Advice to improve application for non-science undergrad, post bacc

[horses4life]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Q1: I just went through (nearly) every single medical school's pre-requisites on their website and it looks like 93 of those 138 only require 1 semester of Organic Chemistry (most require 1 semester Biochemistry in place of the 2nd semester of Organic Chemistry, though some don't require Organic Chemistry at all anymore). Its also trending this way.

A shortened sequence of Organic Chemistry (8 quarter credit hours instead of the full-length 12 quarter credit hours, though the same additional 6 quarter credit hours of lab) is my only option right now. See below for my personal details and apologies if this should be somewhere else. What is everyone's opinion on applying with less than a year of Organic Chemistry for non-science majors?

Q2: Here's my short story. I am a post bacc student and worked in healthcare consulting for 2 years before going back for the post bacc. I worked with dozens of health system executives and medical directors at various health systems and even medical schools, doing (primarily) assessments relating to market, financial, operational and population health performance. ER utilization improvements and fed policy implications were my concentration when it came to these analyses.

However, I was a finance and economics major in undergraduate. I only had a 3.4 GPA due to mental illness issues (struggled to finish undergrad at all) but graduated from a top-tier non-Ivy (Catholic) school and have lived/breathed volunteering and hobbies relating to mental health ever since.

I have a return offer from my previous firm, another offer from a more prestigious boutique healthcare consulting firm, and a couple other job opportunities I am looking into but have hit timeline + financial roadblocks that are going to force me to finish all of my post bacc classes in December. I'm expecting around a 3.8 post bacc GPA from a mid-tier research-oriented public school (non matriculated, did it for the lower tuition and scheduling flexibility as I took a few classes while I worked). And I'm in my mid-20s.

Without getting personal, my family works primarily in emergency medicine. I had a few incredibly expensive ER visits that could have easily been prevented had my family had a greater focus on preventative health. Most of my hobbies and volunteer experience relate. I am aiming to apply next summer for Fall 2019 but am okay with delaying in order to take some courses on the side and gain more professional experience. What else can I do?

Thanks!

 

[aformerstudent]

Q1: You probably don't need the second semester of orgo since you can teach yourself those second-semester topics with an MCAT prep book or course. I'd take the biochem instead but biochem usually requires the two semesters as a pre-req so you'd need special permission to do that. Having said that, I just feel having the two semesters of orgo gives you more flexibility when applying to whatever med program you want or even health programs for an alternate career. If you can do it, I'd take those two semesters of orgo as well as biochem to be safe. The last position you want to be in is when a school tells you to take more pre-req's.

Q2: I don't know what you're asking. Med school admissions is a numbers game. Get the numbers first and then worry about EC's. No matter how many EC's you do, they won't substitute for mediocre scores.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Q1: I just went through (nearly) every single medical school's pre-requisites on their website and it looks like 93 of those 138 only require 1 semester of Organic Chemistry (most require 1 semester Biochemistry in place of the 2nd semester of Organic Chemistry, though some don't require Organic Chemistry at all anymore). Its also trending this way.

A shortened sequence of Organic Chemistry (8 quarter credit hours instead of the full-length 12 quarter credit hours, though the same additional 6 quarter credit hours of lab) is my only option right now. See below for my personal details and apologies if this should be somewhere else. What is everyone's opinion on applying with less than a year of Organic Chemistry for non-science majors?

Q2: Here's my short story. I am a post bacc student and worked in healthcare consulting for 2 years before going back for the post bacc. I worked with dozens of health system executives and medical directors at various health systems and even medical schools, doing (primarily) assessments relating to market, financial, operational and population health performance. ER utilization improvements and fed policy implications were my concentration when it came to these analyses.

However, I was a finance and economics major in undergraduate. I only had a 3.4 GPA due to mental illness issues (struggled to finish undergrad at all) but graduated from a top-tier non-Ivy (Catholic) school and have lived/breathed volunteering and hobbies relating to mental health ever since.

I have a return offer from my previous firm, another offer from a more prestigious boutique healthcare consulting firm, and a couple other job opportunities I am looking into but have hit timeline + financial roadblocks that are going to force me to finish all of my post bacc classes in December. I'm expecting around a 3.8 post bacc GPA from a mid-tier research-oriented public school (non matriculated, did it for the lower tuition and scheduling flexibility as I took a few classes while I worked). And I'm in my mid-20s.

Without getting personal, my family works primarily in emergency medicine. I had a few incredibly expensive ER visits that could have easily been prevented had my family had a greater focus on preventative health. Most of my hobbies and volunteer experience relate. I am aiming to apply next summer for Fall 2019 but am okay with delaying in order to take some courses on the side and gain more professional experience. What else can I do?

Thanks!

Focus on getting a killer MCAT; that will be the biggest factor admissions looks at when they see your application.