I majored in being and athlete... did i screw up?

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SportsProtoMed

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I went to a private school in southern california, and played 4 Division I sports, (waterpolo, swimming, cross country and track/field). I now see that I over extended myself and this killed my English Major GPA to a horrible 3.1. I realized that it would be no use applying to med-school... or any school for that matter when I graduated, so, instead I passed my ACE exam and became a personal trainer. Now I work in professional sports, but I feel like I am ready to go back to school and get ready to apply to med school. However, I am curious, do I even have a chance? After reading multiple other threads, I don't think any schools will care that I have a 3.1 GPA because I practiced 4 different sports for 4+ hours a day. Any suggestions? I am not interested in going to and overseas or to DO school. I am prepared to go to a pre-med, I am just not sure which ones I could get into. HELP!!!! I am a recovered (7 years since I was released from the hospital!) anorexic/bulimic and want to go into med. to help young girls like doctors helped me. Any ideas???
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Did you ever take the MCAT?
 
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SportsProtoMed said:
I went to a private school in southern california, and played 4 Division I sports, (waterpolo, swimming, cross country and track/field). I now see that I over extended myself and this killed my English Major GPA to a horrible 3.1. I realized that it would be no use applying to med-school... or any school for that matter when I graduated, so, instead I passed my ACE exam and became a personal trainer. Now I work in professional sports, but I feel like I am ready to go back to school and get ready to apply to med school. However, I am curious, do I even have a chance? After reading multiple other threads, I don't think any schools will care that I have a 3.1 GPA because I practiced 4 different sports for 4+ hours a day. Any suggestions? I am not interested in going to and overseas or to DO school. I am prepared to go to a pre-med, I am just not sure which ones I could get into. HELP!!!! I am a recovered (7 years since I was released from the hospital!) anorexic/bulimic and want to go into med. to help young girls like doctors helped me. Any ideas???
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eh.. a 3.1 wont cut it..
if you score a 32+ on the mcat.. you could go to a smp.. and even then its not guaranteed
however going to a DO school would be easier, you just need to retake every class you got a C or lower in.. and score a mcat of 28+
that being said.. my best friend last match got into rad's from PCOM a DO school.. so i think you should at least consider that
because in america and most places..
a DO = MD
 
SportsProtoMed said:
Yes, I only got a 35... I am planning on re-taking it.
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wtf..
your so a troll..

if not go to a SMP and spend 30k and get all A's.. your only shot into a allopathic school
if you decide to go DO
you might get in somewhere this next cycle.
 
If you re-take a few sciences classes you got a C or lower in you can deff. get into a D.O. school with a 35 on the MCAT.
 
Do SMP's look at MCATs at all? What about going back to UCLA and taking some more pre-health classes?
 
Yeah, DO is not an options, I don't believe in the school of thought... just saying. What about going back for 3 years and getting a BS in Biology or pre-health somewhere?
 
what about the "schol of thought" don't you believe in? Once you begin practicing you don't have to practice OMM or OMT. If you already have a bachelors degree then do some post-grad work, research n ect. to improve your application.
 
SportsProtoMed said:
Yeah, DO is not an options, I don't believe in the school of thought... just saying. What about going back for 3 years and getting a BS in Biology or pre-health somewhere?
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yah.. SMP's require high Mcats.. if you can get into one you'll be fine..
you'll have a 'shot' at allopathic schools
but you'll have to pay.. 30k for it..
but you'll possibly get into a allo
but if you just redid a few classes you'd be able to get into a DO school
and school of thought?
DO schools have been teaching the same exact thing as MD schools for almost 30 years now.
with the exception of teaching some OMM which you do not have to practice
 
From what I have heard DO places greater emphasis of "manipulation" before technology. There is absolutely nothing wrong with DO, I just believe that I would do better in the technology based practices of Allopathic training. But I could be way off, and completely miss-guided. Is it possible to transfer from a DO into an MD program? Just curious... that may be a stupid question.
 
Thank you for the input guys! I greatly appreciate it! Maybe I will look into DO school, it seems like I may have the wrong perceptions about it. Money is not a factor for me right now, I currently have a pretty successful position in professional sports. I am simply changing careers to follow my heart. Corny.. I know.. (sorry)
 
I'm not in med school so i can't say that D.O school's place greater emphasis on manipulation, but i HIGHLY doubt that is true at all. And its possible to transfer but why would you go to a D.O school in the first place if your so against it?
 
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SportsProtoMed said:
From what I have heard DO places greater emphasis of "manipulation" before technology. There is absolutely nothing wrong with DO, I just believe that I would do better in the technology based practices of Allopathic training. But I could be way off, and completely miss-guided. Is it possible to transfer from a DO into an MD program? Just curious... that may be a stupid question.
Click to expand...

:laugh::laugh::laugh:
yah... your looking at a before 1950's view of osteopathic medicine..
you can.. just have to have a good reason.. like you can no longer stay in that area or.. your being persecuted

yes.. DO medicine is the same as MD.. before 1950's DO's were all against medicine because in the 19th century most medicine contained chemicals like pure mercury... A.T Still basically invented manipulation to avoid the use of medication which in most cases did more harm then good..
now with medicine being actually well understood.. i.e pharmacology is a well known and studied field
DO's have since now been signing out more then enough meds..
so theres really no handy cap in getting a DO ..
its like DDS V.S DMD with dental..
 
