Application advice for a nontrad

[medmarine]

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I am hoping to apply to med school to start in 2013 but I need to make some decisions before I do so. I went to undergraduate at a big state school and did well there academically (GPA 3.9/4.0 in biology). I graduated with a double major in biology and math and a minor in physics. I did a ****-ton of academic research as an undergraduate in a variety of different disciplines. I did one summer of research at a medical school after my freshman year, 3 years of research and one first author publication in computational biology. I also did a few years of math research mostly on population ecology models and disease modeling. After I graduated I started graduate school in applied math at a top program. I did one year of graduate work there before I joined the Marine Corps and got my commission in the Marine Corps reserves. I have spent the last year training in the Marines. I am scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in january.

While I was an undergrad I never really considered med school. I was focused on the academia route and a Phd. So my resume is pretty much tailored to get me into graduate schools. I will have a few months after I finish training and before I get deployed where I can finish my masters degree in Math and hopefully get some volunteering experience in a hospital. I think the most difficult part of my application will be convincing them that I want to be a doctor. Here are some of my questions....

1.) How important is it that I finish my masters before I apply? I could potentially finish it in the spring before med school (hopefully). How important is that anyway? Will anyone care if I have a masters degree in math?

2.) What can I do to make my application more competitive?

3.) What should I do before I deploy to make is easier to get my applications in while I am in afghanistan?


4.) I have another manuscript for a math journal article that I could potentially submit before I leave. Will this really add much to my application or should I just focus on getting some shadowing/volunteering experience.



Thanks for your advice.

 

[theseeker4]

I am hoping to apply to med school to start in 2013 but I need to make some decisions before I do so. I went to undergraduate at a big state school and did well there academically (GPA 3.9/4.0 in biology). I graduated with a double major in biology and math and a minor in physics. I did a ****-ton of academic research as an undergraduate in a variety of different disciplines. I did one summer of research at a medical school after my freshman year, 3 years of research and one first author publication in computational biology. I also did a few years of math research mostly on population ecology models and disease modeling. After I graduated I started graduate school in applied math at a top program. I did one year of graduate work there before I joined the Marine Corps and got my commission in the Marine Corps reserves. I have spent the last year training in the Marines. I am scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in january.

While I was an undergrad I never really considered med school. I was focused on the academia route and a Phd. So my resume is pretty much tailored to get me into graduate schools. I will have a few months after I finish training and before I get deployed where I can finish my masters degree in Math and hopefully get some volunteering experience in a hospital. I think the most difficult part of my application will be convincing them that I want to be a doctor. Here are some of my questions....

1.) How important is it that I finish my masters before I apply? I could potentially finish it in the spring before med school (hopefully). How important is that anyway? Will anyone care if I have a masters degree in math?

2.) What can I do to make my application more competitive?

3.) What should I do before I deploy to make is easier to get my applications in while I am in afghanistan?


4.) I have another manuscript for a math journal article that I could potentially submit before I leave. Will this really add much to my application or should I just focus on getting some shadowing/volunteering experience.



Thanks for your advice.

A few points. First, if you are deploying in January, when will you return? If it is a full year deployment, you may have difficulties getting everything together to apply next cycle (current applicants are shooting to start in 2012). You would want to assemble your application with LOR's from undergraduate professors, Personal Statement, etc. next May to submit it in June. If you are going to be in Afghanistan while applying, you will need to get LOR's from undergraduate professors (most schools want 2 science and one non-science as a minimum) into a letter service before you leave. You will also have to check with each school you attended for undergraduate or graduate work to see about sending your transcripts to AMCAS. Since you have to provide a cover letter from AMCAS to your schools' records offices to include with your transcripts when they are sent, you may have to be in the states to provide that; I am not sure what you are able to do if you are out of the country.

Second, have you taken the MCAT and did you complete all of the med school pre-reqs during your biology degree? If no to either of these, you definitely should concentrate on getting those done before deployment instead of the Masters degree. You obviously don't need to worry about boosting your GPA but if your MCAT is poor or you are missing a pre-req, you could be in trouble.

As far as making your application more competitive, clinical experience is about the only thing you are missing (once you take your MCAT of course). I am not sure if you can do anything while in Afghanistan, but you should get in as many hours volunteering in a hospital/clinic as you can before you deploy.

The general consensus on SDN seems to be that graduate work and programs are not valued nearly as much as undergraduate, so I don't know that completing your masters will make a significant difference. Your undergraduate numbers are so strong I don't know that you can really add anything to it, so I would focus on the MCAT and clinical experience in the limited time you have before your deploy.

 

[EdLongshanks]

.... The general consensus on SDN seems to be that graduate work and programs are not valued nearly as much as undergraduate,

I think this needs some clarification. I think that the consensus is that undergraduate work and MCAT are the only things that can be compared between candidates, since all candidates have at least these 2 things.

I'd say that the consensus is that graduate worked is valued differently by each medical school admissions committee and so no consensus on its relative value is possible.

 

[theseeker4]

I think this needs some clarification. I think that the consensus is that undergraduate work and MCAT are the only things that can be compared between candidates, since all candidates have at least these 2 things.

I'd say that the consensus is that graduate worked is valued differently by each medical school admissions committee and so no consensus on its relative value is possible.

Clarification was warranted re-reading what I wrote. I should have said that graduate work generally is not believed to make up for weak undergraduate performance. I don't think medical schools other than in very specific cases would completely ignore graduate work, but the contribution graduate work makes to an application is not nearly as great as the undergraduate work. For that reason, I would advise medmarine to concentrate on the areas where he has room for improvement, i.e. his MCAT and clinical experience, rather than let those suffer while trying to complete his Master's.

 

[PostHaste]

While I was an undergrad I never really considered med school. ...I think the most difficult part of my application will be convincing them that I want to be a doctor.

The most important thing is figuring this out and figuring out how to get it across. Why medicine, why now? Biology --> Math --> Marines --> ?Medicine?

1.) How important is it that I finish my masters before I apply? I could potentially finish it in the spring before med school (hopefully). How important is that anyway? Will anyone care if I have a masters degree in math?

The gist I get around here is that it doesn't matter so much if you have a master's degree in math/biology/basketweaving, as long as you don't have half a master's degree in any of those. Some schools require a letter from your graduate program indicating they know you're applying to med school; the assumption is that they don't want to "poach" from other programs.

3.) What should I do before I deploy to make is easier to get my applications in while I am in afghanistan?

Get your letters of recommendation squared away and get your activities outlined and contact names and numbers/emails written down. That's what I've had the most trouble with getting done from a distance. Also, the volunteering & shadowing, but you knew that.

Out of curiosity, what does your timeline look like? How long are you beholden to the government? Or can you go to school while still enlisted? I'm personally scared sh*tless of joining the military, but I find it endlessly fascinating.

 

[Science Teacher]

Hi,

I have a question. I'm a 33 year female who has always wanted to be a physician. I am now at a crossroad. I'm concerned about time, family, etc. I, currently have no children, but I want a family. So I'm not sure what I should do. I have been teaching for 10 years now and I love my job and have touched many lives; however, I still have the desire to be a physician. So I don't know, I'm stressing, and time is ticking. PA school or MD/DO? Any thoughts?