engineering major then med school?

[jammin06]

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I go to a top 15 private university and i'm majoring in Biomedical engineering and Religious studies. This school is known nationally renknown for it's BME dept. However, i only have about a 3.4-3.5 gpa here. Will that still make me a competitive applicant?

Second question:
this past summer, i took first semester orgo at my local state school. I was wondering if that grade will go into my science/overall gpa when med schools recalculate the gpa (assuming they do). I really want it to show up, cuz i got an A in the class.

Third question:
If a school is not on the AMCAS system, can i put a different address than my AMCAS application? I ask this because there are a number of state medical schools here that aren't on the AMCAS system, and if i take residency here, I could put the local address on the statewide application, but still use a different address for the AMCAS application.

thanks for your feedback.

 

[Bones2008]

Yes to the first two. AMCAS asks for two addresses, your preferred mailing address and your permanent (what's on your driver's license) address. So there's no room for any fudging. Besides, state schools have pretty strict criteria about what's considered "in-state" anyway. Good luck.

 

[jlee9531]

1. a 3.5 will make you competitive assuming your prereq grades are nice and you do well on the mcat. aiite?

2. yes every class you take no matter where you took it you will have to enter into amcas so it will count. so not to worry grasshopper...coo?

3. i really have no clue on this third question. i guess since these schools you are applying to are not on the AMCAS i guess you can...but since i just used common sense....for some reason i think the answer will just be the opposite.

miggity mac lates yo...😎

 

[The Engineer]

I am a Biochemical engineering major and will be minoring in biology and spanish. I called up to university of missouri -columbia (MIZZOU) and asked them the same question. They told me that your undergraduate GPA is important, but major is not. In other words, (and not to insult anyone) someone with a 3.8 in philosophy will be favored more than someone with a 3.26 (me) in engineering.

Didn't make sense to me at all.

 

[jammin06]

ok, thanks for that feedback. that at kinda puts me at ease...a little bit. Also, i always hear about people having 'hooks' that make med schools interested. One thing that i'm working on is Coordinating a Spring Break trip to mexico to volunteer in urban and rural medical clinics. Would this spark med school's interest?

Also, do med schools like to see 'concentrations' in interest. Yea, i know that's very vague, so lemme try to explain. I am extremely interested in cardiology (initially got interested in it when my father had quadrouple bypass surgery when he was 42). I did research in a cardiac electrophysiology lab over the summer and am now working on cardiac research with a new professor that has just come from the Cleveland clinic.

Ultimately, my question is that:
1) can this hurt me at all
2) If on an interview, they ask "what field of medicine u would want to go into", would i be out of line if i said Cardiology? I've always heard that med schools don't want applicants that go in w. tunnel vision (which i totally understand). Would a more appropriate response be..."i'm open to anything, but if i had to pick just one, then...."

thanks y'all.

 

[markus21]

you are obviously from hopkins... 😛

 

[jammin06]

maybe a more SOUTHERN school, perhaps in HOUSTON, TX with the mascot of an OWL might give u a clue ;-)