Help please!

[JSizzles]

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I am in messed up situation. I always dreamed of getting into med school, but I lost confidence and never took the mcat.

I thought I would never get in so I looked into nursing and got accepted into an accelerated masters, then I would get additional schooling to get NP certification.

I graduate in December and the nursing program begins in January. I am thinking about deferring and applying to Midwestern and Rosalind franklin for their SMP programs because they have good linkage.

I have not taken the GRE or MCAT, but I will take the GRE to apply with that. Then take the MCAT sometime between Jan and Aug before the program begins because it will be my off time after graduation and the start of the fall term.

Science GPA=3.0 (with a lot of bad grades B- both orgo's C+ in both physics C+ in Bio 2 C in Chem 1)
Overall=3.55

good EC decent letters of Rec

Just looking for advise anyone think I can get into those SMP's there averages are basically the same 3.1 science 3.3 overall

 

[occams_razor]

Don't lose hope! Your science GPA is on the low end but not so bad, you can recover. Your overall GPA is fine. You will need to do well on the MCAT, I can't stress that enough. Make that your priority! you could do an SMP, or you could take undergrad science courses as a post-bacc to boost your science GPA (depending on how many science credits you've already taken this may or may not be feasible). are you open to DO med schools? If so you could take advantage of DO grade replacement and re-take the courses you did poorly in

 

[pietachok]

I'm sure there are exceptions, but you aren't typically allowed to defer admission while enrolling in another school/program.

SMPs are expensive, and there is a possibility (even likelihood) that you will not do better there than you did in undergrad -- you are graded against a self-selected batch of highly motivated students +/- medical students, often extra-motivated by the tuition they're paying, and further selected by the SMP b/c they felt they could succeed. Surely some are easier than others, but you have to consider what position you'll be in if you do the same or even worse in your SMP. Or, is there a really convincing reason that you would do better in the SMP than you did in an undergrad program that you still haven't completed? (Major illness etc.?)

Are you willing to go to a DO program?
As far as I can see, even without changing your GPA you have a chance at getting into DO programs as long as you get an ok MCAT score (your GPA is ok for it, but the fact that the low points in your transcript are your pre-med courses probably matters beyond GPA here, and there's no data for that). If you do worse in your SMP . . . what would your chances be at DO or MD? (I don't know, but I'm assuming worse).

If you're willing to go to a DO program, because the way they calculate the GPA allows for replacement of grades be re-taking classes, I think that you might most benefit from deferring for a year but instead of doing the SMP do the following:

1_ Defer your nursing admission for 1 year to start in Jan 2015.
2) Throughout 2014 enroll as a non-matriculated student in a public school; re-take some of the classes in which you did poorly to see if you can improve, & if you are doing well, get LORs from your instructors.
3) Through Spring/Summer 2014 Study for the MCAT
4) In Fall 2014 Take the MCAT
5) At the end of 2014 review your standing -- if your MCAT score was OK, and you've been able to get better than B's in your non-matriculated courses, you will have a pretty solid DO application. If you haven't been able to pick up your grades or you do just abysmally on the MCAT after all that studying, then you can still go to your nursing program in January 2015.

This is obviously just my 2 cents, but it's what seems most reasonable to me. I've seen a lot of people blow money and time on SMPs and Post-baccs without anything to show for it.

 

[JSizzles]

The nursing program starts in the fall also. I can defer until August. From January and August I can take the MCAT and retake a semester of gen bio and Chem to get A's. It will bump me up to a 3.35 science using the DO replacement policy. What do you think I need to get on the MCAT to get in to DO?

 

[pietachok]

The nursing program starts in the fall also. I can defer until August. From January and August I can take the MCAT and retake a semester of gen bio and Chem to get A's. It will bump me up to a 3.35 science using the DO replacement policy. What do you think I need to get on the MCAT to get in to DO?

