need advice

[Bevo]

after speaking with my pre med advisor today he suggested I hold off applying this year and apply for 2004. He reviewed my application and said he didn't see any fire in me. He sees progress but nothing that jumps out.
For a little history Im a post bacc student with a C average from my previous university.
He suggested I take an additional year of upper level science courses to raise my science gpa and take the mcat this august instead of this april.

Im taking the kaplan review course right now and getting 24 and 25s on my practice tests. my gpa at my current school is only a 3.0.

Although I really hate to wait another year for med school, just really want to go! I do understand his problems with my application as it is now.

I just dont know what to do with my time. I was trying to find some information on those post bacc programs at medical schools. I know of the ones from BU, georgetown and columbia( heard of them ) and know them to be real expensive. Being a texas resident I was hoping one would be available in the state but I dont think there is on.

Im just not sure if I should follow his advice. I believe him to really know what he is talking about since he helped start the medical school in san antonio i believe and is a physician himself of many years.

Just at odds over the whole thing. Its a pretty big decision and I dont want to commit to something and not know what I'll be doing in the 2003-2004 school calender year.

Any feedback is welcomed. Thanks.

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[oldman]

I decided to delay applying for medical school by one year. My grades and MCAT are average for getting in, but I knew what I lacked. I lacked good clinical experience. I used the time off for getting some hands-on, get your hands dirty, put on some elbow grease, clinical experience. I basically didn't apply until I had the best possible application to offer.

Trust me, you only want to apply to medical school once.

So have you finished your post-bacc??

 

[Bevo]

at the end of this semester I will have finished all my pre reqs for medical school.

I do think waiting the year will be better for my application but I am trying to figure out what I would do that 2nd year while I wait on my applications.

I plan on taking more upper level biology courses next year. Its the year after that which i am completly lost on.

 

[THE instiGATOR]

I think you need to start fresh by enrolling in a PhD program. You need to take it very seriously this time around and earn as high a GPA as is possible (PhD GPAs tend to be inflated and med schools know this).

$0.02

 

[WaitingImpatiently]

I'll be realistic here, though it may seem harsh:

You might want to seriously, SERIOUSLY consider a backup profession at this point. A 3.0 GPA and 25 MCAT will not impress anyone, especially if there's no "fire" in you. Your numbers are below the averages of just about every school out there, but it seems like you've done nothing to really stand out. How do you know you really want to go into medicine if you have no earth-shattering experiences expsosing you to it?

 

[metsn02]

hey imbebo,
Don't listen to the naysayers (see above). You've made it this far, you're taking an MCAT review course, you've consulted your pre-med advisor, you've found sdn. Dude, your averaging 24s and 25s, which is probably around 8 in each section. You are not that far away from getting those elusive 10s. My advice, don't take the April mcat. After you graduate in mid-May, start studying for the MCAT with Kaplan. Take every opportunity you can to get in the Kaplan library and drill, drill, drill. I thought the classes were a joke, but the library has so much material containing real MCAT style questions, that you can work on your weak spots and build on your strong ones. See if you can take a full length exam (AAMC and Kaplan full lengths) every Saturday for 10 weeks leading to the August exam. Once you finally take that exam in August go in there like DMX in his Ruff Ryders Anthem video and "drop stop, shut 'em down, open up shop." Next think about post-bac programs to bring up your science gpa. I say go the post-bac route, rather than PhD because on your AMCAS application your science grades from the post-bac will figure into your undergrad science gpa and will help boost them. With PhD coursework you'll have a separate graduate gpa. As far as which post-bac program to go to, I've searched this site quite a bit and there is some useful info. about what each program entails. Go to the Syracuse pre-med website and they list all the good ones. Personally, I think the best one might be MCP-Hahnemann's. You start in late August and take courses with medical students there. This will help you in two ways. It will give you a head start on classes in the first year that you will see once you enter med school and secondly it will give yourself and med schools a gauge as to how you can handle the coursework. As for clinical experience, IT IS ESSENTIAL. What I mean is that you will see the good and bad things about the medical field and also encounter experiences that you can relay to your interviewers. At every one of my interviews, my clinical experience was brought into play, by myself and my interviewers, so be ready. Oh and one last thing, I think from your post that you might be a Texas resident. You are in medical school heaven. There are so many options out there for you that choosing one to attend is going to be difficult. Your almost there, never lose sight of your dreams and goals, and take those people that say you can't make it and use them as fuel for the fire that leads you to medicine. Peace...Oh and Duke basketball sucks

 

[Doctora Foxy]

mets02, that's funny that you say that about Texas, because I was just about to say the opposite. An SDNer once posted a link to stats which showed that Texas is the second most competitive state to be from, the first being California, and the third being Florida. I was going to suggest that he move! But Texas DOES have a lot of options, perhaps this should be looked into.

BTW, lmbebo, I met a guy at my GW interview who graduated from our undergrad and did the MCPHU post-bac thing. He's accepted to their med school for next year, and I think around 85% of each class gets into med school somewhere, as far as statistics go. I think it's a good idea. You may know this guy, he graduated in 99 I think. PM me if you're interested in more info about him, since you could probably contact him.

Best of luck! And kick a$$ on the mcats!

 

[Bevo]

Thanks for the replies. I am already a post bacc student as I originally graduated in 2000 but I had not taken any of the pre med courses. Im taking those right now. And as for the MCATs I havent' taken them yet. I am still studying for them and if I follow my advisor's advice I wont be taking them until August. I know 25 isn't good enough for much especially with my current grades. I was aiming for a 30 or higher and expect to get that.

while texas has a lot to offer it does not have one of the post bacc programs, <a href="http://www-hl.syr.edu/hpap/LISTPB.HTM" target="_blank">http://www-hl.syr.edu/hpap/LISTPB.HTM</a> .

So I was thinking about doing a master of science here in Texas but Im not sure if it is the same thing.

 

[Bevo]

bump.

just wondering if anyone else knew of any other thing I could do with my extra year now.

 

[analu]

lmbebo, my situation was a lot like yours...poor undergrad grades dictated post-bacc work and doing well on the MCAT. I also took Kaplan and scored well when I took the real thing---just remember to take advantage of all the materials at the learning center. As far as what to do, in addition to doing well in more upper division PCBM courses, I would highly recommend some significant hospital or clinical experience. Choose something which motivates you, like shadowing a doc whose specialty is of interest to you. Or volunteer in an E.R. or with a hospice. Better yet, get a part-time job as a nurse's aide or ward clerk or tech (what I did, in a clinical setting). Bottom line: you can only do so much to raise that GPA with post-bacc work. Therefore, make sure you stand-out with your ECs and clinical experience. Demonstrate that you know what it's like being in a neonatal ICU, or in a nursing home, a busy internal medicine practice, whatever...show the adcoms that your decision to pursue a career in medicine is a sincere, well-researched one and that you know exactly what you're in for. And find out why these doctors you end up working with LOVE WHAT THEY DO! (Don't forget to get the glowing LORs from these docs too...)

me ke aloha pumehana