Liberal Arts Major with high GPA looking for Help

[AryaV]

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Hi everyone,


Im currently a Junior studying Philosophy and Classics who has suddenly gained a passion for humanitarianism and medicine. I currently have a 3.982 GPA (4 if counting just those classes in those majors) and my ACT from high school was a 30. I am planning on taking the GRE, and have signed up to shadow a doctor for 3 months, 4 hours a week, and to conduct clinical volunteering for 4, about 7 hours a week. I was wondering what are my chances at the various Postbacc programs that are avaiable given these credientials (unfortunately, I dont have many other medicial ECs, because this has been a move I made recently). Im sorry if this could be done with a simple Google search: I tried, but it seems that there is no single ranking, and Im confused on what the academic quality of these different programs are, given the divided opinion on them (Columbia seems to be a particular example). Thanks so much for any help!

Best,
Arya

 

[ZedsDed]

As far as I know medical schools (and related programs) do not have a formal ranking system. Best just to look at average GPA's of matriculants. If you're worried about credibility, stick to a major university and you should be fine. Have you ever taken multiple hard science classes and aced them? If not, you most certainly will want to consider a structured two year program with MCAT preparation built in. Your GPA is certainly impressive but organic, biochem, genetics, and so on, are going to be an entirely different beast. Also, I suspect (totally just speculation on my part) you may be of the mindset that one needs to attend a "top 10" med school to really be successful; not true. Fortunately the same issues that plague law schools are largely non-existant for medical school grads. Perhaps one of our amazing adcoms @gyngyn can chime in?
Cheers

 

[Mad Jack]

https://services.aamc.org/postbac/

This is an excellent tool for looking at postboc programs. I would encourage you to look for Career-Changer+graduate level as your search options. Your ACT is meaningless. The GRE also is not really useful for admission to the vast majority of SMPs.

 

[DrMidlife]

Mad, come on, this is not an SMP story. 3.982?

AryaV, look at the postbac programs at Bryn Mawr and Goucher as the gold standard for high GPA liberal arts majors who now want to do medicine. Then review the many many other "career changer" postbacs to see what fits your needs. You don't have to do a formal program. It's pretty late now to try for a good formal program starting fall 2015.

Once you have some specific programs in mind (such as Columbia), find the school-specific threads in this subforum to get input from current and former students.

Fun fact: philosophy & math majors get the highest average MCAT scores, when each major is viewed separately.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Mad Jack]

Actually, scratch that bit about the GRE- several programs like to see one if you don't have an MCAT, and there's no way you'll be ready to take the MCAT prior to taking the courses that will be a part of the SMP.

 

[DrMidlife]

Again, with a high GPA and no completed prereqs, an SMP is entirely inappropriate.

 

[Mad Jack]

Mad, come on, this is not an SMP story. 3,982?

Sorry, mixed up my terminology- I said SMP, meant post-bacc. In any case, the same advice still applies. Though, he will need to do the GRE, as it looks like most of the postbaccs want you to take the GRE if you don't have an existing MCAT score. Switch the "graduate" to "undergraduate" when searching for programs on the AAMC site, it'll get a better fit for your needs. (I'm in class right now, so sorry for the sloppy responses)

 

[DrMidlife]

Mad, you are suggesting that somebody WHO HAS NOT COMPLETED THE PREREQS YET is supposed to take the MCAT, or use the GRE as a substitute for the MCAT.

Please familiarize yourself with the "career changer" postbacs for high GPA liberal arts majors if you're going to answer questions about them.

 

[AryaV]

Hi guys, thanks for the amazing and very helpful advice. Im a little confused just on one point: should I be taking the GRE before I enter career changer programs? And given that there are no rankings for these programs, would there be any sort of process that tiers these programs? Not that Im super competitive, but I want to know which is a reach and what is a target so I can be more selective and my decisions and know which programs to immediately drop out or go for. Thanks so much for all the help!


Best,
Arya

 

[ksyhe]

No, taking the GRE would probably be a waste of time, since your ACT is fine. If you had like a 25, I'd say taking it would be a good idea, but a 30 is really solid, especially with your high GPA. 🙂

There's not really any "official" ranking of postbacs like there is for colleges or med schools. I'd recommend spending some time on this forum, and noticing what names frequently come up. Like DrMidlife said, Goucher and Bryn Mawr are probably the at the top of the list. Scripps and Johns Hopkins are also really well-regarded. It's more of a muddle after that. I think that generally, postbacs that have strong linkage programs with med schools are thought to be better choices, because it speaks to how impressed those med schools have been with alumi of those programs. (All of the programs I just mentioned have multiple linkages.)

Good luck!

 

[ZedsDed]

No, taking the GRE would probably be a waste of time, since your ACT is fine. If you had like a 25, I'd say taking it would be a good idea, but a 30 is really solid, especially with your high GPA. 🙂

There's not really any "official" ranking of postbacs like there is for colleges or med schools. I'd recommend spending some time on this forum, and noticing what names frequently come up. Like DrMidlife said, Goucher and Bryn Mawr are probably the at the top of the list. Scripps and Johns Hopkins are also really well-regarded. It's more of a muddle after that. I think that generally, postbacs that have strong linkage programs with med schools are thought to be better choices, because it speaks to how impressed those med schools have been with alumi of those programs. (All of the programs I just mentioned have multiple linkages.)

Good luck!

I don't know that much about specific postbacc's, however I do know some recommend taking the GRE; it's really a case-by-case thing OP, you just have to do your own research.
High school work (SAT, ACT, etc) is completely irrelevant as far as I know, unless AP work factors into your UG GPA.
Med schools actually have no official ranking system either. Some organizations take it upon themselves to rank medical schools as they see fit, and some of these organizations (such as the NIH) are more credible than others.
The point here is that no one can give you a formula to get into medical school. You are going to have to spend many hours on the postbacc forum and elsewhere doing your own research. As for what constitutes a match, reach, or safe school, that is entirely dependent on your GPA, MCAT, and EC's; each individual school is different, but they all want a high MCAT and GPA obviously. I recommend you spend some loving time with the 2016 MSAR. Not to be discouraging, but please understand that you are trying to get into one of the most competitive systems in the world; act accordingly and respect your competition.
Please keep in mind that when it comes to "top tier" schools, you can do everything right and still get rejected at most of them due to the insane amount of competition that exists. Also, some of the most competitive schools are those that take out of state applicants in high volume. More likely than not, you are going to want to focus on your state's medical schools (unless you live in Ca or NY) for two reasons:
1.) Schools out-of-state are either public or private. Public schools often take 95%+ in-state residents and are insanely competitive to get into otherwise. Meaning you will need to be among the top slice of OOS applicants to even have a shot here. Private schools are usually much more willing to take OOS applicants. However they either have very high averages, or (as I said) are insanely competitive due to all the applicants around the country trying to get in. A good example of this is Georgetown, there acceptance rate is lower than Harvard due to the high volume of applicants they see.
2.) Assuming you get in to an OOS school, you will be paying very high tuition as an OOS student and I promise you the debt you will accumulate is relevant unless you are very wealthy.

Cheers