I was going to apply to a Med Sci program at Mississippi College. I don't have an MCAT score yet so I thought of taking the GRE and trying to get in with that score. They also accept an MCAT score of at least 20. I haven't shadowed a DO, I plan to do it next month. If I don't get in to the Med Sci program, any suggestions on what to do next? I think that applying next cycle might be my best option too. I am aiming to take the MCAT in late July or early August. How would the AAMCAS and the ACOMAS view my with a low undergrad gpa and a high grad gpa? Thanks for the comments and suggestions!!!
I looked up this program, and you are correct, they will take a GRE instead of the MCAT. However, do you know how competitive this program is? I would bet that most applicants will have MCAT scores, do you think that not having one may put you at a disadvantage? I think that this will likely hold you back from getting into a program like this if there are more applicants than seats, which is very likely.
I applied for a med sci program at TCOM. Because of the highly competitive nature of this program I decided to apply for a 2 year masters at the same school as my back up. I did not get into the medical science program, but I did get into the traditional masters program. I am very happy that I did the 2 year masters instead. It gave me extensive research experience, allowed me to become involved with the school as a class officer, and I was able to socialize with many of the TCOM faculty and staff. I really think that getting the 1 year masters is worthless, except they let in a certain percentage of these students to their med school. But not everyone gets in because it's a very difficult program. I took all of my classes with the med sci students, and half of the class struggled. Many of them didn't even make it past the second semester, and probably a third did not get accepted to med school anywhere. So what would I have done after getting a worthless masters degree and not getting into med school?
My advice is to apply to the 1 year masters program if you really have your heart set on it, but definitely apply to a 2 year program also (do this program at a well established health science center, preferably one with a med school on campus). If you don't have research and leadership yet, a real science based masters can give you something unique. Pretty much all of the adcoms at TCOM were PhDs and were active in research. The PhDs are the ones that basically do all of the interviews and acceptances. You can appeal to them with your research based experience.
As for how you will be viewed with a low undergrad and a high grad GPA, it all depends on what you get that high grad GPA in. I mean if you do a really hard program then it will be viewed as beneficial. But if you go in and take some non science based program (like MBA or something) it may not be weighed as high because grad GPAs are inflated in most programs. I have a less than 3.0 undergrad GPA, but with my high grad GPA most professors and physicians have told me that I will most likely get in because I have proved that I can be academically successful. You may need to get enough unique experiences to make yourself stand out as more than just your GPA. You need some hardcore clinical experience. And please, get that shadowing in!!!
