i am at a loss need help

[lsuhockeyplayer]

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Well my choices are becoming very few and far between. I will be a 3rd year app with a 3.7 GPA in biological sciences and I just recently took the MCAT for the 3rd time and went down from a 25 to a 23. I just need some advice I mean should I just pack it up and go to the Caribbean or keep trying for schools in the country. Personally I am getting very tired of watching the people I graduated with move on while I am sitting stagnate. In addition to that I am frankly scared sh-tless about going to the Caribbean for med school I would know no one and I don’t know how that would effect my studying or my mental well being. One thing is certain though there is not other option on what I want to do I will be a doctor I apparently just can’t find the path to take to get there. I could really use some advice

also if any of you have been to the Caribbean med schools I would appreciate any input like what the living arrangements are like and your opinion of them.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Well my choices are becoming very few and far between. I will be a 3rd year app with a 3.7 GPA in biological sciences and I just recently took the MCAT for the 3rd time and went down from a 25 to a 23. I just need some advice I mean should I just pack it up and go to the Caribbean or keep trying for schools in the country. Personally I am getting very tired of watching the people I graduated with move on while I am sitting stagnate. In addition to that I am frankly scared sh-tless about going to the Caribbean for med school I would know no one and I don’t know how that would effect my studying or my mental well being. One thing is certain though there is not other option on what I want to do I will be a doctor I apparently just can’t find the path to take to get there. I could really use some advice

also if any of you have been to the Caribbean med schools I would appreciate any input like what the living arrangements are like and your opinion of them.

Why would you apply to the Caribbean? Apply to a DO school.

 

[DarkFark]

Well my choices are becoming very few and far between. I will be a 3rd year app with a 3.7 GPA in biological sciences and I just recently took the MCAT for the 3rd time and went down from a 25 to a 23. I just need some advice I mean should I just pack it up and go to the Caribbean or keep trying for schools in the country. Personally I am getting very tired of watching the people I graduated with move on while I am sitting stagnate. In addition to that I am frankly scared sh-tless about going to the Caribbean for med school I would know no one and I don’t know how that would effect my studying or my mental well being. One thing is certain though there is not other option on what I want to do I will be a doctor I apparently just can’t find the path to take to get there. I could really use some advice

also if any of you have been to the Caribbean med schools I would appreciate any input like what the living arrangements are like and your opinion of them.

You can make it into a D.O. school with a 25. I would explore those options first.

 

[bootz]

Hi...thats pretty tough. There is still hope for having a practice here in the states. My uncle went to medical school at UTESA in the Dominican Republic and now has a very successful practice in Washington D.C. He needed some help with his boards but he made it! You can too...

 

[lsuhockeyplayer]

Well the deal is I have applied the last 2 years and I am currently applying this year as well to my in state schools (LSU-New Orleans, LSU-Shreveport, and Tulane). However the big problem I am facing is my latest MCAT is the 23 I mean that seems like it will hurt me a lot this year. And realistically I just can’t sit around any more I really need to move on. That is why the Caribbean is looking like it might be my only choice here. Hopefully I am wrong. I mean the last 2 years I have had interviews at LSU-NO 2 times and LSU-Shreveport 1 time both of which got me waiting on the waiting list until the like July and June respectively. I just think this drop in MCAT is not the push I need.

 

[docolive]

Well my choices are becoming very few and far between. I will be a 3rd year app with a 3.7 GPA in biological sciences and I just recently took the MCAT for the 3rd time and went down from a 25 to a 23. I just need some advice I mean should I just pack it up and go to the Caribbean or keep trying for schools in the country. Personally I am getting very tired of watching the people I graduated with move on while I am sitting stagnate. In addition to that I am frankly scared sh-tless about going to the Caribbean for med school I would know no one and I don’t know how that would effect my studying or my mental well being. One thing is certain though there is not other option on what I want to do I will be a doctor I apparently just can’t find the path to take to get there. I could really use some advice

also if any of you have been to the Caribbean med schools I would appreciate any input like what the living arrangements are like and your opinion of them.

I think you should give it a shot at state schools. If it is too late, then use the score you have and apply super early next May. Regarding the caribbean---I am afraid that there is some discrimination in who was educated where. I just read somewhere else on SDN that a guy who was not too bright--if not stupid to put it bluntly, got in to one of those island schools. You are obviously very bright and I am sure you can make it in to a US school. Two of my friends got in with 24's last year. State med. schools are excellent; maybe you have someone who can get you a courtesy interview at one of the schools, by highly recommending you. All it takes is a phone call. Med. school is competitive, but don't tell me that someone with your GPA and MCAT can not get in to a state school! The range for UT-SW is from 22 to 42!! First of all, I would really try and see if one of the docs you know could get you an interview--this will give you a major chance to present who you are and how worthy you are of a spot in the 2006 class.

 

[Rendar5]

with an mcat like that, it's very likely u won't get into ur state school. (to the previous poster, there's a 22mcat there, but how many, and what percentage of people with 22mcat's got in. Just because there are people there with really low mcats does not mean he has a decent chance). Before applying to a foreign program, you should be applying to osteopathic schools as well. You are still at a disadvantage with that MCAT, however. But ur chances are probably greater there, overall, than with an allopathic school.

As for FMGing it, u'll have a better shot at residencies as a DO than as an FMG. But if u do really well and kick ass on the boards, u can get pretty good residencies here. Just remember that the boards are standardized tests w/ a fair correlation to MCAT scores. something like 0.6-0.7. So u'll need to get better test-taking skills over the 4 years of med school. As for stupid people making it into carribean schools who should not be doctors, well, there is a reason that there is a high failure rate at such schools compared with the US. And it is not the difficulty of the material.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

I would apply to many DO schools as well as about 15 "lower-tier" MD schools, plus a handful of "reaches". Its worth a shot, but it will be costly, so hopefully you have some savings or are eligible for loans. Your MCAT will be hard to overcome, but I kid you not when I tell you that I know of someone who interviewed at Harvard with a 24.