Applying after M.S.

[FloridaSun]

Hi, I have a bit of an open-ended question.

I'm applying for entrance to med school right after I finish my M.S., so I guess I fall into the non-trad category.

Is anyone else doing what I'm doing: applying after an M.S.? (or PhD).

If you don't mind sharing, how are you going to bring your advanced degree into the interview? What are you going to say about it?

Thanks.

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[bouspret]

I also have an M.S. I had to do it because my undergrad GPA was too low to apply otherwise. I added it as one of my experiences on the AMCAS application and I have played up the research portion of my thesis quite a bit for schools that request info about your research history. Also, I highly recommend getting your thesis advisor to write one of your letters of recommendation. That would also set you apart from other applicants. Good luck!

 

[LadyWolverine]

I believe that my M.S. absolutely, 100%, completely, and totally got me into medical school. I don't necessarily mean the degree itself, but everything that came with it - the grades, the courses, the recommendations from faculty who viewed me more as a peer than a naive undergraduate student gunning for medical school, and the shadowing, working, and volunteering experience that I obtained while in graduate school.

After graduating from undergrad in 2001, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with my life. I debated PhD, med school, Pharm school, Dental school, Vet school, and a host of other careers. I settled into a career as a research scientist in Seattle, where I remained for a few years. I then applied to medical school for the incoming 2004 class, interviewed only at 2 schools - UW in Seattle (I was in-state at the time), and WashU in St. Louis (I always thought it was strange, UW and WU, but I digress). I was waitlisted at one, and was ultimately rejected. I had a relatively average undergraduate record (3.5 total, 3.3 BCPM) and a 33R MCAT. I had minimal clinical exposure, some here-and-there volunteer work, but some significant research (which resulted in a couple of publications). As a back-up, I applied to the Microbiology and Immunology program at Georgetown (not the SMP), where I ended up matriculating. After completing my M.S., re-establishing Maryland residency, and working for a year, I applied (as a re-applicant) for the 2006 cycle. This time, I received 5 interviews, 4 offers of admission, and 1 waitlist (from which I subsequently withdrew after deciding on my state institution). Irionically, I was not offered an interview at either UW or WU that year.

At the time of my first application (for 2004), I had been out of UG for 3 years, had worked in research for that time, had a publication in the works, etc. The things that changed substantially between my 2004 and 2006 application were as follows:
1. I gained an M.S. My graduate GPA was a 4.0, which I believe helped offset my rather low-end-of-average undergraduate GPA. I know that it is calculated separately, but I still firmly believe that it made a difference.
2. A publication that had been "in submission" during the 2004 application cycle was published in Circulation, the journal of the AHA.
3. I received new references from several professors, mentors, and advisors at Georgetown who knew me extremely well due to the small nature of the program (which was quite a shift from my undergraduate courses, where there were easily 200+ people in a lecture hall at a time).
4. I spent significant time shadowing and volunteering at Georgetown Univ Hospital, and wrote my personal statement about an experience that I had while shadowing an ID doctor there.
5. I was able to spend more time working, which I also mentioned in my application as ECs.
6. I was extremely vocal, outspoken, and engaged in my coursework at GU, because I found the material fascinating. This certainly reflected in #3.

I think that the BIG clinchers for me were #1 and #3, with a smattering of #4 and #6. Whatever you do, DO NOT underestimate the value of your letters of recommendation. Graduate programs grant you the ability to be seen as a peer in the eyes of your institution's faculty. Cultivate this relationship with genuine interest, and you will get some amazing letters. I have not seen my letters of reference (I opted, as we all should, to waive that right), but I am certain that they say volumes more than any letter I ever received from my undergraduate institution, or even my ex-boss from my post-undergraduate research position.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[QofQuimica]

Hi, I have a bit of an open-ended question.

I'm applying for entrance to med school right after I finish my M.S., so I guess I fall into the non-trad category.

Is anyone else doing what I'm doing: applying after an M.S.? (or PhD).

If you don't mind sharing, how are you going to bring your advanced degree into the interview? What are you going to say about it?

Thanks.

It is pretty common for people with MS degrees to apply to med school. There are at least half a dozen of them in my class, plus two of us with PhDs and a few people with other degrees like MPH, SMP masters, etc. The important thing for you is to be able to explain clearly why you want to change from whatever you're doing now to medicine. Check out the nontrad success thread sticky if you haven't already; there is tons of good advice in there. BTW, are you a Floridian? If so, you might consider contacting REL Larkin for pre-app advising. He used to be at USF, but he's the admissions dean at the new UCF med school now. If you can't make the trip to Orlando, you can also try posting in the FL thread in pre-allo; he posts under the username REL. Best of luck to you.

