I'm so very, very lost.

[almualim]

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Hey all, I'm here posting because I'm really in need of guidance and direction. It seems everybody I talk to has a different answer, but let me just give you a synopsis of my scenario here:

I've finished undergraduate with a degree in biomedical engineering. My GPA has taken hits here and there from tough BME classes, but I've graduated in May 2015 with a 3.56, just barely what is considered "ok", with the pre-req breakdown as follows:
Bio 1: AP credit
Bio lab 1: AP credit
Bio 2: A
Bio lab 2: A
Chem 1: AP credit
Chem lab 1: AP Credit
Chem 2: A
Chem Lab 2: A
Organic 1: B
Organic Lab 1: A
Organic 2: C
Organic lab 2: B
Physics 1 + Lab (calc based mechanics): A
Physics 2 + Lab (calc based E+M): A
Cell Bio: B
Biochemistry 1: A
Calc 1: AP Credit
Calc 2: W, then A (family emergency for the W)
Diff EQ: B
Linear Algebra: A
Calc 3: A
Statistics: A
So that takes care of academics.

MCAT: I took the MCAT old exam in 2014 and got a whopping 14......admittedly, I didn't study for it and kinda winged it, paid the price. Took the 2015 exam and voided my scores because I did not adequately prepare fo biochem, sociology, and psychology. I've been gearing up to retake the MCAT again, BUT, I've found I have no time/energy to study by the time I get home at the end of the day. I will likely cancel my test date (May 20, 2016), or move off into the future.

As far as ECs are concerned for the past 4 years:
120+ hours shadowing with neurosurgeon
80+ hours shadowing with oncology
120+ hours of medical/hospital volunteering
50 hours of nonmedical volunteering (at-risk student mentoring)

This year while being out of school, I work as a full time scribe in a primary care facility. While this has been a great patient exposure experience, it has been extremely taxing.

On top of all this, I have to balance a parent telling me to keep going, and the other telling me to quit and just be an engineer, or to pack up and go to the Carribbean (St James Medical School...blehh) or Poland/Russia.

So, my question to you all is this: Where do I go from here? I have a mediocre GPA, a non-existent MCAT score for all intensive purposes, but plenty of medical exposure. What am I supposed to do? I can't keep this scribing job and study for the MCAT. Please, if anybody can shed some light and guidance in this matter, I would be most appreciative and grateful. I'm getting stuck in the doldrums out here.

-Almualim

 

[GrapesofRath]

So, my question to you all is this: Where do I go from here?

Pretty simple you need to prepare for the MCAT and take it when you are ready and have good reason to believe you can score within the range of your practice tests(and that your practice tests are in a scoring range you are satisfied). With a <10th percentile score already on your record, the need to get the MCAT right this time becomes all the more important. Once you retake the MCAT and have a new score you can assess where you stand and if medicine is still a viable option for you.

I wouldnt really bother on focusing too much on ECs or anything like that until you have a new MCAT score. You need that MCAT score to tell you whether medicine is even a potentially realistic option worth further pursuing, because right now your MCAT score is >10 points away from what can be competitive, even for DO schools. That GPA is fine for any DO school and a number of MD schools with the right MCAT: the key is the MCAT has to be there otherwise it's time for Plan B.

 

[almualim]

Pretty simple you need to prepare for the MCAT and take it when you are ready and have good reason to believe you can score within the range of your practice tests(and that your practice tests are in a scoring range you are satisfied). With a <10th percentile score already on your record, the need to get the MCAT right this time becomes all the more important. Once you retake the MCAT and have a new score you can assess where you stand and if medicine is still a viable option for you.

I wouldnt really bother on focusing too much on ECs or anything like that until you have a new MCAT score. You need that MCAT score to tell you whether medicine is even a potentially realistic option worth further pursuing, because right now your MCAT score is >10 points away from what can be competitive, even for DO schools. That GPA is fine for any DO school and a number of MD schools with the right MCAT: the key is the MCAT has to be there otherwise it's time for Plan B.

So everything I'm doing at this time is moot pending MCAT, right? I'm better off dropping everything and reallocating all resources to MCAT prep?

 

[JustAPhD]

^^That. Study your ass off for the MCAT. Your GPA is fine, but you won't know if you're truly competitive until you take the MCAT.

