Need important advice, feeling lost

[rafe goldman]

I am in dire need of some direction. I applied to 2 US MD and 3 Caribbean schools this past application cycle, and was rejected from the US MD schools, SGU, and AUC. Was accepted into Ross. My stats are not the best, with a 3.1 gpa and an 18 mcat. I knew I had no chance of getting into an American school, but I figured to give it a shot anyways. I have hospital volunteering hours, and am a musician currently. After reading some posts on Ross University, I'm starting to think that I should not waste my money/time there, and to retake the MCAT and reapply to US DO schools. I would enroll in a Kaplan course and study smarter for it. Have already completed a post bac with the pre-med courses, so am done taking courses. Am 30 years old, and don't want to be pre-med student forever. Any advice please, feeling really down, thanks.

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[DermViser]

I don't think even a DO school will take an 18 MCAT. You would have to make big changes to get your score high enough so that a DO school would take you. What stopped you from enrolling in a Kaplan course and studying smarter from the beginning. Regardless, don't go to the Caribbean due to the huge risk. Med school is stressful enough as it is.

 

[rafe goldman]

For the MCAT, I did not give myself enough time to study for it. 3 months preparation was not enough, and didn't know how to effectively study for it. I know I would need to score way higher on it to have a chance for DO. Am I doomed at this point?

 

[DermViser]

For the MCAT, I did not give myself enough time to study for it. 3 months preparation was not enough, and didn't know how to effectively study for it. I know I would need to score way higher on it to have a chance for DO. Am I doomed at this point?

3 months is a long time to study for the MCAT. I would ask in the Osteopathic forum as they know all about grade replacement so your GPA might be higher and what MCAT you would need to get to be eligible for DO schools.

 

[radkat101]

I think a score of ~24 would give you a CHANCE at DO, but with a 3.1 a 27+ would give a more realistic shot. What was the breakdown of your MCAT score, and how did you study for it the first time?

 

[rafe goldman]

PS 6, VS 4, BS 8. Verbal is not my strong point, as I did not pace myself and ran out of time towards reading passage 6.

How I studied was through online tutorial vids, some personal tutoring, AAMC practice tests, and purchased self-study books such as Kaplan MCAT prep, EK, and Barron's for reviewing the material. I was basically blown out of water with the material, as I had not taken Gen Chem and Biology in a few years. Reading the chapters and answering the questions does not seem to work well alone. I need to really break down each topic to the point I really understand everything!

Now I would need to study for the new MCAT so more new material (biochem, psych, etc). Any other suggestion on approaching this god awful test a second go around?

 

[fastlane]

Didnt they just change to a new mcat format? You should really focus hard and aim for your next retake in April, and apply in June. Do well on it and go to an osteopathic school and dont look back.
If you really want an M.D. behind your name, you might want to look into the postbacc masters programs to raise your gpa.

 

[rafe goldman]

Thank you fastlane Yes it will be the new Mcat that I take. At this point, I will not be taking anymore classes to raise my gpa unless additional coursework is needed (have over 200 credit hours), so it's all Mcat or nothing. The new fight begins!

 

[radkat101]

PS 6, VS 4, BS 8. Verbal is not my strong point, as I did not pace myself and ran out of time towards reading passage 6.

How I studied was through online tutorial vids, some personal tutoring, AAMC practice tests, and purchased self-study books such as Kaplan MCAT prep, EK, and Barron's for reviewing the material. I was basically blown out of water with the material, as I had not taken Gen Chem and Biology in a few years. Reading the chapters and answering the questions does not seem to work well alone. I need to really break down each topic to the point I really understand everything!

Now I would need to study for the new MCAT so more new material (biochem, psych, etc). Any other suggestion on approaching this god awful test a second go around?

