Pre Dental to Pre Med...need some advice!

[organicman22]

So I have been set on dental school since my freshman year of undergrad for one reason and one reason only, my older brother is a dentist. I have already applied to dent school and interviewed/have interviews and I have came to the realization that I would not enjoy a career in dentistry. I made the mistake of letting my family push my towards dentistry without exploring other options. When I finally thought about what I want to do for a living, I concluded its a career in medicine. I have always been fascinated by psychiatry, neurology, and the study of consciousness and for this reason would much rather pursue medical school. I know this will entail a lot of hard work, but I am ready for it. Knowing that this is what I want to do will give me all the motivation to succeed.

Heres where I stand right now. I'm a senior graduating from undergrad this May with a degree in biomedical science and a minor in chemistry, so I have already taken all the pre reqs. But my GPA is not good enough for med school (GPA = 3.3, sGPA = 2.9). On the brighter side I scored high on my DAT and am confident I would be able to do the same on the MCAT.

How can I turn into a competitive applicant in 1-2 years?

Do you guys think a 1 year post bacc program would be enough if I get a 4.0 throughout it, do well on the MCAT (aprx 32), and have strong ECs and LORs? Or should I look to completely starting fresh and retake my pre req courses? Please be honest and not pompous in responding. I don't neccesarilly care about getting into a top school, just a school with a good rep and not a D.O. school.

PS - What is so bad about the caribbean med schools?

Thanks in advance

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[BOSS Man]

Anything is possible and I wish you the best!

 

[BurntFlower]

You'll get much more thorough replies in 'What are my Chances?' sub-forum.

 

[235788]

So I have been set on dental school since my freshman year of undergrad for one reason and one reason only, my older brother is a dentist. I have already applied to dent school and interviewed/have interviews and I have came to the realization that I would not enjoy a career in dentistry. I made the mistake of letting my family push my towards dentistry without exploring other options. When I finally thought about what I want to do for a living, I concluded its a career in medicine. I have always been fascinated by psychiatry, neurology, and the study of consciousness and for this reason would much rather pursue medical school. I know this will entail a lot of hard work, but I am ready for it. Knowing that this is what I want to do will give me all the motivation to succeed.

Heres where I stand right now. I'm a senior graduating from undergrad this May with a degree in biomedical science and a minor in chemistry, so I have already taken all the pre reqs. But my GPA is not good enough for med school (GPA = 3.3, sGPA = 2.9). On the brighter side I scored high on my DAT and am confident I would be able to do the same on the MCAT.

How can I turn into a competitive applicant in 1-2 years?

Do you guys think a 1 year post bacc program would be enough if I get a 4.0 throughout it, do well on the MCAT (aprx 32), and have strong ECs and LORs? Or should I look to completely starting fresh and retake my pre req courses? Please be honest and not pompous in responding. I don't neccesarilly care about getting into a top school, just a school with a good rep and not a D.O. school.

PS - What is so bad about the caribbean med schools?

Thanks in advance

Well judging from your sGPA, unless you rebound that up i'd consider and SMP or DO (I know you dont want DO, but people with your stats you are a beggar not choosers). An SMP is realistically probably your best bet to get into an american MD school. The 4.0 post-bac wont do much, because you'll still probably get screened out with your gpa. A 32 on the MCAT is much easier said than done - or else everyone would have one. Starting fresh and retaking the pre-reqs can be completely avoided if you do a SMP. The only problem is many schools have a 3.0 cutoff - so you may want to take 2-3 courses to get to a 3.0 sgpa. The caribbean is a money pit with no guarantees. Thread search to find out more about it.

In-case you dont know - an SMP is a one year masters program and depending on the program the top 70% or top 30% matriculate to their med school the following year or receive an auto-interview. Its a backdoor way to get into an american MD school.

 

[Narmerguy]

You'll get much more thorough replies in 'What are my Chances?' sub-forum.

Agreed. Moving to WAMC.

 

[FattySlug]

MD chances are pretty low given the GPA. They have no grade replacement so the GPA takes a lot longer to repaired.

Best bet is to retake prereq classes to go DO.

I don't know much about SMP but they are said to help greatly but also very expensive. It's a big gamble. If you do badly, you will be 40k in debt.

Have you taken any practice MCAT?

Edit: I really believe he would get much more help in the pre allo. It has much higher view count than WAMC at any given time.

 

[235788]

MD chances are pretty low given the GPA. They have no grade replacement so the GPA takes a lot longer to repaired.

Best bet is to retake prereq classes to go DO.

I don't know much about SMP but they are said to help greatly but also very expensive. It's a big gamble. If you do badly, you will be 40k in debt.

Have you taken any practice MCAT?

Edit: I really believe he would get much more help in the pre allo. It has much higher view count than WAMC at any given time.

But if you cant do well in an SMP how could you do well in medical school? At what point does medical school become a pipedream

 

[FattySlug]

But if you cant do well in an SMP how could you do well in medical school? At what point does medical school become a pipedream

Your point is? If I am not certain I can do well in SMP, I wouldn't enroll. I was trying to tell OP to consider that option carefully because of the expense.