Advise please!

[texaspremed]

I recently went and saw the heath profession advisor at school. I am a sociology major- gpa of 3.6 and science gpa of 3.2 (which includes an f, but its a long story). I've taken general bio and biochem and will be taking physiology next semester. I will take the MCAT in April. He pretty much told me that I will not do well because of my lack in Biology. He said I should drop my sociology class for next semester ( my major- will graduate in Dec. '07, and take about 6 science classes and I told him I couldn't because I work full time- it would be too much. He rolled his eyes and said well, you know where you stand then. He said I rationalize too much and just need to be honest, that I'm not going anywhere. I understand his job is to honestly tell you the truth, but I feel he took it a little too far, am I just overreacting? I think there may be truth to what he says because my gpa isn't the greatest, but he made me feel stupid for even thinking that I can become a doctor. Any advice?

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[stiffany]

I recently went and saw the heath profession advisor at school. I am a sociology major- gpa of 3.6 and science gpa of 3.2 (which includes an f, but its a long story). I've taken general bio and biochem and will be taking physiology next semester. I will take the MCAT in April. He pretty much told me that I will not do well because of my lack in Biology. He said I should drop my sociology class for next semester ( my major- will graduate in Dec. '07, and take about 6 science classes and I told him I couldn't because I work full time- it would be too much. He rolled his eyes and said well, you know where you stand then. He said I rationalize too much and just need to be honest, that I'm not going anywhere. I understand his job is to honestly tell you the truth, but I feel he took it a little too far, am I just overreacting? I think there may be truth to what he says because my gpa isn't the greatest, but he made me feel stupid for even thinking that I can become a doctor. Any advice?

Um, well you do need to take one year of gen chem, one year of orgo, one year of intro bio, one year of physics plus their corequisite labs and usually an English course in order to matriculate into a med school. However, you might have known that already. Other than that, I see no reason why you have to kill yourself (and end up doing poorly and bringing your science GPA down with you) by taking 6 science classes immediately. There are lots of people on this forum who didn't graduate with biology degrees and still made it into medical school. However, if you're taking the MCAT in April and haven't taken physics, gen chem, or orgo yet I do see that as a problem since those areas are also heavily focused on (gen chem and physics is it's own section) and take awhile to review even with the course background. That doesn't mean that you cannot become a doctor or that you shouldn't pursue your dreams. It just means that you need to take a couple more classes beforehand. In general, I've found that premed advisors are a very mixed bunch. Some provide good advice and others are just downright mean and unnecessarily discouraging.

 

[texaspremed]

I'm sorry, I should have elaborated. I have taken Calculus, BioChem, Gen Bio I & II, Gen Chem I & II, Physics I (now), Physics II (next semester) O Chem I (at a cc-with a B, so im taking next semester at a Univ.) followed by O Chem II after MCAT (in summer). I took O chem II at a univ. after the first semester at a cc and i got an f. I know-bad deal. But I couldn't drop it due to insurance and scholarship purposes. I'm almost done with my pre-reqs, just haven't had alot of biology courses.

 

[Disinence2]

With Bio I and II plus biochem I think youve taken plenty! More that some poeple who get in im sure. Just score high on the bio section of the MCAT and your courses shouldn't "keep you out"

 

[stiffany]

I'm sorry, I should have elaborated. I have taken Calculus, BioChem, Gen Bio I & II, Gen Chem I & II, Physics I (now), Physics II (next semester) O Chem I (at a cc-with a B, so im taking next semester at a Univ.) followed by O Chem II after MCAT (in summer). I took O chem II at a univ. after the first semester at a cc and i got an f. I know-bad deal. But I couldn't drop it due to insurance and scholarship purposes. I'm almost done with my pre-reqs, just haven't had alot of biology courses.

Oh, well then puey on the premed advisor for being a jerk then (I don't know the full situation so maybe I shouldn't be presumptuous enough to call him/her a jerk, but I'm tired of advisors trying to discourage people from following their dreams - there's enough self-doubt inherent in this process). I took the August MCAT after having a year of intro bio and gen chem five years before and completing orgo and physics within the last year. I had also taken a genetics class the year before, but that was it. While I would of loved to have scored a bit better on the bio/orgo chem section, I still did very well and when med schools reject me, I feel confident in saying that the rejections doesn't stem from my MCAT score. I do think though that you should consider scaling back on your activities next semester in order to allow you to focus on studying for the MCAT or consider taking it later in the summer. In general, doing well means putting lots of hours in, something you might not be able to do given full-time work and school responsibilities. For myself, although it was a financial sacrifice and required my boss to be flexible, I ended up taking the summer off from my job starting a month and a half before the MCAT and just focused on that and a 20 hr physics II summer course. That was plenty to handle and I can't imagine having had enough time to review working full-time and taking even part time classes (my normal MO).

 

[cgscribe]

That was probably too cruel. You can make it. Do it your way, just make sure to keep your gpa around there (or raise, don't fall) and to study hard for MCAT.

 

[drhannibal]

Yeah, you actually have a decent amount of Bio. I took Bio 1 and 2 before the MCAT and got an 11. I have a friend with only 1 and 2 that got a 13. 90% of the stuff you learn in those classes you don't even need for the MCAT. When you prepare for the MCAT, just make sure that you are studying towards the test using some specifically MCAT-based practice materials. Genetics and biochemistry will pop up on the MCAT but not at a level where you need to have taken advanced classes in them. Usually you can figure out everything you need from the passage. In other words, advanced bio classes are helpful and may improve your speed, but you can definitely do well without anything but the intro bio's.