You'd be better off asking that on the DO forums. You can also look in the osteopathic equivalent of the MSAR:
http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Pages/default.aspx

Avg GPA: 3.49
sGPA: 3.37 (also keep in mind I think they use slightly different criteria for what goes into the sGPA, so yours might be different than for AMCAS)
MCAT (B: 9.48, PS: 8.74, V: 8.63) ~27

Those are the averages for all of the schools. As of a few years ago some of the individual schools had avg sGPAs down around 3.2 and avg MCAT as low as 22.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=7658193&postcount=1

I know nothing about admission to nursing school, but the fact that the program starts twice a year makes me think it's not the most selective program (sorry if I'm wrong there) -- can't you take the year needed to do this and reapply to nursing school if it doesn't work out? Assuming you can get in the high 20s on the MCAT, I'm pretty sure you'd be considered competitive for DO programs. If this is really what you want, it's foolish to change your whole life b/c of a nursing school admission you can probably get again if you reapply. People would never tell someone to go to medical school if they felt as wishy washy about it as you sound about nursing school . . . I don't think I want that disinterest in my nurse either.

You might have to take some years off b/t college and med school, but a lot of people do, and it's not a bad thing. Having some experience outside of school is a good thing.

Another option if you aren't successful at medical school is to look into PA school -- then you don't have to go through the nursing program + further education to become an NP. Or were you doing that because you thought you could still be a nurse even if you decided you couldn't/wouldn't become an NP?

 

[Redpancreas]

I am in messed up situation. I always dreamed of getting into med school, but I lost confidence and never took the mcat.

I thought I would never get in so I looked into nursing and got accepted into an accelerated masters, then I would get additional schooling to get NP certification.

I graduate in December and the nursing program begins in January. I am thinking about deferring and applying to Midwestern and Rosalind franklin for their SMP programs because they have good linkage.

I have not taken the GRE or MCAT, but I will take the GRE to apply with that. Then take the MCAT sometime between Jan and Aug before the program begins because it will be my off time after graduation and the start of the fall term.

Science GPA=3.0 (with a lot of bad grades B- both orgo's C+ in both physics C+ in Bio 2 C in Chem 1)
Overall=3.55

good EC decent letters of Rec

Just looking for advise anyone think I can get into those SMP's there averages are basically the same 3.1 science 3.3 overall

You don't look like a frequent poster but just a pro-tip. Next time you decide to make a thread, if there's a next time, make a more interesting thread title 😛

Anyways, SMP linkages might be good but I really suggest keeping DO schools in mind too. Regardless, I think you're in the right track. Assuming SMPs are on a Fall-Spring schedule, I'd suggest applying to those now (apply to a couple more!) and then turn your sole focus to your MCAT. Kill it (aim for a balanced 30+ -but don't fret if it doesn't turn out the best). Take it after reviewing the SN2 schedule (Take it in Jan and you'll have plenty of time to re-take). Then, if it goes awry, retake in May. Then go into the SMP and work your butt off (if you do poorly, keep in mind most doors suddenly close -aka any US med school will be reluctant to accept you). I don't know your abilities and motivations but maybe it'd be wise to consider taking an additional year off just so you can ready yourself academically. Definitely defer on nursing school though. I think medicine and nursing are both fields that require a great deal of empathy but the roles differences are day & night. If you settle for nursing, you may always feel a twinge of regret. Just take a longer route to medicine and maybe you'll practice 33 years instead of 35. Good Luck! Also, in regards to what you actually asked about whether you can get in or not, I think you most certainly can. I've seen multiple anecdotal threads of people getting into SMPs would those kinds of stats.

 

[JSizzles]

If I do retakes would it be better to redo a semester of Bio and Chem or one semester of physics and either bio or chem. Does this essentially matter at all which classes I retake? By changing two C's to A's my science jumps up from 3.0 to 3.33. I am definitely fine with doing DO for the replacement, or should I take biochem and microbio which are higher level, but at a community college level?