Pre-medical committees

[MedGrl@2022]

What is everyone's feelings on pre-medical committees? They have refused to write me a letter of recommendation and I am really upset about it. They told me I lack critical thinking and I know my MCAT scores are very low. They feel that I am lacking on a few items that a medical school applicant should have. I am so upset and feeling discouraged. I have put so much into applying and studying for MCATs. I really wanted to get accepted to medical school for this fall. My GPA is very high and I feel like I do have several experiences under my belt already that make me a good if not great applicant for medical school. I wish I could get into medical school and then show them that they were wrong. But on the other hand I feel like what does it matter if I get into medical school and they are right and I don't do well in medical school and/or can't pass my boards and am not able to be licensed as a physician. I will post their letter of recommendation if people ask for more information. I am just so frustrated. I do work hard and I feel like everyone is just telling me I suck and their are forces that are trying to make it harder for me to get into medical school.

I attached the letter to this e-mail...

Any words of advice would be great? I am distressed especially since I just recieved this e-mail about an hour ago

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[samkell]

I'm pretty sure you can substitute 2 science faculty letters for the pre-med committee letter. That's what I'm doing because its been around 7 years since I graduated undergrad. Do you have any science professors that would write a good letter for you? That is what I would try to do. Sounds like your pre-med committee is pretty tough. Sorry!

 

[wolfram241]

Well first you should take down that letter - you shouldn't post stuff that was only addressed to you.

Secondly, what was your MCAT? Below 25? If so, that's mainly what you need to fix, assuming your GPA is ok (what is it?). The critical thinking stuff seems like filler. These people just want to see a good GPA and MCAT along with some EC's etc to give you a letter.

 

[bkpa2med]

I didn't use a pre-med committee. I just used the alternates that each school req'd. I had 3 science LOR's, and 1 DO.

 

[HarveyCushing]

Sorry to hear that. If this is something that you want you have to keep at it. Don't let a committee or a low MCAT slow you down. Re-take the MCAT if you have to, I had to. Try to get 2 science faculty members to write you letters instead. Just don't give up on your dream.

As a side note, I found it funny that the pre-med committee kept refering to medical school and osteopathic school as two seperate things. "...succeed in pursuing admission to any medical or osteopathic school..." Maybe it is just the way that I am reading the sentence, but it seems like they are trying to seperate the two as if they are totally different. An osteopathic medical school is a medical school.

 

[112258]

1. The committee said "medical OR osteopathic school"....which is kind of weird.

2. In my applications a lot of times they say if you are not providing us with a pre-med committee letter tell us your reason. So if you got individual professors instead, you'd have to provide some sort of reason, and the reason you have would not be a good one to tell med schools!

3. I agree that they want you to have a better MCAT score. Who ever heard of a committee denying you access to apply to med school "because of a high GPA but doubt in your thinking skills"? Seems kind of weird to me, I didn't think schools would do that. The worst you can do is try, right?

Since it seems like you're still in school, re-take the MCAT (after studying your butt off of course). I struggled with having a year off....for some reason back in college, postponing my life an extra year seemed horrible. Well it is the BEST! I am having an awesome job/volunteer experience now, and I re-took the MCAT and raised my score 2 points.

Good luck!

 

[MedGrl@2022]

Well first you should take down that letter - you shouldn't post stuff that was only addressed to you.

Secondly, what was your MCAT? Below 25? If so, that's mainly what you need to fix, assuming your GPA is ok (what is it?). The critical thinking stuff seems like filler. These people just want to see a good GPA and MCAT along with some EC's etc to give you a letter.

I took it down I just thought it was a good idea to post it so that people could see what they wrote... my MCAT was a 20M... and I studied for a year twice with Kaplan, I put a lot of effort into it... I did all the homework... studied the questions I got wrong, etc. my GPA is 3.79 and I am a Biochemistry major with a Psychology minor

 

[bkpa2med]

2. In my applications a lot of times they say if you are not providing us with a pre-med committee letter tell us your reason. So if you got individual professors instead, you'd have to provide some sort of reason, and the reason you have would not be a good one to tell med schools!

Good luck!

True. I didn't use them because I was a transfer and they didn't know much about me. Definitely re-take the MCAT and shoot for a 25 that is balanced somewhat. Good luck!!

 

[wolfram241]

I took it down I just thought it was a good idea to post it so that people could see what they wrote... my MCAT was a 20M... and I studied for a year twice with Kaplan, I put a lot of effort into it... I did all the homework... studied the questions I got wrong, etc. my GPA is 3.79 and I am a Biochemistry major with a Psychology minor

In that case obviously they didn't give you the letter because of your MCAT. With 5-10 more points they would have given it to you and the critical thinking b.s. wouldn't have come up. I think you will get some osteopathic interviews with such a high GPA though, and you can always circumvent the letter as others have stated.

