No hope?

[us23med]

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Hi everyone. I have been reading through lots of posts and did lots of searches for the past couple of hours on this site. Basically i am in a situation most of you will think is hopeless. I was hoping someone could maybe shed some light on the topic. I don't know too many people with foreign med school exp.

I have a 2.4gpa and 20mcat. Is all hope lost for me? I want to try to apply for aug due to needing 2 more chem prereq courses in order to apply (gen chem2, organic2). I am currently taking gen chem2 and would be taking organic 2 in the spring. I am living in ny and have a full time job at a biology hospital lab.

Does anyone have any constructive advice? I could def use some. I have heard "give up" about a million times from people when asking for advice.

I know i want to be a doctor. I have shadowed and done enough internships at hospitals to know i am not just doing it for the sake of it. I truly want to pursue the profession.

 

[Cooolguy]

if you have a couple more classes left, I would say to try your hardest to get A's in them and try to bring that gpa up. Apply to carribean schools. Granted it will be hard to get into ross, sgu, auc or saba, but there are other medical schools in the area too. For more information go to www.valuemd.com.

Btw, all hope is not lost, people can be very critical on this board

best of luck

 

[oldpro]

Hi everyone. I have been reading through lots of posts and did lots of searches for the past couple of hours on this site. Basically i am in a situation most of you will think is hopeless. I was hoping someone could maybe shed some light on the topic. I don't know too many people with foreign med school exp.

I have a 2.4gpa and 20mcat. Is all hope lost for me? I want to try to apply for aug due to needing 2 more chem prereq courses in order to apply (gen chem2, organic2). I am currently taking gen chem2 and would be taking organic 2 in the spring. I am living in ny and have a full time job at a biology hospital lab.

Does anyone have any constructive advice? I could def use some. I have heard "give up" about a million times from people when asking for advice.

I know i want to be a doctor. I have shadowed and done enough internships at hospitals to know i am not just doing it for the sake of it. I truly want to pursue the profession.

The only schools I can think of are these:

SJSM
Xavier
Maybe AUA
St. Eustasious
St. Theresa


these are the bottom schools, if you cannot get into these then no, no hope😱

 

[Top Gun]

Hi everyone. I have been reading through lots of posts and did lots of searches for the past couple of hours on this site. Basically i am in a situation most of you will think is hopeless. I was hoping someone could maybe shed some light on the topic. I don't know too many people with foreign med school exp.

I have a 2.4gpa and 20mcat. Is all hope lost for me? I want to try to apply for aug due to needing 2 more chem prereq courses in order to apply (gen chem2, organic2). I am currently taking gen chem2 and would be taking organic 2 in the spring. I am living in ny and have a full time job at a biology hospital lab.

Does anyone have any constructive advice? I could def use some. I have heard "give up" about a million times from people when asking for advice.

I know i want to be a doctor. I have shadowed and done enough internships at hospitals to know i am not just doing it for the sake of it. I truly want to pursue the profession.

Finish your prereqs and try to get A's in them if you can. Try retaking the MCAT. I don't know if you'll get into the big 4 schools (SGU, Ross, AUC, or Saba), but you may have a shot at some other Caribbean schools (MUA-Nevis, St. Matthew's, AUA, etc...). Of course, depending on the timetable, if you retake the MCAT, you may not be able to apply in time for the August class, but you could try for the January class instead. I'm not really sure about this. Back when I took the MCAT, the test was offered in April and August. I'm not sure about the dates that the MCAT can be taken now. But a better MCAT score will improve your chances.
Keep in mind that if you end up going to Caribbean schools outside the big 4 that you will not be able to practice in all 50 states. California, in particular, is very strict about this.

 

[McGillGrad]

I would suggest applying for Ross and SGU in order to get into their pre-med programs (MERP and FOM, respectively). These are one semester each and allow you to get a taste of medical school while cementing your study skills and knowledge base. Worst case scenario, you do not get the minimum GPA to move on to real med school and you only lose one semester's worth of money.

Although you should finish your degree no matter what.

 

[oldpro]

I would suggest applying for Ross and SGU in order to get into their pre-med programs (MERP and FOM, respectively). These are one semester each and allow you to get a taste of medical school while cementing your study skills and knowledge base. Worst case scenario, you do not get the minimum GPA to move on to real med school and you only lose one semester's worth of money.

Although you should finish your degree no matter what.

McGill, McGill, what has happened? You giving false hope here?

How many 2.4's ever get into these programs? Please ..........I doubtful for that

but if they do please tell us I would like to know

 

[McGillGrad]

McGill, McGill, what has happened? You giving false hope here?

How many 2.4's ever get into these programs? Please ..........I doubtful for that

but if they do please tell us I would like to know

I am talking about MERP and FOM. They are basic training. They will determine if someone is ready to go all out.

 

[oldpro]

I am talking about MERP and FOM. They are basic training. They will determine if someone is ready to go all out.

Oh I know, but do they accept like 2.0's to 2.4's? Is it like redoing work with SGU undergrad, stuff that does not really count but to get into MD1?

Seen that before and seen many drop out!

