Some advice needed for post bacc or M.A.

[jayup]

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Hi all,

I really need some advice on what to do. Heres my situation. About 4 years ago I decided I wanted to go to medical school and I set out to take all the prerequisite courses and the MCAT. This was coming after finishing up a Master's degree in English literature. I took all the pre req classes at a community college and I took the MCAT in December 2011 scoring a 25. I applied that cycle and did not get in to any schools. At the same time, due to some personal and financial reasons, I decided to move abroad to teach English. I have been living abroad ever since.

Now, I realize that I want to repursue medical school again but I am unsure what to do/how to get started. My MCAT score is too old now to be any good, and I am not even sure if I can take it in the country I'm living in. I would like to get into a post bacc or second M.A. program to refresh my memory, but I'm unsure if there is any that would accept me without a fresh MCAT score. My GPA is OK. I have an uGPA of around 3.5 and a sGPA of 3.89. Does anyone know of any programs I should look into? Or have any general advice at all?

 

[GreenDuck12]

You should check on the post bac forum for more specific information about programs that offer what you are looking for. Given the 4 year gap, you definitely need some kind of refresh of the material and taking a couple additional upper division bio courses would help. You also likely need to take biochemistry as the new mcat has sections on it. If I were in your shoes, I would start reviewing the material and preparing for the MCAT, take a couple classes to get into the swing of things and then take the MCAT. With your uGPA of 3.5, you need to be in the 30+ (old score) for allopathic, and above a 27+ for osteopathic.

Hi all,

I really need some advice on what to do. Heres my situation. About 4 years ago I decided I wanted to go to medical school and I set out to take all the prerequisite courses and the MCAT. This was coming after finishing up a Master's degree in English literature. I took all the pre req classes at a community college and I took the MCAT in December 2011 scoring a 25. I applied that cycle and did not get in to any schools. At the same time, due to some personal and financial reasons, I decided to move abroad to teach English. I have been living abroad ever since.

Now, I realize that I want to repursue medical school again but I am unsure what to do/how to get started. My MCAT score is too old now to be any good, and I am not even sure if I can take it in the country I'm living in. I would like to get into a post bacc or second M.A. program to refresh my memory, but I'm unsure if there is any that would accept me without a fresh MCAT score. My GPA is OK. I have an uGPA of around 3.5 and a sGPA of 3.89. Does anyone know of any programs I should look into? Or have any general advice at all?

 

[heartsink]

Definitely don't need a new masters. Review material and take some practice tests to see how you fare before trying the mcat again.

 

[DrMidlife]

You're talking about your MCAT as if freshness is the problem. No, badness is your MCAT problem. You didn't get into med school because your MCAT was too low. Your low MCAT also cast doubt on your 3.89 science GPA, and caused admissions people to assume inflated grades at your community college. Be honest with yourself about this. Spin is useless. Numbers don't lie.

Time and a poor prior performance on the MCAT say that you shouldn't just dive back into MCAT prep. You probably need to plan for rigorous undergrad hard science at a reputable US university. If you are still overseas, that doesn't help your story, because overseas work doesn't help your candidacy for US medical school.

Of note, there's been a theme in nontrad lately that med schools "reward reinvention". This is bull. Med schools "reward" (by granting interviews and/or acceptances to) academically qualified students who have distinguished themselves through research, volunteering, and responsibility, in comparison to other applicants. "Reinvention" isn't what's being rewarded. Producing the same academic assets as the rank and file applicants is what's rewarded. How much fresh academic assets are needed to outweigh old academic assets is painfully subjective and pretty much comes down to luck and good choice of schools. In your case, OP, your narrative could look really good: candidate returns to US to try again and succeeds in demonstrating academic capability through fresh academic excellence at a reputable university, substantiated by an above-average MCAT.

So you basically need to figure out how to:
1. Get back to the US, so that your fresh coursework is taken seriously
2. Take more undergrad science at a university, to master the content on the MCAT, to remove doubt about the rigor of your school, and to earn fresh letters of recommendation.
3. Pay for rigorous MCAT prep and treat it like your primary job
4. When your MCAT score is above average (is that 510 on the new MCAT? exercise left to the reader.) then you can reapply.

