I need help, not sure if I'm classified as Pre-Allopatic or Non-Traditional

[stylerprodigy]

Hi my name is Tyler and I am currently doing premed at UCF.
First off I would like to apologize for posting in both the Pre-Allopathic and the Non-Traditional thread because I was unsure what I am classified as. Please read my situation and I am sorry in advance for this long post.

I started my undergraduate as an Electrical Engineering major at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. My grades as an EE major are not good at all. I got academic suspension after the second year because I ended up with a GPA of 1.69. There were a lot of factors that contribute to that low GPA. For one thing, during that time, my family was going through a process of moving from Virginia to Florida and while helping them, it affected my grades. The other thing was that after two semesters as an EE major I began to really hate this major because I really didn't see myself as an engineeer but was too immature to really admit it and go to a change right away. During that time, I was also working out and was interested in the physiology that happens throughout the body. It should also be noted that I am a person suffering from hemiplegia cerebral palsy that affects mostly my right side. So the more I looked into my disorder and the physiology of exercising, the more I became interested in medicine. I remember sitting in my engineering signal processing class and kept asking myself why I chose EE the first place.

Anyway, being academically suspended with that GPA, I knew I could not sit back and wait for a semester doing nothing until my suspension is lifted. I decided to transfer to Florida with my family who had lived there for almost a half year. I knew with my GPA at the time that no university would accept me so I applied to a community college; Valencia Community College for those of you familiar with the City of Orlando. Not to mention the out of state tuition. Upon going to this community college, I planned to finish my EE degree. However, that summer it occured to me that since I transferred to a really new place and having a low GPA in the EE major, I might as well do something new and something I like. I spent a week thinking about the change but I went and changed it to biology at this community college anyway. I retook Physics 1 w/ Calculus and 2 as well. The first time I took those courses I got Ds on both of them. Earned As on both of them at the community college. Basically, I was at this college for two semesters, finishing all my gen ed courses and General Biology 1 and 2, General Chemistry 1 and 2, and Physics /w Calculus 1 and 2. Got straight A's both semester with 17 credits each. I ended up with a culmulative GPA of 2.64 keeping in mind that I started with 1.69.

So I transferred to University of Central Florida Fall of 2005 declaring my major as Molecular Biology and Microbiology. First semester I took Human Anatomy, Genetics, Microbiology, and Organic Chemistry 1. I was really stupid and got a B in Human Anatomy and Genetics. I did however, get an A in Microbiology which was hard to get because of the professor. Most people got Bs and below. And of course Organic 1 I got an A and I was sure I was the best student in that class. It is kind of ironic though because Mircobiology and Organic utilizes a lot of information from Biology 1 and 2 and General Chemistry 1 and 2. And being top in those classes just tells me that there is probably no difference in the material between a community college and a university. During that semester, I actually taught/tutor/studied with my fellow premed students who had done their biology and general chemistry their freshman year at the university. Many people either drop, fail, or have Cs or less in Organic 1. After my first semester, I ended up with 2.70.

As I am currently typing, I am now in my second semester at UCF. All of my friends think I am a top notch student and think I have a very high GPA so I only tell them about my science GPA while assuring them that they have a better chance to get into medical school. They think I will blow away the competition. Also, since the starting of community college, I volunteer at the hospital but just getting only about 250 hours since the start. I have also recently been enrolled in an Honors Program that requires research and a completion an undergraduate thesis before my anticipated graduation (Fall 2007). I am doing research with a professor on my disorder with stem cell technology. So far I have very excellent standings this semester and hoping it will continue. If it does, then I definatly will have straight A's this semester with 15 credits. The courses I am taking are Organic Chemitry 2, Human Physiology, General Psychology, and Statistical Methods. Also, I plan to take the MCAT this August with Kaplan course this summer even though I plan to apply to medical school NEXT summer. The remaining undergraduate road ahead might be difficult but if everything goes well, I will have at least a 3.0 before the application to medical school.

If I tell you that I am 100% confident I will get into medical school, I'd be lying, even though the people in my class think I am a perfect candidate. What I am doing is that I am trying to set myself apart from other students. I mean anyone can volunteer. The only way I can set myself apart and improve my application, assuming it will not affect my grade, is research and a one week medical mission trip to Honduras this summer. Also, I am/was an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scout Master of troop and devoted myself to community service since 6th grade. I don't know if that would help my application out.

I am open to suggestions and the truth. I know the truth hurts. For those of you with low GPA and are pursueing medicine like me, the site MD applicants has a person with low GPA and accepted to a whole bunch of schools. This person really motivated me by his results and gave me hope even though I don't know him. Here is the link: http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=3570

Also if anyone has comments about my disorder, I am open to that as well. Of course one of the medical field I am looking into is neurology because I want to help people like me and I feel I understand people with neurological disorders better, hence the field of my research.

Thank you and sorry for this long post. Again, I was not sure in posting this in Non-Traditional or Pre Allopathic so I posted in both. Sorry for the double posting.

Tyler

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lilnoelle]

Whether you post in pre allo or non traditional is not all that important, most of us read more than one posting region. But if you want the most people to post, pre allo is a better choice.

My first question is how severe is your disorder? Every school I have seen has rules about physical capabilities. They are usually willing to make reasonable accomodations.

 

[stylerprodigy]

I consider myself lucky compared to others with cerebral palsy. My symptoms, including shakiness and spastic movements, occur when I am nervous. I kind of limb when I walk and probably some of my facial expressions and postures occur without me knowing.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Hi my name is Tyler and I am currently doing premed at UCF.
First off I would like to apologize for posting in both the Pre-Allopathic and the Non-Traditional thread because I was unsure what I am classified as. Please read my situation and I am sorry in advance for this long post.

Tyler,

In my opinion, you're going to need to work harder to overcome your past poor GPA. Getting a 2.70 the first semester back from Dean's Vacation isn't the way to do it. I would think that you will need at least high 3.x's from now on to show ADCOMs that you decided to get serious after Dean's Vacation, and your change of major. They don't care whether the professor of a class that you took and did poorly in was the devil himself -- they just want to see good grades. For the purposes of getting into medical school, you have nothing to gain by taking courses with hard professors. The person who takes classes with the easiest professors and gets all As, will always look better than the person who had hard professors and got Bs (or worse,) so long as Person A doesn't tank the MCAT, because they really didn't learn the material.

One way in which you may be able to make the case that you are really smart and that your poor grades were the result of circumstances beyond your control is by getting a stellar score on the MCAT. If I were you, I wouldn't take the MCAT prep course so early that you forget things. I think that beginning to prep for the MCAT about 5-6 months (give or take) before the test is probably the right amount of time. I started in early Jan. (approx. 4 months before this April's MCAT) and I think I could've probably used a little more time, but, overall I think I am in good shape.

Your idea of undertaking activities to distinguish yourself is also good, however, I think that you are going to be fighting an uphill battle the whole way. If you really want to be a doctor, then, by all means, fight the fight, but you are going to have to convince the ADCOMS to accept you over the ~19 other people that you are competing with for that same spot in the entering class (i.e. I'm assuming 5% accptance rate -- some schools have as high as 15%, I think, so you'd only be competing with ~6 other people for a spot) I'm not trying to discourage you -- I'm just trying to give you the reality of the situation.

Good Luck to You,

Jota

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
It does not matter where you post as long as you do not double post. Post in either allopathic or non-traditional but not both please.
njbmd