Questions about doing a second major in an effort to get into medical school

[tacostastegood44]

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I am starting a second major in biology this semester, with a focus towards medical school. I am still working full-time during the day, how many classes should I take per semester? Is 8 credits enough or should I strive for 9-12 credits? I don't want to take too much and end up getting poor grades due to lack of time for studying, but I don't want to take too few classes either.

I eventually plan to go back to school full-time for 1-2 years after doing part-time school work for 2 years.

I am doing a second degree because my sGPA is 3.23 and I want to raise it as much as possible. My original degree was in chemical engineering so I have taken many of the pre-req courses already. Should I start from scratch and retake all of them, including freshman level classes? Or should I just retake ones I did poorly in?

Thank you all for your help.

 

[Frogger27]

You do not have to necessarily get another degree. Just take as many upper level science classes as you can to raise the sGPA and show proficiency. It does not matter how many you take per semester, the key is doing well. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. This is especially true with grade reinvention

 

[tacostastegood44]

You do not have to necessarily get another degree. Just take as many upper level science classes as you can to raise the sGPA and show proficiency. It does not matter how many you take per semester, the key is doing well. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. This is especially true with grade reinvention

My concern if I don't get a second degree is that I won't have enough credits to raise my sGPA to 3.40, which is what my school (Worcester State) requires for a committee interview.

Also, are summer classes okay to take? I was thinking of taking Bio 1 next summer.

 

[Frogger27]

My concern if I don't get a second degree is that I won't have enough credits to raise my sGPA to 3.40, which is what my school (Worcester State) requires for a committee interview.

Also, are summer classes okay to take? I was thinking of taking Bio 1 next summer.

Have you taken Bio 1 already or is that a re-take... summer classes are fine.. your goal should be to try to get your sGPA to a 3.4 so that you can get your committee letter. Getting the 2nd degree is worthless to medical schools... If you HAVE to take that many classes to raise your GPA to where you need to get it, thats fine. But do not think that you HAVE to get the 2nd bio degree. what you HAVE to do is raise your GPA any way that you can.

Have you taken all of the pre-med requirements (Intro bio, chem, physics, ochem, etc)? How did you do in them?

 

[tacostastegood44]

Have you taken Bio 1 already or is that a re-take... summer classes are fine.. your goal should be to try to get your sGPA to a 3.4 so that you can get your committee letter. Getting the 2nd degree is worthless to medical schools... If you HAVE to take that many classes to raise your GPA to where you need to get it, thats fine. But do not think that you HAVE to get the 2nd bio degree. what you HAVE to do is raise your GPA any way that you can.

Have you taken all of the pre-med requirements (Intro bio, chem, physics, ochem, etc)? How did you do in them?

Bio 1 : B
Bio 2 : A-
Chem 1 : A-
Chem 2 : B+
Ochem 1 : D+, A- (summer)
Ochem 2 : B (summer)
Physics 1 : B+
Physics 2: B
Calc 1 : A-
Calc 2 : B+

 

[Frogger27]

How many upper level chem/physics classes did you get with your degree? You could take some 200, 300, and 400 level bio classes and if you do not have too many science classes your GPA will move up quicker than you think. Minus that Ochem1. your grades arent too bad.

Have you considered DO as well? your sGPA will be much higher with that D+ being replaced by an A-

 

[tacostastegood44]

How many upper level chem/physics classes did you get with your degree?

I took a lot of engineering courses that I did terrible in, including fluid mechanics, p-chem, etc.

You could take some 200, 300, and 400 level bio classes and if you do not have too many science classes your GPA will move up quicker than you think. Minus that Ochem1. your grades arent too bad.

Should I bother retaking any of the freshman level classes or ochem?

Have you considered DO as well? your sGPA will be much higher with that D+ being replaced by an A-

My DO sGPA is hammered by engineering classes I took. It is 3.20 total.

 

[Frogger27]

Why is your DO sGPA lower? Do some of those classes not count towards MD (sorry I am only familiar with MD process, I just know of DO grade replacement).

Definitely do not bother re-taking the intro classes. Take 200, 300, and 400 level classes that you can do well in. Do not think "I have to take 400 level classes to prove I can handle med school".... Take classes you can do well in. Calculate your sGPA and see how many credits it will take you to get a 3.4. Estimate getting a 3.7 to be safe (although a 4.0 would be best)... Maybe like 24 credits? That would be 3 semesters of doing 8 credits, which should be doable as a FT employee (I just completed a post-bac while working so I have some experience on that end).

Other people can chime in, but a 3.23 sGPA is not terrible. You can work with that... get it to a 3.4 and couple it with a good MCAT (510+ for MD, 504+ for DO) and I would say you would have a decent chance