Nontraditional Medical School Applicant Question

[kshamp]

Hello,

I am a nontraditional student looking to apply to medical school in the coming years. I was originally undecided after highschool and decided to attend a local state university part time while I explored my options. After three semesters I withdrew. I completed 32 credits with an approximate GPA of 3.5. The next year I transferred to a PharmD program where I am currently in my P2 (fourth) year. So far I have accumulate 111 credits, completed a minor in pre-medical studies, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.93. I transferred in as a freshman and very few of my credits from the state university were counted towards my degree.

I am set on continuing my education in medical school after completing the PharmD curriculum. I was wondering if I would need to submit my grades from the state university as part of my medical school application. If so, will I only be required to submit grades for the course that transferred towards my PharmD; or do I need to submit my entire transcript?

After doing the math I believe I have about a 3.83 GPA overall between both schools, counting all of the course I have ever taken. I also have a few withdrawals from the state university, as I was still trying to make up my mind in regards to my career path. If I do need to submit my transcript from the state university how negatively with this impact my chances of getting into medical school? I have worked very hard since starting in pharmacy school and I worry that my time at the state university, when I was much less mature, is coming back to bite me.

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[Sunna12]

Hello,

I am a nontraditional student looking to apply to medical school in the coming years. I was originally undecided after highschool and decided to attend a local state university part time while I explored my options. After three semesters I withdrew. I completed 32 credits with an approximate GPA of 3.5. The next year I transferred to a PharmD program where I am currently in my P2 (fourth) year. So far I have accumulate 111 credits, completed a minor in pre-medical studies, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.93. I transferred in as a freshman and very few of my credits from the state university were counted towards my degree.

I am set on continuing my education in medical school after completing the PharmD curriculum. I was wondering if I would need to submit my grades from the state university as part of my medical school application. If so, will I only be required to submit grades for the course that transferred towards my PharmD; or do I need to submit my entire transcript?

After doing the math I believe I have about a 3.83 GPA overall between both schools, counting all of the course I have ever taken. I also have a few withdrawals from the state university, as I was still trying to make up my mind in regards to my career path. If I do need to submit my transcript from the state university how negatively with this impact my chances of getting into medical school? I have worked very hard since starting in pharmacy school and I worry that my time at the state university, when I was much less mature, is coming back to bite me.

You transferred to a pharmacy school with only 32 undergrad credits or did I read this wrong?
You are required to submit a transcript from every school you ever attended when you apply to med school. Every grade you have ever received will be used to determine your GPA.
I wouldn't worry too much about Ws- I withdrew from an entire semester worth of classes at my first college out of high school and I was concerned all the Ws on my transcript would look bad, but it actually didn't affect my prospects, at least at the three schools that mattered the most to me.
IMO, you should focus on making it readily clear why you are now switching from PharmD to MD - make sure you have shadowing experience and be prepared to talk about it on your PS and at interviews. But on the plus, I had a PharmD grad in my class

 

[kshamp]

You transferred to a pharmacy school with only 32 undergrad credits or did I read this wrong?
You are required to submit a transcript from every school you ever attended when you apply to med school. Every grade you have ever received will be used to determine your GPA.
I wouldn't worry too much about Ws- I withdrew from an entire semester worth of classes at my first college out of high school and I was concerned all the Ws on my transcript would look bad, but it actually didn't effect my prospects, at least at the three schools that mattered the most to me.
IMO, you should focus on making it readily clear why you are now switching from PharmD to MD - make sure you have shadowing experience and be prepared to talk about it on your PS and at interviews. But on the plus, I had a PharmD grad in my class

Thanks for this awesome post. I was expecting a lot of negative comments for mentioning the I am a current PharmD student, but this was both realistic and helpful. Yes, you did read that right. I transferred with only 32 credits, which is why I had to start as a freshman again.

I am definitely worried of what they may think of my background during the interview. That was my rationale when completing the pre-medical minor. I do have quite a bit of shadowing experience with physicians, which was one of the factors that greatly influenced my decision to pursue medical school. I also working in an emergency department as a pharmacy intern and the pharmacists allow me to attend codes, so I have had the chance to work with physicians in this setting as well (although just primarily drawing up medications and observing).

Do you still think that a 3.83 is a reasonable GPA? I hope to maintain my grades, but that may be difficult this year. Will they take in to account the fact they my grades have trended in a positive direction over my college career? Also, my goal is Umass currently, as I am in MA resident.

 

[Sunna12]

Thanks for this awesome post. I was expecting a lot of negative comments for mentioning the I am a current PharmD student, but this was both realistic and helpful. Yes, you did read that right. I transferred with only 32 credits, which is why I had to start as a freshman again.

