Questions for prior enlisted, but first...

[AirmanCatalyst]

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... a little about myself.

I'm a 25 year old, 6-year Air Force enlistee who is 2 years into his contract. I just finished with my CDC's and got the go ahead to take classes. I was originally planning on going for an engineering degree and then applying for the commissioning programs; however, I regularly volunteer at the hospital here in Iraq and it has stirred my interest in medicine. At this point I think that I will do my time, take advantage of Tuition Assistance and the sweet 911-GI Bill to finish up my undergrad and apply for the USUHS &/or HPSP. My main problem is that I am unsure of what undergraduate degree to pursue. I am attending a Georgia school, and Georgia Tech will accept me as an engineering transfer student after completing 3 years at my current university. I think I'd like to go for either Electrical/Computer Engineering or Biomedical Engineering, but people have made good arguments for Biology, Chemistry, et cetera...



My questions:

1. What was your undergraduate degree before applying to med school?
2. Do you have any regrets regarding your undergraduate degree? Would you have chosen a different path?
3. Did you take advantage of HPSP, USUHS or FAP some other program? Did you just seperate, become a doctor and then decide to come back as military doctor?

I know that I'm probably forgetting something, so if there is any other input/recommendations you'd like to provide I'd be happy to hear what you have to say. Thanks for taking the time to read my lengthy introductory post

//edit - removed a dumb question, i'll just google it.

 

[PostLessOne]

1. My undergrad degree was in biology
2. No, because I was accepted to medical school. Some of my undergrad courses covered material that is taught in medical school (quite a few, actually). Few other majors give you as big of a leg up
3. The most commonly accepted major is the one that gives you a high GPA. Doesn't matter what it is.
4. You should separate and come back if you want to much later, after you are done with residency. There are crucial, life changing reasons for doing this - respond to my message if you want to know what those are.

Bottom line - Don't do engineering of any sort. At nearly every college, ESPECIALLY an institution like Georgia Tech, the engineering courses are MUCH harder than in other majors. You will get a letter grade or two lower for MORE effort, and it may be totally impossible to get the A or A- you need to get into medical school in some of your classes. Engineering students had to study every night like they were in grad school to usually get a B or C. I was able to cram the day of the test and end up with an A in some of my harder biology classes (don't recommend taking that kind of risk, though...I was being reckless)

Moreover, almost nothing you learn in engineering will help you in medicine.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Choose a major and a school that will get you good grades. Academic reputation of your undergraduate school matters a little but GPA matters a lot for med school acceptance.

If you choose a non-biology major, it makes the science classes you do take (pre-med requirements) more important because they make up your science GPA. Do not worry about preparing for med school. If I had to do it over, I would have been a history major or something. And don't even think about an engineering degree...unless you'd rather be an engineer (which you might want to consider).

 

[DeadCactus]

I'm not prior service, but I did engineering for my undergraduate. I enjoyed my studies and it's nice to have a marketable skill set as a fall-back for whatever reason. On the con side, in reality my GPA is probably lower than it would have been with a more direct major.

Academically, it's a wash. I feel like I'm more accustomed to the rigor of the curriculumn than my peers, but the vocabularly is more unfamiliar.

My major may have cost me my school of choice. That's the simple reality of admissions based largely on numbers. At the same time it builds nicely into my ultimate career interests and I can't say I regret it (though I wish I had done biomedical instead of electrical). In the end, if you go with what interests you most, I'd be comfortable in saying it'll work out...

 

[AirmanCatalyst]

Now that I think about it I have a history of making life harder on myself than it needs to be. Technology is something that really does interest me, but if I'd like to be a doctor I guess there's no reason to take the engineering classes. I'll have to spend some time taking a look at my school's degree requirements and see how they will fit into a Degree plan.

I think my real motivation for considering engineering (other than its potential benefit to humanity and the respect they command in society) is a fear of not getting accepted into med school. I don't think my relationship can handle two degrees that go nowhere. Wife has a degree in art education which is basically just costing us 450 a month for the next 30 years or so.

If anyone else could share their prior enlisted experience I'd appreciate it.

 

[Slevin]

Now that I think about it I have a history of making life harder on myself than it needs to be. Technology is something that really does interest me, but if I'd like to be a doctor I guess there's no reason to take the engineering classes. I'll have to spend some time taking a look at my school's degree requirements and see how they will fit into a Degree plan.

I think my real motivation for considering engineering (other than its potential benefit to humanity and the respect they command in society) is a fear of not getting accepted into med school. I don't think my relationship can handle two degrees that go nowhere. Wife has a degree in art education which is basically just costing us 450 a month for the next 30 years or so.

If anyone else could share their prior enlisted experience I'd appreciate it.

I was prior enlisted but I got out in '01 and started college then. I didn't take any classes while I was enlisted.

 

[haujun]

... a little about myself.

