I am confused!!

[babyfox]

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Hi.
I am about to finish my pre-med course and about to transfer to the university. i am an asian who has been in U.S.A for 4 years and 28 year old female. i have no family in the united states. which means i can go wherever i want.
i have working as a registered nurse since 1995. i worked in OR, PCU, ICU, and med/surg unit... and the nursing home. i am still working in the med/surg unit as a full time employee. by the way, i love my job!!! i think i was born for caring people.

I need to make a decision now, so i can take a step toward my goal.
My first question is about moving to L.A. i live in Florida. being an asion, i always wanted to live in L.A. i don't know why. i read one of colums in this website, which made me little insecure about UCLA medschool. my second question is about my GPA and school. i earned the nursing A.A (even though i have 139 credits in Korea, American grade eval.- i don't know the exact name- give me only 89 credits), but last two years, i earned another 45 credits, and i will transfer to one of the American universites this fall for B.S degree. Do you think my Korean A.A degree would keep me from medschool? or any disadvantage? (My GPA in Korea was average 3.9, my science's GPA which i took in USA is 4.0 include calculus, chemistry, organic chemistry, boiology, physics. )
my third question is about English. as you read, you aleady notice that i need help in Englsh. i postpond to take MCAT because of my writing even though i am really good in science. people tell me that i have photographic memory. i can remember anything so easy, especially number. i have learned my English through T.V. haha.. It's true. i want to take MCAT in August. please someone help me with grammar..

Babyfox from Florida.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

HI, welcome to SDN 😀 um, nice name..... :wink:

I think you would benefit form posting this in the international forum as well, as they might have more insight about transferring international grades.

About moving to L.A., CA is the hardest state from which to gain acceptance to med school, and FL (my home state) is the third hardest, so it may not make much of a difference.

For the English, you could try a verbal reasoning course (Kaplan has one just for the section), and maybe try a private tutor to perfect your grammar for the writing section of the mcat. The writing section is not weighed as much, so when you do well in the other sections (and I'm sure you will!), it will make your writing sample grade less significant anyway, should it be low.

Good luck to you! Sorry I can't answer your other questions 🙂

~Dra. Foxy <img src="http://cwm.rasadam.com/s/cwm/cwm/spiny.gif" alt="" />

 

[racergirl]

I can't answer your questions about international credits either!

About moving--how about somewhere besides California, say a state that's less competitive for med school admissions. California is the MOST competitive state!

About your English: Yes, your grammar is a bit stilted, but I can understand you just fine. If you learned English from TV, you're doing great! As someone already said, the writing portion of the MCAT is not weighted that heavily, so I wouldn't make that your top priority. Of more concern is your Verbal reasoning score. How are you at reading dense text in English, and pulling out the meaning? Do you do a lot of reading in English?

If you can get at least a 9 in the verbal section (or even an 8), I think this would go a long way to offsetting a perhaps less-than-stellar writing score. As Doctora Foxy suggested, a verbal reasoning course might be helpful. You can also get practice verbal reasoning books in book stores, or order them from the AAMC. In fact, I have a book of verbal reasoning practice passages from the AAMC that I never used. Would you like it? If so, send me a private message--I'd be happy to send it to you free of charge!

It sounds like you have a LOT of clinical experience, and you're super-solid in the sciences. all you need to do is practice verbal.

Good Luck!

 

[Tobtolip]

Anyong babyfox!

Its nice to see a fellow korean on SDN, I honestly dont know many korean pre-meds... course I don't live in L.A.

That 3.9 GPA is really impressive, where did you go to school? From what I hear, compared to the difficulty in Korean schools, American schools are a breeze (well.. thats what many of my international friends say anyways) So I dont think you should have any problems with the physical sciences/bio science sections. You might want to take many practice exams and read as much as you can because 85% of the science sections involve passages, and since timing is key its important that your able to quickly read the passage and not get bogged down by figuring out what it means =P

As for your credits, I dont think you should have to worry. My friend told me of a korean international student that scored in the top .1 percentile and got accepted at places like UCSF, JHU, and Harvard. Of course, I would get your hands on a pre-med advisor if you can to make sure indeed that the degree doesnt hinder you. But from what you said, you've already taken all the pre-meds at a US institution, and I haven't read any requirements that say that all of your BS degree credits must be from a US institution :wink: In fact, I doubt this is highly the case because it would disqualify almost every "study-abroad" student out there who transferred in their credits. Once again, I'd call up various med school admissions or ask your pre-med advisor.

As for choosing UCLA, I think its an excellent choice! I grew up in LA and its as close to korea as your gonna get. Even some of the street signs have korean underneath it=P Its almost like living in korea :wink:

ToB

Good luck!
- From what you've described, you have so many experiences and really impressive grades, I think you'd be competitive for any school out there (provided your mcats are equally impressive =P )

 

[babyfox]

Hi it's babyfox again

thank you for your response.
i guess i am scared now.
actually, before i began my pre-med course, i had a council with medschool. they told me that they'd love to accept me if i apply to their school. i did a lot of reserch and council with different medschools before i started. but, somehow i don't trust them. they can say whatever they want. i will buy a kaplan book and start study. i don't worry about sicence section too much. to me, sicence section is much much easier than english section, no comparison!!!

thank you again.
Babyfox from florida.