No idea where to start!

[rdj16]

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Hi everyone. I've been lurking around for a little while now, and I've seen some great responses, so I figured I'd come here for some help.

I've been thinking about going to medical school for a while, and recently decided that it was time to start taking things more seriously. For some background, I'm 25, and I graduated from a small, well-respected private college in the Northeast with a BS in computer engineering with a minor in mathematics in 2007. I have a 3.48 overall GPA, and I've taken two physics courses and a general chemistry course, in which I got a B, C+, and B respectively. Those courses were all in my first three semesters at college, which happened to be my worst three semesters. For the past three years, I've been working as a network engineer. I don't have any volunteer experience since graduating from college. I'm also married and have an 11-month old.

I'm wondering what the best path would be for me to get into med school. I've been looking into post-bac programs for the pre-requisites, and also so I can up my grades in physics and chemistry and re-learn the material prior to the MCAT. I would be open to either a full-time or part-time post-bac program. Does anyone have a rough idea of a timeline for someone in my shoes? Any additional advice? Like the title says, I'm feeling a bit over my head.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[theone1979]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking around for a little while now, and I've seen some great responses, so I figured I'd come here for some help.

I've been thinking about going to medical school for a while, and recently decided that it was time to start taking things more seriously. For some background, I'm 25, and I graduated from a small, well-respected private college in the Northeast with a BS in computer engineering with a minor in mathematics in 2007. I have a 3.48 overall GPA, and I've taken two physics courses and a general chemistry course, in which I got a B, C+, and B respectively. Those courses were all in my first three semesters at college, which happened to be my worst three semesters. For the past three years, I've been working as a network engineer. I don't have any volunteer experience since graduating from college. I'm also married and have an 11-month old.

I'm wondering what the best path would be for me to get into med school. I've been looking into post-bac programs for the pre-requisites, and also so I can up my grades in physics and chemistry and re-learn the material prior to the MCAT. I would be open to either a full-time or part-time post-bac program. Does anyone have a rough idea of a timeline for someone in my shoes? Any additional advice? Like the title says, I'm feeling a bit over my head.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sure, I would be happy to give some advice since I was in a similar situation to yours.

I am 31 years old but graduated back in 2001. I graduated with a similar gpa to yours and had also taken a 3 science courses my freshmen year and receive C's in them.

I went back to school about 18 months ago to take the pre-recs and retake the science courses I received C's in, study for and took the MCAT, applied early fall, and was recently accepted to 2 schools!!
So...it's just that easy.....😀

I would advise you to follow a very similar path since your history is similar to mine.

First, you don't need to enroll in an offical post-bac program, and you don't need to earn another degree.

Your overall gpa is high enough, so you just need to take your pre-recs and you need to retake the course you received a C+ in, and it might be a good idea to retake the courses you received B's in.

So, you should register for classes at your local college/university (avoid community colleges). You don't need to be a full time student or earn a degree. Since you have a degree you simply need to enroll in your pre-recs.

You will have to take Bio I and II, Gen Chem I and II, Orgo I and II, and it's up to you if you want to retake Physics I and II. Those are the bare min. courses that all med schools will require. Those are the only courses I took, but I know taking some upper level bio courses (biochem, cell and molec, genetics), can be very helpful for the MCAT and some schools will require some of these courses and some schools have math requirements.
The good news is that even if you just take the bare minimum pre-recs, after you take the MCAT and apply to schools, if you are accepted and the school requires a science or math course you haven't taken, they will accept you and simply state that you need to complete whatever courses they require before matriculating. Since you apply about a year before matriculation, you will have a plenty of time to take any other courses a particular school may require.

So after you take your pre-recs, you need to prepare for and take the MCAT. Assuming you score high enough, you need to apply to med schools, get accepted, attend for 4 years, and then you are a doctor.
As I said....it's just that easy...


Oh by the way, you will also need to get quite a bit of volunteer and other extra-curricular experience in the health-care field in order for med schools to consider you. You could have great grades and MCAT scores but with no experience=no acceptance.

Good luck!!

 

[NATO]

Oh by the way, you will also need to get quite a bit of volunteer and other extra-curricular experience in the health-care field in order for med schools to consider you. You could have great grades and MCAT scores but with no experience=no acceptance.

Can anyone give examples as to what is considered good ECs that can be obtainable for someone who is currently working full-time in a non-health related career while taking pre-reqs?

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Check each school you're looking at applying to. If you are only planning on applying to a few schools, you may not need to take all the classes recommended, although they are preparatory for the MCAT. Which may be a reason to take them, some people do the Kaplan-type courses instead. For example http://www.med.umn.edu/medical-school-students/medical-school-admissions/prerequisites/index.htm the UMN doesn't require physics, nor does it require a full year of Chem and Ochem... Either way, check into the schools, and if you have the time and money, taking the prereqs will help for the MCAT...

