Any black male pre-meds?!?

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At the end of my 2nd year, I had a 2.9. Since then, I've had at least an average of 3.8+ gpa and got my gpa up to 3.3. Since you're still in your second year, you can definitely get your gpa higher than that. I've also been accepted to med school for next fall. Even though you have a low gpa now, if you pick it up, the admissions committee will definitely notice the drastic change. You can do it, don't let ANYTHING or ANYONE stop you from fulfilling your God given purpose.

I'd suggest that you get involved on campus and you definitely will need some research experience. I've worked with 2 research projects for the last year.


Oh yeah Flaahless, good looking out on keeping your composure on the affirmative action threads. I was studying for my 5 finals this week and reading those racist and ignorant posts gave me the boost i needed, lol.
 
Good look docdagamecock! I don't feel so bad now! Oh yea, congrats my dude!
 
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supa said:
Damn I wish I had found this site a while ago. It would've made my entire process a lot smoother. Good advice on here. Saw a thread asking 'bout black female pre-meds and I see the sistas representing...so I'm tryna see if any brothas in the house!!!
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It's the 21st century. The first black to earn his MD was in 1837 by the name of James McCune Smith. There is no representing for anyone. But congradulations and I'll pat myself on the back too.
 
docwilliams said:
Hey family? I have a question...lets say that I have a 2.5 GPA, I'm in my second year in college of a 5 year biomedical engineering major. Do I still have a chance to raise my GPA to 3.5-4.0 range before I graduate? I kinda messed up for a year. Thanks for the love and advice.

P.S ALL of you guys are such an inspiration, keep up the good work and keep Christ first. See you on the flip-side, my brothas......:)
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You should definitely make yourself an Excel spreadsheet and calculate what each semester does for your GPA. Depending on how well you can do from here on out and how many hours of coursework you have left, will determine how much you can raise your GPA.

If you are sitting on 100+ hours of 2.5, you probably won't get to 3.5 but one semester of 2.5 with the rest of your semesters of excellent work (no grade below B+ and mostly As) can definitely get you up there (not to 4.0) but in a competitive range.

What you have to understand it that uGPA is one aspect of your application. Sure you had some problems but overcome your problems and do whatever you have to do to get your undergraduate coursework mastered well. If you need a tutor, then find one. If you need to live in the professor's office during office hours, then do that. If you need to step back away from that biomedical engineering major and choose something less rigorous then do that and tackle your biomed eng courses later in your college career. Do whatever it takes to earn excellent grades and master your undergraduate materials especially the pre-med courses.

The other thing that is under your control is study and preparation for the Medical College Admissions Test. When the time comes to take this exam, plan on taking it once and acing it period. In short, take no prisoners!

What can't happen is this: you can't rely on the the rigor of your major to make up for a poor performance. You also cannot rely on being a brotha to get you into medical school even if all the negative AA comments are swirling around this message board would lead you to believe otherwise. You have to find a way to excel and make it your business to get the job done. This comes down to figuring out what you need and getting every cents worth of your tuition dollar when it comes to your coursework.

Work hard my friend and work smart. You already have the first steps taken in that you realized that you got into a bind. Now do what it takes to get out and keep your eye on your prize. Make it real and read your goal every day. This keeps you focused when you don't want to go that extra mile. Good luck and we have your back!
 
In Underrepresented in Health care, I put a post about twin AA surgeons who have accomplished extensive humanitarian work in Afghanistan. The article is from The Washington Post. Enjoy!
 
CA0708 said:
It's the 21st century. The first black to earn his MD was in 1837 by the name of James McCune Smith. There is no representing for anyone. But congradulations and I'll pat myself on the back too.
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I agree. Too often in black culture there is this "representation" where a "model character" is often aspired to "represent" the race.

Screw that. I say be an individual and not worry about that. Besides, what about the other people that make up the ethnic pool? If they screw up, are they not "representing"? This doesn't make sense and it leads to stereotypes.
 
Been perusing these boards for sometime now and never made an account. Decided to reserve my first post for this board. Applying for Class of 2013, graduating class of '09!!! My winter break has consisted of 8hrs a day of mcat prep for that fateful day of May 10! :)

lets get it:luck:
 
Welcome What up doc! Welcome to the first hurdle of your journey! Once the MCAT has been conquered you can breath a little easier. Do you have any ideas what schools you are interested in?
 
