another cry for help from a non-trad applicant, advice please!?!?

[sweetemo]

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ok, maybe i'm having a mid-20s crisis since i am realizing i am turning 26 this year.

i'm a ucberkeley grad, asian female, my spirit seems to be dying a slow death since for some reason i am very fixated on a medical career.

i've been trying to get in med school for a few years now, right now i am applying for the second time. here is my story: i had a horrible first two years in college, no excuse but that i didn't balance myself and got a little too ambitious, couldn't drop classes that i should have, an administrative mess... i either did really well in a class or flopped.

overall ucb gpa 3.0, molecular bio major
ucla master's gpa 3.4 still in progress.
all my grades are on the up and up and have stabilized though, but i'm not the perfect student obviously.
mcat, already 2 years old, but a 34S (11b, 12p, 11v)

i've been doing work in a basic science lab all the meanwhile, and have had lots of volunteer experience in clinical settings and in research, etc etc.

so i actually got a secondary from ucla (but not from any other UC's), and got most secondaries from schools that screened. i applied to a few DO schools, have shadowed with a DO too. I've gotten a few rejections so far, but NO WORD from anywhere.
the only school that interviewed me so far was the caribbean school SGU...they wanted me for Jan which I couldn't do since I am still in the middle of my master's, but am told that the adcom is thinking positively of me for this august.

i'm pretty sure my letters of recs are good, if not excellent, as I had them reviewed.

should i wait one more year and take classes (what classes to take even??), retake the mcat, apply again this June? will having a completed master's thesis, possible publication and one more round help?

or should i just accept reality and dig into working into the US medical system as an international med student?

thanks for your advice, give it all, even the rough criticism!

 

[lola]

can you raise your grad gpa? i think it would be important to do that as a grade of a B or B+ in grad school is not thought of highly. anything less than an A in grad school really is not very good. an A- is ok. i think completing the master's degree along with thesis & publication will definitely help, but not if your grades are sub-par.

as i'm sure you know, your app is borderline. i certainly can't say if applying another year will help you out. it is particularly difficult as a california resident to get in, so a lot of it is a crapshoot.

have you had any luck with DO schools? do you want to go DO? i think you could probably get in to a DO program, but would you rather get a foreign MD?

did you apply early to med schools? applying early is CRUCIAL. do you have clinical experience?

 

[sweetemo]

i'm so impressed by all the pre-meds here... it really does seem so random though who gets in!

i was considering DO schools but even those i haven't heard from yet either.

i am really considering one more year to apply but i'm stumped on what i could do during the next year- for only one year- that i would enjoy and meanwhile be relevant to med applications! and i wonder if i would end up with the same results as this year!

do schools look at what other schools you have designated on your amcas and would that affect the process as well?? any thoughts on this would be appreciated?

 

[sponch]

Assuming all things being equal, I think your biggest liability in terms of statistics is your graduate GPA. If you can totally blow away your classes and get >= 3.7, it will really help your case and show medical schools that your undergraduate GPA does not reflect your current situation.

My senior year GPA was 3.8 and my post bac GPA was 4.0. Though my overall GPA is around a 3.5, I've been able to get some interviews at high ranked schools. So, it's definitely possible... good luck!

 

[zer0el]

sweetemo - i admire your persistance. i'd have to agree with the others in that your grad GPA needs to go up. ur MCAT is great (obviously), and i've heard of 3.0 MCB majors getting into med school before. ur grad GPA needs to show that you've had a positive change academically since undergrad.

i don't know how early you applied, but some of my friends at LA and Cal who took the August MCAT still haven't received any interviews. so if u applied late, that could be the reason for ur not getting any interviews yet.

also, did u apply to a range of schools? it's not uncommon for borderline cali applicants to check off 40+ schools on the AMCAS. schools such as SLU and NYMC in particular seem to love cali applicants.

i wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet about going overseas for ur MD. if u don't get into any MD's but get into a DO, it might be better to go that route. an overseas MD is not looked highly upon by residency director's in the U.S. if u don't get into a U.S. MD or DO this year, i'd ask the adcoms what the problem was and reapply. ur MCAT is good for one more year i think.

