pre DO advice.

[kypreos]

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I am in need of some advice and it is a difficult situation as I am a unique type of applicant. I have a sub 3.0 GPA and I planned on applying this cycle. I was scheduled to take the MCAT july 31st but did not take the exam and rplan on rescheduling for an august test date as my test average was still low 20's. I did not want to take the exam when I know my average was not in the 30's. I am not going to sign up for it until I am happy with my average. I have the privelidge to be engaged to a wonderfull woman who is willing to work and help me while I am in school. I have also been offered a job as a rehabilitation salesman(for Kessler) making 30k this year. The employer is a good friend of the family and understands that I will be attending graduate school sometime soon. The decision I have to make is this. Taking the MCAT in august/sepember puts me in as a late applicant for 2010. and since my GPA could use some repair and AACOMAS is very forgiving, I have the opportunity to be a full time student at my 4 year state institution while the bills will be paid. I am in a priveledged position and while making that extra 30k this year would be nice, I don't think it would be the best idea for my goal of attending medical school. Do you think it would be worth it. I can bring my gpa from a 2.98 to almost a 3.2 after 1 semester of REtakes(prereqs I bombed early on) and who knows what another semester would do as well. There are drawbacks however and that is for those classes I would have to pull out loans, so not only would I be not making 30k but I would also be digging myself deeper in debt. I am thinking that I would take the MCAT by the end of this summer, begin retaking classes and apply late this year, if I don't get in apply again after this year with a new re-vamped GPA. The reason I would still be applying the 2010 cycle is that I would only apply to a select number of schools that I believe I have a chance of getting into late in the cycle and it would only be a select few. Along with the fact that you never know it only takes 1 acceptance. What do you think? take the job? take the classes and apply only the 2011 cycle? I will be turning 24 in april and I don't think that I am necessarily an "old" applicant but my age does worry me as I know im not that 22 yo applicant with a 3.99 and 35 MCAT here. Your advice is greatly appreciated and the forumn has been very helpfull. I dug myself into a whole and a year and a half ago I found this forumn and it has helped out tremendously. I just need to know what to do next. thank you.

 

[Bacchus]

24 y/o is young. I have classmates starting with me that are older. You need to take the year off from working and retake courses. If you can get up to a 3.2 and then score well on the MCAT you should have a better chance than you do now. You will have another off year, next year by doing this, in which you can work. Assuming you have a science degree, you can probably find a labtech job that will bring in more than 30,000 dollars. Also, if you take the classes you'll be placed back into "at least half time" status and thus probably defer on your loans for another year.

 

[DaBlackRose]

I think you already know what you need to do.

It sounds like you're NOT ready to apply this round. With your MCAT score still not good enough for YOU and your GPA not leaving you any cushion room, i just don't think you can afford to apply this year.

If you want to have a the best shot at med school you have to put your best foot forward the first time. It sounds like just one more semester in school will be hugely beneficial to your application. If you had a whole nuther semester of the basic prereq's and relearned all the material it would actually help to raise your MCAT score.

Because frankly if your MCAT is still low 20's it is probably because you need some more review of the material. And with that score you do have a chance, but probably not the top choice. And your lower GPA makes things even more sketchy. I'm not saying you can't do it. But with the odds so low and the opportunity to significantly improve your application, it would be ludicris to not wait.

Applying to only a few schools will decrease your chances and with teh GPA and MCAT scores going up every year.... you get the point. Why waste the money ?

You can probably get a part time job during school if you had to, or find out if your family friend would hire you for a single semester rather than the full year. if you want to go to med school though, what is another semester in loans when you'll have to take out another $250,000?

I hope this helped.

 

[kypreos]

24 y/o is young. I have classmates starting with me that are older. You need to take the year off from working and retake courses. If you can get up to a 3.2 and then score well on the MCAT you should have a better chance than you do now. You will have another off year, next year by doing this, in which you can work. Assuming you have a science degree, you can probably find a labtech job that will bring in more than 30,000 dollars. Also, if you take the classes you'll be placed back into "at least half time" status and thus probably defer on your loans for another year.

I know that I need to, and I know from the numbers my GPA is in dier need of some repair. what people do not know is that it has been in the repair process for about a year so far. for the last 30 credit hours I have had a 3.6. This brought me from a 2.4 to a 2.9. I did REtake some courses but I also took 3 three new three thousand level bio courses and aced all of them. So I have significantly improved my GPA in the last year, all while retaking some of the required prereq's. On paper if all 4 years looked like my last year I would be golden and probably rocking the MCAT. However I think only a year is not sufficient in showing adcoms that I can master the science curriculum. Thank you for your advice and congratulations on PCOM. I went to thier open house, its a beautiful school.

I think you already know what you need to do.

It sounds like you're NOT ready to apply this round. With your MCAT score still not good enough for YOU and your GPA not leaving you any cushion room, i just don't think you can afford to apply this year.

