any advice on smp would be great

[jhu2]

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Hi All,

New to the forums and ive spent the last few hours scouring the forum for information. Thanks everyone for the great advice already.

A little background info on myself.

24, Asian Male with a BS in Natural Science, Genetics from U Wisconsin - Madison. Graduated with a 3.4 overall 3.0 science. 21 on my mcat first time, didn't take it again. I really didn't study that much thought i'd be able to wing it... guess no. Back at school, I worked in a research lab, volunteered at an ER, and worked a part time job waiting tables.

I didn't apply to med schools at the end of my college career because I though I would just take a year off, and retake my mcats.

So my problems are, besides the low mcat, my gpa, and really no one to write my 3 letters of recommendations. Currently, I'm working in a clinical/research lab, so I have my Lab supervisor, and my previous lab sup for two recs, but I wasn't very active in classes back at school, so i doubt my professors really know who I am.

I really want to get into a SMP program so I can finally get back on track. I know i need to retake my mcats, but im not sure about what i can do about recs. Any advice on what I should do to get back on the medical school/dental school road? I know I'd be able to get better grades, and a better mcat score if was given the chance. I also know that I can handle the material. Thanks so much.

-James

 

[invisiblegator]

alot of schools require only 2 but then again dont restrict yourself to those. Call the schools and explain your situation. Sometimes a letter from anothehr source will work (maybe the ER you volunteered at). Sometimes theyll overlook the 3rd letter and you seem to have a decently competitive resume compared to some (like me).

 

[akwizeguy]

Hi All,

New to the forums and ive spent the last few hours scouring the forum for information. Thanks everyone for the great advice already.

A little background info on myself.

24, Asian Male with a BS in Natural Science, Genetics from U Wisconsin - Madison. Graduated with a 3.2 overall 3.1 science. 21 on my mcat first time, didn't take it again. I really didn't study that much thought i'd be able to wing it... guess no. Back at school, I worked in a research lab, volunteered at an ER, and worked a part time job waiting tables.

I didn't apply to med schools at the end of my college career because I though I would just take a year off, and retake my mcats.

So my problems are, besides the low mcat, my gpa, and really no one to write my 3 letters of recommendations. Currently, I'm working in a clinical/research lab, so I have my Lab supervisor, and my previous lab sup for two recs, but I wasn't very active in classes back at school, so i doubt my professors really know who I am.

I really want to get into a SMP program so I can finally get back on track. I know i need to retake my mcats, but im not sure about what i can do about recs. Any advice on what I should do to get back on the medical school/dental school road? I know I'd be able to get better grades, and a better mcat score if was given the chance. I also know that I can handle the material. Thanks so much.

-James

I was in the same boat as you were....along with being asian. But my cumulative GPA was lower than yours.

Definitely get into a SMP, I did the Pharmacology program at Tulane. It was probably the best decision in my life. It wasnt hard at all to do well in the program as long as you took care of business. And in addition to that, I retook the MCAT after finishing the one year program, and saw my Bio section jump from an 8 to a 13, which I solely attribute to that program. Applied this past application cycle and got 3 interviews at DO schools, and one from MD school....accepted at the MD school. (canceled the other DO interviews)

So there is hope, but you are facing a steep uphill climb. Do your due diligence in researching which SMP program you want to go to and make sure the parent institution is a school that you are shooting for.