advice

[Mnemosyne]

I'm a Junior now and considering med school. I just got my grades and my cum GPA is 3.401 but I still have a world of science ahead of me. I have to work part time. I just transferred schools to a state university and I really don't know how to become familiar with my professors (later recommendations). I mean my chem class has 300+ students. I am seeing about volunteering at a free medical clinic for low income families but other than that I can't find any medical associations. Anny advice. I am scared to death about applying to med school.
Christina

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[predoc]

Just one piece of advice. There aren't 300+ students in your professor's office. Find out when his or her office hours are and meet with them then. Come with questions about the class or just introduce yourself. The prof will be impressed that you, out of 300+ students, took the initiative to meet them personally. Build your relationship from there.

 

[Carbon Klein]

Predoc is totally correct about getting your profs familiar with you via office hours. I don't know about your school, but at UC Berkeley, some of the upper division courses have less people. I was a neurobiology major and while most of the courses were 200-300 students, some of the follow-up courses were only 15 students. That's where I got most of my letters from these profs. Don't forget to get some non-science letters because some schools require those. I got about 9 letters total, including 4 letters from graduate school. I have one from a premed science prof (Physics lab prof who knew me very well) as well as an Asian American Studies prof (who also knew me very well) in addition to 2 neurobiology profs and 1 immuno prof. I'm not sure if this happened on purpose, but I got letters only from profs who gave me an "A" in their course...I'm sure that isn't a significant point. Oh, with every letter of application request, I enclosed a short (no more than 2 page typed) essay about me and my goals/personal info, a "sample" letter (unsigned so that the prof can sign it and use that as their letter if they're too busy to write one) and of course, a prestamped envelope! I guess it's assumed that associate professors have less pull than full professors. If your school has a letter service, then you can have your profs send all your letters to the service.

A 3.4 isn't bad, and with the science courses ahead of you, you should be able to pull your science GPA up and up. If you can get a 3.5 Science GPA then you're looking pretty good. Add a 30-34 MCAT to that and you should be looking very competitive.

Free medical clinics are a great way of getting medical experience. Just make sure you stick with it. It looks good when you maintain an obligation for an extended period of time (like one year).

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[lumanyika]

hey people,
I've got a nagging question.Do medical schools really look down on community college credits?.And if so,why?
I've had people tell me that it's fine to go to comm. college as long as you don't spend all the two years there if med. school is your goal.On the other hand,some people tell me that a good GPA(>3.6) in comm. college along with stellar performance in the 4-yr school and MCAT will increase acceptance chances.But are these "chances" worth it?
Some of my peers and I attended comm. college and frankly,though the courses were comprehesive,the competition of 4-yr schools is not there.And evetually you end up with the feeling of not giving your best.I'm currently a biochemistry major(senior),GPA-3.6,MCAT 32(Q).Save a perplexed soul!!
Your responses will be highly appreciated.Thanks

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