Need help with life decisions!

[pittsburgh0016]

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Hello,

So, I am a 2011 graduate from Robert Morris University (not many people know it) in Pittsburgh, PA. Anyway, graduated with 3.6 cGPA in Environmental Science-Pre-med, good ECs, and a poor MCAT (21). I have been looking for research opportunities throughout the area or anything to get my feet wet in a hospital/research setting and have been turned away. I don't know what to do as I want to go into medical school, but haven't got accepted anywhere. Do I take the MCAT over and try for the 2013 year, or get some experience somewhere, or what? I suck at standardized tests usually! I am seriously lost and need some help! Everywhere I go seems to want experience and I am willing to start out as a coffee guy to just get into medical/research setting. What is everyone's point of view? I want to get into a D.O. school and haven't ruled out P.A. either.

Thanks

"When life gives you lemons, chuck the lemons and go get a beer"

 

[Thego2guy]

That's the attitude! Optimism is good.

You are definitely not going to get in anywhere with a 21. Take AS MUCH TIME AS YOU NEED, to retake the MCAT and score at least a 26-27 on it. Your GPA is good for DO school. What is your sGPA?

You also need to beef up your extracurriculars. Good EC's involve more than just research. By the time you apply, you should have at least a good 3 months of clinical volunteering, some nonclinical community service, and preferably some research experience (this is not AS important for DO schools).

As for getting research opportunities - that should be relatively simple. Either contact your old professors and explain to them what's going on. I'm sure they have contacts who you can do research for. Another option would be to find the nearest academic medical center, go to their online department webpage, check out the researchers, find what you like, and contact them. You can either do that by showing up at the respective department at the medical center, calling them, emailing them, or if you can't get their email, you can search for their published articles on pubmed, and get their contact info via that.

Plant many seeds in many different locations. Something should pull through. You have decent stats - just wait a year, take your sweet time to retake your MCAT, do a hefty amount of EC's, and do at least 4 months of research. You'll be golden for DO school next cycle.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

You HAVE to retake the mcat. Simple fix. It is getting more competitive year after year. You obviously didn't have a chance this year with a 21 and waiting a year will make it even harder. If you want to go to med school you have to retake the mcat and get a 24+ (to feel confident). Higher is better. The rest of your life will be full of standardized tests so you might as well get used to it now.

Easy fix assuming you have the customary ECs like volunteering, shadowing, clinical, etc. What are your ECs?

 

[pittsburgh0016]

Well my ECs are playing for the club soccer team, being in the pre medicine club and the environmental science club at RMU, starting a nonprofit organization to help out local churches and charities by throwing on concerts, shadowing one of the best D.O. GI doctors in the area, and being able to be in the operating room to watch some orthopedic surgeries.

My science GPA was a 3.8, had issues with the business classes they forced me to take. My professors are somewhat of a help but not to the extent they should be.

So I was intrigued by you saying volunteer. Do you just email the researcher and say you would like to volunteer for them? I really don't even care if I don't get paid but, i have interviewed at places and didn't get the job because of my lack of experience. I am willing to do whatever it takes!

 

[411309]

I agree with fryky, if you really boost your ECs and get around a 24-25 youd prob get into a DO school. I have a friend of mine with a solid gpa and 23 mcat that was accepted due to his great ECs. Unfortunately I think a 21 is a bit too low though. You should def retake and try to see what went wrong the first time.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Well my ECs are playing for the club soccer team, being in the pre medicine club and the environmental science club at RMU, starting a nonprofit organization to help out local churches and charities by throwing on concerts, shadowing one of the best D.O. GI doctors in the area, and being able to be in the operating room to watch some orthopedic surgeries.

My science GPA was a 3.8, had issues with the business classes they forced me to take. My professors are somewhat of a help but not to the extent they should be.

So I was intrigued by you saying volunteer. Do you just email the researcher and say you would like to volunteer for them? I really don't even care if I don't get paid but, i have interviewed at places and didn't get the job because of my lack of experience. I am willing to do whatever it takes!

No volunteering to show community service, not working for free. Some people volunteer at a hospital to knock out that and clinical. I volunteered at my kids' school doing parties, safety patrol, pancake breakfasts, stuff like that. You need on average 2 hours a week for a good amount of time. I didn't do clinical volunteering because I worked 20 hours per week as a patient transporter. Find something you like and make a difference. Maybe a soup kitchen, or a local hospital. Your clinical ECs are lacking. That won't help.

 

[pittsburgh0016]

I have just sent out a bunch of volunteer applications to a couple local hospitals. Hopefully that will get my foot in the door and next cycle, ill be able to apply with better credentials. A girl I know got in with a 21 to VCOM. I am not saying that it is a good score, but I do believe I can do better. Physics and the Verbal Reasoning are my weakest link.