You've got to decide if being a doctor is worth buckling down and really putting the time in to study properly. If you feel it's not, well that answers your question right there.

 

[GrapesofRath]

So everything I'm doing at this time is moot pending MCAT, right? I'm better off dropping everything and reallocating all resources to MCAT prep?

You need a much much better MCAT score for medicine to be a realistic possibility. Do whatever you need to to give yourself the best chance to get an MCAT score that can be consistent with success. Without that, there is no dream involving medicine that can realistically happen.

 

[almualim]

What I've found is answering the actual material is not difficult for me, but answering them in the context of the passage wrecks me. Regardless, I think my evaluation/gauging of the MCAT has been poor, to say the least. I took a Kaplan class before the first exam I took and that really didn't help me at all.

I would have done this 1 year mcat prep thing had it not been for the fear of looking "stale" on my application, if I didn't do anything healthcare related for a year.

 

[efle]

Let me get this straight - you graduated BME with a 3.56 and took a Kaplan prep course, and then scored a 14?

 

[almualim]

Let me get this straight - you graduated BME with a 3.56 and took a Kaplan prep course, and then scored a 14?

I have terrible test anxiety. I had a panic attack in the middle of that MCAT. really, it wasn't a fair assessment of my potential. the breakdown was 9 physical, 2 verbal, 3 biology.

 

[amazing tekkers]

Were you sick? 14 seems very low.

Honestly, just take another year off (easy to say I know). It'll help you recuperate as it seems you're very stressed. Your job or whatever else is beating you up.

Study for the MCAT this summer. Do well on it. Get involved in more prereqs to build your application. Do well then apply summer 2017.

 

[starspells]

A 3.56 is not bad at all! I agree with the above posters. The 14 is going to hurt at any MD or DO school. I would focus on improving significantly on your retake. The interpretation of multiple MCATs is idiosyncratic to say the least. So, there will be many schools that will average your two MCAT scores but there are many schools that would be willing to focus on your most recent score.

 

[VictorAlpha]

^^That. Study your ass off for the MCAT. Your GPA is fine, but you won't know if you're truly competitive until you take the MCAT.

You've got to decide if being a doctor is worth buckling down and really putting the time in to study properly. If you feel it's not, well that answers your question right there.

This is really the issue because that is what med school is kind of in a nutshell. If you can do this; in a microcosm, you can do med school. It shouldn't matter quite so much what each parent is telling you. You're not in medical school yet...and you're not there for a reason. So take this time and think hard about whether you actually want to go. If you do, and you keep after it, you'll get it; I promise you that. If you don't, there's no shame in that...then go find your passion and chase it.

 

[candbgirl]

Test taking anxiety can be helped. Are you near your undergrad school or even a community college? Go to the learning resource center and ask for help. Do not take the MCAT until you have this under control.


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[Goro]

This is fixable, but you do need to get over this problem, because we're addicted to high stakes exams in med dchool, much less career deciding ones.

I have terrible test anxiety. I had a panic attack in the middle of that MCAT. really, it wasn't a fair assessment of my potential. the breakdown was 9 physical, 2 verbal, 3 biology.

 

[almualim]

Test taking anxiety can be helped. Are you near your undergrad school or even a community college? Go to the learning resource center and ask for help. Do not take the MCAT until you have this under control.


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I do live near my undergrad school, and I actually did seek out help my sophomore year (when my GPA was torpedoed), but it really didn't help.

so to recap, the consensus is to drop everything, and fix that blasted MCAT score, right? Say it gets done, then what? I'd like to have a roadmap to go by. My boss at the scribing company I work for is a hardass and will likely not take to my leaving very well. Will all my previous experience, be enough going forward, or will it become "stale"?

 

[GrapesofRath]

I do live near my undergrad school, and I actually did seek out help my sophomore year (when my GPA was torpedoed), but it really didn't help.

so to recap, the consensus is to drop everything, and fix that blasted MCAT score, right? Say it gets done, then what? I'd like to have a roadmap to go by. My boss at the scribing company I work for is a hardass and will likely not take to my leaving very well. Will all my previous experience, be enough going forward, or will it become "stale"?

Focus on one step at a time, and for you the big one here and right now the only one that matters is the MCAT.

It's hard to give this type of "roadmap" because you cant predict how the MCAT will go.

