Late Start Pre-Med...HELP!

[julius30591]

I've recently decided I would like to go to medical school and I would be starting the premed process "late”, the middle of my sophomore year and I am seeking advice. Here's my story:

Currently I am in the process of transferring universities and will be entering the new university as a junior with a 3.6 gpa overall and a 4.0 pre-prof gpa. I am going from a top 100 state university to a top 50 university and entering well regarded program in my major, anthropology. The science courses that I have taken so far include: BIOI for bio majors and BIOII for bio majors with lab and calc I. I made a B in the lectures with an A in both labs and an A in calc I . That is the extent of any real premed work. I realize getting “Bs” in courses doesn't help but these were taken during my freshman year, and I was never a bio major, just had a poor advisor. I actually started as a philosophy major and then switched to anthropology. I am fully prepared to work and earn the “As” in the required science courses. In addition, I am aware that I must take a minimum of a year of chem, ochem, and physics with lab and I need to start volunteering more and prepare for the MCAT.

Because I am transferring I am locked into my major and must graduate in 2 years. I am considering taking the basic premed courses and any others I can fit into my schedule and still graduate on time and then taking a year off. During this year I would work, study for the MCAT and volunteer more. Any advise? Am I crazy for starting this process my junior year? If I take a year off before applying to med school, will I have serious issues getting recommendations? I was looking at “lower-end” medical schools because I would not have as many hard science classes as other applicants. Help Please!

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[the duck]

Many people decide to go to medical school after working at another job for years. You aren't late at all! 🙂 The average age of 1st year medical students is something like 26.

You seem to have the right idea, try to get as many pre-reqs done as you can in your last two years ( I'm going to be in the exact same boat, but I haven't even doe bio yet....) Then after you graduate, find a school where you can finish off your pre-reqs and maybe take a few upper division science courses. You don't need to aim for lower ranked schools. Your major doesn't matter at all! Actually an anthro major will help you stand out from the crowd of bio majors.

I wouldn't wait until you graduate to start doing ECs. Try to get some clinical experience, leadership, community service, and if you can, research when you transfer. You don't want to save it all until you graduate.

 

[Geneticist]

Many people decide to go to medical school after working at another job for years. You aren't late at all! 🙂 The average age of 1st year medical students is something like 26.

Try 23. Taking two minutes to look that up would serve your credibility well.

You seem to have the right idea, try to get as many pre-reqs done as you can in your last two years ( I'm going to be in the exact same boat, but I haven't even doe bio yet....) Then after you graduate, find a school where you can finish off your pre-reqs and maybe take a few upper division science courses. You don't need to aim for lower ranked schools. Your major doesn't matter at all! Actually an anthro major will help you stand out from the crowd of bio majors.

There's absolutely no way he needs to do a post-bacc to finish his pre-med coursework. He can easily do it in his last two years at his new school.

The bolded part is a contradiction. Saying your major doesn't matter than going on to say it will make you standout doesn't make any sense.

I wouldn't wait until you graduate to start doing ECs. Try to get some clinical experience, leadership, community service, and if you can, research when you transfer. You don't want to save it all until you graduate.

Again, that's really crappy advice. The OP should start his EC's as early as possible to demonstrate long-term involvement in a clinical setting. You don't want to have to do all of your research (which would only amount to 1 year max of research, obviously), clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, studying for the MCAT, etc. all during your gap year. If you start right now, you could end up with three years of research and three years of volunteering. And, if you manage to improve your GPA during these next two years, you could aim for some top tier medical school.

OP, you're doing the right thing. You're certainly going to have to up your game a bit if you want to get into medical school in a timely fashion. Taking all of your pre-reqs and starting your EC's these next couple of years is doable. Good luck! 🙂

 

[Chamahk]

Try 23. Taking two minutes to look that up would serve your credibility well.



There's absolutely no way he needs to do a post-bacc to finish his pre-med coursework. He can easily do it in his last two years at his new school.

The bolded part is a contradiction. Saying your major doesn't matter than going on to say it will make you standout doesn't make any sense.



Again, that's really crappy advice. The OP should start his EC's as early as possible to demonstrate long-term involvement in a clinical setting. You don't want to have to do all of your research (which would only amount to 1 year max of research, obviously), clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, studying for the MCAT, etc. all during your gap year. If you start right now, you could end up with three years of research and three years of volunteering. And, if you manage to improve your GPA during these next two years, you could aim for some top tier medical school.