 

[McGillGrad]

No matter what some people would like to make you believe, people with 2.7's get accepted straight into AUC, SGU and Ross programs if other factors give the adcom confidence in you.

Grades aren't everything, although if you are young and have low stats because you are a lazy brat, then I agree with you.

Oh I know, but do they accept like 2.0's to 2.4's? Is it like redoing work with SGU undergrad, stuff that does not really count but to get into MD1?

Seen that before and seen many drop out!

 

[Sage880]

There are 3 schools in Ireland that do not require (or even look at) the MCAT. I'm sorry, but your MCAT is so low I don't even know if re-sitting it is a good option.

Those 3 schools mostly look at GPA and LOR's to make their decision. If you're a US citizen, I think the caribbean is a better option but Ireland isn't too bad. Think about applying there to increase your chances if you don't want to give up.

 

[oldpro]

There are 3 schools in Ireland that do not require (or even look at) the MCAT. I'm sorry, but your MCAT is so low I don't even know if re-sitting it is a good option.

Those 3 schools mostly look at GPA and LOR's to make their decision. If you're a US citizen, I think the caribbean is a better option but Ireland isn't too bad. Think about applying there to increase your chances if you don't want to give up.

I have a Q?
Is not Ireland $$$$$?
How much a year to go typically?

 

[Sage880]

I have a Q?
Is not Ireland $$$$$?
How much a year to go typically?

Yes, it is quite expensive. My tuition was 27,000 Euros this year. And it's 5 years.

The benefit is mostly for Canadians since you can apply in the parallel match right after med school if you want to practice in Canada. Each class has about 10-15 Canadians and around 5 Americans. If I was American and could get in, I would think the Caribbean is a better option for an American student since you can do your clinical years in the US.

My school (UCC) requires the MCAT but no interview. So we have some pretty crazy people who have high MCATs but bomb interviews. I heard that a guy in an upper year had a 41 but, trust me, you wouldn't want this guy treating you!

Trinity and UCD do not require the MCAT and also have no interviews. They go strictly by GPA. RCSI is a private school for non-Irish students and is not part of the "National Universities of Ireland". It is mostly full of rich students from the US and Canada because they charge 10,000 Euro more a year then the "public" Irish schools. RCSI is pretty easy to get into if you can afford their tuition.

 

[oldpro]

Yes, it is quite expensive. My tuition was 27,000 Euros this year. And it's 5 years.

The benefit is mostly for Canadians since you can apply in the parallel match right after med school if you want to practice in Canada. Each class has about 10-15 Canadians and around 5 Americans. If I was American and could get in, I would think the Caribbean is a better option for an American student since you can do your clinical years in the US.

My school (UCC) requires the MCAT but no interview. So we have some pretty crazy people who have high MCATs but bomb interviews. I heard that a guy in an upper year had a 41 but, trust me, you wouldn't want this guy treating you!

Trinity and UCD do not require the MCAT and also have no interviews. They go strictly by GPA. RCSI is a private school for non-Irish students and is not part of the "National Universities of Ireland". It is mostly full of rich students from the US and Canada because they charge 10,000 Euro more a year then the "public" Irish schools. RCSI is pretty easy to get into if you can afford their tuition.

SO about 37k USD a year plus living? 😱

I guess the bright side is you can get US fed aid

 

[Meatwad]

No offense, but the OP has no shot at Irish schools. By applying to a school that doesn't require an MCAT score, you'd be going completely on grades. A 2.4 is extremely low, I've never heard of anyone going to an Irish school with those grades.

So, us23med, what is your trend in grades? Did go from from a 0.0 freshman year to a 3.8 junior and senior year? This is an upward trend in grades that could give you a much better shot. Like MGG said, people with really low GPAs do get into good Caribbean schools at times, but they probably at least have a strong trend in their grades to help. If you don't have this trend, make sure you analyze why you did so poorly in basic science classes. I'd take as many classes that are biology related as possible if I were you, to prepare yourself for medical school. You don't want to go to a Caribbean med school unless you are a dedicated student and comfortable with your study skills, otherwise you'll be wasting your tuition.

About your MCAT score: you have to retake that. It's extremely low. With your GPA, you really needed like a 30 to impress people. Honestly, a 20 is just downright unacceptable. For example, once I tok a sheet of paper and numbered 1 to 150, or however many questions were on the practice MCAT I was about to take. I literally just went down the list of numbers and wrote A, B, C, or D next to the numbers, without looking at the questions. It took me 45 seconds to take the test. When I scored it, I got a 21.

This means that even if you guessed completely, your percentage of correctly answered questions comes out to ~45%. There's no reason you can't get over a 20 if you actually try. Go take the test again.

 

[McGillGrad]

SO about 37k USD a year plus living? 😱

I guess the bright side is you can get US fed aid

One of the schools is more expensive than the others (RCSI), but the others are about 21k Euro per year. And if you go to Cork (instead of Dublin) it is relatively cheap to live.

 

[Meatwad]

SO about 37k USD a year plus living? 😱

I guess the bright side is you can get US fed aid

And live in one of the placest with the highest quality of life standards in the world.

