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[jeepwrangler]

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I applied to medical school during the 2009-2010 application cycle and received just one interview. I applied early during the season. I was then wait-listed and do not expect to hear back from the school.

I have many volunteer experiences (600 hrs +) at the hospital. Volunteer together with premedical clubs and also shadowed physicians. I was a webmaster for one of the premedical clubs.

I have an undergraduate math/science GPA 3.86 and an overall GPA 3.83. Also did some undergraduate research with poster presentation.
Took MCAT three times: the first time I got V3, P8, B9 20M, the second time I got V7, P8, B9 24M, and the third time I got V4, P9, B10 23L.

I plan to go to graduate school for a PhD. Meanwhile I plan to improve myself to be a better applicant and then reapply after my PhD. Any comments, advice, and suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[bonsaipalmtree]

Did you apply for DO as well? Or are you more interested in research (hence the PhD)?

 

[Bernoull]

I applied to medical school during the 2009-2010 application cycle and received just one interview. I applied early during the season. I was then wait-listed and do not expect to hear back from the school.

I have many volunteer experiences (600 hrs +) at the hospital. Volunteer together with premedical clubs and also shadowed physicians. I was a webmaster for one of the premedical clubs.

I have an undergraduate math/science GPA 3.86 and an overall GPA 3.83. Also did some undergraduate research with poster presentation.
Took MCAT three times: the first time I got V3, P8, B9 20M, the second time I got V7, P8, B9 24M, and the third time I got V4, P9, B10 23L.

I plan to go to graduate school for a PhD. Meanwhile I plan to improve myself to be a better applicant and then reapply after my PhD. Any comments, advice, and suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

From someone graduating with a Master's literally 2 days before med school orientation .... DO NOT GO TO GRAD SCHOOL UNLESS YOU ARE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN THE GRAD PROGRAM INDEPENDENT OF MED SCHOOL ADMISSIONS!! Sorry about the CAPs, but I want to make this point clear.😀

Clearly your obstacle to admissions is the MCAT Verbal and if you improved on that, I'm sure you will get in somewhere. For med school admissions, grad school is a demanding, expensive, time-consuming AND low yield endeavor!! Ur gpa is great so u don't need any academic redemption and it's unwise to risk a lower grad gpa when the gain, on the upside, is marginal. EXCEPT if u're genuinely interested in the PhD for its own merits, i'll strongly advise against it.

If you're contemplating grad school to improve ur odds, u're much better off improving other areas of ur applicant file, maybe get a job at a hospital, earn $$ and gain clinical exposure, volunteer, take english/comprehension course(s), practice tons on ur verbal and retake the MCAT ONLY if you're scoring well on AAMCs. For a retake, it's imperative to improve considerably given that it'll be ur 4th take!!

Again only go to grad school for its own merits!!

Best of luck...

 

[tartrate]

Though much of what the above poster said is true, grad school is one way to get you "back" in the scene to get easier access to everything you've mentioned. I got the impression from some medical schools that they prefer not to see you stay out of an academic environment for too long.

But getting a PhD (versus a masters/MPH) is another story, and to say you would do it just for medical school is underestimating the work that goes into getting one.

 

[jeepwrangler]

Anyone know what is required to work as a hospital lab tech?

 

[ruiner]

Anyone know what is required to work as a hospital lab tech?

A degree in clinical lab sciences.

 

[jeepwrangler]

I've also been considering getting a job at the hospital maybe a lab tech. I'm not exactly sure of the requirements. I've also given some thought of getting certified as a nursing assistant.

Can someone provide some advice as which would be better: a hospital lab tech or CNA and the length of time in training? Also do certification course affect GPA?

Would getting a certification and working in the hospital increase my chances of getting admitted to medical school when I reapply than getting a PhD?

 

[group_theory]

Would getting a certification and working in the hospital increase my chances of getting admitted to medical school when I reapply than getting a PhD?

No, working on improving the verbal section on your MCAT would increase your chances of med school admission - more so than working in a hospital or PhD. Why are you ignoring the elephant in the room?

 

[Namedmymember]

it is your mcat score that is hurting you. It doesn't matter what you do untill you bring that up.

 

[J ROD]

Yeah, def need to get that verbal to at least a consistent 7.

DO will be your best and probably only shot....grad school will not help that much since MCAT is the problem and you have taken it 3 times already....

You need to take the MCAT again and do well.....that simple.

 

[Goro]

Your MCAT score is what's killing you. Instead of wasting your time with a PhD, take an MCAT prep course. A post-bac program for med school MIGHT be better if you really want to show AdComs that you can handle the load of med school. Your GPA is fine, and so that doesn't seem to be the problem.



