MD & DO Feeling A Bit Lost...

[TinaOnEarth]

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So this will be my first post, and I'm excited to share with you all about my progress.

From Freshman year til now (in a few days I'll be finishing up my Junior year), I have always gotten the same response in regards to MedSchool as "with the circumstances that you're in, it will be nearly impossible for you to get in [right away]." The matter is that I don't mind taking a gap year or so to re-evaluate, but I feel that I need some long-term guidance than the semesterly advice that I've been getting from my Biology mentor and Academic advisor.

My major is a BA in Biology at St. Louis University, and my current accumulative GPA is a 2.73. I am expecting to take the MCAT late August and a gap year whenever I graduate (Fall 2014 or Spring 2015).

I am a manager for a family business with an on-call schedule when it gets busy (our business is open 7 days a week from 8am-8pm). Time management throughout college has been a struggle for me because my hours range from 30-40 hours a week, and it's been quite an experience to tell my parents that I need time to focus with my school work.. especially when times are sensitive.

I apologize in advance if this post is too general or all over the place, but my question is:

What would be the best route to take for someone who has worked full-time throughout college to building a potential application for med school (with respect to the few semesters that I have left, and post-undergrad)?

Thank you.

 

[Goro]

Two paths:

Easy and fastest for GPA repair, re-take all F/D/C grade science coursework and apply to DO programs. AACOMAS's grade replacement policy does wonders for the GPA. You can do this in a post-bac, either an organized one, or a DIY.


OR: enroll in a SMP given by a medical school. These programs are your backdoor into medical school.
Then ace the MCAT. There ARE MD schools that reward reinvention.

So this will be my first post, and I'm excited to share with you all about my progress.

From Freshman year til now (in a few days I'll be finishing up my Junior year), I have always gotten the same response in regards to MedSchool as "with the circumstances that you're in, it will be nearly impossible for you to get in [right away]." The matter is that I don't mind taking a gap year or so to re-evaluate, but I feel that I need some long-term guidance than the semesterly advice that I've been getting from my Biology mentor and Academic advisor.

My major is a BA in Biology at St. Louis University, and my current accumulative GPA is a 2.73. I am expecting to take the MCAT late August and a gap year whenever I graduate (Fall 2014 or Spring 2015).

I am a manager for a family business with an on-call schedule when it gets busy (our business is open 7 days a week from 8am-8pm). Time management throughout college has been a struggle for me because my hours range from 30-40 hours a week, and it's been quite an experience to tell my parents that I need time to focus with my school work.. especially when times are sensitive.

I apologize in advance if this post is too general or all over the place, but my question is:

What would be the best route to take for someone who has worked full-time throughout college to building a potential application for med school (with respect to the few semesters that I have left, and post-undergrad)?

Thank you.

 

[joker2400]

The only viable option for MD is a SMP, which are typically targeting lower GPA folks (3.1-3.5) with good/great MCAT scores (30+). What other ECs and clinical experiences do you have?

 

[Catalystik]

Easy and fastest for GPA repair, re-take all F/D/C grade science coursework and apply to DO programs. AACOMAS's grade replacement policy does wonders for the GPA. You can do this in a post-bac, either an organized one, or a DIY.

You don't need to retake courses at the same school. You could wait until you graduate then retake classes at a less expensive school. The retaken coursework must have the same credits or better. Though the course title need not be identical, the course content must be very similar according to the course catalogs.

If you have low grades in any of the prerequisites, you might consider taking the MCAT after repeating the coursework so you can master the material better.

 

[TinaOnEarth]

Two paths:

Easy and fastest for GPA repair, re-take all F/D/C grade science coursework and apply to DO programs. AACOMAS's grade replacement policy does wonders for the GPA. You can do this in a post-bac, either an organized one, or a DIY.

OR: enroll in a SMP given by a medical school. These programs are your backdoor into medical school.
Then ace the MCAT. There ARE MD schools that reward reinvention.

Thank you for the post. Unfortunately I think that from the limited time that I have, I won't be able to recover all the classes [but I will consider re-taking as many as I can]... As far as post-bac, is it better to find one that is specialized like Undergrad Pre-med to redeem myself for the poor grades or to find one that is application based (the ones offered at my school are Microbiology/Hematology/Clinical Chemistry/etc)?

 

[TinaOnEarth]

The only viable option for MD is a SMP, which are typically targeting lower GPA folks (3.1-3.5) with good/great MCAT scores (30+). What other ECs and clinical experiences do you have?

Thank you for the post. Unfortunately I have been vaguely involved on campus until this past semester due to establishing an idea of time management.

