Any info on USUHS and general suggestions?

[armywife529]

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I'm writing on behalf of my husband, as he's not able to access this site all too well with his Iraqi internet connection.

My husband is active duty military and is currently deployed. He had planned to attend dental school, and had submitted his applications 2 weeks before being informed that he would be deploying 3 weeks later. Although 4 of 5 schools agreed to interview him by webcam or phone considering the circumstances, they have not followed through.

My husband is now considerinng applying to medical school. He began his education planning to become a police officer and was just in college to waste time until he was called up for the academy. Needless to say, his first few years of education are irrelevant to his current desire to attend medical/dental school. Not to mention that his grades were less than stellar. When he made the decision to change career paths he straightened out his act. He currently has a 3.2 overall GPA and 3.4 science. Most of his pre-req's were taken at community colleges, due to the fact that his military schedule does not coincide well with the University schedules. He has not yet taken the MCAT, but is studying hard with all his down time on deployment. He does have clinical experience (he was a dental assistant for 2 years, is EMT certified, Combat Life Saver certified, and is currently shadowing the military doctors in his clinic in Iraq), but doesn't have any extracurricular activity since his early undergrad years.

He's particularly interested in attending USUHS. Does anyone have any information regarding USUHS? We're hoping his military experience will be to his advantage. We're also hoping that it's a good choice for a nontrad student with a wife and children. Overall, do you have any suggestions for ways in which he can improve his application? It's hard for him to do much while being a soldier (particularly while being in Iraq), but suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you all so much for listening to a wife ramble😀

 

[njbmd]

I'm writing on behalf of my husband, as he's not able to access this site all too well with his Iraqi internet connection.

My husband is active duty military and is currently deployed. He had planned to attend dental school, and had submitted his applications 2 weeks before being informed that he would be deploying 3 weeks later. Although 4 of 5 schools agreed to interview him by webcam or phone considering the circumstances, they have not followed through.

My husband is now considerinng applying to medical school. He began his education planning to become a police officer and was just in college to waste time until he was called up for the academy. Needless to say, his first few years of education are irrelevant to his current desire to attend medical/dental school. Not to mention that his grades were less than stellar. When he made the decision to change career paths he straightened out his act. He currently has a 3.2 overall GPA and 3.4 science. Most of his pre-req's were taken at community colleges, due to the fact that his military schedule does not coincide well with the University schedules. He has not yet taken the MCAT, but is studying hard with all his down time on deployment. He does have clinical experience (he was a dental assistant for 2 years, is EMT certified, Combat Life Saver certified, and is currently shadowing the military doctors in his clinic in Iraq), but doesn't have any extracurricular activity since his early undergrad years.

He's particularly interested in attending USUHS. Does anyone have any information regarding USUHS? We're hoping his military experience will be to his advantage. We're also hoping that it's a good choice for a nontrad student with a wife and children. Overall, do you have any suggestions for ways in which he can improve his application? It's hard for him to do much while being a soldier (particularly while being in Iraq), but suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you all so much for listening to a wife ramble😀

Google their website and start there. Like any medical school, you can find most of what you need on that site. There are likely links to folks where you can ask questions directly.

Quick answer to how he can improve his application is raise that undergraduate GPA and score well in the Medical College Admissions Test. I am sure that Uniformed Services will have the averages of matriculants around their website. If not, check the MSAR for that info. He needs to be close to their averages and exceeding would be even better.

 

[armywife529]

Thank you! I checked and their average gpa is about a 3.44. What can he do to raise his undergrad GPA? He can only take online classes in Iraq and I don't know what classes in particular would be good classes to take to raise the GPA. Would it be better for him to re-do pre-reqs that he didn't do as well in (although nearly every pre-req he received an A in), or take any particulae classes, or seek another degree?

 

[njbmd]

Thank you! I checked and their average gpa is about a 3.44. What can he do to raise his undergrad GPA? He can only take online classes in Iraq and I don't know what classes in particular would be good classes to take to raise the GPA.

Your last sentence kind of sums things up. There isn't much other than what he's doing already, that he can do at this point. If he can take anything online that will help with critical reading and writing (a huge component of the MCAT) he can move forward and up his uGPA at the same time Also he may be able to find some some online prep work or even computer prep for the MCATtoo. In short, do a little something every day until he gets back home and to a solid schedule.

If there are any courses like Biochemistry (not much of a lab component), Genetics or even Ethics, they can help to raise his uGPA and help him to keep himself in an academic mode. Likely, he doesn't have tons of time and thus things that are less time intensive would be best. When he gets to a more stable schedule, he can look into taking things at university. If he has been dabbling in the academics, he can pick up quickly and get moving rapidly.

His service will be an asset but he is likely going to need to take a course or two to have some excellent recent coursework and get himself ready for the MCAT. MCAT prep takes a solid knowledge base and plenty of practice with the types of questions that are asked on that exam. Along those lines, he can go to the AAMC site and download one of the free retired MCAT tests and see how he does with that. Any little thing right now is better than doing nothing.