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Should I push my app back a year?
Started by elleE23
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Illness, family issues, emotional stress, etc are all part of life. They will continue to occur no matter what field you end up in, so you have a good opportunity now to build confidence and develop resiliency for the future.
Your goals now are:
1. finish with the strongest GPA possible. GPA repair is doable but it takes time and $$$. Your numbers arre far from sunk, so if you are in a position to keep taking classes and excelling, do it.
2. Kill the MCAT. Take numerous full length practice tests under timed, test day conditions. Do not sit for the exam until you are performing well on practice tests.
3. Shadow and build your clinical exposure but not to the detriment of 1 and 2.
If you're experiencing anxiety and a lack of confidence, seek professional help. There's no shame in doing so! Like I said, grappling with difficulty now will make you stronger for the road ahead. When AMCAS opens in May, if you have a good MCAT and the rest of your app is in good shape, apply! If not, take another year, med school isn't going anywhere and the cycle is stressful and expensive. You really want to get in on the first try if at all possible! I wish you luck!!
Your goals now are:
1. finish with the strongest GPA possible. GPA repair is doable but it takes time and $$$. Your numbers arre far from sunk, so if you are in a position to keep taking classes and excelling, do it.
2. Kill the MCAT. Take numerous full length practice tests under timed, test day conditions. Do not sit for the exam until you are performing well on practice tests.
3. Shadow and build your clinical exposure but not to the detriment of 1 and 2.
If you're experiencing anxiety and a lack of confidence, seek professional help. There's no shame in doing so! Like I said, grappling with difficulty now will make you stronger for the road ahead. When AMCAS opens in May, if you have a good MCAT and the rest of your app is in good shape, apply! If not, take another year, med school isn't going anywhere and the cycle is stressful and expensive. You really want to get in on the first try if at all possible! I wish you luck!!
Don't let the bold above get you. Everyone feels inadequate at one point or many points in their lives. Let the feeling pass and focus on what needs to be done. As an ex-coach, I am sure you have given your team a pep talk when things are not going right. Now you got to give yourself one and believe in the message.
As a Texas applicant, you are in good shape (metrics-wise) regardless of the C. Don't focus on the past and don't repeat biochem in the fall. Get healthy mentally/psychologically and put all your energy into studying and doing well on the MCAT. Set a goal of hitting 510+ on the MCAT.
While doing this, continue to volunteer and get 50 hours of shadowing with a primary care physician (FM, Pedi, OBGYN, IM).
With your metrics, your ECs, and hopefully a 510+ MCAT, you will get interviews at Texas schools.
Come back after taking the MCAT and post on the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum and you will get advice on schools outside of Texas to apply to also.
GL!!!
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You need to apply when you have the best possible app. Your academic history has several homes in it, one of which is that C. You shouldn't be getting Cs in any post-bac work, since the idea is to show that you can handle med school.
Very sorry to hear of your illness woes, but this raises a judgement issue. You should have taken a W when you got sick, instead of trying to bulldoze your way through.
One more year of solid post-bac work should net you some success. LGBT are considered URM by a number of med schools, and there are med schools that reward reinvention. Naturally, MCAT will make or break you. Do NOT take this until you are 100% ready!
Because even if you get an A the second time, along with the C, it will average to a B and the significance to your sGPA is minimal. As long as you were able to grasp the basic concepts of biochemistry the first time around, the best use of your time would be to put maximum effort towards your MCAT.
Since you are scheduled for the April MCAT, do the studying and as it approaches, gauge your possible score from the full length exams, esp from the three AAMC practice exams. If you are not scoring around 508+ by then, you can always reschedule.
With your LGTBQ status and ECs, with a 510+ MCAT and 3.6 sGPA, you will at least get an interview from TCOM and will be a good candidate for IIs from other Texas schools.
If you ace the spring semester, and do very well on MCAT, then I think it will be worth taking a crack at this coming cycle.
A: Follow your heart.
B: If A) -> Medicine, you still need to show that you can handle med school. You're getting more Bs than As and that's an issue. You need A >> Bs.
Read this:
My apologies, you're doing much better than I thought you were doing! I misinterpreted your grades list as to be chronological, not by grade order. Therefore, have a good spring semester, take the MCAT, and apply in June/July/August.
Capeesh?