Also, how come you got a decision so early? Usually these committees don't meet until later for the next cycle.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

In that case obviously they didn't give you the letter because of your MCAT. With 5-10 more points they would have given it to you and the critical thinking b.s. wouldn't have come up. I think you will get some osteopathic interviews with such a high GPA though, and you can always circumvent the letter as others have stated.

Also, how come you got a decision so early? Usually these committees don't meet until later for the next cycle.

I am applying for this cycle... so their decision is actually late... I took the MCATs in August and did not recieve them until October so their decision is actually late... I was waiting to recieve my secondaries from UNECOM to meet with them and I did late because I had some issues sending my MCAT scores to AACOMAS... a misunderstanding on my part... they had previously told me that they would not write letters of recommendations to MD schools only DO schools and now apparently they will not do that

 

[iwilldlvr]

I think the committees are a joke at some schools. For instance, mine would not write me a letter because I had not completed 30 hours with the university at the time the application was due in April. Basically, since I transferred from community college and had not spend enough money/gone into enough debt with the university, I would not be considered. My stats did not matter. So, I just have the 2 science LORs, 1 DO LOR, and a couple of other LORs that the advisors office holds and sends for me in a packet. I wouldn't worry about it. None of the schools have had a problem with my individual letters.

 

[tkdrifto]

I took it down I just thought it was a good idea to post it so that people could see what they wrote... my MCAT was a 20M... and I studied for a year twice with Kaplan, I put a lot of effort into it... I did all the homework... studied the questions I got wrong, etc. my GPA is 3.79 and I am a Biochemistry major with a Psychology minor

Your GPA is high, especially for a Biochem major. Much props to you.

As for the MCAT, it's kinda low. Where was your weak point? Was it PS, BS, or V? Although I studied with Kaplan, I tried to study on my own using Kaplans books and some Exam Crackers (especially for PS) as review and taking every AAMC MCAT that I can. Also, try reviewing the answers you got wrong and understanding where you went wrong. Retake the exams about 2 weeks later to see if you got a better understanding and a higher score.

How is your Extracurricular activities? Any volunteer/clinical experience? How about shadowing a DO/MD?

As for Pre-med committees, I have no experience with them. I would agree with others to ask individual professors to write you letters and a Physician and use private letter services such as interfolio.

In life you will face many challenges. However, one of the biggest challenge is overcoming your self doubts. Once you do that, almost anything is possible. Good luck to you.

 

[jkhamlin]

As a side note, I found it funny that the pre-med committee kept refering to medical school and osteopathic school as two seperate things. "...succeed in pursuing admission to any medical or osteopathic school..." Maybe it is just the way that I am reading the sentence, but it seems like they are trying to seperate the two as if they are totally different. An osteopathic medical school is a medical school.

That's just the kind of asinine crap you get from people who don't know what they are talking about. It comes from peripheral thinking, I think. They know that DO schools are osteopathic schools, so they don't know enough about medicine to know what MD schools are, so they just call them medicine.

*Obscure nerdy reference alert*
It reminds me of the movie the Highlander, where the lead character is an immortal person from the highlands of Scotland, hence the name highlander. You're watching it, and some dork comes along and every time the lead character encounters another immortal, your dork friend asks you "Is he a highlander too?" You sarcastically reply " Noooo... He is an IMMORTAL!" Your friend doesn't know what else to call these people because he is too much of a ******* to pay attention. He's the kind of guy that walks in after the movie is well underway, sits for about 15 minutes, and then leaves because he doesn't get what's going on. That's the same mentality of these people who say "osteopathic OR medical school."

 

[jkhamlin]

What is everyone's feelings on pre-medical committees? They have refused to write me a letter of recommendation and I am really upset about it. They told me I lack critical thinking and I know my MCAT scores are very low. They feel that I am lacking on a few items that a medical school applicant should have. I am so upset and feeling discouraged. I have put so much into applying and studying for MCATs. I really wanted to get accepted to medical school for this fall. My GPA is very high and I feel like I do have several experiences under my belt already that make me a good if not great applicant for medical school. I wish I could get into medical school and then show them that they were wrong. But on the other hand I feel like what does it matter if I get into medical school and they are right and I don't do well in medical school and/or can't pass my boards and am not able to be licensed as a physician. I will post their letter of recommendation if people ask for more information. I am just so frustrated. I do work hard and I feel like everyone is just telling me I suck and their are forces that are trying to make it harder for me to get into medical school.

I attached the letter to this e-mail...

