Is it worth the effort?

[jpostie]

Hello, let me preface this by sharing some basic info about myself that may factor into my chances. I am a white male from a small Midwestern town and a middle to upper middle class family, pretty stereotypical huh? I am currently about to start my 2nd year of college at my current university with a pre-nuclear engineering major. My current plan is to attend this school for my 2nd year and then transfer to another university for my remaining 2-3 years for nuclear engineering (this is an established transfer program so I am very confident this will happen without any problems) and possibly pre-med. I am currently at a 3.7+ GPA with calculus 1-2 done as well as 2 levels of calculus based physics along with some chemistry and GE classes. After talking with advisers and others who are currently at the school I plan on transferring to and that universities medical school. I am estimating I will graduate in either 2018 or 2019 with around a 3.4 - 3.5 GPA with a degree in nuclear engineering and several years of research in materials science and possibly some nuclear related research. I did a little bit of shadowing in high school and have come to the conclusion that the only fields in medicine I would be interested in would be surgery (specifically neuro), I do plan on doing a summer internship at a hospital around the local area following my 3rd year of school. I excel at problems solving and test taking so I am assuming I will do decently well on the MCAT. Traditionally on standardized tests I have scored in the 90+ percentile nationally and 95+ percentile in state. Obviously I do not expect this to hold true for the MCAT, but if I am able to score in the 85+ percentile that would place me with a score of ~510 on the new MCAT. I believe this is very attainable for me and I may possibly score higher. I am a somewhat experienced public speaker and have no problems in interviews (one employer told me I was one of the best interviewees they had ever spoken with) and have nothing outside academia that will detract from my application. For those of you currently or formerly in Med School, do you believe I would have a strong enough chance that I could get into Med School that it would be worth the extra classes?

Edit: Removed school names

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[NotASerialKiller]

No one here can give you an informed response on your chances because you have given them almost nothing to inform it, aside from your ability to get a 3.7+ GPA in first year (which is good!). All you have right now is a vague idea that surgery seems appealing. While everyone starts with an abstract idea of what medicine is like, you haven't shadowed much, or gotten any clinical experience, or written the MCAT (sorry but a random guess that you'd get 510 doesn't qualify), or volunteered.

I'm not saying this to be harsh, I'm just pointing out that you're very very early on in your journey to medicine, if that's even what you'll want in the end. Instead of asking people what your chances are based on one year of a 3.7 and being a white penis-haver, you should be reading advice threads on how to start building a strong application. I'm sure there are plenty of them that can do a much better job than I can, but if you want some starting points:

-Keep up your GPA, even experienced advisors can't tell you what your GPA will be upon graduation when you've only completed one year, so don't aim for lower than you have right now
-Start engaging in meaningful volunteer opportunities
-Start shadowing
-Try to gain clinical experience (patient interaction)
-Worry about the MCAT after you've completely the classes that it draws from

Good luck on your journey!

 

[jpostie]

No one here can give you an informed response on your chances because you have given them almost nothing to inform it, aside from your ability to get a 3.7+ GPA in first year (which is good!). All you have right now is a vague idea that surgery seems appealing. While everyone starts with an abstract idea of what medicine is like, you haven't shadowed much, or gotten any clinical experience, or written the MCAT (sorry but a random guess that you'd get 510 doesn't qualify), or volunteered.

I'm not saying this to be harsh, I'm just pointing out that you're very very early on in your journey to medicine, if that's even what you'll want in the end. Instead of asking people what your chances are based on one year of a 3.7 and being a white penis-haver, you should be reading advice threads on how to start building a strong application. I'm sure there are plenty of them that can do a much better job than I can, but if you want some starting points:

-Keep up your GPA, even experienced advisors can't tell you what your GPA will be upon graduation when you've only completed one year, so don't aim for lower than you have right now
-Start engaging in meaningful volunteer opportunities
-Start shadowing
-Try to gain clinical experience (patient interaction)
-Worry about the MCAT after you've completely the classes that it draws from

Good luck on your journey!

