Ousted from the pre-med program

[ROCKet_gurly]

Since my GPA fell below the minimum I've been kicked out of the pre-med program at my college. But that doesn't mean diddly right? If I get my grades back up I don't need a pre-med advisor to get me into med school. If I know what I have to do and just do it it doesn't matter if I was in a so-called pre-med program. Its not really a program its just an adviser. RIGHT? Right?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Optimistic]

yes,
I think you are right. you just bring that GPA up and do well in all science courses and MCAT ofcourse. Do some volunteer work and extracurricular activities. I don't think your pre med advisor can stop you.

Goodluck

 

[serpiente]

I disagree with optimistic. It depends...At your school does your premed advisor or a committee write a letter of recommendation for those applying to med schools? If so, then you need to be in the program to get the letter. Some medical schools may require such a letter or require a very good explanation for why you can't get it--such as you've been out of college for ten years. You need to find out exactly what the premed prgram at your school does for applicants. I woudl do your best to bring up your grades and try to get back into the program. Some advisors suck but many can provide good advice about how applicants at your school fare with the process. you need to improve your grade anyway if you want to get into medical school, so what's the big deal about re-applying the program. I'm sure if you improve, you will be welcomed back. Good Luck. PS.You can apply to med school without a pre-med advisor, but in some situations, it's better to have one. It depends on the letter of rec. situation. The letter is very important, you dont' want to screw yourself over by not being in a program if you need to be.

 

[Tweetie_bird]

yeap, Serpiente gives good advice. Practically stole the words right outta my mouth! I agree with him/her.
Maybe someday you will be able to look at this with a positive light--you learned what it is like to "fall" and get back on your feet...this is what personal statements are made of! (well, a lot of them.) I wish you the best of luck. With a little more hard work and inspiration, I know you will make it back up.

Tweetie

 

[Maple]

I also don't believe that a pre-med advisor is needed to get into med school. My experiences with my ex-premed advisor were utterly useless! All she ever did was to spout long-winded stories about other applicants that she has gotten into med school! She is infamous for putting down those who are not doing so well academically..infact she pretty much tells people to not bother applying because of lowish gpa!! The only thing a pre-med advisor does is to gather letters and send them to the schools you designate. In nearly all of the secondaries I have filled out, there is an option that asks you to explain if your letter (committee) is not being sent by your advisor or if you are not using your school's letter service.I think you can easily explain your situation and things will be fine. I actually pulled my file from my pre-med advisor this year(after a discussion turned nasty and ended in the advisor screaming at me!!!) and designated another professor that I am very comfortable with. I have had 7 interviews so far..not a single school has questioned my letter arrangement! and mind you..my "advisor" had told me that I was a long shot..despite a near-perfect gpa and decent (not high)MCAT scores! Go figure!
so...put your pre-med advisor's role in prespective and give him/her the boot! Handle your application as if you weren't majoring in biology etc... Good Luck!

 

[vyc]

my premed adviser isn't exactly the brightest out there nor does she offer great advice... she tried to get me to delay my application for a year bc she thought i'd be a stronger applicant if i took a year off... yea, whatever. bc i decided to apply anyway and got a Harvard interview.

but i agree with serpiente, that it could be very important that you have one, especially regarding the letters of recommendation. you don't want to have to explain that you got kicked out bc your grades fell...

also, what was the minimum GPA that they require? bc GPAs are really hard to raise...

 

[rajneel1]

a letter writing service (which is required by medical schools if your school does offer one) is seperate from the whole advisor thing. typically. you don't need to be in any "pre Med" anything to get into medical school. can't you talk to your advisor or another advisor without being in this program?
at our school, anyone can sign up for the service. we pick the person (from a list) who will write the committee letter (so i guess find out if your advisor does this, and if it matters whether you are in this program or not) after they take a composite from 3 letters that other people have already wrote you.
what is the benefit in being in this program?? any program that throws you out because of GPA is pretty silly. i think.

 

[med student]

It depends on the school because from what I understand some schools will not let you apply if your GPA is to low. I think they are able to do this by controlling who sends out the letters of rec. The reason that the schools do this is they want to keep their acceptance rate artificially high by not letter marginal students apply. I think hopkins does this.

 

[Amy B]

As the other posters said. It depends on if your undergraduate school has a pre-med advisor and a pre-med committee or just a pre-med advisor. If your school has a pre-med committee you will have to go through them or you will have to have a VERY GOOD reason as to why you didn't.

As to your gpa, what kind of program do you have that kickcs people out of the pre-med track? I didn't think there were any "pre-med degree" programs left. Just curious. As to raising your gpa... I wish you luck. Work hard and try to get all A's!!!!

 

[snowballz]

Maybe they're in one of those BS/MD programs being offered.

Alicia