 

[GatorPhD]

Can anyone give examples as to what is considered good ECs that can be obtainable for someone who is currently working full-time in a non-health related career while taking pre-reqs?

My wife and I were in a similar situation as you (working full-time while trying to get on the pre-med route). We volunteered on Sunday mornings in the ED of a local hospital. This worked out great for our M-F work schedules. Also, at the time, I was working for the DoD and was able to work 9 hrs/day and take off every other Friday. I used this day to shadow a family med doc. If your company would make a similar arrangement with you, that's another option.

Good luck and hang in there. It can be done.

Best wishes,
Gator

 

[zebalong]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking around for a little while now, and I've seen some great responses, so I figured I'd come here for some help.

I've been thinking about going to medical school for a while, and recently decided that it was time to start taking things more seriously. For some background, I'm 25, and I graduated from a small, well-respected private college in the Northeast with a BS in computer engineering with a minor in mathematics in 2007. I have a 3.48 overall GPA, and I've taken two physics courses and a general chemistry course, in which I got a B, C+, and B respectively. Those courses were all in my first three semesters at college, which happened to be my worst three semesters. For the past three years, I've been working as a network engineer. I don't have any volunteer experience since graduating from college. I'm also married and have an 11-month old.

I'm wondering what the best path would be for me to get into med school. I've been looking into post-bac programs for the pre-requisites, and also so I can up my grades in physics and chemistry and re-learn the material prior to the MCAT. I would be open to either a full-time or part-time post-bac program. Does anyone have a rough idea of a timeline for someone in my shoes? Any additional advice? Like the title says, I'm feeling a bit over my head.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I would agree that you don't need a formal post-bac, but you should really think now whether your are going to aim for DO or MD, your gpa is good for DO but a little low for MD. If you choose to apply just MD then try and get your gpa to around 3.6 which shouldn't be too hard if you take some easy interesting extra classes along with your basic sci. Remember that med schools also calculate out a pure sci gpa so you might want to consider taking some lower division science like a basic physio class that can help with both your sci gpa and might also serve you on the mcat (i found physio was the only "extra" course that really helped me on my mcat). Best of luck!!

 

[domoloft11]

Just take the classes at a local university. It'll probably take you 2 years max to finish it all. Some do it in 1 but that is like serious overload. You don't want to rush it since these are the classes that will make or break you.
Here's a sample schedule:

Fall- Take Chem 1 & Physics 1
Spring- Take Chem2 & Physics 2
Summer- Do some shadowing, volunteering, take Anatomy & Physio (Not req but will help for mcat)
Fall (year 2)- Take Bio1, Orgo 1
Spring (year 2)- Take Bio 2, Orgo 2

Some people take the mcat in spring and then apply to med school in June. It might be hard to start prep since you'll be in classes but it is possible. Keep in mind that you can also do some volunteering during the school year to help accumulate more hours.

If you do Sn2's mcat schedule you'll probably take the mcat after you finish all your pre-reqs and either study all summer and take the mcat in the fall or take the summer off and study mcat in the fall for a jan test.

Good luck with everything! It's gonna be a long road. But worth it in the end 🙂 And you'll probably feel like giving up sometime (God knows I felt this way) but just keep truckin!

 

[rdj16]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

Zebalong, I'm definitely not ruling out DO schools at this point.

Just take the classes at a local university. It'll probably take you 2 years max to finish it all. Some do it in 1 but that is like serious overload. You don't want to rush it since these are the classes that will make or break you.

I would like to be able to do this, but I haven't found any local universities that offer evening classes in the subjects that I would need (I'm in eastern PA). One of my fears about going down this path is that I'll make a big commitment to medical school, and not even get in. It would be about 1-2 years of pre-requisites and another six months or so before I would know if I'd gotten accepted to a school. With a wife and a kid, that risk is what's really holding me back at this point.

 

[slatermd]

One of my fears about going down this path is that I'll make a big commitment to medical school, and not even get in. It would be about 1-2 years of pre-requisites and another six months or so before I would know if I'd gotten accepted to a school. With a wife and a kid, that risk is what's really holding me back at this point.

This is an important consideration (and by that I mean a scary as h*ll prospect).

The real risk isn't whether or not you would get in, because if you want it bad enough you can get in somewhere.

The real risk is that you would end up hating your job as a doctor even more than you hate whatever is currently pushing you toward medicine, plus you'd be strapped with the debt of med school.

You're going to get different advice from different people, so it may be a little difficult to decide what works for you.

I deliberated about this for two years before making my decision. Ultimately I quit work entirely and enrolled in a formal post bacc full time. I am 26 (tomorrow) and married, kind of a similar situation but no baby.

Obviously the sticky part of this scenario is the $$. I don't know what your expenses are, or if your wife has an income. If you want to hear more about formal post baccs, let me know.