Doing a 2nd bachelors, such as in biochemistry, is one way to structure things. There are other ways. I do not recommend grad work, because the MCAT and med school are undergraduate. You may find that pursuing DO school is less strenuous, but not by much.

In short, your path to med school starts with getting back to the US. You should be very interested in choosing an advantageous state in which to establish domicile, so that your chances at getting into a public school are maximized.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Goro]

To clarify my colleague's comments, reinvention is defined by Adcoms as "the you of now is not the you of then", and is proven by your acing post-bac coursework and the MCAT and showing the bona-fides of the ECs. This is reinvention in my eyes and there are a number of MD schools (like, say, Case and Drexel) for which one becomes competitive for, in addition to all DO programs.

Do you get rewarded for it? Well, that's on you. But I think that by turning things around, and having a school like Duke, Rosy F or even Columbia deem you competitive is indeed as reward.

I base my claims on the stories relayed in these pages by successful SDNers.

You're talking about your MCAT as if freshness is the problem. No, badness is your MCAT problem. You didn't get into med school because your MCAT was too low. Your low MCAT also cast doubt on your 3.89 science GPA, and caused admissions people to assume inflated grades at your community college. Be honest with yourself about this. Spin is useless. Numbers don't lie.

Time and a poor prior performance on the MCAT say that you shouldn't just dive back into MCAT prep. You probably need to plan for rigorous undergrad hard science at a reputable US university. If you are still overseas, that doesn't help your story, because overseas work doesn't help your candidacy for US medical school.

Of note, there's been a theme in nontrad lately that med schools "reward reinvention". This is bull. Med schools "reward" (by granting interviews and/or acceptances to) academically qualified students who have distinguished themselves through research, volunteering, and responsibility, in comparison to other applicants. "Reinvention" isn't what's being rewarded. Producing the same academic assets as the rank and file applicants is what's rewarded. How much fresh academic assets are needed to outweigh old academic assets is painfully subjective and pretty much comes down to luck and good choice of schools. In your case, OP, your narrative could look really good: candidate returns to US to try again and succeeds in demonstrating academic capability through fresh academic excellence at a reputable university, substantiated by an above-average MCAT.

So you basically need to figure out how to:
1. Get back to the US, so that your fresh coursework is taken seriously
2. Take more undergrad science at a university, to master the content on the MCAT, to remove doubt about the rigor of your school, and to earn fresh letters of recommendation.
3. Pay for rigorous MCAT prep and treat it like your primary job
4. When your MCAT score is above average (is that 510 on the new MCAT? exercise left to the reader.) then you can reapply.

Doing a 2nd bachelors, such as in biochemistry, is one way to structure things. There are other ways. I do not recommend grad work, because the MCAT and med school are undergraduate. You may find that pursuing DO school is less strenuous, but not by much.

In short, your path to med school starts with getting back to the US. You should be very interested in choosing an advantageous state in which to establish domicile, so that your chances at getting into a public school are maximized.

Best of luck to you.

 

[jayup]

Wow thanks for the advice everyone. Dr. Midlife, I completely see your point about redoing nearly everything, and I am completely willing to do that. I'm also willing to go to a DO school. I suppose some more thought will be needed before I make any decisions.

I guess my only question then is this. Assuming I can pull up my MCAT, would it be more advisable to pursue further undergraduate training or an M.A. that is linked with a medical program?

 

[Goro]

For MD schools, I recommend a SMP, preferably one given at a med school. They're a dime-a-dozen, really. G-town, Rosy F, Drexel, PCOM, Mt Sinai, Rosy Franklin, LECOM, come to mind.

Wow thanks for the advice everyone. Dr. Midlife, I completely see your point about redoing nearly everything, and I am completely willing to do that. I'm also willing to go to a DO school. I suppose some more thought will be needed before I make any decisions.

I guess my only question then is this. Assuming I can pull up my MCAT, would it be more advisable to pursue further undergraduate training or an M.A. that is linked with a medical program?