 

[FloridaSun]

Thanks everyone. That was pretty helpful. I guess my application is just kind of odd and so I'm trying to try to figure out a way to present myself so that I look a little bit more coherent than I currently do.

**Undergraduate degrees: B.A. music and French, minor in chemistry
**Graduate degree: M.S. nutrition, minor in immunology (expected spring 2009).

(I've completed all premed courses except for physics -- to be completed over the next semester and summer).

I'm not sure how to explain why I didn't hone in immediately on medicine as a career and I DON'T want people to assume that I'm just getting this degree (1) because I didn't "have it together" or (2) so I could improve my GPA [which, to be fair, will probably happen at least a little. But my GPA was decent to begin with, even for a medical school app.]

It's frustrating because my own mom seems to believe all of the above when the situation is actually far more complex than me "not having it together". I loved my undergraduate majors and made significant contributions to my departments. I just ultimately decided that I would prefer a career in health after various volunteering experiences.

I suppose the only thing that I can do is explain what I *have* done and why I am a strong applicant; why I am committed to being a good doctor...I guess I just have to ignore any biases or assumptions the committees may have against graduate students. Hopefully my mom holds a minority opinion. She's just so pessimistic

[Yes Q, I am from Florida. Thank you for the advice ]

Does anyone have any particular thoughts on my situation? Are my mom's fears about committee assumptions real or are they just in her head?

 

[QofQuimica]

Thanks everyone. That was pretty helpful. I guess my application is just kind of odd and so I'm trying to try to figure out a way to present myself so that I look a little bit more coherent than I currently do.

**Undergraduate degrees: B.A. music and French, minor in chemistry
**Graduate degree: M.S. nutrition, minor in immunology (expected spring 2009).

(I've completed all premed courses except for physics -- to be completed over the next semester and summer).

I'm not sure how to explain why I didn't hone in immediately on medicine as a career and I DON'T want people to assume that I'm just getting this degree (1) because I didn't "have it together" or (2) so I could improve my GPA [which, to be fair, will probably happen at least a little. But my GPA was decent to begin with, even for a medical school app.]

It's frustrating because my own mom seems to believe all of the above when the situation is actually far more complex than me "not having it together". I loved my undergraduate majors and made significant contributions to my departments. I just ultimately decided that I would prefer a career in health after various volunteering experiences.

I suppose the only thing that I can do is explain what I *have* done and why I am a strong applicant; why I am committed to being a good doctor...I guess I just have to ignore any biases or assumptions the committees may have against graduate students. Hopefully my mom holds a minority opinion. She's just so pessimistic

[Yes Q, I am from Florida. Thank you for the advice ]

Does anyone have any particular thoughts on my situation? Are my mom's fears about committee assumptions real or are they just in her head?

Every school is different, and so is every adcom. Some schools will like you, and others will not. That's why most people don't only apply to one school. I don't think it's the end of the world if an applicant didn't "have it all together" at the tender age of 21. None of the rest of us did either; that's why we're nontrads. The real question you have to answer as a nontrad applicant is, do you have it all together now?

Also, have you been doing any shadowing/volunteering in health care? If not, you need to start. All of our state schools will expect it, and you won't get a free pass just because you're a grad student. It's great that you're a FL resident, because we are apparently going to get another new school on top of UCF within the next year or two. If your UG GPA is 3.5+ and you can pull off a 30 on the MCAT, you should be reasonably competitive for any of our state schools. to you.

 

[FloridaSun]

Thanks for your advice, Q. A lot of your other posts have been particularly helpful for me, too.

I've been doing some volunteering at a hospital (junior year of college and this year), but nothing that I would term "clinical" experience. I have other non-medical volunteering...

I guess I should find out some way to shadow a doctor directly. Ideally, it would be a doctor in a specialty in which I have a particular interest. I need to look into that. I imagine the other two million pre-med students in Gainesville have already looked into it, though...I hope I'm not too late for this school year .

Yup, I heard UCF is giving free tuition to all of its entering applicants. Not a bad deal for anyone. I think they are accepting students for fall of 2009 -- which is when I'm planning to enter.

Thanks for the thoughts on the state schools. I definitely have >3.5 GPA and my practice MCATs are ~32. I figure I can get it up a few points in 8 months, even with school and volunteering and so on.