Any words of advice would be great? I am distressed especially since I just recieved this e-mail about an hour ago

Screw them. Don't use them. Some people on here might remember that I had a bad experience with mine a couple years back. I found them to be akin to kangaroo courts, at least the one at my university. You can read my experience here if you want to. I totally bypassed the committee at my university this time, and I got two acceptances and an interview invite that could have lead to an acceptance, but I turned it down. If you are asked why you didn't use them, just use some explanation like you felt that professors who know you would be able to do a better service to both yourself and the AdComm of talking about you and your qualifications as an applicant.

Your MCAT is bad, but your GPA is very good. This might give you a chance. If you don't get in this time, at least you know what to work on. With your aptitude for biochemistry, if you brush up on some cell bio, physiology, and molecular genetics, you should own the biological science section. ANYONE can do well at verbal reasoning if they learn the strategy (supposedly the whole MCAT is this way, but I only found VR to be). Some people can do the physical science well, some cannot, but if you can own the other two sections, then you can get a very good score.

 

[Nasrudin]

Screw them. Don't use them. Some people on here might remember that I had a bad experience with mine a couple years back. I found them to be akin to kangaroo courts, at least the one at my university. You can read my experience here if you want to. I totally bypassed the committee at my university this time, and I got two acceptances and an interview invite that could have lead to an acceptance, but I turned it down. If you are asked why you didn't use them, just use some explanation like you felt that professors who know you would be able to do a better service to both yourself and the AdComm of talking about you and your qualifications as an applicant.

Your MCAT is bad, but your GPA is very good. This might give you a chance. If you don't get in this time, at least you know what to work on. With your aptitude for biochemistry, if you brush up on some cell bio, physiology, and molecular genetics, you should own the biological science section. ANYONE can do well at verbal reasoning if they learn the strategy (supposedly the whole MCAT is this way, but I only found VR to be). Some people can do the physical science well, some cannot, but if you can own the other two sections, then you can get a very good score.

Exactly! As if this process wasn't hard enough that you have have to get approval from the committee to send your application to the committees...friggin clowns don't even know the head from their butts anyway with their obtuse perspective on Osteopathic education as peripheral to medical education. I'm glad my school doesn't have a committee. We're jumping through enough hoops and paying dues. If a group of weanies were not going to give me their sanctimonious approval I wouldn't waste another second worrying about them.

 

[HemaOncoDoc]

I took it down I just thought it was a good idea to post it so that people could see what they wrote... my MCAT was a 20M... and I studied for a year twice with Kaplan, I put a lot of effort into it... I did all the homework... studied the questions I got wrong, etc. my GPA is 3.79 and I am a Biochemistry major with a Psychology minor

Think you're prepared to take the January MCAT? Well, I guess the deadline has passed for registration, but that is/was an option to improve it. As previous SDNers have said, some school do not require the committee letter, but others do, or at least require an explanation as to why you don't have one. I'm sure you have done the research and know which of the school this applies to. If you've submitted your AACOMAS already and are determined to go through with it, do so as soon as possible. If not, waiting a year isn't so bad. It'll give you a chance to explore the world, improve your MCAT and possibly get some great connections to help you get into med school. Best of luck.

 

[supersash]

be sure to just get letters from 2 science, 1 non science if you havent already. my pre-med committee was one professor, who was very biased about who she liked and didnt.

i decided not to bother with the letter, and if asked why, i would just say that i chose letters from professors that really knew me, as opposed to someone who only sat with me for 15 minutes (not in those exact words of course).

good luck. i think a lot of the people we meet on our path to medicine are a part of a bigger test. if you can stand up to the BS and hard stuff that comes along, it will only make you more confident in your decision of medicine!

 

[DoctorMom78]

I am so sorry to hear about your situation. As LisaMD posted, if you don't use the committee letter, the schools may ask you why. You are really too late to apply for this cycle anyway, so why not retake the MCAT in April and try for 2008. Your GPA is high so you are obviously intelligent. I would make sure the rest of your application is really strong and try retaking the MCAT. If your committee will still not write the letter for you after that, I would do the individual letters and then worry about how to explain it if that situation occurs. I don't think your application looks that bad now anyway. I think it is ridiculous that you can't get a letter. Where do you go to school? I am amazed at some of the things I have heard about undergraduate schools on here. I went to Russell Sage which is a small women's college in upstate New York and we were truly like a family there. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my school. The faculty is so supportive of the students. I can't believe that every school is not that way. I hope that everything works out for you. I am sure that it will.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

Think you're prepared to take the January MCAT? Well, I guess the deadline has passed for registration, but that is/was an option to improve it. As previous SDNers have said, some school do not require the committee letter, but others do, or at least require an explanation as to why you don't have one. I'm sure you have done the research and know which of the school this applies to. If you've submitted your AACOMAS already and are determined to go through with it, do so as soon as possible. If not, waiting a year isn't so bad. It'll give you a chance to explore the world, improve your MCAT and possibly get some great connections to help you get into med school. Best of luck.