Thanks for your advice in the latter half of your comment "NotASerialKiller", but when it comes to the actual question I am asking what my chances would be like in my hypothetical situation. I am aware that it is unlikely that everything will go 100% as planned, I don't know what else I would need to provide in my scenario. Perhaps saying that the only work I will likely have time to do in a hospital will be 2 summers of internships/volunteering (not sure exactly what I would do for the two summers yet).

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Thanks for your advice in the latter half of your comment "NotASerialKiller", but when it comes to the actual question I am asking what my chances would be like in my hypothetical situation. I am aware that it is unlikely that everything will go 100% as planned, I don't know what else I would need to provide in my scenario. Perhaps saying that the only work I will likely have time to do in a hospital will be 2 summers of internships/volunteering (not sure exactly what I would do for the two summers yet).

Honestly it would still be hard (and misleading) for anyone to give you input on that. Let's set it up:

3.5 GPA
High school shadowing
2 summers of hospital work/shadowing/volunteering
MCAT not written yet
White male

If that's what you want people to judge your chances by, the answer is not good. You need more volunteering and other ECs than what you can fit in 2 summers. Part of the reason they ask for this is because they want to know you can handle med school. This means achieving an adequate GPA while participating in loads of ECs and volunteering. If you only do this in the summer, you're telling them you can't handle any more work than UG during the year. Even in an intense program, it leaves you with a soft application.

As for the MCAT, you might not like this answer but you really can't project what mark you'll get based on previous tests. Even if you say "Okay tell me my chances based on the above information and a 28 MCAT. Now a 33 MCAT. Now a 37 MCAT." your ECs would still be weak and you'd be getting advice based on a projected GPA, projected ECs and a projected MCAT score.

I understand that you don't want to commit to this daunting task without some sort of reassurance that you can do it, but right now that can't be done based on your stats. What I can tell you, is that after only 1 year it is of course possible for you to get in, you are in no way out of the running. You have the power to make it happen, but yes it is going to take a lot of work in all aspects of your application, without any guarantees you'll get in. Med school is a tough road.

 

[gyngyn]

One thing (of many) I learned in medical school is that speculating on speculation is neither reliable nor helpful.

 

[NewHorizons]

Thanks for your advice in the latter half of your comment "NotASerialKiller", but when it comes to the actual question I am asking what my chances would be like in my hypothetical situation. I am aware that it is unlikely that everything will go 100% as planned, I don't know what else I would need to provide in my scenario. Perhaps saying that the only work I will likely have time to do in a hospital will be 2 summers of internships/volunteering (not sure exactly what I would do for the two summers yet).

You are a post-secondary student... as an educated individual you should know better than to just list hypothetical scenarios + projecting your future dreams with limited evidence and then expect us to do the guesstimation while there are thousands of threads you can read about numerous stats out there. The MCAT is an entirely different beast and just thinking you have the capabilities does f@#$ all when you experience the preparation and exam. You're still young so I'll say it nicely.... do your work first then ask more directed questions.

 

[jpostie]

Okay, well thank you all for your input. I guess I will continue on the plan I currently have and worry more about med school acceptance when I have more to go on.

If that's what you want people to judge your chances by, the answer is not good. You need more volunteering and other ECs than what you can fit in 2 summers. Part of the reason they ask for this is because they want to know you can handle med school. This means achieving an adequate GPA while participating in loads of ECs and volunteering. If you only do this in the summer, you're telling them you can't handle any more work than UG during the year. Even in an intense program, it leaves you with a soft application.

I would be fine working or volunteering during the school year as well, I forgot to mention that I am already on a research team that I work with during the school year and I am also working on growing my startup. Again thank you for the input though.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Okay, well thank you all for your input. I guess I will continue on the plan I currently have and worry more about med school acceptance when I have more to go on.

I would be fine working or volunteering during the school year as well, I forgot to mention that I am already on a research team that I work with during the school year and I am also working on growing my startup. Again thank you for the input though.

That sounds like a great start then! Keep at it, stay busy and you won't be closing any doors.