Taking 6 science classes is ridiculous. Definitely take a couple and try to do well in them to boost your science GPA, but don't take 6 of them. You will also have to learn some Orgo II for the MCAT but it is definitely feasible and you should just learn what is in the MCAT prep books and not an Orgo class textbook. As I said, most of what you learn in your undergraduate classes won't even appear on the MCAT.

Good luck.

 

[HumbleMD]

Classes before the MCAT are overrated. I took it without anatomy or physiology, and just taught it to myself the summer before I took it in August and it turned out quite well.

And on the advisor note, they're always either too hard or too soft. There are the ones who think you can't do anything, and then the ones without a real backing of reality. It's important to find and advisor in the middle somwhere.

 

[Tunn3lVision]

he made me feel stupid for even thinking that I can become a doctor. Any advice?

get in to med school just to spite the guy

 

[EndSong]

If medicine is what you really want to do, then one advisor's discouraging words won't stop you. Many advisors tend to give very harsh remarks to pre-meds, which isn't entirely without merit. The road is long and difficult and the payoff takes years of debt and education to reach.

That said, I second what everyone else. There's no good reason to take that many science classes in the next quarter. However, with a 3.2 science GPA you really need to bring it up to at least be competitive at most schools (try and aim for a 3.5+). Hope this helps.

 

[texaspremed]

Thanks everyone! I'm not quitting my dream just from what some guy thinks. I believe I can do it, and will not stop until I make it. I just wanted some input from others to make sure I'm not missing something. It really helps talking to others in the same boat.

 

[Cirrus83]

You just need 1-2 more bio classes.

BUT I think what your advisor meant is that you need to pull up your science GPA. I don't know what school you go to, but a 3.2 might be a very low science GPA there. It definitely doesn't look good if half of those were at a community college and you still have a 3.2.

So what he was probably trying to say was that if you took 6 more and aced them, you'd have a much more realistic science GPA that could get you into med school.

So it's not that you don't have enough bio classes as it is, but that your science GPA looks weak, and taking tons of science classes would let you clean that up.

Anyways, can you get access to student loans? I know some people prefer to not take any loans and just work their way through, but loans aren't the devil, and if it means you can study harder and get into med school I'd take a loan and stop working.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

I agree with Cirrus. No way an advisor would think you need more than gen bio I and II and biochem to satisfy a Bio prereq. Your science GPA does need some improvement, thankfully you have some time to do that and hopefully do not need to resort to post bacc or SMP.

Advisors can be nice or nasty but what counts is that they give you a good plan to follow. I had a really harsh advisor that two years ago flat out told me "no way in hell you are getting in" but it was followed by "well here's what you have to do over the next two years to do it," and I did it.

 

[szhao]

i think your advisor, like most advisor are full of crap, just do what you want to do, well obviously that is under the assumption your not a person who likes to slack of. if you follow your heart and mind, you will get to where you want to be, well if your lazy listen to your advisor.

 

[HumbleMD]

If you really need a nice class to up your science GPA, look for those ridiculous science courses. I'm a biochem major, and I even upped my GPA a bit more with practical botany or some other botany class. Most fun I've had boosting my Science GPA ever.

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

Your advisor is a *****. You're really not in bad shape provided you do well on the mcat, which I think you are fully equipped to do-just dont take a big course load AND work full time AND study for the mcat. Besides, SMP's are available to remedy gpa issues. If this is what you want and you are willing to work hard then you will be fine (as long as you stop listening to your stupid advisor).

 

[Cirrus83]

Your advisor is a *****. You're really not in bad shape provided you do well on the mcat, which I think you are fully equipped to do-just dont take a big course load AND work full time AND study for the mcat. Besides, SMP's are available to remedy gpa issues. If this is what you want and you are willing to work hard then you will be fine (as long as you stop listening to your stupid advisor).

Yes but if they have to do an SMP in order to fix their science GPA wouldn't it just be easier to go and take the sciences courses now to fix the GPA?! Heck, it'd be cheaper too (a lot cheaper).

I've had to give up really sweet classes I've wanted to take before, in order to satisfy some requirement or another, and yeah it sucks. I actually even kinda regret not overloading my senior year of high school so I could take the 2nd English class I wanted (it was advanced acting lol), while still satisfying some english requirement my high school had.

Anyways, if I was the OP I'd beef my science GPA up *now* by taking more science classes. And if I really loved that sociology class I'd just overload. But I would quit my job if I couldn't handle it at the same time.

Look, any job you have when you're a college student probably isn't some super sweet career path anyway (if you're interning simultaneously at a high-powered hedge fund feel free to tell me I'm wrong, but you probably wouldn't be pre-med then), so even if you give it up now to focus on studying it's not the end of the world. Cheaper to give up a crappy low salary for a semester or two than to have to pay for an SMP to clean up your GPA later.

I'm kinda surprised that there are so many posts where people just say to "do what you want". I mean it's nice to think that but, did anybody actually want to take orgo?! Getting into med school is often about doing a lot of stuff you don't want to do, and sacrificing a lot of stuff you normally wouldn't have to sacrifice. Whether this means working a crappy low-pay job to show you're dedicated to helping people (and thus sacrificing a liveable wage), or whether it means you might have to quit your job to handle the extra courses (or, maybe even just not take that sociology class you would love). I gave up a 2nd major in Psychology in order to keep my courseload doable while still finishing everything I needed, but you know, that 2nd major really wouldn't have done anything for me in the long run as a doctor, and I suspect that extra sociology course wouldn't either.

My 2 cents anyway.