Unfortunately no... was that an option to improve them for this application cycle.... I wasn't sure if there was an option to do that otherwize I probably would have... I guess I might start restudying for MCATs for the April or June MCAT... I dunno... btw... what would be a job or experience that would improve my critical thinking? I was like wtf. And on the letter that they wrote me they said I had a lack of internships/research completion. I have Had two internships, was accepted into a 6-8 week summer medical education program where I shadowed medical doctors and was a student at Yale School of Medicine, and worked at Hartford Hospital also shadowing various physicians and working on 3 research projects. Plus I have done and presented a research project on my own and I am doing a new research project. I have even shadowed a physician in Puerto Rico because I am interested in working with underserved Hispanic population here in CT.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

I am so sorry to hear about your situation. As LisaMD posted, if you don't use the committee letter, the schools may ask you why. You are really too late to apply for this cycle anyway, so why not retake the MCAT in April and try for 2008. Your GPA is high so you are obviously intelligent. I would make sure the rest of your application is really strong and try retaking the MCAT. If your committee will still not write the letter for you after that, I would do the individual letters and then worry about how to explain it if that situation occurs. I don't think your application looks that bad now anyway. I think it is ridiculous that you can't get a letter. Where do you go to school? I am amazed at some of the things I have heard about undergraduate schools on here. I went to Russell Sage which is a small women's college in upstate New York and we were truly like a family there. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my school. The faculty is so supportive of the students. I can't believe that every school is not that way. I hope that everything works out for you. I am sure that it will.

I already applied it is just a matter of my secondaries. I already spent like $3000 on this application cycle. It seems so stupid to have that all go to waste. I go to Saint Joseph College in Connecticut. It is an all women's college and the pre-med committee is not that good. If it wasn't for a program I attended at Yale medical school I would probably not be as aware of the medical application program as I am. The one other girl who wanted to apply for this cycle had no idea what she was doing and applied in December, I felt so bad for her but at the same time one needs to be self-relient/

 

[noshie]

That is so weird. My premed committee is so nice. They didn't even ask me what my MCAT score was before writing me the letter. I guess at the time I had not taken the MCAT yet. Even for them to write my committee letter they needed 3 letters from my professors and a DO letter at least. I wondered if they would write me a bad one because my GPA sucks, but hopefully they would have just turned me down if they werent going to write me a good one, right? Sometimes I wonder if all of the letters in my packet are good letters, I would hope the head of my committee would tell me if they werent. Has that ever happened to anyone?

 

[DoctorMom78]

I already applied it is just a matter of my secondaries. I already spent like $3000 on this application cycle. It seems so stupid to have that all go to waste. I go to Saint Joseph College in Connecticut. It is an all women's college and the pre-med committee is not that good. If it wasn't for a program I attended at Yale medical school I would probably not be as aware of the medical application program as I am. The one other girl who wanted to apply for this cycle had no idea what she was doing and applied in December, I felt so bad for her but at the same time one needs to be self-relient/

WOW! Well, since you already applied, I say get the individual letters and hope for the best. Did you already submit your secondaries yet? I would try that new Touro NY school if you haven't already because I know they are interviewing much later than the other schools. Whatever you do, do it fast! I know a lot of the schools already have interviews scheduled into February. I really hope everything works out for you. My MCAT is not that high and I have been fine, but I hope that your committee did not ruin your chances this cycle. Just get everything in ASAP and good luck!

 

[DoctorMom78]

That is so weird. My premed committee is so nice. They didn't even ask me what my MCAT score was before writing me the letter. I guess at the time I had not taken the MCAT yet. Even for them to write my committee letter they needed 3 letters from my professors and a DO letter at least. I wondered if they would write me a bad one because my GPA sucks, but hopefully they would have just turned me down if they werent going to write me a good one, right? Sometimes I wonder if all of the letters in my packet are good letters, I would hope the head of my committee would tell me if they werent. Has that ever happened to anyone?

Our "committee" is actually just one professor and he gets several letters from my professors and makes a composite letter. I had no trouble with it at all. I was told in one of my interviews that my LORs were great, so I guess they all did a great job writing it. I can't believe the horror stories I have heard on here!

 

[HemaOncoDoc]

Unfortunately no... was that an option to improve them for this application cycle.... I wasn't sure if there was an option to do that otherwize I probably would have... I guess I might start restudying for MCATs for the April or June MCAT... I dunno... btw... what would be a job or experience that would improve my critical thinking? I was like wtf. And on the letter that they wrote me they said I had a lack of internships/research completion. I have Had two internships, was accepted into a 6-8 week summer medical education program where I shadowed medical doctors and was a student at Yale School of Medicine, and worked at Hartford Hospital also shadowing various physicians and working on 3 research projects. Plus I have done and presented a research project on my own and I am doing a new research project. I have even shadowed a physician in Puerto Rico because I am interested in working with underserved Hispanic population here in CT.

