Do med schools truly understand unique circumstances?

[Made of Dreams]

hi, I began college as class of '09 but because of an undiagnosed disorder my gpa was a 2.3 for the first 3 yrs and I slowly chipped away at my goals. Over the summer I got a diagnosis and transferred schools to maintain treatment and I'm now class of '11. Although the semester isn't quite over, I'm pretty sure ill be getting a 4.0, including bio and chem(i only have 1 semester of chem from my previous school so my science gpa will be much much higher than overall gpa on amcas). Will top tier schools truly understand my situation, even if I'm "protected" under the disabilities act, or should i not set my sights/heart on really competitive schools (Yale is my dream). I greatly appreciate any input. Sorry for the long post.

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[njbmd]

hi, I began college as class of '09 but because of an undiagnosed disorder my gpa was a 2.3 for the first 3 yrs and I slowly chipped away at my goals. Over the summer I got a diagnosis and transferred schools to maintain treatment and I'm now class of '11. Although the semester isn't quite over, I'm pretty sure ill be getting a 4.0, including bio and chem(i only have 1 semester of chem from my previous school so my science gpa will be much much higher than overall gpa on amcas). Will top tier schools truly understand my situation, even if I'm "protected" under the disabilities act, or should i not set my sights/heart on really competitive schools (Yale is my dream). I greatly appreciate any input. Sorry for the long post.

Medical/professional schools understand unique circumstances if you can articulate them in a clear manner. Use your personal statement to explain clearly what happened to you and what you have overcome so successfully. Your academics will speak for themselves. What needs to be said over and over is where you stand today and what you learned from the processes and experiences that molded you. How can you translate these experiences and processes into being a solid and dedicated physician?

Tier does not make much difference in medical education in this country. Apply broadly (DO and MD) and apply to as many schools as you can afford. Pick some schools that you consider a reach but pick some schools were you come close to matching their averages in terms of uGPA/MCAT. There is no way to predict how you will do in the admissions process but putting your best forward with a well-written application, strong LORs (at least one faculty member who can echo your struggles and growth) and solid extracurriculars in addition to your MCAT and academics.

Make sure that every aspect of the application that you control is very positive. Again, do your best and keep looking forward.

 

[MSKalltheway]

njbmd is part of an adcom so I dont really have anything to add, except that I want to emphasize applying broadly. The "rank" of med school is actually purely crap, and is mostly based on research rather than clinical training. For instance, I go to Maryland but dont feel our clinical training is much different than Hopkins, who is essentially down the street. Actually, we train at many of the same sites during our clinical years. I just wanted to point that out to re-emphasize why njbmd said that it doesnt matter where you go...in the end, we all must attain a minimum competency.

Besides that, board scores, class rank and letters of recommendation from prestigious faculty matter way more than school reputation, which is at the very bottom of the list of things residency programs look at (you dont need to worry about any of this right now, its just to show how unimportant rank is for residency so long as you attend a US MD/DO program). Most of us dream of going to Harvard/Hopkins/Yale, but its so hard to get into schools like that its a crapshoot no matter what your app looks like at times.

I strongly agree with applying broadly, the rest can be sorted out later. Your circumstances can be easily explained, so I'm not saying to not apply to dream/top schools. However, getting into any med school despite admissions standards is a tall order. Keep doing well, score well on the MCAT, and strengthen your application as much as possible. Really, this is general advice I give to everyone. Best of luck!