graduating in 3 years?

[Xelb]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am set on graduating undergrad in three years. The main reason being to save money. I'm not a huge fan of my undergraduate school either (well, its location mainly), and the only reason I went there was to attend a combined program.

With subsidized loans for professional/graduate students to be eliminated this July (thank you, government), money has become more of an issue than it really needs to be. As such, I think I may want to go back to my state of residence for medical school. However, since I am set to graduate in three years, I'm not so sure that I would even want to take the risk of applying out of my program to begin with.

I have plenty of EC's that carried over to college from high school (EC's that I have been doing since I was around 4-5 years old), have your typical "premed" EC's like shadowing and volunteering, will be taking CC classes this summer, and plan to do a SURP the following summer. My grades are also higher than expected (I'm earning straight A's at the moment). I finished my first semester with a 3.75, and it looks like after this semester it will go even higher. I also took several practice MCATs over the winter break and scored in the low to mid thirties (will not disclose actual scores since they were only practice scores)

Given that I am in a combined program and will finish undergrad in three years, is it worth it to forgo an acceptance by applying out to other medical schools? Will the fact that I am graduating in three years be considered a detriment even though I will have accumulated, approximately, the same amount of EC's and research as your typical four-year applicant?

If it means anything, I don't plan on going into a primary care specialty.

Thanks!

 

[CeeEstee0]

There is nothing wrong with graduating in three years, it shows you can handle a lot of information at once. That will be useful in med school. As for applying out . . . . Well I wouldn't. With your stats, 3.75 and let's say a 32 MCAT (Have you taken the MCAT?) You would have about a 50 percent chance of acceptance. I would take a practice MCAT to decide. 34+ would be preferable to be competitive at a mid-tier school, and be confident of an acceptance somewhere. Do you lose you acceptance at your school by applying out?

 

[Catalystik]

Will the fact that I am graduating in three years be considered a detriment even though I will have accumulated, approximately, the same amount of EC's and research as your typical four-year applicant?

So long as your experiences are on par with the typical applicant's and that your choices and interview demonstrated maturity, you would not be at a disadvantage in the med school application process.

You can get a clear idea of chances of success under all possible cGPA/MCAT scenarios by looking through the graphs on this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=888650

This demonstrates that for All Applicants with a 3.75/32 in the last few years, chances were closer to 78% for success (note that results vary by race). It's up to you to decide if the 100% certainty of your current situation is worth giving up for the lesser chance that would come with a cheaper price tag.

 

[Xelb]

So long as your experiences are on par with the typical applicant's and that your choices and interview demonstrated maturity, you would not be at a disadvantage in the med school application process.

You can get a clear idea of chances of success under all possible cGPA/MCAT scenarios by looking through the graphs on this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=888650

This demonstrates that for All Applicants with a 3.75/32 in the last few years, chances were closer to 78% for success (note that results vary by race). It's up to you to decide if the 100% certainty of your current situation is worth giving up for the lesser chance that would come with a cheaper price tag.

I am hispanic, so the chart with hispanic applicants would apply to me. The practice MCAT I took was the AAMC practice MCAT #3 (the free one) and I scored a 31O.

As for the bolded, I'm not really sure. I only need a 24 on the MCAT with an 8 in each section to keep the acceptance I already have in tact. My answer to this question would have been much easier this time last year (before the debt ceiling bill came into fruition) since subsidized loans would have been much easier to pay off.

Now, given some new circumstances (our family is definitely better off compared to the last five years, but grandfather was recently diagnosed stage IV gall bladder cancer that was found to have metastasized to the liver, and my sister will be entering college in a couple of years herself...wants to become an RN), I'm not so sure anymore.


P.S. Thanks for that link. Bookmarked it for future reference.

 

[Hotshy]

I applied and was admitted after only 3 years. My stats were good upon applying (34, 4.0) and had a good amount ECs, research, and leadership. But since I am younger than most applicants I was subject to extra scrutiny (as I was told during my interview). Just be prepared to defend your reasoning for graduating early, financial reasons are definitely acceptable and that was part of my reason for graduating early. Also make sure during your interview you communicate that you have the necessary people skills and ability to relate to other despite being younger as it can be a concern.

 

[Xelb]

I applied and was admitted after only 3 years. My stats were good upon applying (34, 4.0) and had a good amount ECs, research, and leadership. But since I am younger than most applicants I was subject to extra scrutiny (as I was told during my interview). Just be prepared to defend your reasoning for graduating early, financial reasons are definitely acceptable and that was part of my reason for graduating early. Also make sure during your interview you communicate that you have the necessary people skills and ability to relate to other despite being younger as it can be a concern.

Hey I remember you from the other thread I made.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

There is nothing wrong with graduating in three years, it shows you can handle a lot of information at once. That will be useful in med school. As for applying out . . . . Well I wouldn't. With your stats, 3.75 and let's say a 32 MCAT (Have you taken the MCAT?) You would have about a 50 percent chance of acceptance. I would take a practice MCAT to decide. 34+ would be preferable to be competitive at a mid-tier school, and be confident of an acceptance somewhere. Do you lose you acceptance at your school by applying out?

Thanks for the advice from high school land...talk about the blind leading the blind

 

[seanfrommemo]

What program are you in?

 

[Xelb]

What program are you in?

A seven year program that is not too great with letting students receive instate tuition.

 

[deleted261193]

i graduated in three years from my undergrad because i could and because it saved me a buttload of money (i too was an OOS student at a school where it's impossible to get in-state status [hi california]).

i was worried about how that might affect my app, and i think i posted about it on sdn before. what everyone else said is true: as long as you show you are just as mature as the other applicants, there shouldn't be anything wrong. i've gotten into medical school, i know someone else who graduated in 3 years and is already an M1, etc. it was never even brought up in my interview (except when i did it, in which they said wow, you're so smart/impressive!). i had good grades/numbers, and i also had a LOT of experiences that probably show i'm "mature" enough at my age.