I'm a 25 year old, 6-year Air Force enlistee who is 2 years into his contract. I just finished with my CDC's and got the go ahead to take classes. I was originally planning on going for an engineering degree and then applying for the commissioning programs; however, I regularly volunteer at the hospital here in Iraq and it has stirred my interest in medicine. At this point I think that I will do my time, take advantage of Tuition Assistance and the sweet 911-GI Bill to finish up my undergrad and apply for the USUHS &/or HPSP. My main problem is that I am unsure of what undergraduate degree to pursue. I am attending a Georgia school, and Georgia Tech will accept me as an engineering transfer student after completing 3 years at my current university. I think I'd like to go for either Electrical/Computer Engineering or Biomedical Engineering, but people have made good arguments for Biology, Chemistry, et cetera...



My questions:

1. What was your undergraduate degree before applying to med school?
2. Do you have any regrets regarding your undergraduate degree? Would you have chosen a different path?
3. Did you take advantage of HPSP, USUHS or FAP some other program? Did you just seperate, become a doctor and then decide to come back as military doctor?

I know that I'm probably forgetting something, so if there is any other input/recommendations you'd like to provide I'd be happy to hear what you have to say. Thanks for taking the time to read my lengthy introductory post

//edit - removed a dumb question, i'll just google it.

1. I majored in Economics
2. No, I chose this major based on my interest. It is also very common for college students to switch major during their college years. I didn't.
3. I joined HPSP after working as a preventive medicine specialist for 4 years
4. Choose a major that you like (there are tons of my friends majored in engineer from MIT who are in nation's top medical school etc...) and want to pursue in case you decide you do not want to become a doctor. Pursuing liberal art education before medical school is not a bad idea. If you enjoy what you do other rewards will soon follow including good grades. People have tendency to choose biology as its requirement to similar to most medical school requirements. However I did not choose Biology as I couldn't picture myself becoming Biologist should I did not become a doctor.🙂

Good luck.

 

[jarsab89]

I know this doesn't necessarily belong here on the milmed forums, but its slightly on topic. If you're not a science major but still pre-med, do any additional science electives count towards your sGPA? Or does sGPA only apply to Gen Chem I and II, Bio I and II, etc etc and so forth.

Oh, and long time lurker, first time poster, be nice 🙂

 

[AirmanCatalyst]

Did a quick google search, this is what I found:
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Your Science or "BCPM" GPA
Hello. I had a quick question for you: what do I count in my pre-med GPA? Is it all science courses or just the required pre-med courses? Do engineering and math classes count? What about astrophysics and geoscience? Thanks so much for your help.
Answer: Your "pre-med" GPA is more commonly known as your science GPA, and sometimes referred to as your "BCPM" GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math). When you apply to medical schools using the online AMCAS application, you may include any course under the "BCPM" heading if over 50% of the content of the class was one of those four basic science subjects, regardless of the course number, professor, or Department. AMCAS leaves these decisions up to you; you are the person who categories your courses as science or "all other." So when we ask for your science GPA, that's what we mean. Engineering, Geosciences, Astrophysics, some Psychology and Neuroscience…there are many fields that involve "science," but according to your med school applications a majority of the courses must be Bio, Chem, Physics, or Math.
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I guess you pay AMCAS to go through your application and they figure out whether or not the class is actually part of your science gpa and then they submit the result to the medical school. It seems that science electives would count as part of your science gpa.

good luck!

Where I got my info -> Health Professions Advising - Princeton University

 

[jarsab89]

Did a quick google search, this is what I found:
----
Your Science or "BCPM" GPA
Hello. I had a quick question for you: what do I count in my pre-med GPA? Is it all science courses or just the required pre-med courses? Do engineering and math classes count? What about astrophysics and geoscience? Thanks so much for your help.
Answer: Your "pre-med" GPA is more commonly known as your science GPA, and sometimes referred to as your "BCPM" GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math). When you apply to medical schools using the online AMCAS application, you may include any course under the "BCPM" heading if over 50% of the content of the class was one of those four basic science subjects, regardless of the course number, professor, or Department. AMCAS leaves these decisions up to you; you are the person who categories your courses as science or "all other." So when we ask for your science GPA, that's what we mean. Engineering, Geosciences, Astrophysics, some Psychology and Neuroscience…there are many fields that involve "science," but according to your med school applications a majority of the courses must be Bio, Chem, Physics, or Math.
-----

I guess you pay AMCAS to go through your application and they figure out whether or not the class is actually part of your science gpa and then they submit the result to the medical school. It seems that science electives would count as part of your science gpa.

good luck!

Where I got my info -> Health Professions Advising - Princeton University

Thankee kindly! I suppose I could have used the ole' google as well, but I do appreciate the reply.

 

[AirmanCatalyst]

no problem, i posted here so that other might be able to search and find it here on the forums.

Now I have another question for the prior enlisted folks: My classes start more that 45 days after the registration date ends. Unfortunately I'm not able to apply for TA until then. If I pay for my classes out of pocket will TA be given to me directly, through the school in the form of a refund, or not at all? I know that if you apply for classes you've already started they won't pay TA, but is it the same in this sitation? I already tried contacting the Education office at my home station without result. Have any of you ever faced this situation?

I figured out. Payment deadline is about 18 days after I can apply for TA. That should hopefully be enough time for my tuition assistance authorization to go through, but if it doesn't I have to get confirmation from the school that they will refund the money once the authorization does come through, drop the classes, or pay for the classes out of pocket