don't have. i talked to a few when i was rotating in the hospital.

just because i'm saying no to 1 suggestion that you made doesn't mean i'm not listening to every person. i asked for advice and i'm getting a lot more than i anticipated and if you actually read this forum, i'm being pointed to different directions. i'm going to talk to msucom about my interview next week and see what's up.

 

[GypsyHummus]

my parents are the ones that are going to be co-signing for every loan and if they refuse to support it, i won't be able to pay for anything. it's not like my credit score is so great that i can do it on my own - no bank would give me the money without solid financial support.

podiatry and pharmacy are all pretty much 9-5 jobs and i'm not interested in that. i'm used to pulling 11-12 hr shifts for 3 months at a time and believe it or not i like it.

i was considering pharmacy until i looked at my transcript and saw that i took mostly bio. pharmacy is chem and research which i don't have. i talked to a few when i was rotating in the hospital.

just because i'm saying no to 1 suggestion that you made doesn't mean i'm not listening to every person. i asked for advice and i'm getting a lot more than i anticipated and if you actually read this forum, i'm being pointed to different directions. i'm going to talk to msucom about my interview next week and see what's up.

There are SMPs that don't cost a lot, the LECOM one in particular is like 13k, so you wouldn't have to ask ur parents.

Podiatry and pharmacy can be much more than 9-5 hour wise , pharmacy in particular. I know pharmacists that pull 12 hour shifts. They are in the minority, but they exist in hospital settings.

And with pharmacy, when my GPA was in the gutter I looked into it as well. As long as you have taken all the prerecs for DO school, you will be good for pharmacy. There are schools that will take your 2.8 GPA. Granted, saturation is starting to hit the field, but you will still be able to get a job afterwords unlike going to the islands. You could even probably still apply this cycle.

Anouther suggestion: you could do optometry, although it may have the same 9-5 problem you speak of. There are some OD schools that do grade replacement, and the OAT is a vastly easier test than the MCAT. Your undergrad GPA might prohibit you from doing that tho, I would call up each school. ODs are starting to slowly gain laser surgery practice rights in some Midwestern and southern states. ODs do a lot, fourth body removal, writing prescriptions, and glaucoma treatments, much more than just refracting.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

There are SMPs that don't cost a lot, the LECOM one in particular is like 13k, so you wouldn't have to ask ur parents.

Podiatry and pharmacy can be much more than 9-5 hour wise , pharmacy in particular. I know pharmacists that pull 12 hour shifts. They are in the minority, but they exist in hospital settings.

And with pharmacy, when my GPA was in the gutter I looked into it as well. As long as you have taken all the prerecs for DO school, you will be good for pharmacy. There are schools that will take your 2.8 GPA. Granted, saturation is starting to hit the field, but you will still be able to get a job afterwords unlike going to the islands. You could even probably still apply this cycle.

Anouther suggestion: you could do optometry, although it may have the same 9-5 problem you speak of. There are some OD schools that do grade replacement, and the OAT is a vastly easier test than the MCAT. Your undergrad GPA might prohibit you from doing that tho, I would call up each school. ODs are starting to slowly gain laser surgery practice rights in some Midwestern and southern states. ODs do a lot, fourth body removal, writing prescriptions, and glaucoma treatments, much more than just refracting.

i don't exactly have 13k lying around and don't the good smps require a 3.0 gpa? which i don't have.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

don't the good smps require a 3.0 gpa?

No not necessarily. People say the 3.0 thing because some schools will still have a computer filter out apps with a ugGPA below 3.0 and so having that helps avoid that, but you can get into a good SMP with below that.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

No not necessarily. People say the 3.0 thing because some schools will still have a computer filter out apps with a ugGPA below 3.0 and so having that helps avoid that, but you can get into a good SMP with below that.

I can certainly talk to my parents about it and see if they're willing to pay for another program....

 

[femmegoblue]

I can certainly talk to my parents about it and see if they're willing to pay for another program....

There's always federal loans. As long as you're enrolled in a degree-seeking program, you are eligible.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

There's always federal loans. As long as you're enrolled in a degree-seeking program, you are eligible.

My parents would still need provide for the living expenses, especially if the SMP is out of the area.

 

[femmegoblue]

My parents would still need provide for the living expenses, especially if the SMP is out of the area.

You'd be able to get 20.5K a year through unsub. federal loans, and the overflow could pay for COL, especially if you went to LECOM's program. That would leave you nearly 8K for living expenses for the year. Just saying, there are options.

 

[femmegoblue]

Also, credit check is not required for subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans. Those are only necessary for grad plus, which you will not need to dip into for an SMP if you've never had loans before. So your parents don't need to be cosigners.

 

[rebeccajkoo]

Also, credit check is not required for subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans. Those are only necessary for grad plus, which you will not need to dip into for an SMP if you've never had loans before. So your parents don't need to be cosigners.

hm interesting because at the post bacc program I went to they only gave me 12,500 per year when it cost 7 or 8,000 per semester for me to attend. they said that was the maximum in federal unsubsidized loans that I can get and my parents had to cosign for everything. interesting....

 

[femmegoblue]

hm interesting because at the post bacc program I went to they only gave me 12,500 per year when it cost 7 or 8,000 per semester for me to attend. they said that was the maximum in federal unsubsidized loans that I can get and my parents had to cosign for everything. interesting....

You are definitely eligible for 20.5 a year in unsub loans, it says so on the federal loans site itself. If the post-bacc was non degree seeking or part time, that was probably why.

 

[JB50]

biting my fingers

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

biting my fingers

Don't, just let it all out.

 

[ARK1234]

If doing a linkage program is out of the option due to cost, I at least would definitely retake the MCAT again, and try to score above a 30 (I have no idea what that is on the new scale because I have not taken the new one), and reapply. With that post-bac GPA, I'm surprised that you haven't had more success in the DO school interview, even if your MCAT was a 29. Presuming that you had a good set of LOR, personal statement, and interviewing skills, I think that with a higher MCAT score, you may be able to get a better result the 3rd time. I think your application seems okay, but I don't know the full picture because I don't know what your 200 hours of volunteering was for. Everything else seems to be either shadowing or scribing.