Advice

[johndoe213]

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Advice so i would like to get some advice in terms of going to medical school I should graduate with around a 3.4-3.5 gpa and WILL get a 520+ mcat I went to CC and my gpa looks like this
CC: 87 credits, 308 points, GPA: 3.540
3rd year: 75 credits, 169.6 points, GPA: 2.261
4 and 5 year: 150 credits, 600 points, GPA: 4.000
I don't know if this matters but I am a first gen college student as well as a UROM and I am a math major my grade distribution looks like this
A+: 1 course
A: 20 courses
A-: 3 courses
B: 7 courses
B-: 1 course
C: 6 courses
C-: 3 courses
D-: 1 course
F: 3 courses
With my bad grades being in math
I did extremely badly in my 3rd year and I had a hard time adjusting to college life. So far I have a 4.0 with 20+ units both spring and fall quarters. I know I can do this. I am giving it my all.
I also have a clinical and a research lab with a publication coming soon and some conference boards.

My question for advice would be in terms of extracurriculars and clinical help, I plan to do a gap year where I would study for my mcat and improve my extracurriculars and clinical. Do you guys have any advice on things I should do now to have the best odds in getting into medical school? Should I look into a post bacc, will it look bad if i did all my clinical in my gap year, I am doing volunteer work and tutoring but should i look into anything else. What should I do, should I look into grad school( i am interested in neuroscience).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Sorry to be skeptical, but post your MCAT score once you receive it.

You should follow the WAMC profile template to help us give you better advice. Have you done any shadowing or clinical exposure? I wouldn't plan on school lists until you get those hours in first and BEFORE you get your MCAT score. The best time to get experience and insight to the challenges of being a physician is now.

 

[LizzyM]

You need some clinical experience, some shadowing (~50 hours), and a routine of community service (medicine is about helping people -- if you want to do that as a career show me by helping people now outside of clinical settings -- look for opportunities in your community that address homelessness, food insecurity, and similar social safety net programs).

Slow down these heavy semesters and get some real life experience to know if medicine is even the right path for you.

 

[damonmontoya]

Welcome to the forums.

Sorry to be skeptical, but post your MCAT score once you receive it.

You should follow the WAMC profile template to help us give you better advice. Have you done any shadowing or clinical exposure? I wouldn't plan on school lists until you get those hours in first and BEFORE you get your MCAT score. The best time to get experience and insight to the challenges of being a physician is now.

Hello ok thank you for the advice currently I am scribing and am considering being an emt during my gap year. Same for shadowing I plan to get some hours within the next two years but I was just talking in regards to my lower gpa. Do i still continue on the path and keep pushing or?

 

[Mr. Macrophage]

Hello ok thank you for the advice currently I am scribing and am considering being an emt during my gap year. Same for shadowing I plan to get some hours within the next two years but I was just talking in regards to my lower gpa. Do i still continue on the path and keep pushing or?

Okay wait I’m a little confused—you aren’t the OP account but your response acts like you’re the same person. Your account has a WAMC from December with a 527. Are you OP? Have you taken the MCAT?

 

[AJS59]

Idk what's going with the 2 accounts situation but assuming they're maybe separate I'll address this to OP:
1. There is no "will get a 520+" You can get one, but MCAT scores aren't guaranteed. We can't give a full assessment until that's done.
2. We also need to know what classes you failed/did poorly in - that would be anything graded C- and below. If any of those are prereqs, you're going to need to retake. You might also find it helpful to calculate a sGPA using AMCAS guidelines (and unfortunately, your math courses will count into that).
3. In terms of next steps...well that's a little bit hard to assess I think. Your GPA is low but if it's being dragged down by courses like abstract algebra and stuff that honestly I don't think a postbacc would do much. Different story if you're posting low grades in bio and chem and physics. But as pointed out above the central thing is you need clinical experience and volunteering like what LizzyM said, and realistically you'll need 1, maybe 2 years to accumulate this.

So I think in terms of next steps my best advice, at the moment, is to focus on graduating first, then after that take some time (a year or two) to a. Build out the rest of your premed resume and b. take the MCAT.

 

[Goro]

Hello ok thank you for the advice currently I am scribing and am considering being an emt during my gap year. Same for shadowing I plan to get some hours within the next two years but I was just talking in regards to my lower gpa. Do i still continue on the path and keep pushing or?

As you are scribing, you don't need to shadow.

Can you show us your year by year GPAs?