EC's (Is this based on participation or primarily showing evidences of leadership?)
1. Tri-Beta Biology Club Associated Member (Fall 2013-present)
2. Pre Health Club Member (Fall 2013-present)
3. Executive Treasurer for Be the Match on Campus SLU (Spring 2014)
4. Hispanic American Leadership Organization Member (Fall 2013-present)
5. (Also would establishing interest groups be appropriate to put down that aren't chartered by Student Government? Team Captain for SLUsera Salsa Dance Group [Fall 2013-present)
6. Asian American Association Member (Fall 2011-Spring 2012)

No Clinical Experience: Regretfully, I had saved this for my gap year when I have more time to shadow/volunteer full time due to the circumstances. But here are my current goals/ideas:
1. Shadowing at local pediatric hospitals
2. Applying to be a Medical Scribe
3. GeoVision: paid to work abroad in Costa Rican pediatric hospital

 

[TinaOnEarth]

You don't need to retake courses at the same school. You could wait until you graduate then retake classes at a less expensive school. The retaken coursework must have the same credits or better. Though the course title need not be identical, the course content must be very similar according to the course catalogs.

If you have low grades in any of the prerequisites, you might consider taking the MCAT after repeating the coursework so you can master the material better.

Thank you for the post! I had mentioned that I wouldn't be able to recover all of the classes by the time I graduate (unfortunately I didn't do so well on most of my first year classes Bio/Chem/Microbiology.. but have improved on my upper division classes like oChem/Genetics/Evolution). The MCAT has definitely helped with my conceptual learning with Kaplan's books in regards to the GenBio and GenChem.

Would you recommend taking the retakes at a four year university or at a community college (in terms of class credibility application strength)?

 

[Catalystik]

Would you recommend taking the retakes at a four year university or at a community college (in terms of class credibility application strength)?

The institution isn't as important as the class rigor, if you retake classes before taking the MCAT. DO schools will not look down on you for taking CC coursework, but some may have a reputation for being too easy.

 

[Goro]

What limited time? You're in a marathon, not a sprint.
I recommend the post-bac that's specific for pre-res, since that's where your deficits lie. However, one should always have a backup plan, and the post-bac that may lead to an alternative career (such as Clinical Lab tech) might be useful. Excellence in either program is a necessity to convince AdComs you can handle med school.

Thank you for the post. Unfortunately I think that from the limited time that I have, I won't be able to recover all the classes [but I will consider re-taking as many as I can]... As far as post-bac, is it better to find one that is specialized like Undergrad Pre-med to redeem myself for the poor grades or to find one that is application based (the ones offered at my school are Microbiology/Hematology/Clinical Chemistry/etc)?

 

[candbgirl]

Thank you for the post. Unfortunately I have been vaguely involved on campus until this past semester due to establishing an idea of time management.

EC's (Is this based on participation or primarily showing evidences of leadership?)
1. Tri-Beta Biology Club Associated Member (Fall 2013-present)
2. Pre Health Club Member (Fall 2013-present)
3. Executive Treasurer for Be the Match on Campus SLU (Spring 2014)
4. Hispanic American Leadership Organization Member (Fall 2013-present)
5. (Also would establishing interest groups be appropriate to put down that aren't chartered by Student Government? Team Captain for SLUsera Salsa Dance Group [Fall 2013-present)
6. Asian American Association Member (Fall 2011-Spring 2012)

No Clinical Experience: Regretfully, I had saved this for my gap year when I have more time to shadow/volunteer full time due to the circumstances. But here are my current goals/ideas:
1. Shadowing at local pediatric hospitals
2. Applying to be a Medical Scribe
3. GeoVision: paid to work abroad in Costa Rican pediatric hospital

So are you taking 2-3 gap years? I ask because you absolutely should not apply without Clinical Experience. Are you URM?


Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

 

[TinaOnEarth]

So are you taking 2-3 gap years? I ask because you absolutely should not apply without Clinical Experience. Are you URM?


Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

That seemed more reasonable to have enough time to shadow and post-bacc, and no I'm an ORM (Asian American).

 

[TinaOnEarth]

What limited time? You're in a marathon, not a sprint.
I recommend the post-bac that's specific for pre-res, since that's where your deficits lie. However, one should always have a backup plan, and the post-bac that may lead to an alternative career (such as Clinical Lab tech) might be useful. Excellence in either program is a necessity to convince AdComs you can handle med school.

I had meant for by the time I graduate which I agree from your post that I should be preparing myself better.. from being a first-generation college student, I feel that I don't really know much about this journey and am somewhat playing catch-up with my other pre-med friends.

 

[lmn]

2-3 years should be a reasonable time to help correct the areas of your application that are lacking, I wouldn't worry about "keeping up" with your friends, at many places the average age for entering med school is 25+ (especially at DO schools), focus on yourself and what you need to do rather than what your friends are doing.

Also you might want to remove your profile picture, you are placing a lot of information online about who you are which is usually not the best idea...