If you want to have a the best shot at med school you have to put your best foot forward the first time. It sounds like just one more semester in school will be hugely beneficial to your application. If you had a whole nuther semester of the basic prereq's and relearned all the material it would actually help to raise your MCAT score.

Because frankly if your MCAT is still low 20's it is probably because you need some more review of the material. And with that score you do have a chance, but probably not the top choice. And your lower GPA makes things even more sketchy. I'm not saying you can't do it. But with the odds so low and the opportunity to significantly improve your application, it would be ludicris to not wait.

Applying to only a few schools will decrease your chances and with teh GPA and MCAT scores going up every year.... you get the point. Why waste the money ?

You can probably get a part time job during school if you had to, or find out if your family friend would hire you for a single semester rather than the full year. if you want to go to med school though, what is another semester in loans when you'll have to take out another $250,000?

I hope this helped.

Whats unique is the 2 prereq's I need to retake are Bio 1 and 2. this past year I retook physics II, chem I and II and I am rocking the PS section of the MCAT but the bio section is my weakness and although I pulled B's in both orgo's that was sophomore year. I need to retake this courses and hopefully I will pull better. I am still aiming to study and take it this year though just to be done with it.
I wish the employer would understand but he is hiring me and wants me to commit to a 1 year contract. no sense on waisting his time. Its not a part time position and he needs someone reliable as the position is experimental and he liked the idea of me working for only a year because if the position didnt profit him he would not have to let me go but if it worked he only had to hire someone new. Plus if I am taking classes like biochemistry, I do NOT want to be working at all lol. Thank you for your advice, I will be taking it for sure.

 

[kypreos]

Ok I kind of already decided and now im looking on my schools website to see what courses I can register for lol. Is it ludacris to sign up for 3 prereq's in 1 quarter. I want an INTENSE mcat prep. I took orgo 2 years ago and dont remember ZILCH. thats why I kind of want to do this. I want to take physics I Bio I and Bio II over. I could take Chem IV over with it as well but is that 2 much? I am thinking it is even though I can choose not to retake the labs( I did this with my other prereq's). maybe just 3 courses? and that will defer loans until I am finished.

 

[djd2187]

Ok I kind of already decided and now im looking on my schools website to see what courses I can register for lol. Is it ludacris to sign up for 3 prereq's in 1 quarter. I want an INTENSE mcat prep. I took orgo 2 years ago and dont remember ZILCH. thats why I kind of want to do this. I want to take physics I Bio I and Bio II over. I could take Chem IV over with it as well but is that 2 much? I am thinking it is even though I can choose not to retake the labs( I did this with my other prereq's). maybe just 3 courses? and that will defer loans until I am finished.

Honestly, is there a reason as to why you will be killing yourself? When will you get time to study? I think you should look over the MCAT forums and try to find books that will help. Since your GPA is not atrocious, I think that if you do high 20's on your MCAT, you will have a good chance of getting into a D.O. school (just look over the thread for people who got in below average scores and g.p.a) Personally, I think you should just focus on your mcats, examkrackers is a very good tool for organic chemistry and there is literally 3-4 questions from organic chemistry on the MCATS. So, killing yourself by taking all these pre-reqs is a pretty much stupid idea. I personally suggest buying books to study for mcats, and unless you are feeling up to it, do no take three science classes if you are trying to pull your gpa up (you might end up hurting your chances if you do not do so well).

 

[123165]

Honestly, is there a reason as to why you will be killing yourself? When will you get time to study? I think you should look over the MCAT forums and try to find books that will help. Since your GPA is not atrocious, I think that if you do high 20's on your MCAT, you will have a good chance of getting into a D.O. school (just look over the thread for people who got in below average scores and g.p.a) Personally, I think you should just focus on your mcats, examkrackers is a very good tool for organic chemistry and there is literally 3-4 questions from organic chemistry on the MCATS. So, killing yourself by taking all these pre-reqs is a pretty much stupid idea. I personally suggest buying books to study for mcats, and unless you are feeling up to it, do no take three science classes if you are trying to pull your gpa up (you might end up hurting your chances if you do not do so well).

This is good advice. You will be surprised at the amount of stuff from orgo that is not on the MCAT

 

[kypreos]

24 y/o is young. I have classmates starting with me that are older. You need to take the year off from working and retake courses. If you can get up to a 3.2 and then score well on the MCAT you should have a better chance than you do now. You will have another off year, next year by doing this, in which you can work. Assuming you have a science degree, you can probably find a labtech job that will bring in more than 30,000 dollars. Also, if you take the classes you'll be placed back into "at least half time" status and thus probably defer on your loans for another year.

if you dont mind reading below

I think you already know what you need to do.

It sounds like you're NOT ready to apply this round. With your MCAT score still not good enough for YOU and your GPA not leaving you any cushion room, i just don't think you can afford to apply this year.