....not so sure yet, i guess i'll decide more so after I take my MCATS, lol.

if i am fortunate enough to recieve a scholarship, i don't know if I'll take money vs. prestige vs. fit...perhaps it is immaturity, but "fit" to me is a matter of perception - at least in my case...the school I go to now I didn't think would be a good "fit", but after 3 years of not paying a dime i have come to think that it fits quite well!

with that said, I have enjoyed your blogs for sometime now doctajay (sounds so stalkersih, lol) as well and thanks for the good info...but man, i don't know where the website is anymore?! i thought it was premediary.com but apparently that gets redirected to here now? :cool:
 
What up doc said:
....not so sure yet, i guess i'll decide more so after I take my MCATS, lol.

if i am fortunate enough to recieve a scholarship, i don't know if I'll take money vs. prestige vs. fit...perhaps it is immaturity, but "fit" to me is a matter of perception - at least in my case...the school I go to now I didn't think would be a good "fit", but after 3 years of not paying a dime i have come to think that it fits quite well!

with that said, I have enjoyed your blogs for sometime now doctajay (sounds so stalkersih, lol) as well and thanks for the good info...but man, i don't know where the website is anymore?! i thought it was premediary.com but apparently that gets redirected to here now? :cool:
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There's a link to a blog by a future medical missionary off of any of my blogs (in my signature). Check it out as it might have some great info for you.
 
Wassup everybody. Just wanted to stop by and God bless.
 
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hey fellas. I haven't seen many posts on here in a while. Looking back at last year everyone did very well and was so supportive. Glad to see my people doing big things. Hope all is well!
 
Hey guys. Hope that all is well with everyone...just had some questions....Are there any correlation between the SAT's verbal and MCAT verbal? Are they similiar in format? If you had a high score on the SAT verbal, can you expect to get a high score on the MCAT verbal? Thanks guys I really appreciate it....
 
sglec said:
Hey guys. Hope that all is well with everyone...just had some questions....Are there any correlation between the SAT's verbal and MCAT verbal? Are they similiar in format? If you had a high score on the SAT verbal, can you expect to get a high score on the MCAT verbal? Thanks guys I really appreciate it....
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I saw you post this question in another thread. To answer your inquiry directly: no, there is probably no way to tell if there is a correlation. Furthermore, I would venture to conclude that there is no correlation beyond practicing. You definitely can't expect to get a high score on the MCAT just because you got a high score on the SAT verbal. Your question, though not necessarily unwarranted, is tantamount to asking if one could expect to excel in the MLB if they did well in little league baseball. Like my previous analogy, saying the SAT and MCAT verbal are in two different leagues is a profound understatement.
 
sglec said:
Hey guys. Hope that all is well with everyone...just had some questions....Are there any correlation between the SAT's verbal and MCAT verbal? Are they similiar in format? If you had a high score on the SAT verbal, can you expect to get a high score on the MCAT verbal? Thanks guys I really appreciate it....
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It's been so long ago that I had any experience with SAT. I can tell you that loads of reading practice is good prep for the MCAT verbal. When I was preparing for the MCAT, I read every editorial in The New York Times and The Washington Post. I practiced circling the thesis, evidence, evidence and conclusion. Practice and more practice works with verbal.

I also practiced looking at the logic of these arguments and making up my own counter arguments. I did the same with some of the OP-Ed pieces too. This is where having a good background in logic helps in terms of being able to efficiently evaluate deductive reasoning and flaws therein. When I took the test, I read the questions first and then read the passages looking for key words that I needed to answer the questions.

If I remember, the SAT tested more vocabulary issues which is not particularly what the MCAT is looking at. The MCAT wants you to be able to apply your knowledge and reasoning to the questions that are asked. Practicing with some good resources like well-written newspaper editorials, magazines (Atlantic Monthly) are good practice.

Just making a habit of reading regularly is also a good method of verbal prep. It goes without saying that good readers are usually good writers.
 
just wanted to say wassup to all of my brothas out there. I pray that all is well. God bless.
 
Good to see that things are moving along for the brothers! I am counting the days to my week in Ocho Rios (vacation). I can't wait for some sun.

Everyone keep doing well!
 