I think you answered that question for yourself. You seemed to have done enough to at least get a letter. That's something you should inquire about. The committee could be just focused on your MCAT scores because they require a level of critical thinking in order to do well. I'm not them though. If only two people applied from your school, I would think the comittee would be less discerning as to your critical analysis skills and want their students to get into med school. I'm probably as confused as you are, if not more so.

 

[Taty]

Don't give up. Send them letters from 2 science and one non-science profssrs I know many people who did it and now they are med school students.

 

[Entgegen]

Unfortunately no... was that an option to improve them for this application cycle.... I wasn't sure if there was an option to do that otherwize I probably would have... I guess I might start restudying for MCATs for the April or June MCAT... I dunno... btw... what would be a job or experience that would improve my critical thinking? I was like wtf. And on the letter that they wrote me they said I had a lack of internships/research completion. I have Had two internships, was accepted into a 6-8 week summer medical education program where I shadowed medical doctors and was a student at Yale School of Medicine, and worked at Hartford Hospital also shadowing various physicians and working on 3 research projects. Plus I have done and presented a research project on my own and I am doing a new research project. I have even shadowed a physician in Puerto Rico because I am interested in working with underserved Hispanic population here in CT.

Are you sure you didn't get someone else's committee rejection letter? With your experiences (interships, research, etc.) I don't know how they told you that you were lacking in these areas. The only thing wrong with your app. is your MCAT score. Do better on that and you should have no problem getting in somewhere. Your committee just sucks, I guess.

 

[jkhamlin]

Are you sure you didn't get someone else's committee rejection letter? With your experiences (interships, research, etc.) I don't know how they told you that you were lacking in these areas. The only thing wrong with your app. is your MCAT score. Do better on that and you should have no problem getting in somewhere. Your committee just sucks, I guess.

My committee told me I was lacking in areas that I wasn't. I think it goes with the professor on a committee ego thing.

 

[VCgirl]

Don't give up! My pre-med advisor told me not to apply to US schools. I was a biochem major at a seven sister college with 3.53 GPA and 28 MCAT. I only applied to three schools (AZCOM, Jefferson and Dartmouth) and received invites to all schools. I was accepted to AZCOM, waiting for Jefferson's decision which will be this coming Wednesday and will be at Dartmouth Jan 18. I wrote and told her that I have interviews at all three schools only to be told "not to expect to get into Jefferson or Dartmouth". Sometimes they don't want students to apply because they fear that it will hurt their stats. Prove them wrong! Apply on your own and get in . Good luck!!

 

[Nasrudin]

Don't give up! My pre-med advisor told me not to apply to US schools. I was a biochem major at a seven sister college with 3.53 GPA and 28 MCAT. I only applied to three schools (AZCOM, Jefferson and Dartmouth) and received invites to all schools. I was accepted to AZCOM, waiting for Jefferson's decision which will be this coming Wednesday and will be at Dartmouth Jan 18. I wrote and told her that I have interviews at all three schools only to be told "not to expect to get into Jefferson or Dartmouth". Sometimes they don't want students to apply because they fear that it will hurt their stats. Prove them wrong! Apply on your own and get in . Good luck!!

That's insane! Where do these people get off thinking their the gatekeepers or something. Your teachers see how you interact with people and how you perform so that's a legitimate opinion. Do you guys actually have to pander to a committee that doesn't even know you in order to send out your apps. I guess I'm starting to really feel lucky not to have this obstacle. I have good relationships with a couple of teachers and so that's all I've had to do is just get a letter from them.

 

[VCgirl]

That's insane! Where do these people get off thinking their the gatekeepers or something. Your teachers see how you interact with people and how you perform so that's a legitimate opinion. Do you guys actually have to pander to a committee that doesn't even know you in order to send out your apps. I guess I'm starting to really feel lucky not to have this obstacle. I have good relationships with a couple of teachers and so that's all I've had to do is just get a letter from them.

I did get a committee letter. I was just saying that sometimes what one member of the pre-med committee tells you should not get your spirits down. I have four strong letters from professors (I still keep in contact with all of them) and also from researchers at Pharmaceutical companies that I have worked at over the past six years. She told me not to apply because my numbers were too low, not because of work, EC, awards, ect. because I do have a strong application. Our new pre-med advisor has been supportive...the advisor that I am talking about who told me not to apply has retired, but I also keep her informed since I knew her personally.

 

[koennen]

I only applied to three schools (AZCOM, Jefferson and Dartmouth)

Wow. Why only three schools and why those three? Just curious.

 

[VCgirl]

Wow. Why only three schools and why those three? Just curious.