I am definitely worried of what they may think of my background during the interview. That was my rationale when completing the pre-medical minor. I do have quite a bit of shadowing experience with physicians, which was one of the factors that greatly influenced my decision to pursue medical school. I also working in an emergency department as a pharmacy intern and the pharmacists allow me to attend codes, so I have had the chance to work with physicians in this setting as well (although just primarily drawing up medications and observing).

Do you still think that a 3.83 is a reasonable GPA? I hope to maintain my grades, but that may be difficult this year. Will they take in to account the fact they my grades have trended in a positive direction over my college career? Also, my goal is Umass currently, as I am in MA resident.

Of course 3.83 is a reasonable GPA. Your MCAT will be a heavy factor on your competitiveness though. Don't worry about the interviews until you start to receive invites, but it sounds like you're not there yet.
If you're set on Umass and are nearby, try shadowing there and asking around to get involved in research. Both can help you get a LOR, which can help towards admission.

 

[kshamp]

Of course 3.83 is a reasonable GPA. Your MCAT will be a heavy factor on your competitiveness though. Don't worry about the interviews until you start to receive invites, but it sounds like you're not there yet.
If you're set on Umass and are nearby, try shadowing there and asking around to get involved in research. Both can help you get a LOR, which can help towards admission.

Ok, that is all great to know. I am definitely not there yet in terms of interviews. However, I started my MCAT prep. I am planning to take it at the end of next summer and my goal is to score >510, but I definitely have a long road ahead before I will be able to do that. That is a great idea; I am quite close to Umass. I am also in the Honors program currently at school and it involves a research component, so hopefully that may help. My main priorities now are to maintain my grades, prepare for the MCAT and continue to make new connections and take additional opportunities as they come.

Thanks again for all your help! I was getting worried all this work could be for nothing.

 

[virtue1]

You transferred to a pharmacy school with only 32 undergrad credits or did I read this wrong?
You are required to submit a transcript from every school you ever attended when you apply to med school. Every grade you have ever received will be used to determine your GPA.
I wouldn't worry too much about Ws- I withdrew from an entire semester worth of classes at my first college out of high school and I was concerned all the Ws on my transcript would look bad, but it actually didn't affect my prospects, at least at the three schools that mattered the most to me.
IMO, you should focus on making it readily clear why you are now switching from PharmD to MD - make sure you have shadowing experience and be prepared to talk about it on your PS and at interviews. But on the plus, I had a PharmD grad in my class

If you could offer me a little guidance/advice, I would be really grateful.I just started considering Medicine, particularly the 3 + 3 family medicine accelerated track (Texas Tech and NYU). I'm optimistic about the thought of this, however I graduated with Bsc in Biochemistry in 2008 and Pharmd in 2012. What are my chances? I am certainly ready to do the work of studying hard for the MCAT and volunteering/shadowing but I'm concerned it has been too long since i graduated and the admission committee might not accept my old coursework. Please shed some light.

 

[kcha95]

If you could offer me a little guidance/advice, I would be really grateful.I just started considering Medicine, particularly the 3 + 3 family medicine accelerated track (Texas Tech and NYU). I'm optimistic about the thought of this, however I graduated with Bsc in Biochemistry in 2008 and Pharmd in 2012. What are my chances? I am certainly ready to do the work of studying hard for the MCAT and volunteering/shadowing but I'm concerned it has been too long since i graduated and the admission committee might not accept my old coursework. Please shed some light.

From my understanding your coursework does not expire. I would first check to make sure that you meet all of the course requirements to apply to medical school. As a PharmD I had to complete a premed minor in order to meet the course requirements since several of the courses required for eligibility were not provided through the traditional PharmD curriculum. However given that you have also completed a BSc in Biochemistry, I'm sure you have checked most if not all of these off your list.

 

[Sunna12]

If you could offer me a little guidance/advice, I would be really grateful.I just started considering Medicine, particularly the 3 + 3 family medicine accelerated track (Texas Tech and NYU). I'm optimistic about the thought of this, however I graduated with Bsc in Biochemistry in 2008 and Pharmd in 2012. What are my chances? I am certainly ready to do the work of studying hard for the MCAT and volunteering/shadowing but I'm concerned it has been too long since i graduated and the admission committee might not accept my old coursework. Please shed some light.

Your coursework doesn't expire, so you don't have to worry about it not being accepted. You do need to anticipate the questions "why MD? why now?" as well as questions whether you are up for 3+ years of school/studying again (followed by residency training) with traditional students after being in the workplace. I would address both on your PS.