applying to med school after masters

[ankit999]

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hey guys,

here's the situation. I will be retaking the mcat in august. I am doing a masters program next school year (starting in august 2008) and then i will be applying to medical school the following year (beginning in august 2009). So my question is: Is it true that medical schools wait until after the fall semester to interview you (or look at your application) if you are doing a masters so that they can see your fall grades? I ask because taking the august mcat is fairly late and i dont want to miss out. Thanks

 

[akhilles604]

Umm... just some advice from someone who has finished the coursework for a MS program in biomedical sciences.
If I were you, or anyone seriously looking at MS programs, please contact the schools you are interested in applying to. There is a distinction made at some schools between graduate gpa, and post bac/ undergraduate gpa.
I was not eligible for consideration at one school because (on top of poor undergraduate science grades), my graduate gpa which was good did not really count. They do not factor it in.
Basically the school who was trying to climb up the rankings, said schools are ranked based on the MCAT scores, and undergraduate science gpas. When you enroll in a degree granting program, especially graduate degree, the gpa is computed as seperate.
Compared to enrolling in a non degree granting program (typically) post bac, your grades get computed into the post bac, and overall undergraduate science gpa.
Everyone's situation is different, but in mine I needed a strong performance. I was disappointed that my gpa was computed apart from my undergraduate. The schools i interviewed at, I imagine, just added everything together, but every school does not do this.