Getting into Carrib Med Schools

[Arunski]

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I've got some god awful grades. D's in Pchem, an E in PhysII, and C's in a few Bio courses. My GPA is 3.1, and Science GPA is 2.8.

HOWEVER, i studied my A$$ off for the MCAT, and i got a 38 (13B 13P 12V)

I know my GPA matches the profile of those who are admitted to Ross and SGU someewhat, but is the fact that some of my grades are so awful going to hinder me from getting in? I guess i'm asking current Ross/SGU students if they know students in their class who have situations similar to mine and were successful in obtaining admission.

Thanks!
ARUN

 

[deleted4401]

A 38, and you are only applying carib?? Are you friggin' kidding me?

I applied with a 3.1 and a 34 and got into two MD schools (MSUCHM and Tulane). You gotta give it a shot, man. Don't you have anything going for you in terms of reasons of doing below average? Or some cool extra-currics? Or something?

Apply to 30 schools, and you could get a few interviews on that MCAT alone, man...

Simul

 

[The Pill Counter]

You must be crazy, that MCAT is gold! Do another year, boost your GPA if you need to, but you should not give up on American med schools yet.

 

[oceandocDO]

Nice score on the MCAT. However, what happened with the grades? Are you the brillantly lazy type who can get it together for a test but not on a day-to-day basis? If so, think about doing something other than medical school. Med school is a grinding hell for people who are procrastinators or are simply lazy. I should know, I was one of them. Same deal, low grades, high mcat. I had to drastically change my perception of learning and work in general. Med school consists of studying or justifying to yourself why your not studying. Period. The material isnt something you can throw together the night before. If you think your attitude will change in med school, and as a result you can study just as hard for a solid 4 years straight as you did for the mcat for 2 months, you better be right or you're in for a very long medical school tenure.

just my $0.02.

 

[Arunski]

Ocean, i think you're description is pretty accurate. My poor grades are simply because of me goofing off in college and having entirely too much fun. But when i want to excel insomething, i'm certainly able to (like on the MCAT.)

I only hope that i can get into one of the carribean schools based on my MCAT alone (since my academic record is pretty lousy)

 

[deleted4401]

This is getting out of hand, man.

Please, for my sake, apply US first. Don't waste that score, man. Just apply to a bunch of schools here. Someone might take a chance on you, you have to at least try. I'm sure you can find at least one person on this board with similar stats that got into one school.

If you don't get in, then start thinking about carib. Or Australia or Ireland, which are also good. You'll get into ALL of them, without a doubt, as long as you aren't an dingus at the interviews. My friends have gotten into some of those schools with lower stats than you. They give people chances. The key is, once you get there you have to work hard and then smoke the USMLEs, which you probably will do fine on, since you made the MCAT look like a spelling quiz.

But, with all due respect to what Ocean said, the procastination can last through first year, if all you want to do is pass. For some people, first year just isn't that hard. Memorization comes easy to some people, and they can cram and purge 72 hours before an exam. Maybe not gross anatomy, but biochem, histo, embryo, and neuro for sure. It isn't the best way to learn, and perhaps people who do this are cheating themselves ... but that's another story.

If you are trolling, this isn't funny ...

Simul

 

[Skip Intro]

Arun:

Take the advice about applying to the U.S. schools. As it stands, I'm almost certain, with hardly a doubt, that you would get into both Ross and St. Georges with those grades and especially that MCAT score. You are likely to get into a U.S. school with that MCAT score alone. Get your AMCAS app together and to them on the earliest date available (still mid-June, right?). Take a shot at a U.S. school. You can always start Ross (where I am now) in either December or May if you don't hear something positive from a U.S. school by then and you're really anxious to get started.

As far as the work ethic, I agree that it is daily, grinding, seemingly never-ending, sometimes boring, sometimes incredibly interesting, and always laborious study. You will go blind with the amount of reading you have to do. You will think you're going crazy as you go over the glycolysis and Krebs cycle, along with the enzyme deficiencies and what diseases they cause, for the 35th time. You have to be serious about being in medical school - no matter where that program may be - or you will certainly not do well.

Still, try the U.S. route. I was like yourself in undergrad. I didn't have nearly the MCAT score you did (but it was above average) and I got one interview out of twelve secondary apps. Didn't get in, of course, or I wouldn't be here. But, if you can convince an interviewer that you are a "changed" person and can do the work, they might take a gamble and give you a shot. If it doesn't work out, you can always come down here or SGU.

