newbie here

[maingroup]

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hello people, i'm new here and would really appreciate if you could help me a bit to understand my situation a little better. i am a 3rd year bio student at ucla trying to get into medical school. i recently transferred from a california community college with a gpa of 3.76 (105 units) and have completed 13 units at ucla so far with a gpa of 4.0. i am trying to take the mcat and apply in summer (this will be my first time taking the mcat). i pretty much have no ec/clinical or lab experience.

1) how likely am i to get into a medical school (assuming i maintain my gpa and get a 29-32 on the mcat)?
2) is it too late for me to start shadowing doctors (i've always thought this is what high school or first year students do)?
3) how many doctors should i shadow and how many hours/doctor (assuming the answer to q2 is NO)?
4) what programs/classes/books do you recommend for first time mcaters?
5) ucla offers 3 physics courses for life science students. i will have completed only 2 of the 3 by the time I take the mcat. is this going to have a drastic efect on my ability to complete the physics part of the mact?

i ask you to forgive me for this long post, and would like to thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Myuu]

hello people, i'm new here and would really appreciate if you could help me a bit to understand my situation a little better. i am a 3rd year bio student at ucla trying to get into medical school. i recently transferred from a california community college with a gpa of 3.76 (105 units) and have completed 13 units at ucla so far with a gpa of 4.0. i am trying to take the mcat and apply in summer (this will be my first time taking the mcat). i pretty much have no ec/clinical or lab experience.

1) how likely am i to get into a medical school (assuming i maintain my gpa and get a 29-32 on the mcat)?
2) is it too late for me to start shadowing doctors (i've always thought this is what high school or first year students do)?
3) how many doctors should i shadow and how many hours/doctor (assuming the answer to q2 is NO)?
4) what programs/classes/books do you recommend for first time mcaters?
5) ucla offers 3 physics courses for life science students. i will have completed only 2 of the 3 by the time I take the mcat. is this going to have a drastic efect on my ability to complete the physics part of the mact?

i ask you to forgive me for this long post, and would like to thank you in advance for your help.

1) Please, please don't get anything under 30 on the MCAT. Why aim for 30 when you can aim for 45? Think of it this way. If you try and fail for 30 you end up with a sub-30 score which is not a good thing at all (mostly it severely limits your competitiveness compared with other students). Aim for 45 and fail and there's a much bigger (and better!) range of scores you could end up with!

Your GPA looks solid, but I'm not sure how schools will view those CC credits (I didn't have this issue, but you can call the schools you're interested in and ask or wait for someone here who knows to contribute).

2/3) It's not too late to start shadowing doctors at all. You want to demonstrate that you have some semi-recent experience that showed you just what it is that you're getting yourself into. I only shadowed a handful (for a total of ~100hrs), but the number and quality of experiences will vary based on regional availability of opportunities. Some people do more shadowing. Some people do less. The adcoms are looking for quality more than quantity here.

You really need to rack up some clinical experience, though. Is there a local hospital/hospice/??? that you can volunteer at?

Also, what do you mean by no ECs? Surely you have hobbies/talents/skills, yes? Have you joined/formed any clubs? Play any sports? Amuse yourself in potentially adcom-sellable ways?

4) If you're a self-studier, I recommend EK's books, along with some Kaplan practice questions, and the AAMC practice exams. If you prefer a more traditional classroom review setting, I have no idea as I didn't do that.😳

5) You'll have to wait for someone from UCLA to answer this one. I have noooo idea.

 

[maingroup]

1) Please, please don't get anything under 30 on the MCAT. Why aim for 30 when you can aim for 45? Think of it this way. If you try and fail for 30 you end up with a sub-30 score which is not a good thing at all (mostly it severely limits your competitiveness compared with other students). Aim for 45 and fail and there's a much bigger (and better!) range of scores you could end up with!

Your GPA looks solid, but I'm not sure how schools will view those CC credits (I didn't have this issue, but you can call the schools you're interested in and ask or wait for someone here who knows to contribute).

2/3) It's not too late to start shadowing doctors at all. You want to demonstrate that you have some semi-recent experience that showed you just what it is that you're getting yourself into. I only shadowed a handful (for a total of ~100hrs), but the number and quality of experiences will vary based on regional availability of opportunities. Some people do more shadowing. Some people do less. The adcoms are looking for quality more than quantity here.

You really need to rack up some clinical experience, though. Is there a local hospital/hospice/??? that you can volunteer at?

Also, what do you mean by no ECs? Surely you have hobbies/talents/skills, yes? Have you joined/formed any clubs? Play any sports? Amuse yourself in potentially adcom-sellable ways?

4) If you're a self-studier, I recommend EK's books, along with some Kaplan practice questions, and the AAMC practice exams. If you prefer a more traditional classroom review setting, I have no idea as I didn't do that.😳

5) You'll have to wait for someone from UCLA to answer this one. I have noooo idea.

thanks myuu for the thorough response. i just got rejected by the first doctor i asked to shadow 🙁. not only that, he tried to convince me that it is not legal for undergrads to shadow a doctor and that only medical students can do it and even they have to buy million dollar insurance plans before doing it. it was kind of obvious that he did not want to help in any shape or form. what's your thoughts on this?

 

[Myuu]

thanks myuu for the thorough response. i just got rejected by the first doctor i asked to shadow 🙁. not only that, he tried to convince me that it is not legal for undergrads to shadow a doctor and that only medical students can do it and even they have to buy million dollar insurance plans before doing it. it was kind of obvious that he did not want to help in any shape or form. what's your thoughts on this?

Wow, some people are like that. The good news is that there are plenty of doctors out there who would be glad to have a shadow!👍 I would take an approach starting with doctors you have established relationships with (i.e. your family doctor) or those you have contact points with. Otherwise, people seem to have plenty of success taking the shotgun (which is to say 'phonebook/google') approach. Some write letters and submit CVs/Resumes, but it's probably easier to call.👍

Edit: As to legality, if the patient gives consent for you to observe, you're golden. Where it starts getting fuzzy is you getting involved in the delivery of care.