Finance to MD

[MSMD10]

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Hello all,

I am a non-traditional student who is 32 years old. I am in the process of applying to med school. Here is my scenario.

Bachelors in Business Adm. with a 3.1 GPA
Masters in Business Adm. with a 3.6 GPA
Currently taking pre-reqs (Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 1)
Taking Organic Chem 1 & 2 in summer session 1 & 2 respectively
Taking MCAT in September 2016
I am currently in the process of applying to SGU, AUA, Ross, AUC. I was encouraged by all of them to apply even though I do not have my pre-reqs or MCAT finished.
Shadowing a local physician.

That being said, if anyone would like to offer any advise on if I should be doing anything else, I'll greatly appreciate it.

Also, is there a section in the forum where I can submit my personal statement for review?

thank you in advance.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Although I don't know enough to have an opinion, the near-unanimous point of view here is that going to a Caribbean school is a huge gamble that should be avoided if your goal is to practice medicine in the United States.

 

[wagonwheel23]

Turn away from the Caribbean and never look back. Do you want to go to a medical school that encourages applications from people with no MCAT and less than half of their pre-reqs done? And that's not even the worst part about them.

Do well in your courses, beast the MCAT, get some volunteering in (clinical & non), and apply to US MD/DO.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I cannot like what the poster above said enough. Seriously. Caribbean medical schools are for profit schools with the goal of making profit and not delivering an excellent medical education. You will find that Caribbean medical schools cut corners at every turn and enroll many hundreds of students whereas US medical schools enroll around 100 per class. Additionally, Caribbean medical schools usually graduate less than 50% of their class while US medical schools graduate 95%+. If you are one of the lucky few that makes it to graduation, less than half of medical graduates from Caribbean schools place into a residency. This is a huge problem as you will not be able to earn a license and practice in the US without completing a residency program. Seriously, research the schools you are looking at and you will see that there are huge problems associated with going there.

Now, for the friendlier advice: You will not be ready to apply to allopathic medical schools in 2016 but you may be ready to apply to osteopathic medical schools. In my opinion, it is best to wait until the 2017 application cycle to give yourself time to put together the strongest application possible. Your GPA right now is low for osteopathic schools. You need to continue to do well in post bac classes and score well on the MCAT. Look up osteopathic schools and grade replacement policies to replace and F/D/C-/C grades that you have to increase your undergraduate GPA. Take biochem before taking the MCAT and look into taking upper division bio courses to prove to adcoms that you can handle the rigors of medical school.

 

[Goro]

They prey upon the ill-informed like yourself. As long as you have a pulse and can write an up-front tuition check, your chances are excellent.

Please, do yourself a favor and search these forums on why going to a Carib diploma mill is a really bad idea. Unless you like the idea of being deeply in debt and unemployable as a doctor. But here's a summary:


The pool of US applicants from the Caribbean is viewed differently by Program Directors. The DDx for a Caribbean grad is pretty off-putting: bad judgment, bad advice, egotism, gullibility, overbearing parents, inability to delay gratification, IA's, legal problems, weak research skills, high risk behavior. This is not to say that all of them still have the quality that drew them into this situation. There is just no way to know which ones they are. Some PD's are in a position where they need to, or can afford to take risks too! So, some do get interviews.

Bad grades and scores are the least of the deficits from a PD's standpoint. A strong academic showing in a Caribbean medical school does not erase this stigma. It fact it increases the perception that the reason for the choice was on the above-mentioned list!

Just about everyone from a Caribbean school has one or more of these problems and PDs know it. That's why their grads are the last choice even with a high Step 1 score.

There was a time when folks whose only flaw was being a late bloomer went Carib, but those days are gone. There are a number of spots at US schools with grade replacement for these candidates.

A little light reading:

https://milliondollarmistake.wordpress.com/

http://www.tameersiddiqui.com/medical-school-at-sgu

Hello all,

I am a non-traditional student who is 32 years old. I am in the process of applying to med school. Here is my scenario.

Bachelors in Business Adm. with a 3.1 GPA
Masters in Business Adm. with a 3.6 GPA
Currently taking pre-reqs (Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 1)
Taking Organic Chem 1 & 2 in summer session 1 & 2 respectively
Taking MCAT in September 2016
I am currently in the process of applying to SGU, AUA, Ross, AUC. I was encouraged by all of them to apply even though I do not have my pre-reqs or MCAT finished.
Shadowing a local physician.

