Career changer...please advise!

[crazifella]

Hello everyone, i need advise

I have Electrical Engineering background. I am currently working and at same time going for my masters in EE as well. However, I have always wanted to go into the medical field , and I feel and believe that I am ready for that step.
I am currently contemplating on enrolling in a Post bacc program for next spring and possibly take the MCAT in 2011.

Below are my udergraduate stats: cGPA 3.19, sGPA 3.85 (CHEM &PHYS ONLY),two semester of turoing/peer mentor.

Please advise on what my chances are and how to approach the program. Additionally, is a post bacc better in my case or an SMP.

Thank you in advance for you honest feedback

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[TopSecret]

Hello everyone, i need advise

I have Electrical Engineering background. I am currently working and at same time going for my masters in EE as well. However, I have always wanted to go into the medical field , and I feel and believe that I am ready for that step.
I am currently contemplating on enrolling in a Post bacc program for next spring and possibly take the MCAT in 2011.

Below are my udergraduate stats: cGPA 3.19, sGPA 3.85 (CHEM &PHYS ONLY),two semester of turoing/peer mentor.

Please advise on what my chances are and how to approach the program. Additionally, is a post bacc better in my case or an SMP.

Thank you in advance for you honest feedback

It's still way too early for anyone to predict your chances.

 

[Compass]

cGPA kinda low, sciences nice. You might want to consider graduate studies, perhaps in biomedical engineering or something like that? You should take an MCAT ASAP to evaluate your competitiveness. It'd be a shame if you'd finished your program and then got delayed by MCAT scores being poor.

 

[lstone13]

I would definitely recommend taking a practice MCAT as a diagnostic. How are your extracurriculars/work/volunteer/leadership, etc.? That part of your application is also particularly important if you plan on being competitive.

 

[rigel]

I would definitely recommend taking a practice MCAT as a diagnostic. How are your extracurriculars/work/volunteer/leadership, etc.? That part of your application is also particularly important if you plan on being competitive.

its important for determining if you will enjoy being a doctor enough to work and jump through all the hoops necessary to get there.

competitiveness is a secondary concern, at best, i think.

 

[Stratego]

You'll probably need to do both.

First I would take a year of introductory Biology with lab and Organic Chem with lab. You can do this on your own or complete a formal (expensive ) postbac program. Then take a formal MCAT prep course to help you review your Gen Chem and basic Physics. Then you'll be ready to take the MCAT and see how competitive you'll be. With a 36+, you might get into an MD program, despite the low cGPA. With a 30, you can get into an SMP, or possibly get into a DO med school.

For application to MD schools, a BCPM GPA is generated (including all math too, with the Bio, Chem, and Physics), whereas the sGPA is used in the DO school application process. As an interesting side note, DO schools only use the more recent of grades for a repeated class when generating your application GPA. So if you retake some of the coursework that brought your GPA down, your cGPA could rise faster than it would if you applied to MD schools (provided the number of credit hours is the same or greater).

 

[futureboy]

OP, you can also check out the nontraditional students forum. There are some good threads over there that talk about making the switch from engineering to medicine.