graduate school option then med school how does that work???

[vhle]

Hi!
I'm super new to this and all forums of any sort so hopefully i'm doing this correctly and will receive some extra informative answers!

At my school the pre-med advisors suck..they gear 120% energy towards the students they feel has the best potential (on paper, gpa, mcat scores, etc) to get into a med school. Which I GUESS is kind of understandable since they probably dont want to waste time on someone they presume isnt going near that field. But still...I've been through a lot of things and along the way my grades have suffered so the only thing I managed to get out of the advisor was the option of enrolling in a graduate program and then applying.Since she barely told me anything else about it I'm hoping maybe someone experienced with this or knows a lot about this option can help answer my questions!

1. Will any masters program suffice? (Obv. granting you do extremely well in it..) For instance I saw a one year program where students study along side med students and then theres also like biomed masters..biology..oy..so many and so confusing.

2. What about 2 years like anesthesiologist assistant programs...could you use that to show that your ability to handle heavy course loads?

3. Let's say one gets through a masters program or w.e what about the undergrad transcript? Is it just ignored, weighed less ??

Hopefully I make sense and be nice please lol ! I'm fully admitting my lack of knowledge about this whole masters program option path then medical school so that's why I'm looking to find out more!

vhle

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[organdonor]

For those whose GPA is their limiting factor, medical schools may be concerned that you may be unable to handle the rigorous courseload. Taking a masters program and doing extremely well will show them you can succeed. Ideally you would like the masters program to be as close to medical school classes as possible so as to make the comparison more valid.

To this point, many schools offer what is often called a Special Masters Program (SMP) which is especially geared towards those who wish to attend medical school. They often take the same classes alongside medical students and some even promise admission into their medical school as long as minimum grades and MCAT scores are obtained.

If you are unable to get into one of these programs, you can also show your competence in advance science by taking advanced science masters programs like biology, anatomy, genetics, or whatever else. Again the closer these classes are to what you will take in the first couple years of medical school, the easier the comparison will be.

It is also important to realize what a SMP or other masters program will NOT do. It will NOT make up for a low MCAT score or make a lack of volunteering or clinical experience less glaring. It would be ideal for someone whose only lacking part of their application is a low gpa.

I have no idea what schools have the programs. Some are one year while some are two year. I would assume that one year would be better since you can apply the next cycle and actually finish the masters and have something to show for it. Medical schools like to see that you finish what you start.

As far as reporting your undergrad GPA, you still must report it. In order to apply using AMCAS, every post secondary class you ever took anywhere period must be reported. That said, your graduate GPA would be your most recent and therefore your most applicable to medical school admissions committees.
If you have any more questions, don't ask me haha. This is about the extent of my knowledge.

 

[0919mmk]

Hi!
I'm super new to this and all forums of any sort so hopefully i'm doing this correctly and will receive some extra informative answers!

At my school the pre-med advisors suck..they gear 120% energy towards the students they feel has the best potential (on paper, gpa, mcat scores, etc) to get into a med school. Which I GUESS is kind of understandable since they probably dont want to waste time on someone they presume isnt going near that field. But still...I've been through a lot of things and along the way my grades have suffered so the only thing I managed to get out of the advisor was the option of enrolling in a graduate program and then applying.Since she barely told me anything else about it I'm hoping maybe someone experienced with this or knows a lot about this option can help answer my questions!

1. Will any masters program suffice? (Obv. granting you do extremely well in it..) For instance I saw a one year program where students study along side med students and then theres also like biomed masters..biology..oy..so many and so confusing.

2. What about 2 years like anesthesiologist assistant programs...could you use that to show that your ability to handle heavy course loads?

3. Let's say one gets through a masters program or w.e what about the undergrad transcript? Is it just ignored, weighed less ??

Hopefully I make sense and be nice please lol ! I'm fully admitting my lack of knowledge about this whole masters program option path then medical school so that's why I'm looking to find out more!

vhle

Here's my two cents:

1) If you're going to do a masters program, try to do an SMP alongside med students- that will be your best shot. Lots of med schools have them (Drexel, Penn, and Tulane are some that I know of personally, but probably most med schools have them).

2)Dont do an assitantship program - that is geared to people who want a career as an assistant, which doesnt really describe you, and wont do much at all towards getting you in to med school.

3) Unfortunately, this

That said, your graduate GPA would be your most recent and therefore your most applicable to medical school admissions committees.

is not true. It seems like it should be true, but it's not, and it's frustrating for those of us, including myself, with crap undergrad GPAs and good grad school GPAs. As far as most med school adcoms are concerned, the numbers that matter are your undergrad gpa and your MCAT, and that's pretty much it. If you have a good grad GPA, it's nice, it's a bonus, but it in no way makes up for a bad undergrad GPA. The only way to deal with a bad ugGPA is a) take more undergrad level classes and try to bring it up, or b) kill your MCAT, ECs, PS, everything else, and hope that it evens out. Check out this thread - we had a good discussion about the importance of grad GPA.

Good luck!