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hey everyone,
im a sophomore at UC Berkeley right now. And ive been premed since i was 7. Im getting really nervous after not doing well my freshmen year (considering i only took 13 units each semester; note, ill be taking 15-17 units from now on). I've read EXTENSIVELY on medical school and alternatives (DO,DPM,PsyD,PharmD, DDS/DMD,post bacc/masters etc etc) but i dont want to do any of those. I want the MD. Anyways, i found something that really really shook me up. Ill take you through it. First, here are my stats:
Political Science Major w/ Premed:
Gen Chem: B+, B- (lab A-)
Calculus: A, A
PolySci: A
Overall GPA: 3.6, Sci GPA: 3.5
Extra stuff (plan for the during the next 3 yrs):
-hosptial volunteer is 6 hrs every week (excluding summer/winter vacation)
-doing research this summer at usc (hopefully get a research position in Cal sometime soph/jr/snr yr)
-will shadow an MD for ~10-30 hrs THIS SUMMER ONLY (whats a good amount to shadow one for? and is it ok to shadow only this summer?)
-work for kaplan as a tutor OR as a lab tech at Cal (reason is for money)
IF i can, id like to:
-EMT license/work (doubtful i can do this)
-Humanitarian trip to africa for 3-4 wks (i know a spec prog, i really dont know if ill have time to do this, should i make this a high priority?)
Also, any better ideas on anything to do during the school year instead of hosp volunteer, excluding the Extra stuff section i already have thought of?
My numbers arent that strong but Berkeley's Premed chemistry course structure is wierd:
Gen Chem req't: Chemistry 1A (gen chem), Chemistry 3A (o chem)
O chem req't: Chemistry 3A (ochem 2), molec/cell bio 102 (biochem)
if biochem is req'd or if biochem is expiclitly cannot satisfy ochem then our Career center sends them a mail if neccessary (usually that isnt even necessary according to the Center, they say the school knows Cal's curriculum.) Either way, second semester genchem (1st semster ochem) slapped me in the face, but in the final i managed to do well (midterms BOMBED,decided to drop premed after that but changed mind after got my grade, is b- gonna keep me from acceptance?). im thinking now that i know ochem cant be crammed, im hoping for at least a B+ in my "official" first semseter of ochem (ochem 3b). i think i MIGHT have a chance this time.
Anyways, so im hoping for a Overall GPA: ~3.7 (+/-.5) w/ at least a 3.6 Sci GPA. Anyways, i was thinking that was good, but then i found this website that deals with grads of berkeley who were accepted into CA's medical schools: http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/top20.stm. Even the "easier" med schools have GPAs of 3.7 or EVEN 3.8 (like UCI/UCdavis). Are my goal GPAs too low if i want to get into med school right after undergrad??? Also, what kind of makes me confused is the stats on this website: http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/top20.stm. It says 3.4-3.6 w/ 30-34 mcat have a considerable acceptance rate each of the years. I dont get it.
can anybody explain? is it because the people with 3.4-3.6 etc etc went to lower tier schools? if so, what are considered lowertier/easier schools to get into CONSIDERING I AM A CALIFORNIAN RESIDENT.I'm just SO SO SO SO stressed. Sorry for the unstructured thread...answers to questions and any comments would be wonderful. Thanks everyone.
im a sophomore at UC Berkeley right now. And ive been premed since i was 7. Im getting really nervous after not doing well my freshmen year (considering i only took 13 units each semester; note, ill be taking 15-17 units from now on). I've read EXTENSIVELY on medical school and alternatives (DO,DPM,PsyD,PharmD, DDS/DMD,post bacc/masters etc etc) but i dont want to do any of those. I want the MD. Anyways, i found something that really really shook me up. Ill take you through it. First, here are my stats:
Political Science Major w/ Premed:
Gen Chem: B+, B- (lab A-)
Calculus: A, A
PolySci: A
Overall GPA: 3.6, Sci GPA: 3.5
Extra stuff (plan for the during the next 3 yrs):
-hosptial volunteer is 6 hrs every week (excluding summer/winter vacation)
-doing research this summer at usc (hopefully get a research position in Cal sometime soph/jr/snr yr)
-will shadow an MD for ~10-30 hrs THIS SUMMER ONLY (whats a good amount to shadow one for? and is it ok to shadow only this summer?)
-work for kaplan as a tutor OR as a lab tech at Cal (reason is for money)
IF i can, id like to:
-EMT license/work (doubtful i can do this)
-Humanitarian trip to africa for 3-4 wks (i know a spec prog, i really dont know if ill have time to do this, should i make this a high priority?)
Also, any better ideas on anything to do during the school year instead of hosp volunteer, excluding the Extra stuff section i already have thought of?
My numbers arent that strong but Berkeley's Premed chemistry course structure is wierd:
Gen Chem req't: Chemistry 1A (gen chem), Chemistry 3A (o chem)
O chem req't: Chemistry 3A (ochem 2), molec/cell bio 102 (biochem)
if biochem is req'd or if biochem is expiclitly cannot satisfy ochem then our Career center sends them a mail if neccessary (usually that isnt even necessary according to the Center, they say the school knows Cal's curriculum.) Either way, second semester genchem (1st semster ochem) slapped me in the face, but in the final i managed to do well (midterms BOMBED,decided to drop premed after that but changed mind after got my grade, is b- gonna keep me from acceptance?). im thinking now that i know ochem cant be crammed, im hoping for at least a B+ in my "official" first semseter of ochem (ochem 3b). i think i MIGHT have a chance this time.
Anyways, so im hoping for a Overall GPA: ~3.7 (+/-.5) w/ at least a 3.6 Sci GPA. Anyways, i was thinking that was good, but then i found this website that deals with grads of berkeley who were accepted into CA's medical schools: http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/top20.stm. Even the "easier" med schools have GPAs of 3.7 or EVEN 3.8 (like UCI/UCdavis). Are my goal GPAs too low if i want to get into med school right after undergrad??? Also, what kind of makes me confused is the stats on this website: http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/top20.stm. It says 3.4-3.6 w/ 30-34 mcat have a considerable acceptance rate each of the years. I dont get it.
can anybody explain? is it because the people with 3.4-3.6 etc etc went to lower tier schools? if so, what are considered lowertier/easier schools to get into CONSIDERING I AM A CALIFORNIAN RESIDENT.I'm just SO SO SO SO stressed. Sorry for the unstructured thread...answers to questions and any comments would be wonderful. Thanks everyone.