 

[Nolan]

Hey sweetemo,

Go Bears! I echo with what others have to say about your grad GPA. It needs to be higher than what it is right now....(Of course I know it's easier said than done.)

I think getting published from your thesis will help. But if that's the only difference between this round and next round, I don't think it will make a significant difference, unless you applied very late this year.

The decision is up to you, but you have to know what your ultimate goal is:

1) MD, from anywhere
2) A doctor, DO or MD from anywhere
3) MD, from US

I think if you are aiming for 1 or 2, then go to SGU and work hard, and you will be a MD in 4 years. And this is still early in the process, so you might hear from other schools in the coming months.

If you are aiming for 3, then you have to take more science courses to raise your GPA. Meanwhile, keep doing your clinical and volunteer experiences, get published for your thesis and wait a year to apply, and remember to apply early

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Good luck!

Nolan
MS I

 

[republicandr]

I think the key is applying early and presenting yourself well in the AMCAS application. Also, spend as much time on your personal statement as you can. I spent over 200 hours on it, and had others edit it probably about 75 times. The personal statement can have a huge impact on the admissions committee.

You did a great job on your MCAT. I wish you luck.

 

[sweetemo]

thanks for all the input!

i've always been better at standardized tests then with grades. hopefully the upward trend is going to help and with more good grades, i'll try to decide then what path i will take, 1, 2 or 3!

Its just hard to wait out the whole process without figuring out some sort of strategy or making some kind of decision,

Good luck to everyone!!

 

[Jiten]

I dont know why...but i have a feeling that u will get in this cycle!!! Just be a little more patient...i know the waiting sucks but...

 

[Nefertari]

There's still @ 6 months left of the app cycle, so don't lose hope yet. Your MCAT's great (don't retake unless it expires). To be honest, aside from your gpas, the main weakness in your app seems to be (please don't take this the wrong way) that you need to present some personal quality or activity that helps you to break out of the "premed mold" (i.e. molecular bio major, typical research experiences, etc.). It's still too early to make any conclusions yet @ this cycle. Esp. for us older folks (i'm 30 myself), we really need to be persistent & not let go until we're thrown off.

If it doesn't work out this year, then pick one activity that you're passionate @ & really throw yourself into it for the next year, as well as work on improving your grad gpa. Before, i didn't think my grad gpa would be as important as undergrad, but my interviewer @ ucla actually took note of my improved grad gpa while she was reviewing my file. It's all relative--compared to 30, I think 26 is still really young & I wish I had started applying @ that age. If you have faith in yourself, it'll definitely show in your personal statement & overall application. Hope this will be your last year applying! 🙂

 

[Adcadet]

what is your master's degree in? Is it a very well-known program? Is it known to be tough? As others have said (esp. Lola), a high GPA in grad school is pretty typical. I know for me personally an A is "good", an A- is acceptable, and B+ is borderline, and a B means something went wrong. I suspect most people in masters programs will be applying with a 3.6+ GPA. Since you scored pretty well on the MCAT you can obviously take tests pretty well. So why the low grad and undergrad GPA? Something to think about in the very important (as republicandr mentioned) personal statement if you have to re-write it.

It may be getting late in the cycle, but it's not over yet.

 

[PimplePopperMD]

Hello,

I'm a fourth year student, so allow me to give a bit of perspective:

A medical education is a medical education. What is important, in my mind, is what you eventually want to do with yours.

If you are CERTAIN you want to go into family practice, an international MD is sufficient.

If you AREN'T certain, then you will be facing a more uphill battle if you choose a more competitive specialty.

I was in your shoes four years ago; a nontrad, high MCATS, poor grades from my selective university, in a masters program. I applied to DO, MD, and SGU.

I am now finishing my MD in the states, and am very glad I'm doing so, because I decided on a relatively competitive specialty, for which I've seen ONE DO on the interview trail, and NO international MDs.

So try to consider the end game as well, is all I'm saying. Don't misinterpret this post as saying that it will be impossible to pursue various specialties as a DO or int MD, but just that the road may be more difficult. (DO and int MD are two very different categories, not to be lumped together... DO is much more highly percieved than int MD, but still not equally perceived than US MD generally)

I wish you the best of luck, and don't give up your dream, whatever it may be.l