Well...ok, thanks for reading my long posts and thank you for your particular help.

I'm glad to know that I don't have to change my birth certificate or start putting on anti-wrinkle cream in order to get an interview . [In case you were wondering, I'll be 24 when I apply].

 

[QofQuimica]

Thanks for your advice, Q. A lot of your other posts have been particularly helpful for me, too.

I've been doing some volunteering at a hospital (junior year of college and this year), but nothing that I would term "clinical" experience. I have other non-medical volunteering...

I guess I should find out some way to shadow a doctor directly. Ideally, it would be a doctor in a specialty in which I have a particular interest. I need to look into that. I imagine the other two million pre-med students in Gainesville have already looked into it, though...I hope I'm not too late for this school year .

Yup, I heard UCF is giving free tuition to all of its entering applicants. Not a bad deal for anyone. I think they are accepting students for fall of 2009 -- which is when I'm planning to enter.

Thanks for the thoughts on the state schools. I definitely have >3.5 GPA and my practice MCATs are ~32. I figure I can get it up a few points in 8 months, even with school and volunteering and so on.

Well...ok, thanks for reading my long posts and thank you for your particular help.

I'm glad to know that I don't have to change my birth certificate or start putting on anti-wrinkle cream in order to get an interview . [In case you were wondering, I'll be 24 when I apply].

Good grief, age-wise you barely even qualify as a nontrad. Honestly, your age won't be a problem at all; 24 is about the average for M1s at a lot of schools. I was 31 when I started, and even that is far from being the oldest. I didn't have to use any wrinkle cream either.

It sounds like you're doing all of the right things. But you should still get in touch with REL; he's only a couple of hours away from you, and he can give you some really useful advice to strengthen your app as much as you can. Do it fairly soon, because once you start applying next summer, he won't be able to talk to you any more. Plus, things will get busier for him as it gets closer to next summer.

 

[njbmd]

Hi, I have a bit of an open-ended question.

I'm applying for entrance to med school right after I finish my M.S., so I guess I fall into the non-trad category.

Is anyone else doing what I'm doing: applying after an M.S.? (or PhD).

If you don't mind sharing, how are you going to bring your advanced degree into the interview? What are you going to say about it?

Thanks.

I applied right after defending my Ph.D dissertation. I had already accepted a tenure-track position at a university when my acceptances started rolling in. You actually do not "bring your advanced degree" into the interview unless asked by the interviewer. Some of my interviewers did research that was similar to mine and knew my work and thus it was a topic of discussion while others never mentioned my degree.

There are a significant number of people who apply to medical school with masters degrees in many fields and thus, it's not an anomaly. If you are asked about your work, answer the question. If not, don't bring it up as it is not important or relevant to what the interviewer needs to make a decision.

 

[postbacker]

I believe that my M.S. absolutely, 100%, completely, and totally got me into medical school. I don't necessarily mean the degree itself, but everything that came with it - the grades, the courses, the recommendations from faculty who viewed me more as a peer than a naive undergraduate student gunning for medical school, and the shadowing, working, and volunteering experience that I obtained while in graduate school.

After graduating from undergrad in 2001, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with my life. I debated PhD, med school, Pharm school, Dental school, Vet school, and a host of other careers. I settled into a career as a research scientist in Seattle, where I remained for a few years. I then applied to medical school for the incoming 2004 class, interviewed only at 2 schools - UW in Seattle (I was in-state at the time), and WashU in St. Louis (I always thought it was strange, UW and WU, but I digress). I was waitlisted at one, and was ultimately rejected. I had a relatively average undergraduate record (3.5 total, 3.3 BCPM) and a 33R MCAT. I had minimal clinical exposure, some here-and-there volunteer work, but some significant research (which resulted in a couple of publications). As a back-up, I applied to the Microbiology and Immunology program at Georgetown (not the SMP), where I ended up matriculating. After completing my M.S., re-establishing Maryland residency, and working for a year, I applied (as a re-applicant) for the 2006 cycle. This time, I received 5 interviews, 4 offers of admission, and 1 waitlist (from which I subsequently withdrew after deciding on my state institution). Irionically, I was not offered an interview at either UW or WU that year.

