Does Medical Schools Make Considerations

[kent100s78]

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Hello,

I am a student of Touro College( private jewish college in Brooklyn) I am a Biology major there.I am completing my fourth semester at the school, my current GPA is 3.21 which isn't considered high to medical school standards; but I do have a lot of extracurricular activities plus I am an amateur kickboxer also married and work full-time as a superintendant, plus me and my wife are planning a IVF procedure in the near future, we all know how time consuming and emotionally hard that can be. So that takes away from my study time. I would like to know will the medical schools look at my situation from my point of view and possibly consider accepting me into a program with a 3.21 gpa not inless I can get it higher?

I think it is a pretty good GPA considering my schedule and responsibilities to my family and dealing with my wife's medical problem.I truly believe If I wasn't married and had the time to study without working full-time I would be a 4.0 student easily.

But are medical schools cut-throat and dont care, all they want is grades; or is there compassion to students who have to work and take care of sick family members.

Guys any info will be deeply appreciated. Thansk in advanced.

 

[crazy250]

probably not. med school want to see you overcoming challenges, not make excuses for low numbers. Everyone has their own story about their "hardships," but in the end, it's still the end result that matters regardless of the circumstances. Bring your GPA up and show that you've overcome the odds, then you'll be in great shape for applying.

 

[Blade28]

With regards to your extracurriculars (activities, kickboxing, work, etc.), I know that medical schools love to see that an applicant is well-rounded and has a life outside of school. However, for something like IVF, are you planning on addressing it in your personal statement? That'd definitely be an important (and interesting!) part of your application.

Good luck with that, BTW. 👍

Of course, realistically, there are some med schools that may not look as favorably on your GPA. Extenuating circumstances or not, they may (wrongly) want an applicant that can get good grades no matter what. 🙁

 

[efex101]

I hate to break it to you but people that are married and working and doing EC's also get good grades, so although some medical schools will see that you have a full plate and may cut you some slack other folks applying along with you will have excellent grades and a ton of EC's. I would avoid the "making excuses bit" and just focus on getting excellent grades from now on to prove that you can handle medical school as well as rocking the MCAT. Regardless of how much EC's one has, the bottom line is "will this applicant be able to handle the courses in medical school?" that is the question that adcoms are looking to answer.

 

[Fumoffu]

I'm sure they do consider things like that.

If anything though, you should probably drop a few ECs and boost your grades a bit. 3.2 I don't think is horrible, but isn't great either.

Although if you're a NYer, if you do ~3.5ish, and 30+ on the mcat, you'll probably be able to get in downstate.

 

[sleepwhenimdead]

Med school adcoms will consider extenuating circumstances, but also realize that your performance in the recent past is unlikely to improve in med school which contains much higher volume than undergrad courses. I had decent undergrad grades, then got straight A's for three semesters while working and volunteering as a firefighter/EMT. Recent performance is a good indicator of future success. Study hard now and show what you can do. A well composed PS will help for those "reasonable" schools to get past the "cutoff" GPA.

Good luck.
MS4 going into Peds

 

[oldman]

i wouldn't be too concerned (as in thinking it's hopeless). i have more than a few friends who finished their ugrad with a gpa of 3.0. in fact those people are beating on my tests now!

the key is to be well-rounded. do something else to make you stand out rather than your gpa. you seem to already have that. if you had a 3.21 w/o doing anything else, then that will probably bode poorly.

just work hard to bring up your gpa with the remaining time.

worse comes to worse you can work for awhile, retake some of the prereqs that you did poorly in. med school will accept anyone who really wants in!

Originally posted by kent100s78
Hello,

I am a student of Touro College( private jewish college in Brooklyn) I am a Biology major there.I am completing my fourth semester at the school, my current GPA is 3.21 which isn't considered high to medical school standards; but I do have a lot of extracurricular activities plus I am an amateur kickboxer also married and work full-time as a superintendant, plus me and my wife are planning a IVF procedure in the near future, we all know how time consuming and emotionally hard that can be. So that takes away from my study time. I would like to know will the medical schools look at my situation from my point of view and possibly consider accepting me into a program with a 3.21 gpa not inless I can get it higher?

I think it is a pretty good GPA considering my schedule and responsibilities to my family and dealing with my wife's medical problem.I truly believe If I wasn't married and had the time to study without working full-time I would be a 4.0 student easily.

But are medical schools cut-throat and dont care, all they want is grades; or is there compassion to students who have to work and take care of sick family members.

Guys any info will be deeply appreciated. Thansk in advanced.