But, be forewarned - it's not a picnic here either. The folks that I know who've failed have done so because they haven't kept up with the work. Plain and simple. Like oceandocDO says, you cannot possibly learn this stuff the night before the test. And, it builds. If you start off getting a lousy foundation, say, in Biochem and Histology, it'll come back to haunt you in Pathology, Physiology and your other courses.

Good luck, dude.

-Skip
MS2 Ross University
Portsmouth, Dominica

 

[Arunski]

Simul, i'm legit, not trolling...I've talked to admissions representatives at med school fairs at my school, and they all seem to be telling me that students with science gpa's less than 3.0 rarely get in regardless of their mcat score...which makes me think that it's probably best not to pin my hopes on getting into a US med school. Don't get me wrong, i'll definitely apply to my state med school (maryland), but otherwise, i fear my only hope is for the carribs...

thanks for all the feedback guys,
Arun

 

[deleted4401]

arunski,

i realize what you are saying, and it seems futile.

I wish I had a transcript of this correspondance, but I wrote my advisors at Northwestern when I was a junior and told him my MCAT, low GPA, and etc. His response, was something like this:

"Mr. Parikh,

The average medical student GPA is 3.5. The standard deviation is approximtely 0.3. You are below the 10th percentile. You WILL NOT get into a US Med school this year. Work hard senior year, improve your grades, and you might have a chance. Good luck."

A few months later, October 31st of my senior year in college, I wrote back:

"Dean X,

Attached to this email is your words from a few months ago. Well, turns out I got into two med schools. Try to give more positive advice next time."

He proceeded to inquire about my race (dingus!).

Anyhow, point is, don't listen to anybody who underestimates you. You'll surprise yourself.

 

[ApacheIndian]

You want to know how to get in to a Caribbean school? I'll tell you my friend...

First, stop caring about academics around Junior year in high school. Go ahead and ruin your up-till-that-point stellar credentials. And drop out of the basketball team too... who cares that you'd be starting 2-man senior year if you'd stay? Then, start going out every night, partying, drinking, just general "hanging out." This will very efficiently cause your GPA to take a nose dive but no big deal. Then after graduating without honors that you'd have otherwise had in the bag, forgot about IVY league that your were initially planning and could have definitely done... oh no, why don't you go to community college instead? In fact, why don't you just jump around from one community college to another? Yeah, do that... more time to hang out. After a couple years of non-productive living, self-discontent, and total unfulfillment, THEN one day, you'll wake up in the morning (probably hung-over), take a long, hard look in the mirror and say to yourself "What the **** AM I DOING!?" It is at that point my friend, that the Caribbean medical schools will serve as your safety net. They will provide you with an option, your ONLY option at THAT point, to fulfill your dreams of becoming a doctor... not the best way, not the way you had hoped to and most definitley could have before your 2 year-long-weekend, but hey, we all make mistakes right? Some bigger than others.

Follow the above tried and true formula to get in to a Caribbean school. Trust me... it worked perfectly for ME.

 

[ApacheIndian]

One other thing...

Even though you might have screwed up big time (UNDERSTATEMENT), don't live in the past. No regrets. Do what you can do FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS so that you will NEVER have any regrets again. Use this to fuel your fire... and come back stronger than ever, to be your absolute BEST from now on.

(this post isn't really intended for anyone in particular-besides maybe myself, so please don't get defensive)

 

[Skip Intro]

Haha... yeah, Cuts. Too true. I don't know about yourself, but I had a hell of a time living it up throughout my 20's. And, at the end of the day you know what they're going to call me anyway? That's right -> Dr. Intro. Wouldn't change a thing.

 

[silver_eyes]

hi arjun,

i am a college soph myself and my grades STINKKKK! i am not near a 3.0. i got a 3.8 in high school. breeezed through bio with a A and chem with a B, but even when i study my ass off i still end up getting d's and f's.

if i get below a 3.5 gpa....cummulative for science and non science and a ok MCAT score, do i have a chance at a US medical school? I DO NOT want to go to the carribean.

i am doing research through a hopsital on migranes and headaches in high school students. we are just gathering the data right now and when or if this gets published, i will have my name on it. i will also try to do undergrad resaerch at my school. and will start volunteering at the local er or hospital my soph. year ( i havent started yet. i just finsihed freshman year).

do i have a chance?