At the time of my first application (for 2004), I had been out of UG for 3 years, had worked in research for that time, had a publication in the works, etc. The things that changed substantially between my 2004 and 2006 application were as follows:
1. I gained an M.S. My graduate GPA was a 4.0, which I believe helped offset my rather low-end-of-average undergraduate GPA. I know that it is calculated separately, but I still firmly believe that it made a difference.
2. A publication that had been "in submission" during the 2004 application cycle was published in Circulation, the journal of the AHA.
3. I received new references from several professors, mentors, and advisors at Georgetown who knew me extremely well due to the small nature of the program (which was quite a shift from my undergraduate courses, where there were easily 200+ people in a lecture hall at a time).
4. I spent significant time shadowing and volunteering at Georgetown Univ Hospital, and wrote my personal statement about an experience that I had while shadowing an ID doctor there.
5. I was able to spend more time working, which I also mentioned in my application as ECs.
6. I was extremely vocal, outspoken, and engaged in my coursework at GU, because I found the material fascinating. This certainly reflected in #3.

I think that the BIG clinchers for me were #1 and #3, with a smattering of #4 and #6. Whatever you do, DO NOT underestimate the value of your letters of recommendation. Graduate programs grant you the ability to be seen as a peer in the eyes of your institution's faculty. Cultivate this relationship with genuine interest, and you will get some amazing letters. I have not seen my letters of reference (I opted, as we all should, to waive that right), but I am certain that they say volumes more than any letter I ever received from my undergraduate institution, or even my ex-boss from my post-undergraduate research position.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

With much respect for what you have done, I must say that I think you are over estimating the value of #1 and are under estimating the value of #4 and the maturity and focused life experience reflected in #6...

Regardless, nice job!

 

[FloridaSun]

Thank you for your advice I guess we'll have to see how my application looks at the end of April.

Part of the problem I suppose, is that the longer I take before applying to medical school, the higher the expectations.

 

[Renkat2sj]

i am getting my MS now and i hope that it helps!

i was an art major in undergrad, so i decided to go for the MS in order to sort prove myself scientifically, as well as get some research experience. well, also my plan was to get a 4.0, but the coursework is kicking my ass- i am managing it all right but averaging solid B's right now. (i got a 3.46 in undergrad.) i dont know how its all calculated but hopefully they will consider the fact that a student with very little science background got thrown into the mix with more experienced students and managed to hold her own in grad school. sort of. (my masters program is joint with a med school so its sort of a masters in biomedical science, but its not a SMP or anything like that.) technically i am considered an anatomy major.

my PI claims that all of her masters students get published, so i hope to have that going for me by the time i apply to med school. in addition, i still need to take a few prereqs on the side like physics and orgo, and i'm thinking after the intensity of the courses i am taking now, they should be relatively easi(er) and i can use that to pull up my average a bit.

right now i am looking for a volunteer position i'll be able to stick with long term. since i already have a bit of clinical experience from working in an OR over the summer, i was thinking of trying to do some tutoring for the 'underprivileged' high school kids in the city.

the last part of my plan is to score a 40 on the mcat but, you know, in case that doesnt work out exactly as planned, im trying to get as much other stuff going for me as i can. back to your original question of how to bring it up, i get it depends on why you got it? it seems like youre in sort of a similar position as a career changer who will have to face the question of why did you change your mind toward medicine. so just come up with a good answer for that and i think you'll be fine

 

[FloridaSun]

i am getting my MS now and i hope that it helps!

i was an art major in undergrad, so i decided to go for the MS in order to sort prove myself scientifically, as well as get some research experience. well, also my plan was to get a 4.0, but the coursework is kicking my ass- i am managing it all right but averaging solid B's right now. (i got a 3.46 in undergrad.) i dont know how its all calculated but hopefully they will consider the fact that a student with very little science background got thrown into the mix with more experienced students and managed to hold her own in grad school. sort of. (my masters program is joint with a med school so its sort of a masters in biomedical science, but its not a SMP or anything like that.) technically i am considered an anatomy major.

my PI claims that all of her masters students get published, so i hope to have that going for me by the time i apply to med school. in addition, i still need to take a few prereqs on the side like physics and orgo, and i'm thinking after the intensity of the courses i am taking now, they should be relatively easi(er) and i can use that to pull up my average a bit.

right now i am looking for a volunteer position i'll be able to stick with long term. since i already have a bit of clinical experience from working in an OR over the summer, i was thinking of trying to do some tutoring for the 'underprivileged' high school kids in the city.

the last part of my plan is to score a 40 on the mcat but, you know, in case that doesnt work out exactly as planned, im trying to get as much other stuff going for me as i can. back to your original question of how to bring it up, i get it depends on why you got it? it seems like youre in sort of a similar position as a career changer who will have to face the question of why did you change your mind toward medicine. so just come up with a good answer for that and i think you'll be fine

That's probably about as close as you can get to my particular situation. So, if you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to change careers?

