Am I disadvantaged due to my background

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member123123

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I am a first generation college undergrad. Both of my parents did not complete middle school. I am mexican american. When I was younger, my mother was on welfare to support 5 kids including me. My father was always in and out of jail, not helping financially. He had a heroin addiction. When I was 12 he passed away from a heroin overdose. My family is poor as you can guess since its being led by a single mother who makes just about minimum wage. I received grants to go to college where I have acquired a cumulative gpa of 3.5. At the university I go to now i have a gpa of 3.8 with 4.0 in science. Im taking the mcat in a few weeks.

I was just wondering if I am considered disadvantaged.
 
it's self-designated, but I'd definitely say yes.
 
member123123 said:
I am a first generation college undergrad. Both of my parents did not complete middle school. I am mexican american. When I was younger, my mother was on welfare to support 5 kids including me. My father was always in and out of jail, not helping financially. He had a heroin addiction. When I was 12 he passed away from a heroin overdose. My family is poor as you can guess since its being led by a single mother who makes just about minimum wage. I received grants to go to college where I have acquired a cumulative gpa of 3.5. At the university I go to now i have a gpa of 3.8 with 4.0 in science. Im taking the mcat in a few weeks.

I was just wondering if I am considered disadvantaged.
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sounds like it
 
If adcoms don't consider this to be a disadvantaged youth, I sure don't want to see the kind of examples they do consider to be disadvantaged. IOW, yes, I would absolutely call your situation disadvantaged.
 
you will get into harvard, guaranteed. if you don't, i will personally paypal you $100.
 
member123123 said:
I am a first generation college undergrad. Both of my parents did not complete middle school. I am mexican american. When I was younger, my mother was on welfare to support 5 kids including me. My father was always in and out of jail, not helping financially. He had a heroin addiction. When I was 12 he passed away from a heroin overdose. My family is poor as you can guess since its being led by a single mother who makes just about minimum wage. I received grants to go to college where I have acquired a cumulative gpa of 3.5. At the university I go to now i have a gpa of 3.8 with 4.0 in science. Im taking the mcat in a few weeks.

I was just wondering if I am considered disadvantaged.
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I don't know if this a troll post, but if it's not, "congrats" on life in general
 
I think yes, definitely put it as disadvantage status.. you had a lot of struggles in your life, seems like more than an average applicant... which obviously made it much much harder for you to succeed..

IMO put yes, and great job- you have a solid GPA... and good luck on your mcat! I really respect ppl who are successful despite hardships in their lives,

keep it up!
 
WhizoMD said:
that's certainly a possibility, but why are you so sure? The op's story isn't that far-fetched IMO.
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from the pixels and from seeing quite a few trolls in my time.


Come on, he signs up in August and has 1 post.
Asks "I was just wondering if I am considered disadvantaged." when almost every sentence taken individually would make him considered disadvantaged. I mean really? It's like asking if the sky is blue.
 
Wtf why do people think I'm trolling. This is 100% truth I even left out other stuff to not sound as bad. Well I made this thread because I'm studying for an mcat and found this forum which is quite helpful. Anyways I just wanted to post my background and see where I am at. I plan on taking out a loan but are there grants for someone like me and how much are the amounts?

Anyways thanks for the feedback
 
If your story is legit, then I commend on you on making it this far, and you are definitely disadvantaged.

If you're trolling...

m8ectj.jpg
 
I wonder why some people find this story hard to believe. I've seen worse.
 
Wow I am not a troll. I don't know how to prove it. Maybe by answering questions?
 
Dunno if this is troll, but how can this not be disadvantaged...
 
member123123 said:
Wow I am not a troll. I don't know how to prove it. Maybe by answering questions?
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I'll say this, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities that your story is true. Fact is, SDNers don't know what BAD is, and that makes this story too hard to believe. Or maybe we don't want to believe that some people actually do have it THAT bad IRL.

Also might be considered a troll because of how obviously disadvantaged you are...
 
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I don't think most people with a 4.0 science GPA consider themselves disadvantaged in applying to med school. 😛
 
zeppelin125 said:
I'll say this, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities that your story is true. Fact is, SDNers don't know what BAD is, and that makes this story too hard to believe. Or maybe we don't want to believe that some people actually do have it THAT bad IRL.

Also might be considered a troll because of how obviously disadvantaged you are...
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uh no, the story is not hard to believe. it's just a stupid question.
 
To just about everyone above me:

OP was raised in a pretty common single-parent home dynamic with a dad with a drug problem. Disadvantaged, yes. Unique, no. Surprising, only in that the OP is making something of themselves.

If you all really think this is that 'out there' that you call him a troll then I have to wonder if you have any clue how people really live in this world. Shaking head 🙁
 
These McCarthy troll-hunters are so zealous anymore. What do you hope to gain by calling "troll?" In any case, even if you were right you would just be making it worse. I think this is simply a desire to seem smarter than other people and if you call someone else out first, no one can laugh at you for getting reeled in.

Remember, you're on an internet forum. CTFO and use your energy for something more constructive.

To the OP: Yes. Good luck in your applications!
 
LifeTake2 said:
To just about everyone above me:

OP was raised in a pretty common single-parent home dynamic with a dad with a drug problem. Disadvantaged, yes. Unique, no. Surprising, only in that the OP is making something of themselves.

If you all really think this is that 'out there' that you call him a troll then I have to wonder if you have any clue how people really live in this world. Shaking head 🙁
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Well other than my dad being a heroin addict, I lived pretty closely to this as I was growing up, until just recently actually now I live with my sister. Easily believable that this person did live the way he says but the question really was answered before he even had to ask.
 
I don't think that any given medical school would do a background check on your family....
 
OP, i will state without malice that 1) you are mexican-american, 2) first generation college student with a disadvantaged background, and 3) you have a great GPA. you will probably get into 100% of schools you apply to if you get a 30+ mcat.
 
Do schools look at science gpa more? I was going to a community college and working 40+ hours a week and earned a gpa of 3.2. I transferred to a university where my gpa is 3.767 with a 3.979 in science(all A's had one A-). My school degree progress shows 3 gpas. One which averages both schools and which is 3.5. The second one is the university only one at 3.767 and the third is 3.979 in science.

Which GPA do schools look at? Also is it ok for me to round the gpas up to 3.8 and 4.0?
 
member123123 said:
Do schools look at science gpa more? I was going to a community college and working 40+ hours a week and earned a gpa of 3.2. I transferred to a university where my gpa is 3.767 with a 3.979 in science(all A's had one A-). My school degree progress shows 3 gpas. One which averages both schools and which is 3.5. The second one is the university only one at 3.767 and the third is 3.979 in science.

Which GPA do schools look at? Also is it ok for me to round the gpas up to 3.8 and 4.0?
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they look at science gpa more. you don't have to worry about rounding...the application will automatically calculate and round your gpa to 2 decimal places after you input course grades.
 
AMCAS will slice and dice your gpa. There is a grid that shows:
columns:
BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) gpa, number of credits taken
AO (all other) gpa, number of credits taken
Total gpa and number of credits taken

rows:
HS (if any college credits earned in HS)
Freshman year (or first ~30 credits if you took more than a year to earn 30)
Sophomore year (next ~30 credits)
Junior year (next ~30 credits)
Senior year (all additional credits taken before degree was awarded-- if you have completed more than junior yr)
Total college gpa
Post bac gpa (courses taken after college graduation)
Graduate school gpa

Adcoms can look at everything... for the most part they focus on total gpa and total BCPM
 
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