My boyfriend is a student at AZCOM, Jefferson because it is in a city and I don't know how to drive and Dartmouth because of it's program and I am also part Native American. I should have applied to more, but like I said, my previous pre-med advisor told me not to bother!

 

[exigente chica]

This is an excellent thread..and the post are very inspiring..I too am having problems getting a letter an undergrad prof an was distraught about what to do.

I just applied to schools that only needed a few letters..there are ways to get aroung things..

good luck

 

[wolfram241]

My boyfriend is a student at AZCOM, Jefferson because it is in a city and I don't know how to drive and Dartmouth because of it's program and I am also part Native American. I should have applied to more, but like I said, my previous pre-med advisor told me not to bother!

Don't worry, you will fit in well at AZCOM.

 

[theraball]

I already applied it is just a matter of my secondaries. I already spent like $3000 on this application cycle. It seems so stupid to have that all go to waste. I go to Saint Joseph College in Connecticut. It is an all women's college and the pre-med committee is not that good. If it wasn't for a program I attended at Yale medical school I would probably not be as aware of the medical application program as I am. The one other girl who wanted to apply for this cycle had no idea what she was doing and applied in December, I felt so bad for her but at the same time one needs to be self-relient/

TinyLilRon,

Don't be discouraged; just think of it as one more challenge to overcome. In your case, I think it's not so much the committee letter as the MCAT score that you need to focus on improving. Attack the beast and slay it; get about 4 or 5 more points on your next one and you'll be golden. If Kaplan's not working for you, try Princeton. Go to the MCAT help forum elsewhere on this site and read every tip you can find, buy the Exam Kracker books and work a verbal reasoning passage every morning for the next six months.

Just keep in mind that the money is a drop in the bucket. If this is the career you want, the time and money you invest now will be well worth it. Once you get an acceptance, this is not the end of the challenges you will face; it is only the beginning. If you have to reapply next year, so be it; you're still young. Reapplying to schools is not bad; it demonstrates dedication on your part, and many people do get in on their 2nd try.

One last thing. Ignore all those sympathy posts describing how evil their premed committees were. The important thing for you to do is focus on your career and what you need to do to get it going. Don't waste your energy hating your college premed committee. Admittedly they are not doing much to help you but they are not the only ones who will act this way; their attitude permeates the business right through residency. Put your energy and time into fixing your MCAT scores, prove them wrong, and take charge of your career. You can do it.

-Therapy Ball

 

[stockmanjr]

At my school we had to attend meetings once a semester which was pretty much a talk from the head of the pre-med committee saying that unless you had a 3.7 and a 30+ mcat you werent going to get into any school..It got so depressing that most of us just stoped attending the meetings..
cheers
howie

 

[MedGrl@2022]

At my school we had to attend meetings once a semester which was pretty much a talk from the head of the pre-med committee saying that unless you had a 3.7 and a 30+ mcat you werent going to get into any school..It got so depressing that most of us just stoped attending the meetings..
cheers
howie

Yup, they never told us that but they might have as well. Except in my school we barely ever have meetings only to talk to podriatic doctors and other options only once did a physician come in to talk to us. The head of the pre-med committee is so busy that she barely has time for anyone let alone tell anyone properly the application process. I guess I am sort of grateful because she made it harder and I have learned to be self-reliant. It bugs me that they won't write me a letter of recommedation but I am going to go with the three letters and I should have a real good one from a D.O. It is still unfair. If I had a better score on my MCATs I would not have to hear any of this b.s. from them. I hope your applications go well.

 

[MasonPrehealth]

I cannot answer for other premed advisors or committee members, and relatively speaking, I am still a little new to the process. If your MCAT/GPA numbers are accurate, I don't know why any osteopathic program wouldn't take a look at your file. So something tells me it's a subjective-area issue.

I do not know what your committee or advisor told you about your evident lack of critical thinking skills and any suggestions to improve that perception to your benefit. Find out from your potential references and teachers what experiences you might need to improve your critical thinking and decision-making skills. I would not hesitate to get a few opinions on the topic, but you need to know how to respond if someone tells you that you lack critical thinking skills. Don't answer us here on the forum, but answer for yourself what your rebuttal evidence is. And yes, sometimes a faculty member could come to a wrong conclusion.

But one thing for sure: going behind the backs of the prehealth committee is going to reflect very badly on those critical thinking skills.

 

[MasonPrehealth]

That's insane! Where do these people get off thinking their the gatekeepers or something.

Well we aren't the gatekeepers (those are the admissions committees). But we are your advocates, and we have some insights on the process that most other professors don't know, including how to write those critical reference letters.

Your teachers see how you interact with people and how you perform so that's a legitimate opinion. Do you guys actually have to pander to a committee that doesn't even know you in order to send out your apps. I guess I'm starting to really feel lucky not to have this obstacle. I have good relationships with a couple of teachers and so that's all I've had to do is just get a letter from them.