 

[sean1984]

If you all don't mind sharing, what exactly did you get your M.S. in? I am currently on the PhD track to get my degree in physics, but am contemplating leaving with my masters and going to medical school. Does anyone know if a school would not look as highly upon a master's degree if it had absolutely nothing to do with biology or medicine? Thanks in advance.

 

[Renkat2sj]

hmm . . . why did i change my mind? i better come up with a good answer since im sure i'll get asked eventually! and i cant tell an interviewer what i'll tell you.

i always felt kind of aimless in art . . . i went into it because it was definitely my most obvious ability, but as i got further through undergrad i decided it wasnt exactly my most fulfilling one. i couldnt get over the shallow feeling of art as a career and i was also getting pretty burned out on how stupid it all was. a couple of my professors in my program were medical illustrators, so i decided that would be a good way to do the art thing but be involved in something more academic and relevant to society. so i took a bunch of science courses and once i realized i could hold my own in them (pretty well) i began to wonder if i really needed art as my little safety net to become involved in medicine. i started doing research to find out how possible it would be for me to go to medical school, and realized that although it would be difficult, i definitely think it's possible. this sounds weird, but i think i have the hands of an artist but the brain of a scientist. i actually hate going to art museums. i could never get into the art 'scene' because i think art is kind of silly, it just somehow worked out that i was good at it. but i want to be a surgeon. that would be a better use of my nerd brain-meets-crazy manual dexterity thing i have going on.

anyway, once i graduated i felt the biggest sense of freedom to be out of the art world. i volunteered at a hospital, which led to actually being employed there for a while, and that sealed the deal. it's just so much more fulfilling than art. i couldnt do art for a living. i still want to do it, but only on the side. like, be a physician and just put up my own illustrations in my office

in a way i dont see it exactly as a "change." my whole life i have been interested in science and medicine, but i was just born somehow being really good at art, which is a strange sort of blessing and curse. so all along i've been kinda pigeonholed and pushed down that particular path, and after i graduated from undergrad i sort of had this epiphany and realized i did not HAVE to do art. thus freeing me to pursue the other interest i've had all along, medicine. in a way it works out though . . . i think my ultimately disappointing path down art makes me a lot more sure about my current path (by the way, although my masters degree is tough, i love it.) i cant help but assume lots of premeds feel/felt exactly how i did as an undergrad: is this really what i want? is this just what i/ someone else THINKS i SHOULD be doing? why am i doing this? what else could i have done with my life? so had i been a premed in the first place, i might be just as burned out with *that* path. instead though, now i am excited! i feel like i am getting a second chance to do something new and exciting. and much to my surprise, it seems (at some schools) that the whole art thing may actually swing things in my favor by making me a more unusual applicant. not to mention that, if i had done well in a bio major, i would just be like everyone else. but as an art major everyone assumes you're an uneducated hippie, so it's: "wow, the art major got an A on the bio test! amazing!!" so i certainly dont regret the path i took, although i wish i was a little younger! (i think i will be about 27 when i start med, if i get in somewhere on my first round.)

i am unsure how to spin it in interviews, though, if i get to that point. i think they want artists who are 'passionate' about art. im sorry, but if anyone was really passionate about it, they would be doing that instead of spending all their free time applying to med schools. i am just kind of thinking along the lines of: "i love it, bla bla bla, but i need something more academically stimulating/ relevant to the actual needs of society." et cetera.

how bout you??

 

[QofQuimica]

If you all don't mind sharing, what exactly did you get your M.S. in? I am currently on the PhD track to get my degree in physics, but am contemplating leaving with my masters and going to medical school. Does anyone know if a school would not look as highly upon a master's degree if it had absolutely nothing to do with biology or medicine? Thanks in advance.

As long as you did well in your program and your advisor will write you a strong LOR, a physics MS can only help you.

 

[FloridaSun]

I think I'm looking in the mirror.