That being said, if anyone would like to offer any advise on if I should be doing anything else, I'll greatly appreciate it.

Also, is there a section in the forum where I can submit my personal statement for review?

thank you in advance.

 

[atomi]

Do not go to the Caribbean unless you have completely exhausted all other possibilities, are independently wealthy, and have an incredibly strong independent work ethic. Even if all 3 of the above are true, it's still probably a bad idea.

 

[zrothpi]

Some PD's are in a position where they need to, or can afford to take risks too! So, some do get interviews.

 

[68PGunner]

Hello all,

I am a non-traditional student who is 32 years old. I am in the process of applying to med school. Here is my scenario.

Bachelors in Business Adm. with a 3.1 GPA
Masters in Business Adm. with a 3.6 GPA
Currently taking pre-reqs (Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 1)
Taking Organic Chem 1 & 2 in summer session 1 & 2 respectively
Taking MCAT in September 2016
I am currently in the process of applying to SGU, AUA, Ross, AUC. I was encouraged by all of them to apply even though I do not have my pre-reqs or MCAT finished.
Shadowing a local physician.

That being said, if anyone would like to offer any advise on if I should be doing anything else, I'll greatly appreciate it.

Also, is there a section in the forum where I can submit my personal statement for review?

thank you in advance.

You're not going to be a practicing physician with your game plan. Cross off all Carribean schools from your list. Take this year to finish your prerequisites and spend 3-4 months studying for your MCAT. So the plan will be revised to a DEC 2016 MCAT and possibly a late April or May 2017 MCAT. You will apply to US MD/DO in the summer of 2017 and matriculate to med school in the fall of 2018.

 

[deleted480308]

Don't go carribean....you can do it without that if your mcat works out

 

[MSMD10]

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your reply. After a lot of consideration, and speaking to a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon, I think I will apply to domestic MD and DO programs as well. I have pushed back taking the MCAT to December 2016. This way, I will get to finish my pre-reqs (by end of summer) and dedicate 3 months of solid studying just for MCAT. However, I have started the process of studying for MCAT by just ordering the books today.

So, the new plan is

Finish Pre-reqs by End of summer '16
Apply to Caribbean schools prior to taking MCATs and submit the scores once received
Apply to domestic DO and MD schools after finding out MCAT scores

Once again, thank you for your advise.

 

[gyngyn]

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your reply. After a lot of consideration, and speaking to a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon, I think I will apply to domestic MD and DO programs as well. I have pushed back taking the MCAT to December 2016. This way, I will get to finish my pre-reqs (by end of summer) and dedicate 3 months of solid studying just for MCAT. However, I have started the process of studying for MCAT by just ordering the books today.

So, the new plan is

Finish Pre-reqs by End of summer '16
Apply to Caribbean schools prior to taking MCATs and submit the scores once received
Apply to domestic DO and MD schools after finding out MCAT scores

Once again, thank you for your advise.

There is no rush to apply Caribbean. They will take you anytime.

 

[Goro]

You have a very good plan. Keep in mind medical schools are not going anywhere.​

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your reply. After a lot of consideration, and speaking to a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon, I think I will apply to domestic MD and DO programs as well. I have pushed back taking the MCAT to December 2016. This way, I will get to finish my pre-reqs (by end of summer) and dedicate 3 months of solid studying just for MCAT. However, I have started the process of studying for MCAT by just ordering the books today.

So, the new plan is

Finish Pre-reqs by End of summer '16
Apply to Caribbean schools prior to taking MCATs and submit the scores once received
Apply to domestic DO and MD schools after finding out MCAT scores

Once again, thank you for your advise.

Omit the "apply to Caribbean schools" part and the plan is fine. That should really only be a very last resort after multiple attempts to get into US schools -- a Hail Mary chance to be a doctor once it's clear the higher yield routes will never ever pan out. So basically this shouldn't even be in the equation until you have tanked the mcat multiple times and tried in vain to rehabilitate your GPA. Seriously --attrition is high, odds of matching are low -- they pray on idiots who think it's an "easy" way or shortcut into medicine.