It's okay if you don't have a committee, but I would think that having a good advisor is much better than having none. All I can say is that you shouldn't discount the advisors summarily if they tell you something you don't want to hear. If you make it as a doctor, you'll have to wear those shoes one day.

 

[jkhamlin]

But one thing for sure: going behind the backs of the prehealth committee is going to reflect very badly on those critical thinking skills.

That's a bunch of bs. "Going behind the backs of the prehealth committee" is no big deal at all. The only people who look down on it are the prehealth committee members themselves out of self interest. I was told repeatedly that it would "send red flags" if I didn't use the premedical committee at my university. Then they shot me down for no good reason. Not using them the second time around was one of the best things I did on reapplication. These people are not the gods they have appointed themselves to be.

 

[KCW]

Premedical committees are a complete waste of time. They're almost never are made up of actual physicians, let alone people who know anything about medical school or the admissions process (although they would like to think that they do). I wouldn't let it get you down at all. Why would you have people like this compile your letters for you, into a composite letter as some committees do? How can people who only interview you for a short time have any genuine idea of who you really are?

I understand the logic behind these committees. Admissions likes these types of letters because it cuts down the ammount of work it takes to screen applicants. It helps cut down the volume of material they have to get through. On the other hand, it is a reflection of laziness on behalf of these programs. Application fees are expensive, and you're usually hit twice, with both a primary and secondary fee. Not only that, it is time consuming to fill them out. If students are willing spend the time and effort completing applications, admissions committees ought to read individual letters from people who can attest to an applicants qualities.

If I were you, I wouldn't shed a single tear about this committee. Get your letters from people who know you, a doctor your shadowed, a professor you worked for. You'll be just fine. In the end, it will be a more accurate portrayel of who you really are. I didn't even bother with the committee at my undergraduate institution. I was just fine, had many interviews (both MD and DO), multiple acceptances and am now an attending student.

Bottom line: Don't sweat it.

 

[iwilldlvr]

That's a bunch of bs. "Going behind the backs of the prehealth committee" is no big deal at all. The only people who look down on it are the prehealth committee members themselves out of self interest. I was told repeatedly that it would "send red flags" if I didn't use the premedical committee at my university. Then they shot me down for no good reason. Not using them the second time around was one of the best things I did on reapplication. These people are not the gods they have appointed themselves to be.

You are sooo true. From my experience, the advisor didn't even know as much as I did about the entire process. Maybe he knew but didn't want to tell me. I don't know. I asked questions to confirm info that I already found on my own and thanks to sdn, but he didn't have a clue. What's the point in using individuals that are clueless about the process and are just using the position to criticize others. I realize there are good advisors and committees. For those of you that have them, congrats. We can't all be so lucky.

 

[MasonPrehealth]

All I have are the numbers from our committee which has convened over the past 20+ years. At my school, having a committee letter doubles or triples your chances of getting in (albeit it is likely because we had required minimums for scores and so on). I've scanned a number of schools with committees or institutional letter procedures, and many of them list the chances of getting in with certain ranges of MCAT's and GPA's.

You still have a chance of getting in, especially since this is a DO program we're talking about. (MD programs I feel rely more on the institutional reference.) But respecting authority is all that medical education is about, whether the person who is your superior knows what he/she's doing or not. I'm just saying doing an end-around is not really well-regarded in medicine (even though this isn't that big of a deal compared to other clinical procedures).

 

[MasonPrehealth]

You are sooo true. From my experience, the advisor didn't even know as much as I did about the entire process. Maybe he knew but didn't want to tell me. I don't know. I asked questions to confirm info that I already found on my own and thanks to sdn, but he didn't have a clue. What's the point in using individuals that are clueless about the process and are just using the position to criticize others. I realize there are good advisors and committees. For those of you that have them, congrats. We can't all be so lucky.

Well, I'm probably the unusual advisor who reads posts on SDN and feels motivated to reply. I feel I have to keep up with you all, and I can't just let advisor-bashing go unabated.

Of course, in a few years, your patients are going to do the same thing and get information they think is reliable from off the internet. Some of them will still respect your opinions, and some won't. The question is how you utilize people who are in positions of authority, regardless of whether they are truly expert in that position. (Refraining from bad-mouthing clinicians who fit that description...)

Sure, I would love to think I know everything about the process, but I realize that I want you to know about the process; I just try to shoot down bad rumors and provide advice and assessment on one's chances on getting in.

 

[pineapple]

My school's premed committee is a pain and takes too long to write really bad form letters.

You can look at all the schools I applied to in the link in my signature...not one required a premed committee letter. They let me sub it for specified other letters.

