Attending an average university (and other conundrums)

[BreathDeep]

Hello everyone.

So I am a second year respiratory therapy student who has discovered (a tad bit late, but better than never) that my true interest actually lies in medicine, and I want to continue on to medical school.

The Problems: Figuring out everything else. Since RT is an Associates Degree program, I know I need to head back to school after I graduate. The only issue is that the school I am in only articulates with California State University campuses but unfortunately not much else.

Now my tentative plan is to finish my remaining prereq's at a random local CC, then transfer to one of the local CSU's (Sacramento, East Bay, or SFSU) where I would retake the necessary classes from my RT program and move on to receive my BS in biology (and not because I think that gives me any advantage, I'm just actually genuinely interested in biology). The only thing worrying me is how will medical schools would view a degree from an exceptionally average CSU school? Would the lack of prestige, especially considering both UC Davis and Stanford are close by, pose any kind of hindrance?

Secondly my lack of volunteer experience. I know that your traditional medical school applicant has a fair amount of volunteer work, unfortunately though I don't have much. Once I graduate I plan to be working part-time as an RT while in school too, which somewhat gets in the way of having much free time to volunteer. So my question would be do you think this would also be a big issue that I would need to work around to be a competitive applicant?

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[ruiner]

I think it's a well known fact that NO ONE from Cal States go on to medical school.

 

[Catalystik]

So I am a second year respiratory therapy student who has discovered (a tad bit late, but better than never) that my true interest actually lies in medicine, and I want to continue on to medical school.

The Problems: Figuring out everything else. Since RT is an Associates Degree program, I know I need to head back to school after I graduate. The only issue is that the school I am in only articulates with California State University campuses but unfortunately not much else.

Now my tentative plan is to finish my remaining prereq's at a random local CC, then transfer to one of the local CSU's (Sacramento, East Bay, or SFSU) where I would retake the necessary classes from my RT program and move on to receive my BS in biology (and not because I think that gives me any advantage, I'm just actually genuinely interested in biology). The only thing worrying me is how will medical schools would view a degree from an exceptionally average CSU school? Would the lack of prestige, especially considering both UC Davis and Stanford are close by, pose any kind of hindrance?

Secondly my lack of volunteer experience. I know that your traditional medical school applicant has a fair amount of volunteer work, unfortunately though I don't have much. Once I graduate I plan to be working part-time as an RT while in school too, which somewhat gets in the way of having much free time to volunteer. So my question would be do you think this would also be a big issue that I would need to work around to be a competitive applicant?

Demonstrate excellent academics at your current school that do not fall off when you transfer to a university, and which include an array of upper-level Bio and Biochem, get a decent MCAT that proves the rigor of your coursework was adequate, gather supportive LORs, and build up your ECS so that med schools have trouble passing you by. Don't worry about perceived prestige. Instead, worry about demonstrating that you have what it takes.

And yes, you need some volunteerism. Since you will gain excellent clinical experience (and probably teaching) through a job, concentrate on physician shadowing (50 hours is a good goal) and giving time to a nonmedical cause that you care about (averaging 1-2 hours per week). Eventually take on a leadership role in something. It would help if you get in some research, even just a summer's worth. Don't apply until your ECs are nicely beefy.

PM TriagePreMed with a link to this thread and ask him to post here about his perspectives on CalState schools.

 

[Catalystik]

Some CalState success stories: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=905606