Going Pre-Med after sophomore year...thoughts and advice?

[rae_97]

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Hello!

Medical school is something that I think has always been in the back of my mind but, for some reason, I never pursued it. I'm very non-traditional...I was homeschooled, took a gap year to work then started college without a career plan. I've always admired med students and pre med is something that I always thought was awesome. I've been doing a lot of reading on neurology and endocrinology those fields have really spiked my interest.
I want to do this, problem is, I'm a little behind and my GPA (while good, I'm on the Dean's List at my uni) needs to be higher to be competitive with other applicants. I'm going into my junior year this fall and because I didn't get my pre med prerequisites out of the way early on, I calculated that I may need to stay in undergrad for another 3 years. This is okay, I love my science classes and I'm determined to do what I can do get where I want to be. I'm currently taking part in a summer research program and have already started studying some for the MCAT. Any thoughts or advice? I need people to talk with me about this.
Any response would be appreciated.

 

[atomi]

If you think you might like it, then start going down that path and see how you feel. That's what college is for. You have all the time in the world at your age. FWIW, I questioned med school my sophomore year too, started going down that path for a semester, wasn't sure, then jumped back to engineering, graduated, worked for a little bit, then went back and tried med school again. Fast forward 10 years and I'm about to finish residency.

 

[rae_97]

If you think you might like it, then start going down that path and see how you feel. That's what college is for. You have all the time in the world at your age. FWIW, I questioned med school my sophomore year too, started going down that path for a semester, wasn't sure, then jumped back to engineering, graduated, worked for a little bit, then went back and tried med school again. Fast forward 10 years and I'm about to finish residency.

Thank you so much for your advice! I really do need to just slow down and enjoy the process. I'm going to work my butt off to get good grades these coming semesters and find shadowing experience along the way as well. A mentor of mine, when I mentioned med school, brushed it away and said "You don't want to do that" then kept suggesting all these careers that don't spark my interest at all. Another mentor told me that because my GPA is no higher than 3.5, that I will just be endlessly applying to schools and not get accepted. He also told me that because I come from a low income family, that I can't expect to pay for it and will in debt all my life and that on top of that, doctors get sued all the time. It was very discouraging but that's just two people's opinions and just because I'm doing it a different way doesn't mean that way won't work.

 

[atomi]

Thank you so much for your advice! I really do need to just slow down and enjoy the process. I'm going to work my butt off to get good grades these coming semesters and find shadowing experience along the way as well. A mentor of mine, when I mentioned med school, brushed it away and said "You don't want to do that" then kept suggesting all these careers that don't spark my interest at all. Another mentor told me that because my GPA is no higher than 3.5, that I will just be endlessly applying to schools and not get accepted. He also told me that because I come from a low income family, that I can't expect to pay for it and will in debt all my life and that on top of that, doctors get sued all the time. It was very discouraging but that's just two people's opinions and just because I'm doing it a different way doesn't mean that way won't work.

You mentors sound like idiots, which is unfortunately common in undergrad. Get the best grades you can and leave all your doors open. 3.5 GPA is not bad, and you are not even halfway through college If you can average a 3.8 for the rest of college, you'll be in a good enough place to apply to US MD schools.

 

[getdown]

Thank you so much for your advice! I really do need to just slow down and enjoy the process. I'm going to work my butt off to get good grades these coming semesters and find shadowing experience along the way as well. A mentor of mine, when I mentioned med school, brushed it away and said "You don't want to do that" then kept suggesting all these careers that don't spark my interest at all. Another mentor told me that because my GPA is no higher than 3.5, that I will just be endlessly applying to schools and not get accepted. He also told me that because I come from a low income family, that I can't expect to pay for it and will in debt all my life and that on top of that, doctors get sued all the time. It was very discouraging but that's just two people's opinions and just because I'm doing it a different way doesn't mean that way won't work.

I agree with atomi. Your mentors sound like a bunch of *****s. They happen to be your school's premed advisor?

