sincere honest feedback

[madamepreDO]

Hello,

I am looking for honest feedback/advice regarding my situation. I graduated from engineering school in 2011. I had one W and one semester of all C's. I took a gap year after graduating where I shadowed and volunteered. I took the MCAT in 2012 with no strict studying and obtained a 13Q. I then got an engineering job, but after the training it was not the best fit. So then I went back to volunteering at free clinics and mentoring an at risk child while taking refresher courses at the community college. I was then offered a scribe job and studied again for the MCAT while volunteering. I should have studied more as I got a 17 and 19, both taken in 2014. In August 2015, I was in a MA Biomedicine program and got a 3.6. I was withdrew from the Spring semester as I had to go back home to take care of a personal issue, which is now resolved.

My final undergrad gpa was a 3.08; not sure about science. In community college, I got all A's but there is one F from a class i took while I was a senior in high school that will be on record.

I am just confused if I should go back the school to finish my MA; it will take me 2.5 years instead of 2 and I will be a few months shy of turning 29 when I graduate. I believe I have a 3.4 science gpa. My biggest fear is not getting an interview because I took a break and I took the MCAT more than 2 times.

I appreciate all advice and honesty about my chances of getting into DO school.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TUVIX]

Took the MCAT 3 times with a 13, 17, 19? I think it is time to find a different career. I know that's harsh but I think you will hate medical school exams and board exams a lot.

 

[madamepreDO]

I wish I studied more for them; not very consistent and distracted. I was so uneducated about the whole med school process. Not really sure why my program accepted me with my 3 attempts(perhaps false hope). Its hard to give up on DO school for me because medicine is all I know and I am good at the sciences.

 

[DO2015CA]

Go back to engineering

 

[ERinspired]

Sorry to say, but I don't think you have a chance. It's not that you've taken the MCAT 3 times because a lot of applicants sit for multiple. But that you've taken it 3 times and your scores were extremely low every time is going to cause your application to be thrown out without even looking at anything else. Even if you took it again and did amazing, you've already shown what will look like a lack of motivation and lack of ability to handle the rigors of medical school.

 

[0dee]

Your only chance is with podiatry school, and even that is a reach.

 

[echo87]

How did you get an engineering degree?

 

[madamepreDO]

thanks for the response. its giving me some clarity...will probably end up going into the IT world for $ and job security.

 

[mathnerd88]

Agree with others. It looks like you should find another career.

 

[Goro]

The MCAT scores alone are lethal. You are at major risk for failing out of med school, and/or failing Boards.

On top of that, you have a history of making poor choices as you took a career-deciding, high stakes exam with no or little prep. This alone would get you autorejected by some adcom colleagues of mine.

So if you're planning to retake the MCAT, do NOT do so until you are 100% ready.

Hello,

I am looking for honest feedback/advice regarding my situation. I graduated from engineering school in 2011. I had one W and one semester of all C's. I took a gap year after graduating where I shadowed and volunteered. I took the MCAT in 2012 with no strict studying and obtained a 13Q. I then got an engineering job, but after the training it was not the best fit. So then I went back to volunteering at free clinics and mentoring an at risk child while taking refresher courses at the community college. I was then offered a scribe job and studied again for the MCAT while volunteering. I should have studied more as I got a 17 and 19, both taken in 2014. In August 2015, I was in a MA Biomedicine program and got a 3.6. I was withdrew from the Spring semester as I had to go back home to take care of a personal issue, which is now resolved.

My final undergrad gpa was a 3.08; not sure about science. In community college, I got all A's but there is one F from a class i took while I was a senior in high school that will be on record.

I am just confused if I should go back the school to finish my MA; it will take me 2.5 years instead of 2 and I will be a few months shy of turning 29 when I graduate. I believe I have a 3.4 science gpa. My biggest fear is not getting an interview because I took a break and I took the MCAT more than 2 times.

I appreciate all advice and honesty about my chances of getting into DO school.

 

[madamepreDO]

The MCAT scores alone are lethal. You are at major risk for failing out of med school, and/or failing Boards.

On top of that, you have a history of making poor choices as you took a career-deciding, high stakes exam with no or little prep. This alone would get you autorejected by some adcom colleagues of mine.

