Hi,
I recently graduated from state university with BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. (GPA ~3.1)
I finished all the required courseworks for medical school admissions and scored 25 on recent MCAT.
I got into UPenn Speical Science program, Johns Hopkins MS Biotechnology program, and UChicago Graduate Student-at-Large.
I picked UPenn as my first choice but I'm having a second thought.
I already have 150+ undergraduate credit and according to my calculation, taking 20 ~ 30 more undergraduate credit in UPenn would only raise my GPA from 3.1 to somewhere around 3.2. In addition, I already got by BS in biochem and Mole. Bio and many advanced science courses they offer are ones I already took or have contents that are overlaping with my previous courses. So, I'm afraid that taking these courses again would not look too good to admissions commitee.
If I go with JHU MS Biotech program, I will start my graduate GPA on a clean slate with MS degree in the end. However, even though the curriculum involves a number of advanced biology courses, the program is not directly geared towards medical education and unlike UPenn, I would not be able to get pre-med advising.
The GSAL program in UChicago is not a degree program. It provides a chance to take some graduate level courses as well as some undergraduate courses if a student wants to improve their grade. However, the program does not have a specific curriculum and requires a lot of self-management. I think they provide a pre-med advising but I'm not sure.
I'm shooting for 2008-2009 cycle and I'll definitely retake MCAT in Jan or Apr.
Please share your ideas. Thanks.
I recently graduated from state university with BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. (GPA ~3.1)
I finished all the required courseworks for medical school admissions and scored 25 on recent MCAT.
I got into UPenn Speical Science program, Johns Hopkins MS Biotechnology program, and UChicago Graduate Student-at-Large.
I picked UPenn as my first choice but I'm having a second thought.
I already have 150+ undergraduate credit and according to my calculation, taking 20 ~ 30 more undergraduate credit in UPenn would only raise my GPA from 3.1 to somewhere around 3.2. In addition, I already got by BS in biochem and Mole. Bio and many advanced science courses they offer are ones I already took or have contents that are overlaping with my previous courses. So, I'm afraid that taking these courses again would not look too good to admissions commitee.
If I go with JHU MS Biotech program, I will start my graduate GPA on a clean slate with MS degree in the end. However, even though the curriculum involves a number of advanced biology courses, the program is not directly geared towards medical education and unlike UPenn, I would not be able to get pre-med advising.
The GSAL program in UChicago is not a degree program. It provides a chance to take some graduate level courses as well as some undergraduate courses if a student wants to improve their grade. However, the program does not have a specific curriculum and requires a lot of self-management. I think they provide a pre-med advising but I'm not sure.
I'm shooting for 2008-2009 cycle and I'll definitely retake MCAT in Jan or Apr.
Please share your ideas. Thanks.
