Can I do this??!

[hesitantmed]

Hey all, longish time lurker, fairly new poster.

I am trying to figure out if my dreams would even be possible. My problem is the apply broadly scenario.

After putting in effort for the next 2 years that we live in NY, my stats will likely be a follows
uGPA= 3.1 (bad, I know)
sGPA = 3.7
gGPA = 3.8
MCAT = obviously needing it to be high, but I hear it tends to mirror your ACT scores, so that won't be a problem to get it into the high 30s, if this really is the case.

I did my ug in 3 years, switched majors 3 times and went to school 5000 miles away from everyone I knew. I was not mature enough for this. As of right now, all of my prereqs are from AP classes. I took 9 AP tests in High School and passed all of them well enough to get 56 college credits out of them.

My husband is AD Coast Guard and in 2.5 years we will be moving down to the Hampton Roads area. I know that no one *really* knows whether or not I can get into medical school with those stats... but can anyone tell me what my chances are at getting into either EVMS or VCU? I would be considered instate, because we claim residency there and I have a VA license.

Is it worth the gargantuan amount of effort to go back and bring my gpa up to only apply to 2 schools? Its a crap shoot at best!

Thanks for any input!
Amy

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[2008orbust]

Go meet with an adcom at both of those schools. Bring all your numbers with you, even the ones you are not proud of. Ask for them to be brutally honest about your odds at their school and if there is anything that could increase your odds.

 

[Birdnals]

^ what they said. Also, you're probably gonna have to show that this is what you really want to do. I think a lot may depend on what you've been doing in your time since you finished undergrad that brought you to this spot in your life and made you want to become a doc.

 

[init2winit]

AdCom members will be honest with you and help you out in terms of your chances.

Also, I like your positive attitude, but "won't be a problem to get it into the high 30s" is a risky thing to say! MCAT is hard

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Don't ever make guesses what your MCAT will be until you're looking at AAMC's page displaying your actual test score. Not that you aren't smart, but chances are you won't be getting high 30's. Remember, the people taking the test with you are also really, really intelligent, or they wouldn't have made it through biology and organic chemistry with good enough grades to consider med school. It's awfully hard to be in the top 99.5% of that bunch.

Are you willing to consider other Virginia schools such as VCOM and Virginia Tech, or anything in a nearby state? Restricting yourself to just two MD schools drastically reduces your chances of an acceptance somewhere. I've got the same 3.1 GPA you're projecting you'll have, and I only got one MD interview from 11 applications. If there are any DO schools you'd be willing to go to, you'd have a much higher chance of acceptance, since they tend to favor nontrads and students with good life experience.

Also, when you're at those schools asking about your chances, ask about what their requirements are for instate classification. I don't know about Virginia, but Alaska's med school program has requirements that are tougher than just being a state resident.

 

[hesitantmed]

Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry about coming off as a little cocky with my mcat score. I didnt mean to make it seem like there was no possibility of me doing badly. Because I know there is. I just generally dont have problems with tests of any kind ( thank goodness my saving grace in school).

About applying to more schools... I really know I should... but I will need the support of my husband and he will be in Hampton Roads. I know there is a DO school at VT but its a 5 hour drive from VB... so I dont know. We have a family farm in lynchburg I could stay at but I dont want to ruin my marriage by being away away all the time.

I will talk to the adcoms. Thats a good idea. I will double check on residency requirements then too.

Thanks!