I have an undergraduate math/science GPA 3.86 and an overall GPA 3.83. Also did some undergraduate research with poster presentation.
Took MCAT three times: the first time I got V3, P8, B9 20M, the second time I got V7, P8, B9 24M, and the third time I got V4, P9, B10 23L.

I plan to go to graduate school for a PhD. Meanwhile I plan to improve myself to be a better applicant and then reapply after my PhD.

 

[Compass]

You need to do well on the MCAT. You can't buffer a poor MCAT score by being an awesome applicant in every other category.

 

[Food]

Your MCAT is honestly too low. You have taken it 3 times, and you are consistently scoring below the national average/median (24-25 is 50th percentile). MD schools probably won't give you a shot, even if you get your MCAT score up to a 25 or 26 by the FOURTH time you take it...DO is what I'd do. Either that or Caribbean. I definitely would not do a PhD, because getting a PhD is a huge pain in the ass, and unless you really really really want that PhD, it's not worth pursuing.

 

[dragonfly99]

Do not get a PhD. It's a crapload of work. If you want to get into any med schools, that MCAT verbal needs to come up. There must be something going on with your reading comprehension and/or reading speed, for you to be able to get a 3 or 4. That's honestly a horrible score. Your other subsections are not that bad, certainly good enough for DO schools, and perhaps your state school (depending on which state you live in) to give you a shot.

Have you taken a prep course like Princeton Review? Have you hired a private tutor from Kaplan or Princeton Review, etc.? How about doing a lot of reading on your own. Do you read New York Times, read a lot of other books, even nonscience ones?

 

[Reaction]

Your probably sick of studying for the MCAT by now.. but if you were able to somehow force yourself to study for it and do better I think you would have a good shot at it. I would try to follow the strategy that is stickied in the other premed section if you decide to study for it once more. Otherwise, you can of course apply to a DO school.

 

[Warped Apostle]

I agree with the above statements. There were PhD students in my lab that took 7 years to graduate. This is not worth your time. Work in some clinical/scientific environment while studying for the MCAT.

 

[Meerkatology]

i think the only thing keeping you from being accepted is specifically the verbal score, your other two is honestly fine.

Rest of your app is very strong, but your verbal score is probably in the range where schools would wonder if there is something wrong with you in that area.

whats going wrong on the verbal?

If financially possible, I'd just take a year off and get tutoring/kaplan programs etc. to really specifically hit that verbal section hard and do some light studying for the sciences to keep up the other two.

Also, since you already took the test 3 times, it would not be wise to take it again until you feel you are ready to make a significant improvement to your score the next time around.

I don't think you need anymore extracurriculars and anymore probably wont make any difference. But if you are currently volunteering as a hospital or something it's probably good idea to keep up some lighter hours; would be a good change of pace from studying as well. Med schools like to see that you stuck with one activity for a long time rather than doing a bunch for shorter times as the former tends to show real interest rather than just doing something for your application.

PHD would probably be a bad idea as many others have mentioned.

 

[Richardh]

study verbal section and you will do great 👍 the verbal score is probably causing your application not to go through the initial screening. there are prep courses specifically focused for verbal sections taught at Princeton Review. i would recommend taking that class and retaking the mcat exam. by now its your 4th but you have nothing to lose. if you do well, you will have a chance entering MD schools 🙂 even if you don't do well, you will have a shot entering DO schools.

 

[Richardh]

i wouldn't recommend getting a job or volunteering or what not. right now if i were you, i would focus solely on the verbal section one more time. multi-tasking might be preventing you unleashing your true potential of doing well on the verbal section. who knows? maybe you might get 10 and above. i highly recommend you to study for the mcat because i believe you can do well this one last time 😀

 

[jl lin]

Did you apply for DO as well? Or are you more interested in research (hence the PhD)?

Agree w/ this. DO or MD...you get to take care of people's health needs. It's that simple. You can be a great physician either way...it's up to you and what you are really about.

 

[gman33]

A PhD will do next to nothing at improving your chances for med school.
If that is your primary goal, work on the MCAT verbal.
You could start with a book like Exam Krackers 101 Verbal (called something like that).

Do the whole book and spend a lot of time reading the explanations.
Is English your first language? If not, that section can be hard because a lot of the questions are based on minor differences in context.
You may want to get a tutor to help, maybe even check out some LSAT prep books, etc. That exam has a lot of those types of questions.

 

[Richardh]

exam krackers is the best book to prepare for verbal section 👍 reading the economist or the new yorker also helps to develop your reading comprehension skills and speed 🙂