- Joined
- May 14, 2012
- Messages
- 336
- Reaction score
- 9
Hi everyone. I'm hoping to apply in the next cycle (2013), but I had a few questions regarding my situation and whether or not I need to be concerned about a few things.
The good stuff:
Overall undergrad GPA (Notre Dame) (using AMCAS calculation) - 3.89
Science GPA (undergrad) - 3.90
Major - Chemical engineering
Research experience - Quite a bit. One first author (nabbed the cover of the journal too), along with a second author publication from a few years ago. Probably have 3-4 more papers before I graduate. I'm a pretty good cell biologist, I've mentored multiple undergraduate and masters students through projects, and I've worked with all sorts of people from across departments on campus.
Teaching - I have approximately one year of experience lecturing courses, both chemical engineering undergraduate classes
Clinical/Volunteering experience - ~80 hours at the local hospital here in Ann Arbor, and I'm starting to work at a local hospice where I hope to be for the year. No shadowing yet, but I plan on taking care of this during the summer (instead of taking a vacation).
The bad stuff:
1). I almost have a PhD. I'm about a year away (give or take), and I earned candidacy about two years ago. This is usually frowned on right? I discovered about a year ago that I still had a real interest in medicine, and I explored it by working at the hospital and found that it's really something I want to do. I don't want to be percieved as just wanting to stay in school forever though.
2). My graduate GPA, using the AMCAS calculation, is a 3.57. This is due to the fact that I earned a masters degree before I went on for my PhD. No one cared about grades for the masters program (it was all about research), so I got straight Bs (over five courses). My GPA in my PhD program (Michigan) is sitting pretty at a 4.0. How much is that 3.0 from my masters program 5 years ago going to hurt me? I earned it at Princeton, but I don't think adcoms will care much about the name. Usually the advice seems to be that graduate GPAs don't matter if people try to use high ones to make up for crappy undergrad GPAs, but what if it's the opposite?
3). I took the MCAT back in 2005, due to a random interest in med school. I didn't study beyond skimming a Kaplan book for a few weekends, and I somehow managed a 29R (10PS, 9BS, 10V). How much is this old score going to come back and haunt me. I plan on retaking the MCAT in January next year, and I've been studying diligently, but I'd hate it if that old score would screw any chances of getting in somewhere.
4). I'm 28. I'll be 30 by the time I matriculate. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I'm really cool with that (I know I won't have a real job until I'm 38), but I imagine the adcoms will have a lot of questions regarding my decision to change careers from science to medicine.
So that's basically it. I'm not gunning to go anywhere fancy, I'm thinking about the following schools (I'm a Michigan resident now, having lived here for four years continuously and paying taxes like everyone else):
Wayne State
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (long shot)
Michigan State (would love to get in here)
Oakland? (just nervous about it as it's not accredited yet)
Case Western?
Indiana? (I used to be an Indiana resident, and I grew up in this state)
That's about it for now. Thanks for any advice!
The good stuff:
Overall undergrad GPA (Notre Dame) (using AMCAS calculation) - 3.89
Science GPA (undergrad) - 3.90
Major - Chemical engineering
Research experience - Quite a bit. One first author (nabbed the cover of the journal too), along with a second author publication from a few years ago. Probably have 3-4 more papers before I graduate. I'm a pretty good cell biologist, I've mentored multiple undergraduate and masters students through projects, and I've worked with all sorts of people from across departments on campus.
Teaching - I have approximately one year of experience lecturing courses, both chemical engineering undergraduate classes
Clinical/Volunteering experience - ~80 hours at the local hospital here in Ann Arbor, and I'm starting to work at a local hospice where I hope to be for the year. No shadowing yet, but I plan on taking care of this during the summer (instead of taking a vacation).
The bad stuff:
1). I almost have a PhD. I'm about a year away (give or take), and I earned candidacy about two years ago. This is usually frowned on right? I discovered about a year ago that I still had a real interest in medicine, and I explored it by working at the hospital and found that it's really something I want to do. I don't want to be percieved as just wanting to stay in school forever though.
2). My graduate GPA, using the AMCAS calculation, is a 3.57. This is due to the fact that I earned a masters degree before I went on for my PhD. No one cared about grades for the masters program (it was all about research), so I got straight Bs (over five courses). My GPA in my PhD program (Michigan) is sitting pretty at a 4.0. How much is that 3.0 from my masters program 5 years ago going to hurt me? I earned it at Princeton, but I don't think adcoms will care much about the name. Usually the advice seems to be that graduate GPAs don't matter if people try to use high ones to make up for crappy undergrad GPAs, but what if it's the opposite?
3). I took the MCAT back in 2005, due to a random interest in med school. I didn't study beyond skimming a Kaplan book for a few weekends, and I somehow managed a 29R (10PS, 9BS, 10V). How much is this old score going to come back and haunt me. I plan on retaking the MCAT in January next year, and I've been studying diligently, but I'd hate it if that old score would screw any chances of getting in somewhere.
4). I'm 28. I'll be 30 by the time I matriculate. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I'm really cool with that (I know I won't have a real job until I'm 38), but I imagine the adcoms will have a lot of questions regarding my decision to change careers from science to medicine.
So that's basically it. I'm not gunning to go anywhere fancy, I'm thinking about the following schools (I'm a Michigan resident now, having lived here for four years continuously and paying taxes like everyone else):
Wayne State
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (long shot)
Michigan State (would love to get in here)
Oakland? (just nervous about it as it's not accredited yet)
Case Western?
Indiana? (I used to be an Indiana resident, and I grew up in this state)
That's about it for now. Thanks for any advice!