I don't have any advice specifically for the new MCAT because I don't know much about it. Clearly you are deficient in content knowledge with a score that low. This is good because it means there's plenty of room for improvement. You should start by getting the Berkeley Review PS books and doing every problem in them twice. Start doing tons of bio practice questions with EK 1001 Q's, and when you finish that, try the bio questions in the Berkely Bio book (don't bother reading the sections). I'm assuming you've exhausted the AAMC practice tests? Do the AAMC self assessment if/when you run out. You should really gear your prep around practice questions. Even if you feel completely lost in the material, do them and go back and figure out the concept for every single one you miss. The learning process is more active this way and leads to faster results than passively doing content review. Obviously you need to do lots of verbal passages as well, but it's hard to give advice for that section.

Don't even consider Caribbean. There's just no excuse for going there with DO grade replacement. A poor MCAT score despite your BEST effort, makes going to the Caribbean a suicide mission.

 

[Robinson EM]

I am in dire need of some direction. I applied to 2 US MD and 3 Caribbean schools this past application cycle, and was rejected from the US MD schools, SGU, and AUC. Was accepted into Ross. My stats are not the best, with a 3.1 gpa and an 18 mcat. I knew I had no chance of getting into an American school, but I figured to give it a shot anyways. I have hospital volunteering hours, and am a musician currently. After reading some posts on Ross University, I'm starting to think that I should not waste my money/time there, and to retake the MCAT and reapply to US DO schools. I would enroll in a Kaplan course and study smarter for it. Have already completed a post bac with the pre-med courses, so am done taking courses. Am 30 years old, and don't want to be pre-med student forever. Any advice please, feeling really down, thanks.

Options:
-get into a good school (don't go to schools that have 50% match rates like carribean). Go for US MD/DO
-don't go to school. Med school is tough and many doctors don't like practicing medicine. Almost all surveys show 40-50% dissatisfaction for physicians
-find another career

I wouldn't go to a bad school and postbacs are fine if they have a good direct admission or high admission rate. You could easy give someone tens of thousands to not get you into med school, then you're worse off.

Good luck. Don't think that your happiness or satisfaction hinges on your success getting into med school or whatever. With proper psychology, you can be just as happy today as if you received an admission from the coolest med school in the world. Don't idealize the profession or your future.

 

[CyberMaxx]

To add to what was said above, make sure, if you decide to study for the MCAT again, that you do ALL questions timed. The only way to get faster and to know what 7 minutes feels like (I think that I recall 7 mins is the amount of time you should allot yourself for each section) is to do timed sections again and again. I think MD is out at this point, I can only defer to others in regards to DO because I don't know that system.

In regards to feeling lost, I would highly recommend setting up a very solid backup plan at this point (if you don't already have one already). I say this for two reasons, the first is because you have a tough road ahead of you and there is no guarantees it will work out (though I hope that it does ). The second is that by having a solid back up plan you will greatly reduce your stress level, which is paramount when going into a major test like the MCAT.

 

[Goro]

VERY wise decision!
After reading some posts on Ross University, I'm starting to think that I should not waste my money/time there, and to retake the MCAT and reapply to US DO schools.

Take as many diagnostics as you can. Don't rely only on Kaplan. Do NOT retake the MCAT until you are fully ready. If you have test taking anxiety issues, get them fixed.
A number of DO schools take the latest grade, while some also avg. Aim for the former.

I would enroll in a Kaplan course and study smarter for it. Have already completed a post bac with the pre-med courses, so am done taking courses. Am 30 years old, and don't want to be pre-med student forever. Any advice please, feeling really down, thanks.

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to PreOsteo as OP is considering applying DO.

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

I don't think even a DO school will take an 18 MCAT. You would have to make big changes to get your score high enough so that a DO school would take you. What stopped you from enrolling in a Kaplan course and studying smarter from the beginning. Regardless, don't go to the Caribbean due to the huge risk. Med school is stressful enough as it is.

What do you mean even DO want take 18? The average of DO is 27 and MD is 31. I don't like the tone. 18 is no where close to competitive.

