Engineering grad considering going to med school

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engineerfirst

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I'm a female URM and currently a master's student and graduate research assistant studying biomedical engineering, graduating in a week! Prior to that I got a bachelor's in electrical engineering and graduated with a 2.9 GPA. After lots of consideration, and working in a highly clinical research setting I've decided I would like to pursue an MD.

Some more background: I actually started off college in a biology major and after a lot of struggling and failing courses, I switched into engineering. I took gen bio 1+2 as well as gen chem 1+2 and got C's in pretty much all of them. However, I did very well once I switched into engineering. I made the dean's list several times, was appointed a TA for doing well in my classes, and eventually got accepted in a PhD program for biomedical engineering. However, I quickly realized that research at the level was not for me and I wanted to do more to help people than research basic science questions so I switched to a master's program and will be graduating soon. My best friends dad works at a medical school and has helped me find some MD's to shadow and volunteer with.

My question: I have a low undergrad gpa but my graduate gpa is about a 3.5, not great but an improvement. Given that I'm missing some requirements for med school and my ugpa is so bad, I'm think of doing a postbacc. I'm a very good test taker and anticipate doing well on the MCAT after lot's of studying and a prep course. Is there anything else I need to do to make myself competitive for med school or is it a lost cause?

Thanks!

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All is not lost.

Depending on what your uGPAs are, there are two options to re-mediate:

1) Do a DIY postbacc by taking enough upper level science courses. Do the math to determine how many hours you will need to improve your GPAs to a competitive 3.7-3.8 cGPA and 3.6-3.7 sGPA, which are the aprox. averages of competitive MD applicants. DO applicants have slightly lower averages; or

2) You could also look into formal SMPs, but they are very expensive. I only recommend this route if you have so many undergrad credits that taking more won't move your uGPA much.

Having a upward trend in grades is important.

Most if not all MD schools will not consider a graduate degree in determination for admissions. Look into getting MSAR to confirm the very few that might.

There are DO schools that will take into consideration your graduate GPA. I am unfamiliar with DO applications but SDN DO Adcoms like goro will be able to help if you PM him.

While you are doing that, continue to improve upon your ECs. Volunteer in clinical settings that involve active patient interactions, non-clinical settings assisting low-income/underserved populations, shadowing physicians (esp. primary care), and settings showing leadership. Also kill the MCAT.

GL!!!
 
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Welcome to the show! As a former engineer, I can tell you that I can sympathize with the low GPA situation. Unfortunately, med schools don't really take your major's difficulty into account, otherwise all engineering majors would be in med school (kidding). Generally, your graduate GPA isn't a relevant factor either.

I disagree with @DV-T 's plan of GPA recovery. If you have a 2.9 uGPA w/ 130 hours, you could do another 4 year degree at 4.0 and still only get up to a 3.45. That's not a smart use of time. Additionally, by being a URM you don't have to achieve those numbers. Looking at this table https://www.aamc.org/download/321498/data/factstablea18.pdf you can see that URM matriculants averaged anywhere from 3.4-3.5 and had MCATs around 503.

But still, you don't really have time to get your GPA up to that point, and those are just averages. If you look at this table https://www.aamc.org/download/321520/data/factstablea24-5.pdf you can see how acceptance rates compare by GPA and MCAT (you'll have to convert the old MCAT score - not sure if new data for this exists). Even at your current GPA level, applicants with a MCAT of 30-32 had an acceptance rate of ~40%. That's pretty good. If you bump your GPA into 3.0-3.2, the acceptance rates go up even more.

So, here's what you can do. 1) Retake your pre-reqs at local CC or 4 year institution. This will help you prepare for the MCAT (which you need to do very well on) and prepare you for an SMP if you really want to do it. Upper level courses aren't going to help you right now because A) you don't have mastery of the earlier material and B) they don't prepare you for the MCAT.

Or 2) You can apply directly to a masters program. This is riskier because you don't have a strong background yet. If you don't do well, your chances at med school are essentially over.

Good luck, and hit me up if you have any questions
 
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So, here's what you can do. 1) Retake your pre-reqs at local CC or 4 year institution. This will help you prepare for the MCAT (which you need to do very well on) and prepare you for an SMP if you really want to do it. Upper level courses aren't going to help you right now because A) you don't have mastery of the earlier material and B) they don't prepare you for the MCAT.

OP does not need to retake prereqs like English, Humanities, or Gen Bio 1+2 or Chem 1+2 if the goal is to master the MCAT. OP can purchase commercial material or take a commercial prep course that will prepare her adequately to take the MCAT. Taking enough upper level science courses with A's will show Adcoms that she can handle the medical curriculum.

I do agree that since OP is URM, she does not need to have GPAs/MCAT scores at the national average of non-URM applicants. She can be a very competitive candidate as long as her ECs are substantive also....
 