 

[Dagrimsta1]

I got in with 3.5 but to a DO school (same **** FYI)
MCAT is a great equalizer.
You’ll pay off your loans. Lol
Accept the extended route you want to begin. (6 more years of education minimum)
Shadow a bit before fully committing to see it in action.

 

[Throwaway5129]

Hello!

Medical school is something that I think has always been in the back of my mind but, for some reason, I never pursued it. I'm very non-traditional...I was homeschooled, took a gap year to work then started college without a career plan. I've always admired med students and pre med is something that I always thought was awesome. I've been doing a lot of reading on neurology and endocrinology those fields have really spiked my interest.
I want to do this, problem is, I'm a little behind and my GPA (while good, I'm on the Dean's List at my uni) needs to be higher to be competitive with other applicants. I'm going into my junior year this fall and because I didn't get my pre med prerequisites out of the way early on, I calculated that I may need to stay in undergrad for another 3 years. This is okay, I love my science classes and I'm determined to do what I can do get where I want to be. I'm currently taking part in a summer research program and have already started studying some for the MCAT. Any thoughts or advice? I need people to talk with me about this.
Any response would be appreciated.

Have you taken all the science prereq classes yet? Science GPA is more important than class GPA in general. 3.65 science and 3.7 class is the average for those to are accepted to medical school. You're not far off, so you have a good chance.
Also you're low income? There's a FAP program that will discount your mcat/supplies and allow you to apply for 16 schools for free, w/ free secondary applications. And yes you'll probably be in debt, but most doctors are until they finish their residency. After that you can pay it off fairly quickly.
Have you thought about shadowing a doctor, and/or volunteering in a clinical setting to see if this is what you really want to do?

 

[rae_97]

I agree with atomi. Your mentors sound like a bunch of *****s. They happen to be your school's premed advisor?

Yes, the first one is the pre-med advisor. The second one of my summer research program mentor.

 

[rae_97]

I got in with 3.5 but to a DO school (same **** FYI)
MCAT is a great equalizer.
You’ll pay off your loans. Lol
Accept the extended route you want to begin. (6 more years of education minimum)
Shadow a bit before fully committing to see it in action.

Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it. DO is an option that I'm enthusiastic about because I like their approach to medicine, so that's okay with me.

 

[rae_97]

Have you taken all the science prereq classes yet? Science GPA is more important than class GPA in general. 3.65 science and 3.7 class is the average for those to are accepted to medical school. You're not far off, so you have a good chance.
Also you're low income? There's a FAP program that will discount your mcat/supplies and allow you to apply for 16 schools for free, w/ free secondary applications. And yes you'll probably be in debt, but most doctors are until they finish their residency. After that you can pay it off fairly quickly.
Have you thought about shadowing a doctor, and/or volunteering in a clinical setting to see if this is what you really want to do?

I still have a lot science pre-recs to go but I really do enjoy the science classes and I have A's in all the science classes I've taken so far.

I will definitely check out the program you mentioned, thank you so much for telling me about it!!

About shadowing, the hospital in my town doesn't allow it because I'm not a nursing student so I've been contacting the clinics instead. Hopefully I can get shadowing hours there.

 

[getdown]

Yes, the first one is the pre-med advisor. The second one of my summer research program mentor.

surprise, surprise. Not.

 

[Throwaway5129]

I still have a lot science pre-recs to go but I really do enjoy the science classes and I have A's in all the science classes I've taken so far.

I will definitely check out the program you mentioned, thank you so much for telling me about it!!

About shadowing, the hospital in my town doesn't allow it because I'm not a nursing student so I've been contacting the clinics instead. Hopefully I can get shadowing hours there.

have you talked your PCP about shadowing him/her?

 

[smukke]

Yes, the first one is the pre-med advisor. The second one of my summer research program mentor.

Take pre-med advisors advice with a grain of salt. At many schools they have an incentive to discourage all but the best candidates from applying in order to protect the undergrad's acceptance rate.