I am in dire need of some direction. I applied to 2 US MD and 3 Caribbean schools this past application cycle, and was rejected from the US MD schools, SGU, and AUC. Was accepted into Ross. My stats are not the best, with a 3.1 gpa and an 18 mcat. I knew I had no chance of getting into an American school, but I figured to give it a shot anyways. I have hospital volunteering hours, and am a musician currently. After reading some posts on Ross University, I'm starting to think that I should not waste my money/time there, and to retake the MCAT and reapply to US DO schools. I would enroll in a Kaplan course and study smarter for it. Have already completed a post bac with the pre-med courses, so am done taking courses. Am 30 years old, and don't want to be pre-med student forever. Any advice please, feeling really down, thanks.

Surprised you have been rejected from a sgu/auc.

Didnt they just change to a new mcat format? You should really focus hard and aim for your next retake in April, and apply in June. Do well on it and go to an osteopathic school and dont look back.
If you really want an M.D. behind your name, you might want to look into the postbacc masters programs to raise your gpa.

I know you're name is fast lane but let's take it slow OK? I don't think OP is all that close to be ready for reapplying. Gonna take time realistically to get the MCAT score up and if the GPA could be raised a bit to that would be helpful. Should shoot for applying next June and getting that MCAT up when ready.

 

[keels99]

Three months of studying for the MCAT is a pretty significant chunk of time... But, then again, I only took one practice test, so I'm not the best to give advice on MCAT study habits. There will definitely be some diagnostic work needed to see exactly what information you need to learn. I would suggest maybe retaking some courses to improve your GPA as well.

 

[DermViser]

What do you mean even DO want take 18? The average of DO is 27 and MD is 31. I don't like the tone. 18 is no where close to competitive.

I couldn't care less if you like the "tone". I already said that DO schools won't take an 18. Read what I typed and stop trying to start DO vs. MD conflagrations just bc you're a DO yourself. Grow up.

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

I couldn't care less if you like the "tone". I already said that DO schools won't take an 18. Read what I typed and stop trying to start DO vs. MD conflagrations just bc you're a DO yourself. Grow up.

All I was saying was to say that in a way without being insulting. Saying even DO won't take it is a bit offensive. The wording was just awful. You made it sound like DOs barely have standards and I don't believe you think that

 

[j4pac]

I completely understand with you not wanting to waste the rest of your life trying to get into medical school. I would set up a timeline...and stick to it.

I would spend a semester trying to bump your GPA to at least 3.4. This is going to take some strategy. I would pick classes with very low grades, which you have a chance to improve, while also prepping for MCAT. For instance, I got Cs on Organic I/II...I hated it and it hated me. I could have taken those course ten times and I don't know if I would have ever been able to get an A in it. Be realistic about the courses you want to retake. I would stick to retaking your Bio I/II, Chem I/II, and Physics I/II classes if those grades were low because by retaking your class you would also help prep for the MCAT.

The following semester I would focus strictly on MCAT. Do a Kaplan course and read everything that ExamKracker has on print. Perform TONS of practice tests. For verbal reasoning...I would look through SDN archives for reading material and strategies to prep for verbal reasoning.

Then go into your test rested and relaxed...and hopefully it all works out. If it doesn't...I think that it would be time to move on to a different profession.

 

[GCSDOC]

OP, first, be cautious of the weight you put on advice you read on the internet. I think the bigger question has to do with, what are your motivating reasons for pursuing medicine? As long as the response to this question is genuine and logical, absolutely do not let a standardized test prevent you from achieving your goal. From what I understand, there are going to be many uphill battles that seem like roadblocks along the way, if you are questioning whether to back down now before you have even started, then you likely are not in the right mindset to undertake the medical school journey. So what is motivating you to pursue this path?

 

[rafe goldman]

Thanks so much everyone for their wonderful help. Am enrolling in the Kaplan prep course to prepare myself for this exam.