Take a look at the retake stats for yourself. Basically only about 1/7-1/8 people with your score will make the 7+ point improvement(and honestly your looking at needing to do alot better than just improving by 7 points). That's why thinking long term when you have this big obstacle isnt wise; all we can go by is historical trends and historically people who get a 14 dont often make the improvement they need to in order to be competitive.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...828-5564cbc3e810/retestertotalscorechange.pdf

 

[efle]

If he'd actually gotten a balanced 14 and felt like it went well then odds would be slim and id put stock in the data above. But if the 9 is more representative than the 2 and 3 because of a panic attack, OP is still in the game. Study up, take it with a good mindset (do whatever you need to for handling the anxiety) and then come back for further advice.

 

[gyngyn]

If he'd actually gotten a balanced 14 and felt like it went well then odds would be slim and id put stock in the data above. But if the 9 is more representative than the 2 and 3 because of a panic attack, OP is still in the game. Study up, take it with a good mindset (do whatever you need to for handling the anxiety) and then come back for further advice.

Not voiding speaks to judgement, though.
14 is the 6th percentile (as you well know!). This is remarkable among applicants.

 

[almualim]

Not voiding speaks to judgement, though.

Which was clouded at the time, and didn't happen the second time around. I voided my scores the second time because I inadequately studied the biochem section, and trained for the 2015 mcat same way I did for the old one, which was a very bad idea.

 

[GrapesofRath]

If he'd actually gotten a balanced 14 and felt like it went well then odds would be slim and id put stock in the data above. But if the 9 is more representative than the 2 and 3 because of a panic attack, OP is still in the game. Study up, take it with a good mindset (do whatever you need to for handling the anxiety) and then come back for further advice.

I mean obviously OP is still in the game if they improve but who's to say some kind of panic attack doesnt happen again even if it is to a lesser extent? I put that table more as a guideline than anything.

Also when you have a 14 on your record the stakes are much higher on a retake. A 26 if taken once might be enough for DO schools. A 30 if taken once might be enough for MDs. But combine it with the 14 and those scores get looked at differently. A number of schools and evaluators average multiple scores; schools that adhere to this OP will be out of luck at already. And even if they dont average, that 14 just doesnt have a good impact on his chances and honestly the negative impact it can have is unpredictable. Some ADCOMs see your first MCAT attempt as the best representation of your ability because you only get one shot at Step 1: OP is not looking good for any evalutor who thinks like that who sees his app and that 14 on the first attempt.

 

[almualim]

I'm not aiming for Harvard Med here, ladies and gents. I just want to attend ANY US (or Canadian) MD school, plain and simple. I think I've figured out the path forward for now, thanks everybody!

 

[FrizzyFryFro]

I'm just curious- why do you want to go to med school? You complained about the studying and most of us do at one point or another. But the prospect of fulfilling a dream overcomes all else and those with good scores truly ingrain the material. Is it possible that this is the dream of your family or only a half-hearted goal of your own? I encourage you (or anyone) to look at this( http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanad...doctors-regret-their-job-choice/#4ea2055e7dab ) before making the decision to continue.

I am not trying to be negative in any way. I just think answering that question for yourself may help commit to studying OR to another career. If it is simply the anxiety, that can be helped too. I think choosing medicine for the right reasons is a conversation to have with yourself and with people you trust. I did it and it made the whole process a lot more enjoyable (as well as making it easier to answer that question in interviews!).

Best of luck!

 

[almualim]

I admittedly have lost focus, attention, and ability to study after I finished school, burned out so to say. It's more a question of my discipline than my motivation, and I need to get that in order first...

 

[22031 Alum]

I admittedly have lost focus, attention, and ability to study after I finished school, burned out so to say. It's more a question of my discipline than my motivation, and I need to get that in order first...

Motivation can come and go, and will for your entire career. It will be your discipline, or lack thereof, that affects your future chances. Best of luck!

 

[meditative_premed]

You're definitely still in the game. Quit the scribing job and put everything you have into destroying the MCAT. A great MCAT score speaks volumes more than a scribing job ever could in your position.

 

[NotWayneBrady]

I admittedly have lost focus, attention, and ability to study after I finished school, burned out so to say. It's more a question of my discipline than my motivation, and I need to get that in order first...

Meditation helps quite a bit with this. Get a book, read it, learn to focus yourself on your goals and what you need to achieve them, then work on building discipline.