 

[kent100s78]

Thanks guys for the responses;but I am not making excuses. I do have a building to manage with a staff deal with, my wife who is'nt in the best of health and then look for and plan when we are doing an IVF procedure. Since my wife english is not that good everything is left to me.The only time I have to myself is when I go kickbox for and hour or two a night.I am a sophmore I do have time to bring my GPA up I just wanted to know what if I never brought it up what my chances would be. My sci. gpa not bad it's higher than my overall. Classes like writing, accounting, speech that brought me down. my bio and phyics classes I never got anything below a B+.

 

[JohnHolmes]

You want to have a kid, right? I am anticipating that is what you were talking about.

I'm fairly certain that having an IVF procedure done would not count as a "hardship". Unless, of course, I misinterpreted what you meant by IVF...

But of course, good luck with that as someone stated earlier. I know its expensive, draining and time consuming, so I hope things all work out for you with school ... take care.

CCW

 

[bewitched1081]

research medical schools. you may get a feeling for those medical schools that can look flexibly at prospective students. some medical schools are even "family friendly." they are receptive to students who may want to take some time off for family reasons. however, one thing you may want to consider is that you and your family will need to make huge sacrifices for medicine. when you are in school and residency you will have to spend a lot of your time away from your family. and when you are a dr, depending on the practice, you may find yourself in the same situation. but then again, you may also find that you will be better able to help you wife. just make sure that you and your family are well informed about the hardships that medical school and residency and maybe even being a physician will place in your lives.

 

[kent100s78]

bewitched1081

I am pretty aware of the lifestyle of a physician. The main reason I decided 2 years ago to pursue medicine was because I was getting tired of having to see family members with medical problems including myself and my wife.I got sick of waiting for answers,I thought the best way to get answers, ensure our health and my families was to become a Doctor myself. Money,prestige or wanting to help were never my motivations to pursue medicne. My maim motivation was if I become a doctor I would be able to take good care of my family ( money also is good lol).Some may disagree with my motives for medicne but I have to be honest. At this point it's the only reason why I am hping to become a Doctor.

 

[TheRussian]

This was probably mentioned earlier but just imagine telling your interviewer that your grades are not as high because of these "hardships" Then what answer would you give when the interviewer asks you how you expect to handle the increased workload of medical school when these hardships are unlikely to magically go away once you go to medical school.

 

[efex101]

To take care of your family? I was under the impression that taking care of your own family as a physician is not the norm..I am somewhat confused...oh well whatever floats your boat.

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by efex101
To take care of your family? I was under the impression that taking care of your own family as a physician is not the norm..I am somewhat confused...oh well whatever floats your boat.

maybe he wants to do FP/IM.

 

[Sharkfan]

Have you taken the MCAT? A good/great MCAT score would probably help you with admissions committees. An average/sub par MCAT might sink your chances. Admissions committees want to feel confident that incoming students can handle the heavy-duty science courses, and the MCAT is a way of leveling the playing field. If you can get a good score on the MCAT, you could show people that you have more ability than your gpa may show.

 

[Goober]

Originally posted by kent100s78
. My maim motivation was if I become a doctor I would be able to take good care of my family ( money also is good lol).Some may disagree with my motives for medicne but I have to be honest. At this point it's the only reason why I am hping to become a Doctor.

You do know that physicians are not encouraged to treat their own family members by the medical establishment? The reason is that you cannot maintain your objectivity. Just food for thought.

Also as the other poster said- if IVF= In Vitro Fertilization, I don't think you will find many adcoms who would consider this a medical hardship.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Remember there are plenty of people out there who have done well in school and participated in many ECs. Medical schools want to see that you are a well balanced person, not EC biased.

 

[Adapt]

Go to TUCOM on Mare Island. They're bound to accept you since you went to their father school. 👍

 

[kent100s78]

Thank you all for the reply's. Anyone who has made comments regarding IVF, are any of you married, if so, do your wife's have fertlilty problems, are you aware of the emotional ride people go through especially women who find out there there is a possible chance that they are not able to conceive naturally and have to go to a specialist who can't garentee a successful pregnancy.Trust me I do not wish that hardship on anyone not even my worst enemies.Dealing with a wife that is slowly growing a depression, dealing with 19 credit hrs. in school and managing a staff of dinguses who don't know how told a broom and sweep a hallway, trust me it is really hard lol.I am still surprise I maintain a good attitude and still could crack a joke every now and then.

No I have not tacken the MCAT's yet I plan too later this year. I am hoping to rock the MCAT's and hopefully get a 35+.

I am aware that Dr.'s are recommended not to treat family I should of explained it more in detail. I just want to be able to understand what is happening if a situation ever comes up and to know who I can trust and reccomend my family too.

I am curious how many of you are married? Does anyone hold a full-time job?

Again thanks for all the reply's

 

[efex101]

Many of us here are married with children, deployed husbands in BFE, taking 19 credit hours, volunteering, doing research, raising kids alone, leading campus organizations, blah blah blah. Although I am sure that going through IVF is stressful it is not something that adcoms would see as huge setback...