Regrets

[Dr.Hester]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I woke up one day and decided law is not what I want to do. My interest had shift to becoming a doctor. I realized that being a lawyer would not allow me to see blood and guts which is what I find fascinating. So I am a non-traditional student interested in med school. I will have my BS in Criminal Justice in December. I have been researching since I made the decision, to attempt to pursue an MD. I do not have any pre-req classes under my belt. I plan to go back to my state college (aka cc) to obtain an AA in pre-med which covers the pre-req courses. I really don't want to spend two years in a post bacc program. With a GPA in the range of 3.7-8, pre-reqs (grades of A's and B's), a decent MCAT score, and plenty of volunteer work and shadowing, will I have a good chance of getting into any med school?

 

[backside_attack]

I have been researching since I made the decision, to attempt to pursue an MD.

You need to research which schools don't accept CC credits. You're locking yourself out of a lot of MD schools that way, and probably some DO schools as well. Pay $25 for the MSAR and pay a little more for a local 4-year college credits over a few semesters.

 

[DokterMom]

Vocational degrees (like criminal justice - sorry) are generally not well-respected as being academically rigorous. Couple a criminal justice BS with all your pre-reqs at a CC and you simply will not be taken seriously.

You could start at a CC, but better take the majority of your hard science classes at a 'hard' school -- just to show you're up to it.

 

[Dr.Hester]

You need to research which schools don't accept CC credits. You're locking yourself out of a lot of MD schools that way, and probably some DO schools as well. Pay $25 for the MSAR and pay a little more for a local 4-year college credits over a few semesters.

Thanks for the advice, I will do that. The CC offers some 4 year degrees, does that make it any better by chance?

 

[Dr.Hester]

Vocational degrees (like criminal justice - sorry) are generally not well-respected as being academically rigorous. Couple a criminal justice BS with all your pre-reqs at a CC and you simply will not be taken seriously.

You could start at a CC, but better take the majority of your hard science classes at a 'hard' school -- just to show you're up to it.

Understand, no need to be sorry. At the time, that was the only thing I was interested in and my intentions were to attend law school. The only reason I'm choosing to take the pre reqs at my cc is to save money. I'm finishing my BS at a university not located in my hometown but I am currently back in my hometown doing an internship. My mom works at the college, so it will be free and I can complete the pre reqs in a year and a half.

 

[backside_attack]

Understand, no need to be sorry. At the time, that was the only thing I was interested in and my intentions were to attend law school. The only reason I'm choosing to take the pre reqs at my cc is to save money. I'm finishing my BS at a university not located in my hometown but I am currently back in my hometown doing an internship. My mom works at the college, so it will be free and I can complete the pre reqs in a year and a half.

Responding to this post and the one you directed towards me - I'm confused how a community college also offers 4-year degrees. To the best of my knowledge this isn't typical, and perhaps when you say community college you are actually meaning like a local, "no-name" school that is really a normal 4 year college? But I doubt that because you mentioned getting an AA degree, and most colleges don't offer that.

Regardless, the advice still stands: you're shooting yourself in the foot by doing everything at a CC. ESPECIALLY if your bachelor's is in Criminal Justice. You have to show the AdComs you can cut it in university level science courses. Med school can be f***ing brutal and they need to know you are capable. Coming from your background, you need to kill it in a post-bacc (DIY or formal, whatever) to show that you have real academic chops.

I'm sure a free degree would be great from that CC, but is it worth not being accepted? Only you can know that answer.

 

[Dr.Hester]

Responding to this post and the one you directed towards me - I'm confused how a community college also offers 4-year degrees. To the best of my knowledge this isn't typical, and perhaps when you say community college you are actually meaning like a local, "no-name" school that is really a normal 4 year college? But I doubt that because you mentioned getting an AA degree, and most colleges don't offer that.

Regardless, the advice still stands: you're shooting yourself in the foot by doing everything at a CC. ESPECIALLY if your bachelor's is in Criminal Justice. You have to show the AdComs you can cut it in university level science courses. Med school can be f***ing brutal and they need to know you are capable. Coming from your background, you need to kill it in a post-bacc (DIY or formal, whatever) to show that you have real academic chops.

I'm sure a free degree would be great from that CC, but is it worth not being accepted? Only you can know that answer.

It's a state college. It offers about 5-6 different bachelor's degrees and tons of two year degrees that prepares students to transfer to a four year university. It may not be a community college, I will have to get clarity. I understand what you're saying and you're completely right. What if I took one or two courses at my local state college to see if I'm even truly interested and able to excel, then transfer to a "hard" university, would that have a negative impact?

 

[DokterMom]

It's a state college. It offers about 5-6 different bachelor's degrees and tons of two year degrees that prepares students to transfer to a four year university. It may not be a community college, I will have to get clarity. I understand what you're saying and you're completely right. What if I took one or two courses at my local state college to see if I'm even truly interested and able to excel, then transfer to a "hard" university, would that have a negative impact?

That would be a prudent path -- There's no harm is 'testing the waters' for free. Just know that you will need to prove yourself academically, and additional coursework from unranked school alone won't be sufficient. If you were to complete all of your pre-reqs there, you'd probably still need an additional (this time, a formal - aka expensive) post-bac to show that you're med school material.

 

[Dullhead]

I'm confused how a community college also offers 4-year degrees. To the best of my knowledge this isn't typical...

Local schools to offer 4-year degrees

Apparently, it's a recent trend.

Twenty one other states already allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

How much clinical volunteer experience do you have so far?

 

[gyngyn]

I realized that being a lawyer would not allow me to see blood and guts which is what I find fascinating.

I find this disturbing.

 

[Goro]

I woke up one day and decided law is not what I want to do. My interest had shift to becoming a doctor. I realized that being a lawyer would not allow me to see blood and guts which is what I find fascinating. So I am a non-traditional student interested in med school. I will have my BS in Criminal Justice in December. I have been researching since I made the decision, to attempt to pursue an MD. I do not have any pre-req classes under my belt. I plan to go back to my state college (aka cc) to obtain an AA in pre-med which covers the pre-req courses. I really don't want to spend two years in a post bacc program. With a GPA in the range of 3.7-8, pre-reqs (grades of A's and B's), a decent MCAT score, and plenty of volunteer work and shadowing, will I have a good chance of getting into any med school?

Not sure if trolling, but if for real, this is a terrible reason to be a doctor. You'll also have to deal with poop, vomit, pus, urine, bile and other lovely human body fluids as well, you know.

 

[star.buck]

Understand, no need to be sorry. At the time, that was the only thing I was interested in and my intentions were to attend law school. The only reason I'm choosing to take the pre reqs at my cc is to save money. I'm finishing my BS at a university not located in my hometown but I am currently back in my hometown doing an internship. My mom works at the college, so it will be free and I can complete the pre reqs in a year and a half.

I'd think criminal justice would be taken more "seriously" than a music performance degree that was 10 years old. Combine that music degree with almost exclusively CC courses, mediocre MCAT, work in a nursing home, and a desire to be a rural family doc... most on SDN would tell me I'm crazy. Yet, in 3 weeks I start my second year of medical school.

Sure, your chance of success may depend on how you look on paper (fancy science degrees and research experience, for example). Yet I think it all depends on the schools you apply to, how well you interview, and what your story and passions are.

 

[Skiiiiiing]

MD - 3.8 and 512, DO 3.5 and 508 - and rising every year. And oh yeah tons of ECs too