OP, you're doing the right thing. You're certainly going to have to up your game a bit if you want to get into medical school in a timely fashion. Taking all of your pre-reqs and starting your EC's these next couple of years is doable. Good luck! 🙂

Ouch. Dude go a little easy on the duck will ya?

 

[Geneticist]

Ouch. Dude go a little easy on the duck will ya?

Mmmmmm, roasted duck...

 

[the duck]

Try 23. Taking two minutes to look that up would serve your credibility well.



There's absolutely no way he needs to do a post-bacc to finish his pre-med coursework. He can easily do it in his last two years at his new school.

The bolded part is a contradiction. Saying your major doesn't matter than going on to say it will make you standout doesn't make any sense.



Again, that's really crappy advice. The OP should start his EC's as early as possible to demonstrate long-term involvement in a clinical setting. You don't want to have to do all of your research (which would only amount to 1 year max of research, obviously), clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, studying for the MCAT, etc. all during your gap year. If you start right now, you could end up with three years of research and three years of volunteering. And, if you manage to improve your GPA during these next two years, you could aim for some top tier medical school.

OP, you're doing the right thing. You're certainly going to have to up your game a bit if you want to get into medical school in a timely fashion. Taking all of your pre-reqs and starting your EC's these next couple of years is doable. Good luck! 🙂

hmm, I'm not seeing where you come up with 23, this article by a medical student at Harvard, sites the age to be 26. (Yes, I know its not an original source). furthermore, I wasn't trying to enter into a pointless session in mental masturbation about the starting age, merely to get the point across to the OP that he/she is not starting too late on the path to medical school.

All of the pre-reqs in 2 years along with upper division, and volunteering? I don't go to the OPs school, and I doubt either do you, so I don't think either of us can say for sure what is easy to do, or not, at that school. Regardless, unless the OP plans to take the MCAT while missing many of the pre-reqs, they will probably take a gap year anyway to apply.

Major makes very little impact. Once again, I was merely trying to tell the OP that the fact he/she in an anthro major does not rule out top schools.

The last point: Aren't we saying the exact same thing? If the OP is transferring universities in a few months, starting to volunteer now is pointless. Hence, they should begin volunteering as soon as they transfer...

Mmmmmm, roasted duck...

You're making me really hungry! 🙂

 

[julius30591]

Thanks for the advice guys! If I decide to do a post-bac premed program am I going to have a serious issue getting in because I did take BIOI/BIOII and labs for bio majors even though my record shows I was never a bio major and I have a 4.0 in my major, anthropology, right now? Volunteer work is no problem and will start volunteering at a hospital/clinic as soon as I move in May. LORs I assume will be okay. Right now weighing my options and looking at all I have to take at my new school and not being able to take a 5th year to graduate I think post-bac may be a good option. I want time to take the required courses and not have to rush through them, study for MCAT, and try to finish up upper level classes and a field school in the 2 years provided. Any ideas?

 

[julius30591]

To do post-bac or not to do post-bac, than is the question....help...

 

[Wolfman89]

Good luck OP! I also started late in the process. It was only half way through my second semester of my sophomore year that I realized that I wanted to go into medicine.

It is definitely nice to know that there are others out there who go into this journey late.

 

[julius30591]

Hey there Wolfman89, did you do post-bac or did you just buckle up and take all the prereqs your last 2 years?

 

[the duck]

This is my advice: Take as many pre-reqs as you can durring your two years after you transfer. You should be able to get nearly all (if not all done).

If you don't get them all done you can do an "informal post-bacc" which is basically just finding a school that will let you take classes, w/o being enrolled full time going after a degree. That will be your quickest, and cheapest option.

 

[Wolfman89]

Hey there Wolfman89, did you do post-bac or did you just buckle up and take all the prereqs your last 2 years?

What I am doing is double majoring in biology and psychology and my goal is to graduate in five years instead of four. Doing this gives me a lot more breathing room when it comes to doing my pre-reqs.

 

[julius30591]

Because I'm transferring into another university my junior year, I must graduate in 2 years, and can not take a 5 year graduation or change/double major. If I wasn't transferring, and was able to do the prereqs in 3 years instead of 2, I wouldn't be thinking about postbac. Not to mention, when I tell the advisors at orientation I want to do medical and not do an anthropology masters/phd program, they're going to be pretty upset with me.