So if you're planning to retake the MCAT, do NOT do so until you are 100% ready.

I appreciate the honesty. I was just wondering how adcoms would view the gap taken in the masters program.

 

[Goro]

A single semester of good performance in a post-bac program doth not a competitive med school applicant make, alas.

I appreciate the honesty. I was just wondering how adcoms would view the gap taken in the masters program.

 

[Mad Jack]

Hello,

I am looking for honest feedback/advice regarding my situation. I graduated from engineering school in 2011. I had one W and one semester of all C's. I took a gap year after graduating where I shadowed and volunteered. I took the MCAT in 2012 with no strict studying and obtained a 13Q. I then got an engineering job, but after the training it was not the best fit. So then I went back to volunteering at free clinics and mentoring an at risk child while taking refresher courses at the community college. I was then offered a scribe job and studied again for the MCAT while volunteering. I should have studied more as I got a 17 and 19, both taken in 2014. In August 2015, I was in a MA Biomedicine program and got a 3.6. I was withdrew from the Spring semester as I had to go back home to take care of a personal issue, which is now resolved.

My final undergrad gpa was a 3.08; not sure about science. In community college, I got all A's but there is one F from a class i took while I was a senior in high school that will be on record.

I am just confused if I should go back the school to finish my MA; it will take me 2.5 years instead of 2 and I will be a few months shy of turning 29 when I graduate. I believe I have a 3.4 science gpa. My biggest fear is not getting an interview because I took a break and I took the MCAT more than 2 times.

I appreciate all advice and honesty about my chances of getting into DO school.

Too many red flags for a stateside school to take you, unfortunately.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Your only chance is with podiatry school, and even that is a reach.

110% agree

Op, the only way you are gonna get into a medical school is as a podiatry student. And yes, even that is a reach.

 

[madamepreDO]

A single semester of good performance in a post-bac program doth not a competitive med school applicant make, alas.

I understand. One more question: How do adcoms view expired MCAT scores?

 

[futuremdforme]

I am just confused if I should go back the school to finish my MA; it will take me 2.5 years instead of 2 and I will be a few months shy of turning 29 when I graduate. I believe I have a 3.4 science gpa. My biggest fear is not getting an interview because I took a break and I took the MCAT more than 2 times.

I appreciate all advice and honesty about my chances of getting into DO school.

You wouldn't get passed over for an interview because of taking the MCAT multiple times or taking a break, it's that your GPA and MCAT are not good. The gap is seriously the least of your problems.

 

[j4pac]

I don't think that you have the work ethic to succeed right now. Until you learn to work hard...don't waste your money. Years from now if you develop that work ethic and dedication, perhaps you can put a real plan...and who knows? But right now...thank the God above that you were able to get through Engineering school and get an Engineering job. I'm very surprised that you were.

 

[Promethean]

If you gave some time to dedicated MCAT study, and I do mean dedicated and a fair amount of it, and managed a score above 27 (or, you know, whatever that translates to in the new test, higher is better), you would have a shot. Don't take the test again until you know that you can pull that off.

 

[Goro]

Some schools will take the highest score, others the most recent, still others the best composite, while other (like mine) will average.

Averaging gives the best predictor of how students do in med school. This is why AAMC recommends the practice.

I understand. One more question: How do adcoms view expired MCAT scores?

 

[madamepreDO]

well my overall gpa could go up a little more because I would be replacing 5 C's with 5 A's.

 

[mathnerd88]

well my overall gpa could go up a little more because I would be replacing 5 C's with 5 A's.

The problem is your MCAT. GPA can easily be corrected. You don't get unlimited chances to take the MCAT.

 

[GypsyHummus]

OP, I know we have joked about podiatry in this thread, but seriously, if you want to be a "doctor" I would look into Podiatry school. They still make good money, they can still be surgeons, they can still be innovators in the medical field, and they can still be called Dr. (although in a couple years, everyone is gonna be called Dr.).

Alternatively, I would also look at staying in your field. Nothing wrong with engineering, quite the opposite.

 

[kelminak]

well my overall gpa could go up a little more because I would be replacing 5 C's with 5 A's.