OP does not need to retake prereqs like English, Humanities, or Gen Bio 1+2 or Chem 1+2 if the goal is to master the MCAT. OP can purchase commercial material or take a commercial prep course that will prepare her adequately to take the MCAT. Taking enough upper level science courses with A's will show Adcoms that she can handle the medical curriculum.

I do agree that since OP is URM, she does not need to have GPAs/MCAT scores at the national average of non-URM applicants. She can be a very competitive candidate as long as her ECs are substantive also....
Sorry, I wasn't referring to non-science or non-MCAT-related pre-reqs. Basically only the ones that are tested on the MCAT. I don't think upper level biological science courses are going to help her that much until she touches up on the basics. For one, she may be lacking in some of the basic knowledge that upper level course would require since (I assume) it's been several years since she's taken the pre-reqs. Two, she said she already did well in engineering undergrad after she switched and got a 3.5 in her masters program. Those should more than adequately prove than she can handle a medical school curriculum. Realistically, she only needs grade repair and a solid MCAT. Taking science pre-reqs can do grade repair and MCAT prep at the same time.
 
Thanks so much for your responses! You have no clue how helpful your encouragement is.

As far as grade repair, that might be a bit difficult. I finished my engineering degree in 5 years with a little over the 130 credits required. I would like to retake gen bio 1+2 and chem 1 at the very least and jump into organic chem (the one class I did well in was chem 2) because as @DocJanItor noted, it has been several years since I've taken those basic science courses and I do best in a classroom setting as opposed to trying to teach myself from learning materials. I'd like to bump up my GPA to above a 3.0 and was hoping that would be enough to get around doing an SMP as I know they are very expensive and I already have a master's. If that's not possible, I'm willing to do an SMP. Additionally, the university where I'm doing my master's now offers a post-bacc prehealth certificate, that guarantees an interview at their med school if you maintain a gpa of a 3.75+ in their program. It's a lot like an SMP in that a lot of the courses in the curriculum are upper level science courses and they are taught by the med school professors.

As far as EC's go, I have a pretty good record between ugrad and grad. I was president of an engineering society in undergrad, and on the executive board of another engineering society in grad school. I'm also a graduate researcher in a neuroscience lab and have acquired tons of surgical experience (in animals haha). I'm hoping to find a job as a clinical engineer at a hospital in the city where I live in or some kind of research coordinator job. And of course, lots of volunteering and shadowing.

Thanks again for all your advice!
 
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Apologies for a late reply - I had a PChem final today. I should be studying for my physics exam, but procrastination is much more fun.

I started out Chem-E, graduated with CivE and worked in the Civil world for years. I always disliked it (I knew going into it that I would dislike it, so I guess I have a superior ability to put up with stuff I don’t like to do).

I had an interesting story with a freshman year GPA of 2.2 after struggling with physiological depression that probably stemmed from a medication I was on. I never really got it up that much higher, though, so I’m an odd applicant. So the question right now is what is your GPA? If you’re missing courses, I highly recommend doing a post-bac before the SMP (as DV-T mentioned). I’m doing an informal postbac at the closest four-year university I could get into and I’m having a blast. I would take all the prerequisites you need - Orgo 1 & 2, Biochem, etc. Then determine *if* you can raise your GPA. There are some non-trads here who could probably tell you the optimum number of hours of 4.0 coursework to override a sloppy GPA. I ended up taking 24 before applying, but probably could have used some more. Many of us engineers realize a few semesters into postbac programs that another entire degree will only bring us up to a middling GPA. However, a few years of postbac classes will give adcoms more confidence in you. So I agree that a DIY postbac is probably best.

For the MCAT, make sure you have all the prerequisites down and then look for various recommendations on this site. FWIW, I liked TBR and found that they helped with more than just content review. I have not heard any good reviews of other in-person classes, but some people may find them helpful.

One piece of advice I will offer is that you want to be methodical about this, but be willing to take it slowly. When I decided I wanted to do this, I flew through the process. At this point I’m glad I did, but I had some serious doubts about two months ago. I would definitely have a stronger app if I had waited one year, but at this point I have a few acceptances and some more interviews, so I can’t (and shouldn’t) complain.

Do make sure you get plenty of clinical experience on top of service to others. Not only do you want ot show the adcoms that you know what you’re getting into, you want to really show yourself that this is what you want to do. I shadowed one doctor for three months and after that experience there was no doubt in my mind that i was headed in the direction I needed to go.

Let me know if you have any particular questions!

You probably have a solid research background if you started a PhD program but went MS, so research is not that important. I would say that clinical exposure and service are going to be the important things to focus on while you take your prerequisites and study for the MCAT. I would also recommend taking your time


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