If you want to have a the best shot at med school you have to put your best foot forward the first time. It sounds like just one more semester in school will be hugely beneficial to your application. If you had a whole nuther semester of the basic prereq's and relearned all the material it would actually help to raise your MCAT score.

Because frankly if your MCAT is still low 20's it is probably because you need some more review of the material. And with that score you do have a chance, but probably not the top choice. And your lower GPA makes things even more sketchy. I'm not saying you can't do it. But with the odds so low and the opportunity to significantly improve your application, it would be ludicris to not wait.

Applying to only a few schools will decrease your chances and with teh GPA and MCAT scores going up every year.... you get the point. Why waste the money ?

You can probably get a part time job during school if you had to, or find out if your family friend would hire you for a single semester rather than the full year. if you want to go to med school though, what is another semester in loans when you'll have to take out another $250,000?

I hope this helped.

if you could also read below

Honestly, is there a reason as to why you will be killing yourself? When will you get time to study? I think you should look over the MCAT forums and try to find books that will help. Since your GPA is not atrocious, I think that if you do high 20's on your MCAT, you will have a good chance of getting into a D.O. school (just look over the thread for people who got in below average scores and g.p.a) Personally, I think you should just focus on your mcats, examkrackers is a very good tool for organic chemistry and there is literally 3-4 questions from organic chemistry on the MCATS. So, killing yourself by taking all these pre-reqs is a pretty much stupid idea. I personally suggest buying books to study for mcats, and unless you are feeling up to it, do no take three science classes if you are trying to pull your gpa up (you might end up hurting your chances if you do not do so well).

well I have a 2.98 and the people I saw that got in with that gpa had a high 20 low 30 mcat score. I think it would also increase my chances and number of schools that I can apply to. I took bio 1 and 2 at a CC in 2005. If I retake them at the community college again I would pull my gpa up to a 3.1 and science up to a 3.2 or something. I had C's from them. I could do that. Even thought prereq's at a CC do not look good, I only have 2 of them coming from there and I already took them there YEARS ago. I could supplement that with another science course(biochem?) from a state school at the same time and I think I could be fine. I took physics II chem I and medical botany(3k level course) and pulled a's in all and a B+ in physics( I retook these). I think I could do well. What do you guys think. I have contradicting oppinions in this thread and I am a little confused.

This is good advice. You will be surprised at the amount of stuff from orgo that is not on the MCAT

please see above.

 

[djd2187]

if you dont mind reading below

if you could also read below

well I have a 2.98 and the people I saw that got in with that gpa had a high 20 low 30 mcat score. I think it would also increase my chances and number of schools that I can apply to. I took bio 1 and 2 at a CC in 2005. If I retake them at the community college again I would pull my gpa up to a 3.1 and science up to a 3.2 or something. I had C's from them. I could do that. Even thought prereq's at a CC do not look good, I only have 2 of them coming from there and I already took them there YEARS ago. I could supplement that with another science course(biochem?) from a state school at the same time and I think I could be fine. I took physics II chem I and medical botany(3k level course) and pulled a's in all and a B+ in physics( I retook these). I think I could do well. What do you guys think. I have contradicting oppinions in this thread and I am a little confused.


please see above.

I am going to stick with my advice, unless you know that you are going to do better in a higher level science class, do not attempt to take them. I know this because I was in the same boat as you but I knew that I would do better so I took biochemistry and ended up with an A. And, you are right on the borderline of 3.0 so maybe taking one class would help get you to that 3.0 line. After that, your main focus should be your mcats and EC's, lot of schools place a great deal of emphasis. And, lot of DO schools seem to place emphasis on EC's as you know many people have gotten in with below average scores. If this needs to be clarfied, reply back.

 

[kypreos]

I am going to stick with my advice, unless you know that you are going to do better in a higher level science class, do not attempt to take them. I know this because I was in the same boat as you but I knew that I would do better so I took biochemistry and ended up with an A. And, you are right on the borderline of 3.0 so maybe taking one class would help get you to that 3.0 line. After that, your main focus should be your mcats and EC's, lot of schools place a great deal of emphasis. And, lot of DO schools seem to place emphasis on EC's as you know many people have gotten in with below average scores. If this needs to be clarfied, reply back.

I know I will do better in bio I and II for sure. Considering the other level bio's I have taken (micro, genetics, medical botany, comparative anatomy). As far as taking biochem I know I would do well considering the past almost 2 years I have had a 3.6 average. My first 2 years of college are what did me in and getting sick during the second half of third year. As far as ec's I am full of them with the exeption bieng research(which DO schools arent that heavy on). I have tried to get into research positions but have had no luck this entire summer. I have had EXTENSIVE clinical experience volunteering in the OR and shadowing numerous physicians. I will continue to study for the MCAT and take them in september. I just need to keep studying and continue to focus. Thank you for your help, I will not be killing myself, I might only take 2 courses and be part time. Those 2 courses however will be science courses to improve my gpa and if need be, touch up on the science sections of the mcat in a last resort ditch effort of taking them in january over xmas break.