can i do it and other questions

[redrabbit]

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hi everybody,
I know this question have been ask many times but i want to ask anyways. I am in a post fall quarter depression mood. I am currently a junior biology major. I have alway wanted to go to med school but i have been doubting myself a lot. I am sure i will love being a doctor but i am not sure if i can get into med school. I don't want to go through the app process to find out that i won't get into med school. My GPA was okay before, but i didn't go too well this quarter. It is now somewhere around a 3.2-3.3. I am not going any research right now but i am trying to get into a lab.The problem is that i go to a small catholic school. They have a good bio department but just not enough professors to go around. Is it neccasarily true that if i went to a catholic school for undergrad, it will help me with med school if i apply to a catholic med school. Some rumors are going around school but i am not sure how true it is.
If i want to go into family/peds does it matter which med school i go to. any advice of med schools?

 

[Brain]

A 3.3 is not great but it won't kill you depending on your other creditionals. You're going to need an above average MCAT (>30) with that GPA. If you're a junior, you should be studying for it now. See the "What are my chances" thread for more details. As far as research goes, there are many universities that offer summer research programs for students from other universities. Most have deadlines in February so you should start looking now. As far where you go to med school, most M.D.s I've spoken to say it really doesn't matter. I seriously doubt coming from a Catholic school will help you get into a Catholic medical school. Most people don't like to admit this, but med school admissions is largely a numbers game.

 

[lmnop]

3.2 certainly isn't prohibative though it is below the avg accepted student. Most important would be to improve your grades in the second two quarters of this year. Other than that, I think (and this is just my speculation) that if you have a gpa below 3.5 or so you basically need some other selling point. If you love research and have done a lot of it, that works since it means that your letter from your PI will be great and personal and you may have some publications to discuss. If you do really amazing leadership or volunteer stuff that prob works too. A really high MCAT score would be another option. lastly, if you haven't shadowed or spend time in a hospital, do that because it's probably points against you if you don't and your gpa is in that range where you don't want points against you. I think what I'm basically saying is that there are lots of applicants w/higher gpa's so you have to work a little harder than they do to stand out in some other way. good luck! Med schools certainly DO take many people w/your gpa!


Also, I wouldn't count on the catholic thing. It might help, but prob not much (just a guess).

 

[redrabbit]

what about DO schools?

 

[coincidental]

what about DO schools?

why don't you ask that in the DO forum?

 

[Spankete87]

Don't let people on here discourage you from applying to whatever type of school you want to apply to. Yes it's going to be harder to get in with a lower GPA, but if you do well on your MCAT and have good LOR, volunteering, shadowing, reasearch, etc, that can very well make up for a lower GPA. On top of that you're a junior, so you still have time to pull your grades up a bit. You esp have time if you're willing to take a little time off from school. My friend and I both have sub-par GPA's (3.2) but both of us have received interviews (Duke, UNC, ECU - NC residents) and are still waiting to hear back from schools that other people have been rejected from already (Boston, OHSU, etc) - not that that means that we aren't going to get rejected as well 😛 because I'm sure I am. Now I don't know if either one of us will get in this time around, but it looks more promising than it might seem. Just work really hard in the upcoming semesters and try to get as much clinical experience as you can (esp if you're not looking to go into academic medicine) and study really hard for the MCAT. If you're seriously looking into going into fam med/peds, you'll want to apply to primary care schools, which, from what I've seen, tend to have SLIGHTLY lower stats. Just don't stress about what you can't change. Applying to med school seems to be completely random anyway. Good Luck!

 

[stoic]

what about DO schools?

A viable option. A lot of people with a borderline application apply to both MD and DO schools. A word of caution would be to do some research about osteopathic medicine and to shadow a DO before deciding to apply. Some people just don't feel comfortable with the manipulation stuff/history/perception of osteopathy. Also, you might be suprised that DO schools are a little more competative than you think. For instance, a GPA of 3.2 is below average for matriculants at all DO schools (it's something like 3.4 overall).

But you're not out of the running for MD schools. Do well on the MCAT and in future semesters, make sure to do all the requisite extracurricular stuff, and get your application in AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.

Good luck,
S.

 

[captbadass]

hi everybody,
I know this question have been ask many times but i want to ask anyways. I am in a post fall quarter depression mood. I am currently a junior biology major. I have alway wanted to go to med school but i have been doubting myself a lot. I am sure i will love being a doctor but i am not sure if i can get into med school. I don't want to go through the app process to find out that i won't get into med school. My GPA was okay before, but i didn't go too well this quarter. It is now somewhere around a 3.2-3.3. I am not going any research right now but i am trying to get into a lab.The problem is that i go to a small catholic school. They have a good bio department but just not enough professors to go around. Is it neccasarily true that if i went to a catholic school for undergrad, it will help me with med school if i apply to a catholic med school. Some rumors are going around school but i am not sure how true it is.
If i want to go into family/peds does it matter which med school i go to. any advice of med schools?

you have time to bring up your gpa. mcat score will be a big factor in admissions as well. i think the most important thing is to get some clincal/volunteer experience. research is good,too, but you don't have much of a chance if you haven't shown that you have spent time in a medical environment. also, stop being negative. one, it doesn't do you any good. two, it's really anoying to everybody around you. suck it up and try your best. if you dont make an effort to apply, then you will never know what could have been. besides, you have plenty of time to put to gether a great application. you dont have to apply directly out of college. you can take asome time to improve your app. anyway, don't be so down on yourself. good luck.

 

[redrabbit]

thank you, i am trying to stick with it.

 

[Uegis]

thank you, i am trying to stick with it.

A SDNer recently got into two schools with a sub 3.0 GPA, so your 3.2-3.3 is definitely workable. Anyone you ask will tell you to keep on working hard and do well on your MCAT. Only you can actually make yourself do these things. So keep on working at it and good luck!

 

[redrabbit]

A SDNer recently got into two schools with a sub 3.0 GPA, so your 3.2-3.3 is definitely workable. Anyone you ask will tell you to keep on working hard and do well on your MCAT. Only you can actually make yourself do these things. So keep on working at it and good luck!

Thank you SDN for all your support. You guys make me feel much better. I am just bumped out from last quarter. It not easy getting A's.

Does anyone know about santa clara university. What is its reputation? I know that not a lot of ppl heard of it. My professors are telling me that SCU has a good reputation and they look at grades differently. I am sure we aren't as harsh as Stanford or any ivy schools. Does med school look at that?

 

[TripleDegree]

hi everybody,
I know this question have been ask many times but i want to ask anyways. I am in a post fall quarter depression mood. I am currently a junior biology major. I have alway wanted to go to med school but i have been doubting myself a lot. I am sure i will love being a doctor but i am not sure if i can get into med school. I don't want to go through the app process to find out that i won't get into med school. My GPA was okay before, but i didn't go too well this quarter. It is now somewhere around a 3.2-3.3. I am not going any research right now but i am trying to get into a lab.The problem is that i go to a small catholic school. They have a good bio department but just not enough professors to go around. Is it neccasarily true that if i went to a catholic school for undergrad, it will help me with med school if i apply to a catholic med school. Some rumors are going around school but i am not sure how true it is.
If i want to go into family/peds does it matter which med school i go to. any advice of med schools?

hey buddy
none of the reasons you listed will keep you out of medical school. Work on getting your GPA up a bit, keep up the effort around doing research, don't worry about your school at all, and start MCAT prep early. Above all - apply early. You should be in good shape. All the best!