My post here is long overdue (edited). Trying to get a feel for the blog and found this forum and saw some support for premeds. It is good to know that we are out there. What's good for all those applying and waiting on acceptances? I need some motivation for next year.
 
bostonmedical said:
This post is long overdue. Trying to get a feel for the blog and found this forum and saw some support for premeds. It is good to know that we are out there. What's good for all those applying and waiting on acceptances? I need some motivation for next year.
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At this point in the cycle, if you don't have any interviews, you might want to work hard on your "Plan B". Plan B is what you will do if you do not get into medical school this year. It may be as simple as promptly update everything on the application and reapply early for next year (which means that you should be rewriting that PS, getting updated LORs, making sure you upgrade everything that is within your power to upgrade (MCAT etc).

If you are anticipating application for the next cycle, get your financial aid stuff together (yours and your parent's income tax returns). Request unofficial transcripts so that you can fill out and file that AMCAS application as soon as it is available for the 2009 season. Requesting your official transcripts as soon as the AMCAS 2009 season opens so that nothing delays your application once you file it. Making sure that you LORs are either with your pre-med committee or in your letter repository. Making sure that your personal statement is written well, interesting to read and gives an accurate reflection of why you would make an outstanding physician and member of a medical school class.

Nothing about the application process should be rushed. You also want to meet and exceed any deadlines. This is a good time to get into that mode. Good luck!
 
njbmd said:
At this point in the cycle, if you don't have any interviews, you might want to work hard on your "Plan B". Plan B is what you will do if you do not get into medical school this year. It may be as simple as promptly update everything on the application and reapply early for next year (which means that you should be rewriting that PS, getting updated LORs, making sure you upgrade everything that is within your power to upgrade (MCAT etc).

If you are anticipating application for the next cycle, get your financial aid stuff together (yours and your parent's income tax returns). Request unofficial transcripts so that you can fill out and file that AMCAS application as soon as it is available for the 2009 season. Requesting your official transcripts as soon as the AMCAS 2009 season opens so that nothing delays your application once you file it. Making sure that you LORs are either with your pre-med committee or in your letter repository. Making sure that your personal statement is written well, interesting to read and gives an accurate reflection of why you would make an outstanding physician and member of a medical school class.

Nothing about the application process should be rushed. You also want to meet and exceed any deadlines. This is a good time to get into that mode. Good luck!
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Thanks I will be applying for the first time either this summer or next. I want to work for a bit and enjoy a year out of college first. We will see. I did requets my transcripts and two recommendations are all set.. I was actually drafting a person statement already but may relax on that if I have a year. Although I hear you can never draft too many right?
 
bostonmedical said:
Thanks I will be applying for the first time either this summer or next. I want to work for a bit and enjoy a year out of college first. We will see. I did requets my transcripts and two recommendations are all set.. I was actually drafting a person statement already but may relax on that if I have a year. Although I hear you can never draft too many right?
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if you are applying to enter school in 2009, then you actualt don't have as much time as you might think. You can submit your application as early as June (since it's a 1 yrear process to apply), and then between then and now (or later), you will complete secondaries, and interview (hopefully), and be accepted (hopefully). So you have about 3 months to get everything in order so that as soon as they are requested you can send in you AMCAS app, then use SDN to begin work on your secondaries so that when you recieve them you can send them out asap. If you're applying for 2010, then you have a year to relax (plus 3 months ;)) G'luck!
 
uvabranch,hey i do really hope that you got into something cause i know we spoke earlier.
 
Greetings,

I've been perusing the SDN forums for several months now, but wasn't encouraged to register until I happened upon this thread. I'm proud of the ambitions of my fellow pre-medical and medical brothers who've taken it upon themselves to change the world through healthcare. I look forward to joining you all as academic, and ultimately professional, colleagues very shortly.

Peace and encouragement!

P.S. Any UVa acceptees or matriculants on the forum?
 
Just a little reminder that the Society of Black Academic Surgeons is meeting in Cleveland, OH next weekend. This is a rare opportunity to meet and greet some nationally-known surgeons. This meeting is small enough for you to have plenty of one-on-one time with some truly outstanding black scientists and surgeons.

Cleveland is a very inexpensive city to fly in and out of. The meeting cost for a student is $25 and hotel rooms near the meeting site can be obtained for $50 per night.

The chief organizer Dr. Anthony Stallion (nationally renowned pediatric surgeon) of this group will personally meet with any folks from SDN and make sure that they meet the movers and shakers. Send me a PM if you are planning to attend.
 
