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[420]

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Hey guys. I just recently graduated from UCSD with 2.9 GPA in Biochemistry/Chemistry and have not taken the MCAT. I have no clinical experience nor letters of recommendation from anywhere. Obviously, I've been slacking off. I do want to become a doctor one day- I don't care if I end up at one of the Caribbean schools (no other option), but I do not know where I should begin.

I've started studying the MCAT few days ago (Plan on taking it January).
I plan on applying for an Auxiliary Volunteer position at a hospital.

I'm not sure if this is the most ideal way to get started. I've thought about applying for Post-Bacc program at the UCs for the next academic year (starting June 2011), but again, I have no letters of recommendation. I don't know much about how to go about shadowing a doctor (do I just ask any MD from a phone book?). Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Richardh]

hey 420 do you really think you don't have a chance pursing MD schools in US? you still have time to improve your stats. for example your gpa-if you plan on taking a post-bac then theres an opportunity to boost up your gpa 🙂 as for the mcat-you don't know what score you will be achieving. all options are open at this moment. you might end up getting a score of 30 or above which will make you a competitive applicant for MD schools in US 😀

as stats for carribean med schools the only one i am familiar is that of sgu where most entering students have an avg mcat of 25-27 and gpa of 3.0-3.4.

 

[Richardh]

what you plan on doing is great in my opinion
1. You do need to take the MCAT (so its good you're set for Jan)
2. You do need letters of recommendation (not necessary from a doctor but it will be a plus. most students submit 2 letter of recs from science professors and 1 letter of rec of their own choice like from work or volunteering)
3. You do need volunteer experience or exposure to health care field (so its great you're going to volunteer at auxiliary volunteer

 

[Richardh]

for letter of recommendation, doesn't ucsd have a committee to help file students' letter of recommendation? while you were an undergrad did you have a chance to get to know one or two professors? (like by going to their office hours, doing well in class? i think by the time you took upper division courses there was some chance for you to get to know your professors?) 😕

it's not really the best way to get a letter of recommendation from a doctor by looking up from a phone book. while you're volunteering at a hospital, you might have a chance to interact with one of the doctors on the floor 😀 (if you happen to be living in orange county theres an excellent volunteer program suited for pre-meds where you can get letter of recommendation. it's called the clinical care extender program. i think the closest to la jolla is new port beach where theres hoag hospital with the clinical care extender program. check it out if you can commute to volunteer there once a week for 4 hours)

 

[420]

Thank you all for the feedbacks. Richardh, I didn't know there was a committee that helps file recommendations. I didn't really visit the career center. It's a bit frustrating (even for myself) that I didn't get to know any professors, but 'it is what it is'. I feel uncomfortable about asking a letter from a professor who doesn't even know me. Unfortunately, I didn't take advantage of working with or assisting research under any professors. Currently, I moved back to Northern California (San Jose/Bay Area) so any help relating to volunteer/intern work in this area will be appreciated.

I feel my GPA is way too low to even consider applying to any US med schools (MD or DO) at this point; so if anything, I would have to go through some post-bacc program or SMP (whatever those are..).

Otherwise, I'm completely okay just attempting to get into Ross or something.

 

[Richardh]

no prob 420!

don't stress🙂
your letter of recs can then come from your volunteer work or your work (part-time or full)

if you happen to decide to get into post-bac program or SMP then you can get a letter of recommendation from your professor at that point. for post-bac, you might have to study and take the gre (but other schools don't require them. but to be on the safe side check.) for smp, you probably don't need any exams to take before applying (but check just in case). i know you will work and study harder once you get into either programs 👍 (the overall plus side to this path is that you can boost your gpa!)

 

[Richardh]

you still need to take the mcat
so good luck 😀

ross has a lower avg mcat (20-25) than sgu!!!

 

[Richardh]

by the way are you doing this volunteer work ??
i was looking something in your area that might help 🙂

http://www.goodsamsj.org/CustomPage.asp?guidCustomContentID=6DA97CDC-9CF3-4352-8B0B-8C06E1856F49

 

[420]

by the way are you doing this volunteer work ??
i was looking something in your area that might help 🙂

http://www.goodsamsj.org/CustomPage.asp?guidCustomContentID=6DA97CDC-9CF3-4352-8B0B-8C06E1856F49

No, I was looking at El Camino Hospital, but this is much closer to home. Thanks for your help, again!

 

[Richardh]

no prob!

good luck again 420!!!!!