I double majored in music and French for pretty similar reasons...I'm good at them. I have perfect pitch, which, for a musician is a pretty nice asset and I came into the French major speaking French with decent fluidity. I'm strong in language -- I got an 800 on the verbal GRE and a 6 on the writing. For about three years of college, though, I was planning on doing the whole music-degree/performer/teacher shebang. However, I've come to feel that there is an almost cult-like set of values that surrounds contemporary classical music and that, to be a performer, you're in with a bunch of people that hold music somewhere as a VALUE and not an AESTHETIC. It's a little difficult to explain, I guess. [Incidentally, I also got the same kind of "uneducated hippie" assumptions as a music major -- people tend to make the assumption that music majors only major in music because they were bad at everything else. You'd be surprised how many people think that.]

That said, I have to say I can hold my own in any science class. I'm far from brilliant, I don't consistently make the top scores in the class, but I can do what it takes. And furthermore, I WANT to do what it takes. Anything worth doing takes work and I'm definitely willing to work to become a doctor. I found the MEANING that I'd been searching for.

I guess one way to think about my experience that may or may not help you is that really, our experiences are experiences that people have AFTER intense self-questioning -- I mean, it takes a lot of courage and introspection to change paths entirely. Certainly, no one can accuse us of not having thoroughly explored our options and our affinities. And frankly, extra skills should never be considered a drawback.

That's my 2 cents. For what it's worth.
-V

hmm . . . why did i change my mind? i better come up with a good answer since im sure i'll get asked eventually! and i cant tell an interviewer what i'll tell you.

i always felt kind of aimless in art . . . i went into it because it was definitely my most obvious ability, but as i got further through undergrad i decided it wasnt exactly my most fulfilling one. i couldnt get over the shallow feeling of art as a career and i was also getting pretty burned out on how stupid it all was. a couple of my professors in my program were medical illustrators, so i decided that would be a good way to do the art thing but be involved in something more academic and relevant to society. so i took a bunch of science courses and once i realized i could hold my own in them (pretty well) i began to wonder if i really needed art as my little safety net to become involved in medicine. i started doing research to find out how possible it would be for me to go to medical school, and realized that although it would be difficult, i definitely think it's possible. this sounds weird, but i think i have the hands of an artist but the brain of a scientist. i actually hate going to art museums. i could never get into the art 'scene' because i think art is kind of silly, it just somehow worked out that i was good at it. but i want to be a surgeon. that would be a better use of my nerd brain-meets-crazy manual dexterity thing i have going on.

anyway, once i graduated i felt the biggest sense of freedom to be out of the art world. i volunteered at a hospital, which led to actually being employed there for a while, and that sealed the deal. it's just so much more fulfilling than art. i couldnt do art for a living. i still want to do it, but only on the side. like, be a physician and just put up my own illustrations in my office

in a way i dont see it exactly as a "change." my whole life i have been interested in science and medicine, but i was just born somehow being really good at art, which is a strange sort of blessing and curse. so all along i've been kinda pigeonholed and pushed down that particular path, and after i graduated from undergrad i sort of had this epiphany and realized i did not HAVE to do art. thus freeing me to pursue the other interest i've had all along, medicine. in a way it works out though . . . i think my ultimately disappointing path down art makes me a lot more sure about my current path (by the way, although my masters degree is tough, i love it.) i cant help but assume lots of premeds feel/felt exactly how i did as an undergrad: is this really what i want? is this just what i/ someone else THINKS i SHOULD be doing? why am i doing this? what else could i have done with my life? so had i been a premed in the first place, i might be just as burned out with *that* path. instead though, now i am excited! i feel like i am getting a second chance to do something new and exciting. and much to my surprise, it seems (at some schools) that the whole art thing may actually swing things in my favor by making me a more unusual applicant. not to mention that, if i had done well in a bio major, i would just be like everyone else. but as an art major everyone assumes you're an uneducated hippie, so it's: "wow, the art major got an A on the bio test! amazing!!" so i certainly dont regret the path i took, although i wish i was a little younger! (i think i will be about 27 when i start med, if i get in somewhere on my first round.)

i am unsure how to spin it in interviews, though, if i get to that point. i think they want artists who are 'passionate' about art. im sorry, but if anyone was really passionate about it, they would be doing that instead of spending all their free time applying to med schools. i am just kind of thinking along the lines of: "i love it, bla bla bla, but i need something more academically stimulating/ relevant to the actual needs of society." et cetera.

how bout you??

 

[Mcs0503]

Wow I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread. I similarly recieved a M.S. in cell bio (3.27) after my B.S. in bio(2.87). I am trying to understand how to repair my gpa if I can at all. Secondly, alot of the subpar BCPM grades I got are approaching or at 10 years old. Should I also start retaking classes? I hear that is not advised.