An SMP is your best shot for MD, but be aware it isn't a guarantee. You must perform very well, typically 3.5+ GPA while competing with med students in the same classes. If one is not up to that mark, it is still possible to get into DO schools though. Your high MCAT score makes it very likely you'd be accepted to one of these expensive programs. You'd want to select one with the highest percent chance of placing those that complete the program into MD spots, but good luck in finding those statistics.
 
Yes, I am currently looking at Post-Bacc programs. My mom who was a nurse, thinks that I could become an RN first and then after some experience try and get into MD school. I have heard that MD Schools hate nurses? Is this true?
 
For me it really comes down to the fact that yes I want to help people, but I also want to be researching... Nursing doesn't have that side.
 
I have a quick question. I play 1 varsity sport, and regardless of the time of year, I am spending at least 30 hours a week on it. I have, what feels like, 0 free time.

HOW did you even manage 4?
 
I had amazing coaches who worked togeather. But I did not have any free time, and as you can see my grades were not that great. I often had three different practices a day. I would not recommend it to anyone.
 
SportsProtoMed said:
I had amazing coaches who worked togeather. But I did not have any free time, and as you can see my grades were not that great. I often had three different practices a day. I would not recommend it to anyone.
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Yea right...next thing you're gonna tell us is that you had attended a waterpolo game and a track meet in two different states at the same time. Complete troll...
 
Haha, no I didn't. When schedules overlapped I would go to water polo games. And if you know anything about these sports and schedules you know that they only slightly overlap. I'm not even sure what a "troll" is. There are many athletes who compete in multiple sports. It is no dif than med students who do like a million EC's and such.
 
Some people were great at handling a lot of school, I was good and going from practice to practice. Not sure why that is so shocking.
 
Looks like we got Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson here.
 
OP, you have a lot of misconceptions to be cleared up before applying to med school! I don't know how you got the impression that a 35 was a low MCAT score. I think an SMP is the best option for you if you have the money. I would not recommend going to nursing school and then applying to med school. No, med schools don't "hate" nurses. But you'd have to explain why you chose to become a nurse in the first place, and then why you wanted to become a physician instead. There aren't that many spots open in nursing schools so it's kind of ****ty for you to take a place there without even planning on becoming a nurse.

The other thing you haven't mentioned is ECs, other than the sports you did and your current job. Do you have clinical experience? Like, does your job entail any physical therapy that you do? Or have you volunteered at a clinic or a hospital or anything?
 
First of all, thank you guys for the feed back. It is helpfull. As far as EC's go, I don't have to much. I have some hours with the team I work for and a few hundred volunteer hours at two university hospitals. I would like to get into some research but feel like should go back to school first. So, basically my EC's are nothing special. I guess that old saying is true: you don't always get what you want. Maybe med school is not going to work out. :( at least that is what everyone is telling me.
 
SportsProtoMed said:
Haha, no I didn't. When schedules overlapped I would go to water polo games. And if you know anything about these sports and schedules you know that they only slightly overlap. I'm not even sure what a "troll" is. There are many athletes who compete in multiple sports. It is no dif than med students who do like a million EC's and such.
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I played DI college soccer at a small school, little conference... It was crazy hard excelling in school and keeping everything together. So, good for you for tackling 4 sports... I think that is a MAJOR talking point for your PS and interview... I had 4 interviews this year, and every single last interviewer had questions about my DI experience... the thought is that as a DI athlete, time management skills are crucial--and with 4 sports--obviously, you didn't have time to adjust to any one schedule because you constantly were transitioning to a different sport practice or game schedule.... You must be happy that is over with! (Well, I'm glad college soccer is over with!!)

That being said, I think it is an excellent idea to go ahead with an SMP. You will help yourself to be successful in medical school & it will prove to ad-coms that you can not only handle the curriculum--but that you WILL excel in the medical school environment... also, I would look to get involved in research--but DO NOT let it affect your grades in the SMP!!!! That would not be good. The problem with research is that it takes time... It's hard to do just an hour or two a day--and SMP's require A LOT of studying (b/c you are basically taking first year med school classes.....i'm in one now!)... so, maybe acting as a research assistant (basically learning some different techniques and prepping other people's kits, prepping PCR, etc.) would be wise to start with... that you could do for a couple hours a day a few days a week!

Whatever you decide, best of luck! I hope you make it.
 
DALee33 thank you so much for the post! And yes, I am very glad that D1 life is over, it was crazy, and made college fly by! It is great to see that someone else out there understands. Which SMP are you attending? I am looking at several! Did you take your MCAT and GRE? i noticed that several ask for a GRE and I have not taken that yet..

Good luck in school!
 
SportsProtoMed said:
DALee33 thank you so much for the post! And yes, I am very glad that D1 life is over, it was crazy, and made college fly by! It is great to see that someone else out there understands. Which SMP are you attending? I am looking at several! Did you take your MCAT and GRE? i noticed that several ask for a GRE and I have not taken that yet..

Good luck in school!
Click to expand...

You must be looking at "true" master's programs if they require GRE. If you want to take them too, there is no stopping you. But I prefer you look into those that only require MCAT which would would be SMPs (true medical classes). Since when was a 35 on the MCAT too low? :smack:
 
Thanks for the imput. I don't think a 35 is too low, I think it is great and I studdied hard. But after looking at the AAMC charts, I see with my GPA a 35 doesnt get you too far. That was why I said I would re-take it.
 
OP, don't give up on medicine if your heart is in it, I think you have a fair shot at med school, juts do SMP like eveyone is saying, and talk up your sports in your pS, schools do like diversity and there's enough 4.0 kids who only study around.
 
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