You need to understand that despite this website's reputation, most people will be the most absolutely encouraging people they can and give people a "tough love" plan of what they need to do to get into medical school. If the people on this board, especially veterans like @Goro, are telling you that you would be wasting your time trying to get into medical school, it's not because we're just roughing you up to see if you could take it. It's because you're asking if you have a shot at a career that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and takes 7+ years of training where you are responsible for the lives of others on a daily basis when you've bombed the entrance exam 3 times. If it was just a low GPA, that'd be one thing. We'd all tell you to retake your Fs/Ds/Cs to improve your GPA, knock your MCAT out of the park and you would have a shot getting in somewhere. Here's the reality:

• Your GPA is near the bottom of what's acceptable to get into medical school. You could repair that GPA, but that's only the beginning.
• You've absolutely bombed the MCAT 3 times. Your best attempt at it put you in the ~20th percentile of all people that have taken it. Really take that in: 80% of people that took the test did better. You're going to be taking rigorous exams nonstop through the first two years of medical school and then again for Step 1, 2, etc. If you did so tremendously poorly on the first one and did a complete re-evaluation of how you studied, fixed your problems, then did well, perhaps adcoms could overlook this. Instead, you got decimated two more times.
• You're going to be pushing 29 when you graduate with your MA, then if you magically got into medical school, you're not going to be a physician until you're 33. Of course you wouldn't be the first older physician to graduate, but the people that are older have good life stories and experiences, then decided to change their field to medicine. Instead, you've been a trainwreck and appear to have no direction in what you want to do.

The people that are telling you to give up on medical school are not telling you this lightly. You have a degree in engineering which can land you a respectable, well-paying job that you can rock at for the rest of your life. You've shown repeatedly that medical school just isn't for you, and there isn't anything wrong with that either. We want the absolute best for you, and given all of the evidence, you would be wasting many years of your life on a pipe-dream when you can build a solid career in engineering. Do what you've proven you can be successful at!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Stick with engineering or go for podiatry. Podiatry would give you the chance for a stable career and good salary while doing medicine, heck you even get to be a surgeon.

 

[sylvanthus]

I agree with the above, I think it is game over for medical school. If you happen to get in, you would likely be here in a few years talking about step exam failures and how you didn't match and are scrambling to get whatever residency position you could while being mad crazy in debt. Sorry to be harsh, just does not seem like a wise idea to keep going down this road.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Stick with engineering or go for podiatry. Podiatry would give you the chance for a stable career and good salary while doing medicine, heck you even get to be a surgeon.

Yeah, take that high school reunion girls who shot me down at age 17. Now I'm a surgeon with 400k+ in student loan debt, everyone wants a piece of me now, literally!

 

[GypsyHummus]

OP, dental school or optometry school might be a route to go as well. You GPA isn't horrendous bad for optometry, and the entrance exam is literally like 5 times less difficult than the MCAT.

I took both an mcat and a DAT/OAT diagnostic test with no studying. I scored in the 15th percentile for the mcat. I scored in the 50th percentile for DAT and OAT.

 

[Ho0v-man]

A lot of us with way better GPAs and MCATs 10 points higher still got some pre-interview rejection letters. This includes myself.

I got a 23 on my first MCAT. I was stupid and trying to rush for the old exam. That alone was a red flag to some schools.

You're whole application might as well be painted red. Just be an engineer. It's a career a lot of us would suck at and wish we could do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sylvanthus]

PA school maybe. Try the GRE and get some clinical experience. Not a bad gig.

 

[GypsyHummus]

PA school maybe. Try the GRE and get some clinical experience. Not a bad gig.

I don't think this is the route to go. If someone really wants to be a doc, I have a feeling that eventually they will get frustrated after 10+ years in the field and still have to answer to others, some docs even younger than them.

If someone wants to be a doctor, there are alternatives. Dentistry and optometry are ones I think are good. Podiatry is prolly the closet thing to being a full fledged "Doc" with all the benefits autonomy/prestige one can expect to get with a bad GPA Mcat or both. You are still technically a "doctor/surgeon", work in hospitals, on call for trauma and everything else Greys Anatomy and house showed us. Downside is that it's 7 years of training, on the lower end of the income spectrum, you have to deal with feet (smelly), and people sometimes have a stigma of knowing that it was much easier to get into pod school than traditional MD or DO school.