Hey guys, right now Chemistry is giving me fits, an its the weakest part of my transcript right now. In Gen. Chemistry 1 I got a C, and in Gen Chem 2 Its likley that I'll get a D or F.
And to top taht off, my GPA, is hovering around the 2.4 area (Not to sure what it wil be at the end of the semester. ) Should I just give up at this point or what, becuase things right now are starting to look rather grim.
 
Just passing through. Wanted to wish everyone good luck and tip my hat off to everyone!
 
Bump for some advice, please?
 
Arc said:
Bump for some advice, please?
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You need to figure out where the disconnect lies. Really analyze why chemistry is giving you such a hard time. Do you have the appropriate foundation?

Have you sought help from your professor or support from tutoring services?

I have a similar background. In my case, I wasn't disciplined and mature enough at the time.

Take the time for some deep introspection. Oh and never give up...just do better.
 
Arc said:
Hey guys, right now Chemistry is giving me fits, an its the weakest part of my transcript right now. In Gen. Chemistry 1 I got a C, and in Gen Chem 2 Its likley that I'll get a D or F.
And to top taht off, my GPA, is hovering around the 2.4 area (Not to sure what it wil be at the end of the semester. ) Should I just give up at this point or what, becuase things right now are starting to look rather grim.
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Hey Arc. Everyone has a class that ends of being very challenging for them. For me, it wasn't that I couldn't pass Chemistry, I just found it amazinly boring. My challenging class was organic chemistry, and even though I didn't like the thought of it, I sucked it up and sought tutoring. That really really helped me. Also, I hooked up with classmates who were doing well and I started to learn from them how they excelled in the class. Also, many teachers are more than willing to sit down with you to really figure out why you are having a hard time in the class.

As for whether you should continue, it really depends. Is your performance in general chemistry similar to your performance in all of your science classes? If not, then just consider this to be a bump in the road and keep on striving to do your best. If it is representative of the rest of your science classes, then you can do two things. You can accept the fact that as much as you want it to be, science doesn't come as easy to you as you would like. And trust me, the amount of science you are expected to know and understand just increases. So if science is not something that you really "get" then its best to find out what you really love and can do well in early, than to get all the way to your senior year still hoping that it will click. So yeah, that is option 1. Or option 2, is that you can stick it out for college, really evaluating why you aren't doing well and seeking as much tutoring as you can. If your GPA is still pretty low, then I would suggest that you seek out a good post-bac program and then DO WELL, in that program. That should let medical schools know that you can handle the science.

So yeah man, that is my .02 cents.
 
If physics counts as a science, then I'm pretty well off.
 
Arc said:
If physics counts as a science, then I'm pretty well off.
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Only thing higher in the science food chain than physics is math.
 
Here is my two cents I am an african american fourth year medical student. I double majored in bio and chem as well as played college football. I really feel chemistry is something that really requires preperation. Here was my strategy I went to waldon bookstore and barnes and noble the summer prior to g chem and organic I read the books cover to cover took the tests so the first day I showed up to class my knowledge base was already at the mid second semester level. I was in the top two of my class out of 300 or so. So remember preperation cause when they look at you they expect you to be gone in the first two weeks. Pm me if you want more advice.
 
Arc said:
Hey guys, right now Chemistry is giving me fits, an its the weakest part of my transcript right now. In Gen. Chemistry 1 I got a C, and in Gen Chem 2 Its likley that I'll get a D or F.
And to top taht off, my GPA, is hovering around the 2.4 area (Not to sure what it wil be at the end of the semester. ) Should I just give up at this point or what, becuase things right now are starting to look rather grim.
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If you can drop that General Chemistry 2, try to do this. I know that it will set you back some but you don't want a D/F on your transcript if you are attempting to gain admission into medical school. Withdraw for this course right now if you can. If you can't withdraw, take your exams into your professor's office and work with him/her to come up with a strategy for you to significantly raise your grade (to at least a C). Is your math poor? If this is the case, then you need to work on math skills as you go along.

If you are able to withdraw, plan on a retake but do that retake after you have upgraded your skills in the intervening time. Do not attempt a retake during the summer because summer courses move too fast for you to do any significant "damage-control". A better strategy next year would be to audit the first semester of General Chemistry and put as much effort into the audit as if you were taking the course. Then move into Chemistry II with your solid knowledge base and skills.