 

[iwilldlvr]

Well, I'm probably the unusual advisor who reads posts on SDN and feels motivated to reply. I feel I have to keep up with you all, and I can't just let advisor-bashing go unabated.

Of course, in a few years, your patients are going to do the same thing and get information they think is reliable from off the internet. Some of them will still respect your opinions, and some won't. The question is how you utilize people who are in positions of authority, regardless of whether they are truly expert in that position. (Refraining from bad-mouthing clinicians who fit that description...)

Sure, I would love to think I know everything about the process, but I realize that I want you to know about the process; I just try to shoot down bad rumors and provide advice and assessment on one's chances on getting in.

I do hope you realize I wasn't bashing you in my post. I was explaining my own advisor's inadequacies.

With that said, good for you for even being on sdn. That shows some initiative to stay informed. No one expects their advisors or committees to be perfect. I think all we want is for them to be as informed as possible and fair. Also, we tend to face a great deal of bias for choosing the DO route.
For example, on my school's HPAC form for the evaluation letters, there was a spot for the AMCAS ID only. Just recently (I mean in the last 2 months), the AACOMAS ID spot was finally added. Also, my advisor never mentioned DO. Everything was assumed to be for MD applications even though my school is less than 30 miles from TCOM.

You (masonprehealth) need to understand that not all advisors and committees even attempt to stay informed. If you plan on defending all of them, you will not be able to get anything else done, because you will be on here all day long. Just because you do what's within your power to stay informed and to be fair (assumption), not all others take their jobs that seriously. You can not accurately or honestly defend those advisors or committees without having known any of them. Do yourself a favor and just let us vent. We know there are plenty of them that are great, or at least adequate. We are complaining about those that are not.

 

[jkhamlin]

I do hope you realize I wasn't bashing you in my post. I was explaining my own advisor's inadequacies.

With that said, good for you for even being on sdn. That shows some initiative to stay informed. No one expects their advisors or committees to be perfect. I think all we want is for them to be as informed as possible and fair. Also, we tend to face a great deal of bias for choosing the DO route.
For example, on my school's HPAC form for the evaluation letters, there was a spot for the AMCAS ID only. Just recently (I mean in the last 2 months), the AACOMAS ID spot was finally added. Also, my advisor never mentioned DO. Everything was assumed to be for MD applications even though my school is less than 30 miles from TCOM.

You (masonprehealth) need to understand that not all advisors and committees even attempt to stay informed. If you plan on defending all of them, you will not be able to get anything else done, because you will be on here all day long. Just because you do what's within your power to stay informed and to be fair (assumption), not all others take their jobs that seriously. You can not accurately or honestly defend those advisors or committees without having known any of them. Do yourself a favor and just let us vent. We know there are plenty of them that are great, or at least adequate. We are complaining about those that are not.

 

[Nasrudin]

Well we aren't the gatekeepers (those are the admissions committees). But we are your advocates, and we have some insights on the process that most other professors don't know, including how to write those critical reference letters.



It's okay if you don't have a committee, but I would think that having a good advisor is much better than having none. All I can say is that you shouldn't discount the advisors summarily if they tell you something you don't want to hear. If you make it as a doctor, you'll have to wear those shoes one day.

The shepherds are for sheep. I have learned more than I could ever get from the passive voice of the uninitiated from physicians med students residents and my comrades on the pre-med trail. If you take that as disrespectful its because you're dispensing vague perceptions about the qualities of a good physician to someone who doesn't take unsolicited anonymous on-line advice too seriously. You could not tell me one thing I don't already know about the mundane aspects of being a pre med.. And if your an adviser to hundreds you're way to busy to give me some of the things I really could use like a real advocate or somebody to look over my essay...somebody that's in my corner. Fine if you can give that to your students...maybe you're a well-paid specialist adviser for a cushy private school but out here in the teenage wasteland of working class state U's we've got to fight for our own meals. I am used to this proposition to the point that half-assed advice just annoys me really.

 

[jkhamlin]

The shepherds are for sheep. I have learned more than I could ever get from the passive voice of the uninitiated from physicians med students residents and my comrades on the pre-med trail. If you take that as disrespectful its because you're dispensing vague perceptions about the qualities of a good physician to someone who doesn't take unsolicited anonymous on-line advice too seriously. You could not tell me one thing I don't already know about the mundane aspects of being a pre med.. And if your an adviser to hundreds you're way to busy to give me some of the things I really could use like a real advocate or somebody to look over my essay...somebody that's in my corner. Fine if you can give that to your students...maybe you're a well-paid specialist adviser for a cushy private school but out here in the teenage wasteland of working class state U's we've got to fight for our own meals. I am used to this proposition to the point that half-assed advice just annoys me really.

Now that's the old Nasrudin that we know and like. Talking way over our heads to the point that we aren't sure what he means, but we are pretty sure we totally agree with him.