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Hi,
I have a ways to go with my decision making but I wanted to get some heads up. Would taking an august MCAT hurt my chances for md-phd? Once I get closer to the deadline I can have the necessary classwork, research, volunteer and extracurriculars to add a little more information. However, would it be more intelligent to take the april exam a year later or the august mcat one summer after classes and research are 'complete'. I say it like this because I will of course take more research and classes on my own.
In other words, does taking the august mcat hurt extremely borderline candidates? I ask this because by the time I start medical school, assuming everything goes like this, I could be 24-25 and thus with the program-residency and fellowship I would be nearly 40 when I finished. Since I want to go into research, is this such a wise plan? Or is simply applying for an md-program and then after residency completing a fellowship the smarter way to go?
Here's a bit of background.
I'm currently 22 years old with a B.S. in Psychology ( yeah yeah )
Anywways, I am currently enrolled in the Northwestern postbac pre-med program and am taking the pre-med classes. During this fall, when I take biology, I will be able to participate in some research, some labs seem interesting and I could get involved 'right away'. Thus, because it is a postbac program it is accelerated and I will be done with the pre-med classes by this spring ( hopefully ). Here's the problem then, I will finish by next spring 2005 and be faced with the choice to take the august mcat or wait another year and take the april. I do not think I would have enough time to study for the mcat and do the necessary research during this first year. Besides, I want to have another year of research under my belt or at the very least an extra summer.
So here goes, I had a 3.59 GPA as an undergrad. My 'science' gpa there was 3.78, I say it like this simply because I only took Biology 100, Algebra, Pre-Calc, Calculus, Microbiology, Physiology and took Anatomy credit-no-credit ( although I did get a B it won't show on my transcript ). I have a lot of volunteering and will of course do more but I have discovered, just in my being in research labs, that biomedical research is far more fascinating to me than psychological and or primary care, although of course I would love to do some primary care ( not family doctor per se just standard human healthcare ).
Is this a lost cause for me? After I finish the classes I should have a better idea of where I stand in terms of grades and possible MCAT preparation.
Thanks,
😎
I have a ways to go with my decision making but I wanted to get some heads up. Would taking an august MCAT hurt my chances for md-phd? Once I get closer to the deadline I can have the necessary classwork, research, volunteer and extracurriculars to add a little more information. However, would it be more intelligent to take the april exam a year later or the august mcat one summer after classes and research are 'complete'. I say it like this because I will of course take more research and classes on my own.
In other words, does taking the august mcat hurt extremely borderline candidates? I ask this because by the time I start medical school, assuming everything goes like this, I could be 24-25 and thus with the program-residency and fellowship I would be nearly 40 when I finished. Since I want to go into research, is this such a wise plan? Or is simply applying for an md-program and then after residency completing a fellowship the smarter way to go?
Here's a bit of background.
I'm currently 22 years old with a B.S. in Psychology ( yeah yeah )
Anywways, I am currently enrolled in the Northwestern postbac pre-med program and am taking the pre-med classes. During this fall, when I take biology, I will be able to participate in some research, some labs seem interesting and I could get involved 'right away'. Thus, because it is a postbac program it is accelerated and I will be done with the pre-med classes by this spring ( hopefully ). Here's the problem then, I will finish by next spring 2005 and be faced with the choice to take the august mcat or wait another year and take the april. I do not think I would have enough time to study for the mcat and do the necessary research during this first year. Besides, I want to have another year of research under my belt or at the very least an extra summer.
So here goes, I had a 3.59 GPA as an undergrad. My 'science' gpa there was 3.78, I say it like this simply because I only took Biology 100, Algebra, Pre-Calc, Calculus, Microbiology, Physiology and took Anatomy credit-no-credit ( although I did get a B it won't show on my transcript ). I have a lot of volunteering and will of course do more but I have discovered, just in my being in research labs, that biomedical research is far more fascinating to me than psychological and or primary care, although of course I would love to do some primary care ( not family doctor per se just standard human healthcare ).
Is this a lost cause for me? After I finish the classes I should have a better idea of where I stand in terms of grades and possible MCAT preparation.
Thanks,
😎
