Seeking Advice: Am I too late in creating my application?

[tarheel81]

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Hello, I'll try to keep this as brief as possible and I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong thread. I'm a little stressed right now 😵

A summary of my situation: I transferred from a community college to UNC Chapel Hill last semester (fall of 2019). I initially attended a university straight out of high school in 2017 only to return home the same summer semester. I left said university with an A in a Psych 101 course and a C in a preparatory chem course (called "Chem 100"). I attended the community college that fall and made A's and B's. Finally, in the Spring of 2018, I took a semester off to treat my depression and alcoholism. I have been sober since then 🙂 I applied to and was accepted into a Bachelor's Degree Nursing Program at this community college and took two more semesters of pre-reqs (fall of 2018 and spring of 2019). My plan was to become an RN, then apply to medical school. Having done well at the college, I applied to Chapel Hill, not expecting to get in. When I did, I transferred, and I just finished my first semester pursuing a BA in biology with a 3.1 - I've done the calculations, and I can get that to a 3.5 - 3.7 by the end of my senior year.

So, here's where I stand: In UNC's eyes, I am a rising Junior. Since they allow two extra semesters to transfers, I have six semesters left. I want to graduate in four, since that is what my financial aid (a GI bill passed onto me from my mother) covers, but am willing to take out loans for the last two if it's unavoidable. I was naive and thought applying for medical school would be much simpler than I now see it is. I have not taken the MCAT. I have not studied for the MCAT. I have no research experience. I have some volunteer hours, but I'm sure that I need more. I was a student ambassador, a president of an honor society, and a member of said honor society at my previous college. I have also been employed as a CNA in an inpatient hospice unit for a year (I work PRN when I am home on breaks) and my goal as a physician is to work in hospice. After reading AMCAS, I am worried that I have not prepared enough to get into medical school when I would like to. A tentative plan I have come up with is to complete these next two semesters of my "junior" year with goals of getting my GPA up, finding research and volunteer opportunities, and studying for the MCAT. Then take the MCAT in the spring of 2021 (the first semester of my "senior" year) and complete the AMCAS directly afterward.

Is this feasible? Do I need to go ahead and start saving for those extra two semesters to make things more doable? It's after 1 am here and I am absolutely freaking myself out so I apologize if this comes off as frantic and unprepared. I know that I'm working against the odds. I plan to apply to DO schools as well. Hospice is what I feel called to do, however, and I just can't bring myself to give up.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Hello, I'll try to keep this as brief as possible and I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong thread. I'm a little stressed right now 😵

A summary of my situation: I transferred from a community college to UNC Chapel Hill last semester (fall of 2019). I initially attended a university straight out of high school in 2017 only to return home the same summer semester. I left said university with an A in a Psych 101 course and a C in a preparatory chem course (called "Chem 100"). I attended the community college that fall and made A's and B's. Finally, in the Spring of 2018, I took a semester off to treat my depression and alcoholism. I have been sober since then 🙂 I applied to and was accepted into a Bachelor's Degree Nursing Program at this community college and took two more semesters of pre-reqs (fall of 2018 and spring of 2019). My plan was to become an RN, then apply to medical school. Having done well at the college, I applied to Chapel Hill, not expecting to get in. When I did, I transferred, and I just finished my first semester pursuing a BA in biology with a 3.1 - I've done the calculations, and I can get that to a 3.5 - 3.7 by the end of my senior year.

So, here's where I stand: In UNC's eyes, I am a rising Junior. Since they allow two extra semesters to transfers, I have six semesters left. I want to graduate in four, since that is what my financial aid (a GI bill passed onto me from my mother) covers, but am willing to take out loans for the last two if it's unavoidable. I was naive and thought applying for medical school would be much simpler than I now see it is. I have not taken the MCAT. I have not studied for the MCAT. I have no research experience. I have some volunteer hours, but I'm sure that I need more. I was a student ambassador, a president of an honor society, and a member of said honor society at my previous college. I have also been employed as a CNA in an inpatient hospice unit for a year (I work PRN when I am home on breaks) and my goal as a physician is to work in hospice. After reading AMCAS, I am worried that I have not prepared enough to get into medical school when I would like to. A tentative plan I have come up with is to complete these next two semesters of my "junior" year with goals of getting my GPA up, finding research and volunteer opportunities, and studying for the MCAT. Then take the MCAT in the spring of 2021 (the first semester of my "senior" year) and complete the AMCAS directly afterward.

Is this feasible? Do I need to go ahead and start saving for those extra two semesters to make things more doable? It's after 1 am here and I am absolutely freaking myself out so I apologize if this comes off as frantic and unprepared. I know that I'm working against the odds. I plan to apply to DO schools as well. Hospice is what I feel called to do, however, and I just can't bring myself to give up.

You don’t need to freak out and you definitely don’t need to give up. Why the anxiety about the timeline? There’s not some law that you have to apply in your senior year.

Many applicants take one (or several) gap years to build their medical school application. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to apply when you’ve put together a strong application, so you can’t rush class work or the MCAT. A 2021 application target sounds a little tight, so why not push that back to 2022?

 

[tarheel81]

You don’t need to freak out and you definitely don’t need to give up. Why the anxiety about the timeline? There’s not some law that you have to apply in your senior year.

Many applicants take one (or several) gap years to build their medical school application. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to apply when you’ve put together a strong application, so you can’t rush class work or the MCAT. A 2021 application target sounds a little tight, so why not push that back to 2022?

Thank you for this! You’re absolutely right and I’ve received pretty much identical feedback from others. I can’t rush this. I’ve sort of sketched a tentative new, less-rushes plan of:
Taking the next four semesters to focus on boosting my GPA, volunteering, and research opportunities.
Studying for the MCAT after graduation in fall 2021.
Taking the MCAT in early 2022 (all this while working/doing something productive).
Applying in spring 2022 🙂

also realizing I don’t need to form a definitive timeline tonight 😉 Remembered there is a pre health advisor at my school for a reason lol! Thanks for your encouragement, I needed someone to tell me to calm down

 

[postbaccpro]

Make sure you get shadowing too. Should be easy to find a connection with contacts from working as a CNA.

 

[tarheel81]

Make sure you get shadowing too. Should be easy to find a connection with contacts from working as a CNA.

What’s the best way to approach a doctor about shadowing? There are several I know from my workplace, but we don’t talk much if at all because they’re so busy. I almost feel out of place approaching them. I do feel very comfortable with my nurse managers - would it come off as... I don’t know, weird, to ask one of my nurse managers to ask one of the doctors if they’re open to it?

 

[tessellations]

What’s the best way to approach a doctor about shadowing? There are several I know from my workplace, but we don’t talk much if at all because they’re so busy. I almost feel out of place approaching them. I do feel very comfortable with my nurse managers - would it come off as... I don’t know, weird, to ask one of my nurse managers to ask one of the doctors if they’re open to it?

If you feel uncomfortable asking them in person, maybe you could email them to ask them about it? All the doctors I shadowed, I emailed to avoid the awkwardness of asking in person/over the phone.

 

[Cornfed101]

What’s the best way to approach a doctor about shadowing? There are several I know from my workplace, but we don’t talk much if at all because they’re so busy. I almost feel out of place approaching them. I do feel very comfortable with my nurse managers - would it come off as... I don’t know, weird, to ask one of my nurse managers to ask one of the doctors if they’re open to it?

Instead, I would ask the nurse managers if they know which doctor would be most open to being shadowed. You should still ask the physician yourself whether in person or via email.