 

[Sage880]

One of the schools is more expensive than the others (RCSI), but the others are about 21k Euro per year. And if you go to Cork (instead of Dublin) it is relatively cheap to live.

The NUI schools were 21k Euro when I started 4 years ago. They're 27k now! 6k price tuition increase in 4 years.

 

[McGillGrad]

The NUI schools were 21k Euro when I started 4 years ago. They're 27k now! 6k price tuition increase in 4 years.

You've got to be kidding me!!😱

I know that Ireland is the biggest booming economy in Europe, but this is ridiculous!

 

[Sage880]

You've got to be kidding me!!😱

I know that Ireland is the biggest booming economy in Europe, but this is ridiculous!

Yes... tell me about it! I live in Cork, spent a year in Dublin. Cork isn't quite as expensive but it's still crazy. My rent is 550 Euro a month. Now I share a 2bed/2 bath apartment so it's nice but my rent was still 450 Euro for a room in a small house with 6 people!

People here now go to France and talk about how cheap things are on vacation - I'm not kidding!

It helps to get a job here because of that. I have a nice cushy hospital job taking blood from patients (nurses can't do that here) and it pays 17 Euro an hour. Double on Sundays and triple (!!!) on holidays. Helps with the cost of living anyway. All in all, it sounds bad but I've worked all through medical school. In the end my dept will be around 200k Canadian. Not great but it's not going to cripple me hopefully. Are the Caribbean schools expensive? How much dept do you guys run up going over there?

 

[oldpro]

Yes... tell me about it! I live in Cork, spent a year in Dublin. Cork isn't quite as expensive but it's still crazy. My rent is 550 Euro a month. Now I share a 2bed/2 bath apartment so it's nice but my rent was still 450 Euro for a room in a small house with 6 people!

People here now go to France and talk about how cheap things are on vacation - I'm not kidding!

It helps to get a job here because of that. I have a nice cushy hospital job taking blood from patients (nurses can't do that here) and it pays 17 Euro an hour. Double on Sundays and triple (!!!) on holidays. Helps with the cost of living anyway. All in all, it sounds bad but I've worked all through medical school. In the end my dept will be around 200k Canadian. Not great but it's not going to cripple me hopefully. Are the Caribbean schools expensive? How much dept do you guys run up going over there?

I went to Paris is 05 and it costs about 100 euros a night for 2 to stay in a modest hotel and food was not cheap by US standards, maybe by UK and Irish standards....................................... I think the UK does not have what we call Food LOL (Been to London and lived in UK for a yr)

 

[McGillGrad]

That is rough considering that the money you borrowed was probably AMERICAN!! If yuo had Canadian funds, then it would not be such an issue since the Canadian dollar is strong now.

At least you scored a sweet job (with kickass pay!).

Caribbean schools will end with about 200-250k in debt (US dollars). Some schools are cheaper, though...such as Saba.

Yes... tell me about it! I live in Cork, spent a year in Dublin. Cork isn't quite as expensive but it's still crazy. My rent is 550 Euro a month. Now I share a 2bed/2 bath apartment so it's nice but my rent was still 450 Euro for a room in a small house with 6 people!

People here now go to France and talk about how cheap things are on vacation - I'm not kidding!

It helps to get a job here because of that. I have a nice cushy hospital job taking blood from patients (nurses can't do that here) and it pays 17 Euro an hour. Double on Sundays and triple (!!!) on holidays. Helps with the cost of living anyway. All in all, it sounds bad but I've worked all through medical school. In the end my dept will be around 200k Canadian. Not great but it's not going to cripple me hopefully. Are the Caribbean schools expensive? How much dept do you guys run up going over there?

 

[Sage880]

That is rough considering that the money you borrowed was probably AMERICAN!! If yuo had Canadian funds, then it would not be such an issue since the Canadian dollar is strong now.

At least you scored a sweet job (with kickass pay!).

Caribbean schools will end with about 200-250k in debt (US dollars). Some schools are cheaper, though...such as Saba.

No, I borrowed from Canada. I have an RBC student line of credit. It's nice because it's prime interest - although I need make the interest payments every month. I also will have about 50k in OSAP loans but those are interest free.

In first year I had some American loan - CANHelp or something. It sucked big time... I paid it off with my student line of credit as soon as the American dollar tanked like it did. Good riddance to that ****ty loan.

But that sounds like more then I'd have guessed for the Caribbean schools. What's the tuition per year at somewhere like Ross?

 

[McGillGrad]

How do you afford that with 150,000 Canadian?

Is it because of the moonlighting?

I have CanHelp. I have no real choice.

Although tuition usually goes up every year, currently it is approx. 115,000 (for AUC), 150,000 (for Ross) and 180,000 (for SGU) total.

No, I borrowed from Canada. I have an RBC student line of credit. It's nice because it's prime interest - although I need make the interest payments every month. I also will have about 50k in OSAP loans but those are interest free.

In first year I had some American loan - CANHelp or something. It sucked big time... I paid it off with my student line of credit as soon as the American dollar tanked like it did. Good riddance to that ****ty loan.

But that sounds like more then I'd have guessed for the Caribbean schools. What's the tuition per year at somewhere like Ross?