 

[TUVIX]

well my overall gpa could go up a little more because I would be replacing 5 C's with 5 A's.

Is it possible you could bring your GPA up and retake the MCAT and do well and get into a school that takes your highest score? Maybe! I don't know for sure. That being said, I think your specific situation calls into question whether that would be a terrible idea or not. Have you learned what medical school is like? There are a lot of exams. Standardized ones. They are really hard. A lot harder than the MCAT in that they cover more material than anyone is really comfortable knowing. Most 4th year medical students could sit down and take the MCAT and score over a 20 having not looked at premed material in at least 4 years. The fact that you did so poorly 3 times is a bad indicator of your potential to succeed in medical school, even if you could get in and even if you could do everything to turn it around and get in. In reality only YOU know if these prior mistakes are a true reflection of your abilities.

 

[madamepreDO]

thanks all for the feedback...making my decision more clear. crazy how i got all a's during the Fall 2012 semester and Spring 2013 when both my grandparents passed away but i cant even come close to the mid 20's on mcat. ive reached out to a few of my "dream" schools and they are very encouraging and i just need to get a mcat in the range between 495-497.

im glad i posted here...feels good to vent

 

[Shotapp]

thanks all for the feedback...making my decision more clear. crazy how i got all a's during the Fall 2012 semester and Spring 2013 when both my grandparents passed away but i cant even come close to the mid 20's on mcat. ive reached out to a few of my "dream" schools and they are very encouraging and i just need to get a mcat in the range between 495-497.

im glad i posted here...feels good to vent

That is a delusional way of thinking if you honestly believe your odds of an acceptance to medical schools will increase if you get a MCAT score within the range of 495-497 (which is still very low by the way)...and on top of your three terrible scores. All the above posts have given you solid advice about moving forward. The ship has sailed on this endeavor...seriously be the best engineer you can be or comeback when you are truly ready

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

thanks all for the feedback...making my decision more clear. crazy how i got all a's during the Fall 2012 semester and Spring 2013 when both my grandparents passed away but i cant even come close to the mid 20's on mcat. ive reached out to a few of my "dream" schools and they are very encouraging and i just need to get a mcat in the range between 495-497.

im glad i posted here...feels good to vent

Yeah sure they'll send you a secondary and have you pay a fee followed by a swift pre-interview rejection. It is time for plan B. If you get a 497-500 you would have a shot at podiatry, don't waste your time chasing something that won't happen.

 

[Wjldenver]

Hello,

I am looking for honest feedback/advice regarding my situation. I graduated from engineering school in 2011. I had one W and one semester of all C's. I took a gap year after graduating where I shadowed and volunteered. I took the MCAT in 2012 with no strict studying and obtained a 13Q. I then got an engineering job, but after the training it was not the best fit. So then I went back to volunteering at free clinics and mentoring an at risk child while taking refresher courses at the community college. I was then offered a scribe job and studied again for the MCAT while volunteering. I should have studied more as I got a 17 and 19, both taken in 2014. In August 2015, I was in a MA Biomedicine program and got a 3.6. I was withdrew from the Spring semester as I had to go back home to take care of a personal issue, which is now resolved.

My final undergrad gpa was a 3.08; not sure about science. In community college, I got all A's but there is one F from a class i took while I was a senior in high school that will be on record.

I am just confused if I should go back the school to finish my MA; it will take me 2.5 years instead of 2 and I will be a few months shy of turning 29 when I graduate. I believe I have a 3.4 science gpa. My biggest fear is not getting an interview because I took a break and I took the MCAT more than 2 times.

I appreciate all advice and honesty about my chances of getting into DO school.

Look into masters programs in Biomedical Engineering. With the data points you are providing to various adcom's, your chances for med school admission are nil.

 

[Jamie561]

thanks all for the feedback...making my decision more clear. crazy how i got all a's during the Fall 2012 semester and Spring 2013 when both my grandparents passed away but i cant even come close to the mid 20's on mcat. ive reached out to a few of my "dream" schools and they are very encouraging and i just need to get a mcat in the range between 495-497.

im glad i posted here...feels good to vent

good lack!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app