Need advice on my situation.

[future doctork]

Hello All,

First time ever posting here. I am a senior in my University can currently taking the first semester of senior year. So i will explain my situation here and kindly i need honest and expert/experienced opinions on that. sorry for a long post.

We (family) moved to USA about 3+ years ago. After high school, something happened for which i was unable to go to the university for 2 years. Just stayed home and meanwhile prepared for medical schools in my country. After that we moved to USA. In high school i did British O/A levels which are comparable to IB courses. I got credits and grades transferred for GenChem1&2 with C, Physics1&2 with C, and an unlabeled Bio course with B.
For prerequisites (the one i took here at my university),
Molecular and cell biology B
Genetics A
Organic Chem 1 B
Organic Chem 2 A (very highly anticipated)
Calculus 1 A
Calculus 2 B+
Biochem Not taken yet

100+ hours of shadowing and volunteer
Currently in a research program. will be a two semester research.

Rest of the transcript: Couple Bs and Cs in non-science courses.

In higher level Psych mostly A and A+

So the thing is that i want to repeat my GenChems and GenPhysics and i talked to my Premed advisor at my university and he said that i can take them again anywhere. I chose to do them in a Community College since the class sizes are small and cheaper, but not very easy, still gotta do a lot work. My advisor (he is a doc) advised me that i can take them at a community college since it is cheaper and it will not matter, the grade only matters.

Another weird situation is that i was a Biology major from the beginning. I was very passionate about it. Minoring in Psychology, which i like a lot too. My university has a weird requirement of passing Ecology and Evolution course which comes after Genetics, to take the upper level Bio courses. I took that course twice, dropped it the first time and got a D+ the second time and got B+ in the Lab. I did all my hard work to pass this course but could not do it and was very demotivated to do it again. So my advisor told me to switch to another major and i chose psychology since i like studying about it and i am good at it. I am taking most of the Psy courses that are biology related. I am happy with it now.

I transferred to another university and i liked it but had to come back due to financial reasons. Therei took one chemistry which i think will be comparable to GenChem1 and got a A. Probably due to small class sizes and better teaching. Very good school but private and expensive.

My question is that how do i look like as an applicant for a Medical School considering my major change and overall. Where i will have the most chances to get into. Will re-taking those GenChem 1&2 and Phys 1&2 at a community college hurt my chances? I want to retake them for one to improve my grade and second to refresh my knowledge for MCAT.
I am myself very discouraged seeing my grades and this weird situation. But i am passionate about medicine and only want to be a doctor. I have always envisioned myself doing that.
My university is a very big one and mostly professors are just there for research and just teaching classes for their job (what i have felt). Not very good teachers.

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[Goro]

My question is that how do i look like as an applicant for a Medical School considering my major change and overall.
We don't care about majors, only that you do well.


Where i will have the most chances to get into.

Come back with an MCAT score and then we can advise. In geeneal chances will be vbest for DO schools and your state MD school.

Will re-taking those GenChem 1&2 and Phys 1&2 at a community college hurt my chances?
Invest in MSAR Online to find out which schools do and don't accept pre-reqs at CC's.

You need more patient contact experience, and non-clinical volunteering, too.

 

[future doctork]

My question is that how do i look like as an applicant for a Medical School considering my major change and overall.
We don't care about majors, only that you do well.


Where i will have the most chances to get into.

Come back with an MCAT score and then we can advise. In geeneal chances will be vbest for DO schools and your state MD school.

Will re-taking those GenChem 1&2 and Phys 1&2 at a community college hurt my chances?
Invest in MSAR Online to find out which schools do and don't accept pre-reqs at CC's.

You need more patient contact experience, and non-clinical volunteering, too.

Thanks for your reply.

That is a good idea to look at MSAR. But i was more concerned that how will admission officers look at my major change to Psychology [after not passing Ecology and Evolution course twice for my biology major]. My premed advisor told me that sometimes they overlook it but sometimes they ask and i need to have a good explanation for that or either mention that in my personal statement.

Regarding taking GenChem and Physics at CC, i have a unique situation where i first transferred my high school grades [should not have done that in the first place because they transferred as bad grades]. Now i want to retake or refresh them but i don't know how it will be perceived first as a retake and then retaking them at a CC.

Also if you have any ideas about getting patient contact experience? that will be appreciated. I did some caregiving job but that was only like a couple days for up to like 25hrs

 

[CardioAlways3524]

You will be fine. I got a C- in a course and still got into medical school on my 1st cycle.

 

[future doctork]

You will be fine. I got a C- in a course and still got into medical school on my 1st cycle.

Can you please tell which course was that? and how did you explain that in your PS? Thank You

 

[future doctork]

Ask if your school could remove your transferred courses from a foreign country if you retake the courses? I transferred to the US with a 2.8 GPA but after retaking classes and removing foreign grades from my transcript, I ended up with 3.9

For your question about patient contact, think volunteering at a hospital but make sure you have patient interactions guaranteed before accepting a position. Better, go to a hospice and volunteer there.



Thanks for your reply, I am enrolled in an Emergency department research program which will definitely require patient contact. Will that fill the gap for Patient contact?

 

[future doctork]

Also, most premed advisors are clueless. The grades do matter but some schools don’t accept pre-reqs at a CC especially for courses you’re not taking upper level classes in like physics and chemistry.

It is a bit weird to change a major just cuz one class was hard, did you not like the rest of your classes?

Also, maybe I missed it, but how will they know that you changed your major? Btw what major you have absolutely doesn’t matter.




No i am not taking any upper level courses in Physics and Chemistry at CC. I am only taking Phy 1 and 2 and Gen chem 2.
For major change, that one class (Ecology and Evolution) was the prerequisite for all the other upper level Biology courses. I like the other upper level biology courses but i had to pass that one weird course to get to them.