I don't know what I am doing...

[unhateable]

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Background info: I am a sophomore, that will graduate one year early. I am a female, but otherwise nothing else special. I am not a master pianist, or a Michael Phelps of swimming. I swim for the Y team, and make state, and have been in girl scouts for 8 years. Nothing special.

I don't want to go to an ivy league college, or medical school. Just the local osteopathic medical school.

I need to know what I should take. I just took the ACT in December, and got a 24. I messed up the reading, and I will be taking a prep class now. I take it again in April. Not high, I know. I am trying though.

I want the hardest class load possible, and I need to know what I should begin to do not only n high school, but also in undergrad to get into medical school.

I can't find one thing explaining the MCAT or MCAT scores. What is the range? What is considered good?

Would the medical school have a list of undergrad schools they favor? Or are they looked at equally? The medical school is just a graduate school. No more.

I frankly need a lot of help.

 

[indianjatt]

Well first off, you should be very open about potential specialties in medicine at this time. As a high school student like myself, we simply do not have enough experience about the life style of many specialties and if it is our true passion. This, however, you will find out during your 3rd year of medical school during rotations if medicine is what you decide to pursue.

As of now I think you should really try to raise the ACT score and work hard in school. Also, I would keep your options open about attending an osteopathic medical school. First try to make it to an MD school, but if not, have osteopathic schools as backups, but ultimately it will be your choice.

 

[chrslbrt]

Even though you are graduating early, you have PLENTY of time to think about most of that stuff.

Specific specialty: Its always good to have an idea about which fields you are interested in, but you won't actually have to start worrying about which field you're going to pick until your 3rd and 4th years of med school when you do your rounds. The only thing you should consider is pharmacy. Its completely different from medical school. Different prereqs, application process, requirements, certification, salary, etc.

College Application: I don't blame you for not wanting to go to an Ivy League. I also chose to go to a public college even though I had a good chance at getting accepted to an Ivy League. It really doesn't matter which college you go to as long as you keep a high GPA and do all the necessary prereqs. I would work on getting a higher score on the ACT though. I would also recommend the ACT over the SAT. In my opinion, the ACT is easier for two reasons. The ACT has no penalty for guessing and the ACT has 3 definitive portions. The SAT penalizes you for wrong answers and it makes multiple switches from subjects which makes me scatterbrained. But the prep class will really help you. Everyone I know who took it blew away my scores, which were pretty good. Basically, if you have a 30 or above, you'll be going anywhere you want.

College: Don't worry about taking a hard major, in fact, its not encouraged. Since a high GPA is important for med school apps, a hard major may end up preventing you from getting accepted since its harder to maintain a high GPA. Also, you can major in whatever you want to, as long as you do the prereqs for med school. So you could be a sociology, business, or art major and still go to med school. Choose whatever strikes your interests.

To prepare for medical school in college, you basically need:
-Prereqs
-MCAT prep classes and study
-Extracurriculars
-High GPA

 

[schrizto]

Plastic surgery is one of the most competitive specialties to match into. Going to an osteopathic school might hurt for matching into it, too.

Right now you should be thinking about what colleges to apply to, though it's good to have your local medical school in mind.

Also, the types of surgeries you named can also be done by other specialties. I think cleft lips can be fixed by dentists (OMFS) and fused fingers can be corrected by orthopaedic surgeons... not sure about this though.

 

[orthomyxo]

Well first off, you should be very open about potential specialties in medicine at this time. As a high school student like myself, we simply do not have enough experience about the life style of many specialties and if it is our true passion. This, however, you will find out during your 3rd year of medical school during rotations if medicine is what you decide to pursue.

As of now I think you should really try to raise the ACT score and work hard in school. Also, I would keep your options open about attending an osteopathic medical school. First try to make it to an MD school, but if not, have osteopathic schools as backups, but ultimately it will be your choice.

I will respectfully, although strongly, disagree with this. For some reason everybody thinks that there is a certain stigma associated with becoming a D.O. I really don't want to turn this thread into another flame war, but just keep this in mind: there is absolutely nothing wrong with attending an osteopathic school.

 

[schrizto]

Basically, if you have a 30 or above, you'll be going anywhere you want.

A 30 ACT will hardly let you go anywhere you want. It's about equivalent to a 2000 SAT. If someone applied to Ivies with a score like that the odds are very slim unless they had something really special to offer.

 

[chrslbrt]

A 30 ACT will hardly let you go anywhere you want. It's about equivalent to a 2000 SAT. If someone applied to Ivies with a score like that the odds are very slim unless they had something really special to offer.

My comment was directed towards the OP. What I was saying is that since OP doesn't want to go to an Ivy, a 30 is a realistic goal to shoot for to get into a good public school.

 

[Cybii]

Background info: I am a sophomore, that will graduate one year early. I am a female, but otherwise nothing else special. I am not a master pianist, or a Michael Phelps of swimming. I swim for the Y team, and make state, and have been in girl scouts for 8 years. Nothing special.

As of today I have made up my mind about being a plastic surgeon. I want to help children with cleft lips, and fused fingers and toes.

That last statement might have made you cringe. "As of today." Yes, I have always wanted to go into medicine, I just have flip flopped around between fields. Anesthesiology, Pharmacy, Pediatrics, and now plastic surgery.

I don't want to go to an ivy league college, or medical school. Just the local osteopathic medical school. They have a program for high schoolers, which I will soon be participating in.

I need to know what I should take. I just took the ACT in December, and got a 24. I messed up the reading, and I will be taking a prep class now. I take it again in April. Not high, I know. I am trying though.

I want the hardest class load possible, and I need to know what I should begin to do not only n high school, but also in undergrad to get into medical school.

I can't find one thing explaining the MCAT or MCAT scores. What is the range? What is considered good?

Would the medical school have a list of undergrad schools they favor? Or are they looked at equally? The medical school is just a graduate school. No more.

I frankly need a lot of help.

Hey, just a quick heads up: an osteopathic medical school is a medical school. 😎

And don't sell yourself short. Girl scouts can look great on apps if you keep doing it throughout undergrad (and help with leadership opportunities). Coaching/assistant coaching the swimming team is also another opportunity once you graduate.

MCAT is broken down into physical sciences (physics and chemistry), biological sciences (organic chem and bio) and verbal reasoning (essay passages with questions). There are two essays you need to write (30 minutes for each). Averages vary with schools, so look up the averages for the schools you are interested in. They'll usually be between 28-30. Range is 0-45. There is a ton of info about the MCAT on the net, I'm surprised you can't find one thing...

And don't swamp yourself with "hard classes" first semester and then bomb them. Ease into college... you'll have a higher GPA that way.

 

[indianjatt]

I will respectfully, although strongly, disagree with this. For some reason everybody thinks that there is a certain stigma associated with becoming a D.O. I really don't want to turn this thread into another flame war, but just keep this in mind: there is absolutely nothing wrong with attending an osteopathic school.

My point was that the OP should keep her options open. Right now she may want to stay close to home which is a good option, but being secluded to just that one option is very limited. I think that rather than being focused on just getting into an Osteopathic school she should look into MD schools more and consider it first. MD schools have a higher match rate and considering the fact that she was considering plastics, MD will present her with more options. I, by no means, am trying to put DO down. I actually am considering it as a back up once I start college.