Hi all, this is my first time on the forum. My stats are bellow, and following is a question about me doing a 5th year to finish up some premed requirements and do some more volunteer work.
My stats are:
BCPM GPA = 3.5
Cumulative GPA = 3.5
Research Experience:
I work with a professor who is considered an expert in his field (by other people, not just himself), and have gone to 2 research conferences to present my work. I also recently won an undergraduate research grant that I had to write a proposal for.
Volunteer Experience:
I don't have any clinical experience, just some helping out with the honors programs at my university.
I'm a junior right now in a chemical engineering B.S. curriculum, but over the past year I've been drawn more and more to medicine as a future career. My problem is that because I'm in the honors engineering program, I have to complete 135 credits of course work, without any premed requirements (it's 145 credits if I take analytical chem and another bio class with a lab for the premed requirements).
My problem is that since I've decided on medicine a little later in college, I haven't completed the premed requirements that didn't fit in with my degree. I could probably get them all finished in the summer while I'm applying to medical school, but I have no clinical volunteering experience, only some non-clinical volunteering work. If I were to take the premed classes this summer, I wouldn't have time to do any volunteering, because I also have to work. I was wondering if I should wait until next year to apply, spend a 5th year to earn my undergrad degree (and get a minor in chemistry by taking some extra classes for a year), and do a whole bunch of volunteering work over that time.
Would medical schools look down on someone that took 5 years to complete their undergrad? Most engineering students usually take 5 years, and considering I would be getting a minor in chemistry along with the B.S. in chemical engineering, I think I can justify it to a medical school admissions committee, but who knows.
Thanks for reading the long post, and any help is greatly appreciated!
My stats are:
BCPM GPA = 3.5
Cumulative GPA = 3.5
Research Experience:
I work with a professor who is considered an expert in his field (by other people, not just himself), and have gone to 2 research conferences to present my work. I also recently won an undergraduate research grant that I had to write a proposal for.
Volunteer Experience:
I don't have any clinical experience, just some helping out with the honors programs at my university.
I'm a junior right now in a chemical engineering B.S. curriculum, but over the past year I've been drawn more and more to medicine as a future career. My problem is that because I'm in the honors engineering program, I have to complete 135 credits of course work, without any premed requirements (it's 145 credits if I take analytical chem and another bio class with a lab for the premed requirements).
My problem is that since I've decided on medicine a little later in college, I haven't completed the premed requirements that didn't fit in with my degree. I could probably get them all finished in the summer while I'm applying to medical school, but I have no clinical volunteering experience, only some non-clinical volunteering work. If I were to take the premed classes this summer, I wouldn't have time to do any volunteering, because I also have to work. I was wondering if I should wait until next year to apply, spend a 5th year to earn my undergrad degree (and get a minor in chemistry by taking some extra classes for a year), and do a whole bunch of volunteering work over that time.
Would medical schools look down on someone that took 5 years to complete their undergrad? Most engineering students usually take 5 years, and considering I would be getting a minor in chemistry along with the B.S. in chemical engineering, I think I can justify it to a medical school admissions committee, but who knows.
Thanks for reading the long post, and any help is greatly appreciated!