Now for an approach to Chemistry: General Chemistry is a skills-building course. You have to first have a solid working knowledge of College Algebra. The second thing that you need is to master each section as it comes. For example, most chemistry courses start with scientific method and scientific notation and move onto things like atomic theory,chemical reactions and bonding with stoichiometry thrown in. You have to look at the problems as they are presented and master the concept behind each of the problems. In short, be able to see the relationships and see how these relationships may be extended to other problems and concepts.

What you cannot do in chemistry is go to class/lab unprepared. You need to prepare for each lecture/lab as it comes up. This means looking at the syllabus and doing the reading before the lecture/lab. You should work any problems within the reading along with the author. If your textbook has a supplemental website, use all of the resources that are there for you such as study materials and animations. Finally, work through the end of chapter problems as best you can. If you cannot complete a problem, move onto another one. Head into your professor's office hours to get help with the problems with which you are having difficulty. For lab, have a list ready of all the steps of each experiement and what you should be observing. Again, being prepared makes chemisty lab more enjoyable and efficient. The worst thing that you can do is rush off to the lab having not read the experiment or know what you are going to be accomplishing.

At the end of each lecture, make sure that you notes are complete and place question marks after anything that didn't make sense to you. Ask about these concepts in office hours. In short, keep ahead of the professor and the class. Review the previous lecture before you preview for the next lecture. On the weekend, study the previous week's material making notes as you go along. If you are behind right now, go to where the class is and catch up on the weekend.

I would take a sheet of college-rule looseleaf paper. I would draw a line two inches to the right of the left margin line that is already there and take my notes to the right of my new margin line (I used red ink for my new margin line). When I came back to review my notes, I would write my study summary reviews to the left of that line. I also wrote in definitions of any terms that I didn't understand or math hints that I needed to remind myself of. By using looseleaf paper, I could add in the worked problems from the end of the chapter on sheets in between my notes so that I had problems and notes together in the same place.

By the time the test rolls around, you will be saturated with knowledge and you will be able to understand the concepts behind each of the problems that are presented on the exam.

Good luck but don't take a D/F if you have any other option such a withdraw. Withdrawing always looks better than a D or F. It's more expensive but you are only going to do this one time and your work needs to be very good.
 
DocSinfonian said:
Greetings,

I've been perusing the SDN forums for several months now, but wasn't encouraged to register until I happened upon this thread. I'm proud of the ambitions of my fellow pre-medical and medical brothers who've taken it upon themselves to change the world through healthcare. I look forward to joining you all as academic, and ultimately professional, colleagues very shortly.

Peace and encouragement!

P.S. Any UVa acceptees or matriculants on the forum?
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UVa alum here and UVa residency.
 
It sure looks like a great year for acceptances. See this thread: Officially Class of 2012. For me, I can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly. Already we are in the process of selecting candidates the will be the new physicians for the second decade of the 21st century. I remember during orientation when my professors made big deal out of moving into the 21st century. The time flies by very quickly.

Hope exams go well for everyone and that everyone finishes strong. Hope Doctajay is getting those finals under control. My bet is that he can't believe that he is almost done with his MS-1 year!
 
njbmd said:
It sure looks like a great year for acceptances. See this thread: Officially Class of 2012. For me, I can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly. Already we are in the process of selecting candidates the will be the new physicians for the second decade of the 21st century. I remember during orientation when my professors made big deal out of moving into the 21st century. The time flies by very quickly.

Hope exams go well for everyone and that everyone finishes strong. Hope Doctajay is getting those finals under control. My bet is that he can't believe that he is almost done with his MS-1 year!
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I know I can't believe that I'm almost done with my M1 year. I seems like just yesterday I was sitting in orientation hoping they wouldn't tell that they made a mistake when they sent me an acceptance letter.
 
alphaholic06 said:
I know I can't believe that I'm almost done with my M1 year. I seems like just yesterday I was sitting in orientation hoping they wouldn't tell that they made a mistake when they sent me an acceptance letter.
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Congrats to alphaholic on finishing first year!
 
Cuyahoga
Isnt that Cleveland? I am moving there for residency at the clinic. How is the life being a single black male in Cleveland?
The prince
 
:cool:











sry, couldn't help it!
 
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