THANKS.
btw, im pakistani-american, female. everybody thinks i am a guy. I AM NOT!! 😀

 

[Arunski]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by silver_eyes:
•hi arjun,

i am a college soph myself and my grades STINKKKK! i am not near a 3.0. i got a 3.8 in high school. breeezed through bio with a A and chem with a B, but even when i study my ass off i still end up getting d's and f's.
•••••Well, if you're trying really hard and getting d's and f's in college, there's something wrong with you. You wouldn't be able to hack it in med school...my grades suck simply because i didn't do ****..

 

[halothane]

For those who do not feel they are even upto the mark for carribean schools there still a safety net....Russian Schools and former commy bloc schools you can get your MD for the price of community college/ITT tech !! But once you are in better be real good and smash the boards or else you will be dispensing phage creams in Siberia for Vodka <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

 

[Skip Intro]

Halo:

There's a girl in my class at Ross who is a Russian M.D. Yes, she could not past Step I and had to start over from scratch. So, like you say, go that route only if you can pass the boards on your own.

<img src="http://rockbottomdlux.freewebspace.com/smilies/Drool.gif" alt=" - " />

 

[halothane]

Actually the Russian path is the most dreaded path. Things could have changed now! Whe I joined med school in 94 in India there were guys who could not get into school in India by merit and found paying capitation was too expensive they went to school in Russia/Ukraine. They flew Aerofloat ....u need to take your own food for the journeys!! if you paid the pilot $$ he would let you ride free in the cockpit! Also no central heating back then in Moscow, Kiev winter!! Just those inefficient room heaters...man that route is if you are very very desperate to get an MD at any cost. Besides you had to learn russian for a year. Now I hear things have changed for the better a lil bit and a few places have English teaching....still a scary venture ( the only pro os that its really cheap...)

 

[Arunski]

Do you guys think it's better for me to try and get into one of these post-bacc programs and try for US med schools, or do you think those are just a waste of time/money.

Arun

 

[deleted6669]

dude, you've got a 38!!!. do a postbacc program or get an mph or something within 3 years of your test date and pick your school. if you could keep a 3.5 at a lot of post bac programs(mcp hahnemann my alma mater, for 1) you would get automatic admission.good luck-e

 

[ussdfiant]

emedpa,

I noticed that your sig changed from "nontraditional pre-DO" to "nontraditional pre-med". Any reason for the change?

 

[deleted6669]

ussdfiant-
my life situation has changed a bit. I still prefer the DO concept, however, my home state(oregon) does not have a DO school. my wife is pregnant with our 1st child and we just bought a house. the local state school (OHSU) is a great school and inexpensive when compared to tuition at DO programs(16K vs 25K/year).I probably will apply to OHSU and several DO programs. at this point, life would just be easier staying in state but I will move if I have to. I still have a year or so to figure all of this out. so I guess my signature should read pre-md/do. -e

 

[Pursuing MD]

DEFINITELY LY apply to a US medical school...you'll most probably get an interview, and they'll ask you about your low GPA (start thinking of a good answer now).

Caribbean medical schools you are most likely in...avg MCAT is about 24-27 for them.

 

[UNEOSTEO]

GO INTO A POST-BACC PROGRAM TO IMPROVE YOUR GRADES AND REAPPLY TO US MD/DO SCHOOLS!!!

You'll get in!

 

[Alladin]

No, you?ll definitely shouldn?t give russian schools a try... stick to the caribeans, if you won ?t make it into US Schools.

As far as I have heard, things are even getting worse in the former soviet union- and if you pay bucks, they?ll give you whatever diploma you want-

 

[IRON_DUKE]

Arunski :

No sweat man.................worse comes to worse , you can always look to be a english major .

Just kidding................jeeeeeez ...........

Apply to were you feel you will be better off and happiest . The american med program is the dream , but as you see it is not always the fairest .

From what I read on your other posts , you write good prose .

Use that to impress the admission boards .

Best of luck ...............................

Duke 😎

 

[Doctor Octagonecologyst]

Remember, that MCAT is good for three years. So you have three years to raise your GPA with post-baccs. By that point your GPA should be at least half-way decent. If you have great extracurriculars at the same time and apply to lots of schools, you'll most certainly get in somewhere (thank God you're not a Cali resident, tho). And you will be able to consider the full range of medical specialties as career options, rather than being forced into fam prac, internal med, peds, or psych, as IMG's frequently are.