Lost and Confused :/

[shere003]

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I see a lot of people on here went on to get a masters degree, is that mandatory to get to apply to med school or can you apply simply with having a bachelors degree?

I am 21 and I am in my first semester since changing to pre-med, I didn't like my other major and was about to graduate when something happened in my life and I realized I wanted to study medicine. Right now I have a 2.0 but since I have so many classes to take (the pre-reqs) for med school I know it will go up a lot. Lets say its goes all the way up to a 3.4 (wishful thinking) will I need to get a masters or can I go straight to applying for med-schools ?

I'm so lost and confused now, please help me.

Thanks,
SH

 

[Etyan]

A Master's is definitely not necessary, but it can help in some cases. If you get strong results (i.e., all A's in your pre-reqs), you should have a good chance at showing MD/DO schools you have the academic strength to pull through the first 2 years of med school.

I see a lot of people on here went on to get a masters degree, is that mandatory to get to apply to med school or can you apply simply with having a bachelors degree?

I am 21 and I am in my first semester since changing to pre-med, I didn't like my other major and was about to graduate when something happened in my life and I realized I wanted to study medicine. Right now I have a 2.0 but since I have so many classes to take (the pre-reqs) for med school I know it will go up a lot. Lets say its goes all the way up to a 3.4 (wishful thinking) will I need to get a masters or can I go straight to applying for med-schools ?

I'm so lost and confused now, please help me.

Thanks,
SH

 

[Plecopotamus]

I see a lot of people on here went on to get a masters degree, is that mandatory to get to apply to med school or can you apply simply with having a bachelors degree?

I am 21 and I am in my first semester since changing to pre-med, I didn't like my other major and was about to graduate when something happened in my life and I realized I wanted to study medicine. Right now I have a 2.0 but since I have so many classes to take (the pre-reqs) for med school I know it will go up a lot. Lets say its goes all the way up to a 3.4 (wishful thinking) will I need to get a masters or can I go straight to applying for med-schools ?

I'm so lost and confused now, please help me.

Thanks,
SH

I'm not sure what you're looking at where you see people getting a Masters so commonly. SMP programs are a special type of masters program for students who have completed their prerequisites but still do not have a competitive GPA and/or MCAT to get into medical school. They are used to prove one's capacity to perform at the med school level if your other stats are not convincing.

Also, you're posting on the non-traditional applicants forum. Although there is no strict definition of "non-traditional," most of us have been out of college for several years and are going back to school after another career -- our concerns and what adcoms look for in our applications are a bit different than they will be for you since you are still in undergrad and of normal age to be an undergrad. You may benefit more from posting on the regular allopathic pre-med forum.

 

[Goro]

Going up to a 3.4 will be great for any DO program, and probably a few MD ones as well.

I see a lot of people on here went on to get a masters degree, is that mandatory to get to apply to med school or can you apply simply with having a bachelors degree?

I am 21 and I am in my first semester since changing to pre-med, I didn't like my other major and was about to graduate when something happened in my life and I realized I wanted to study medicine. Right now I have a 2.0 but since I have so many classes to take (the pre-reqs) for med school I know it will go up a lot. Lets say its goes all the way up to a 3.4 (wishful thinking) will I need to get a masters or can I go straight to applying for med-schools ?

I'm so lost and confused now, please help me.

Thanks,
SH

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

How close are you to graduating? If you're halfway through college and you have a 2.0, then even if you got perfect grades from now on you would end up with a 3.0, and that's not really good enough. The good news is that DO medical schools allow grade replacement. If you retake a class you can replace the bad grade with a better one. That will provide a substantial boost to your GPA.

 

[shere003]

I'm actually at the beginning of my undergrad (I have all four years left) to get my GPA up. But thanks for the answer everyone, it was extremely helpful 🙂