Starting everything too late?

[xoamazinganna]

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I'm currently a junior who just transferred from a community college to a four year school. I've been throwing around the idea of becoming a doctor for years, and it finally just hit me that it's exactly what I want to do.

I've had no volunteer, shadowing, not too many extracurricular activities. I graduated my community college with a 3.7. My major is currently biology, and I have completed all the med school per-requisites at my cc.

Is it completely impossible to apply for the upcoming cycle, or should I wait a year to get everything done? What would I do during that gap year?

Honestly, if I don't go for it, then I know I'm going to regret it.

What do you suggest my plan of action should be and the steps I should start taking?

 

[Violagirl]

It's honestly up to you what you want to do. If I were in your position, I would wait the extra year to take part in volunteer opportunities and other extracurriculars to build up your application. Have you taken the MCAT yet? If not, medical schools look to see how applicants do on the MCAT for admissions as well so taking that time to study for it would help tremendously as well. 🙂

 

[going2bMD]

My situation is very very similar to yours. I have also been trying to decide whether or not to go for it recently and I have decided that I am just going to do it. I'm hoping for the best and if it doesn't work out I will figure it out from there. I know I will regret it if I don't at least give it a shot. If you do end up going for it, keep me posted. We can go through it together. 🙂

 

[SellerAl]

If you cram some EC"s in then you'll be in good shape in your not gunning for a top 25. If you've done it you've done it, may just be harder than otherwise. I have average EC"s that coulda been done in one semester and I got accepted.

 

[Neurocentric]

I'm currently a junior who just transferred from a community college to a four year school. I've been throwing around the idea of becoming a doctor for years, and it finally just hit me that it's exactly what I want to do.

I've had no volunteer, shadowing, not too many extracurricular activities. I graduated my community college with a 3.7. My major is currently biology, and I have completed all the med school per-requisites at my cc.

Is it completely impossible to apply for the upcoming cycle, or should I wait a year to get everything done? What would I do during that gap year?

Honestly, if I don't go for it, then I know I'm going to regret it.

What do you suggest my plan of action should be and the steps I should start taking?

Welcome to SDN!

Your GPA is nice, however, the CC pre-requisites may be an issue. It's been debated on here whether or not CC courses should be allowed in getting into medical school, but everyone really agrees that the upper level science requirements should be taken at a four year university. Some medical schools won't accept your pre-requisites if they were taken at a community college.

Besides ECs, you also need to take the MCAT. You really won't get into medical school without it. If your school has a pre-med advisor, I would speak with him/her. They don't always help as much as they should, but they can tell you if your CC grades would be accepted, and maybe help you as far as what the next path should be.

If you're committed to being a physician, though, getting all your ducks in a row shouldn't be impossible, but these few steps need to be taken first. Good luck!

 

[FattySlug]

I didn't start working on EC until after my transfer so if you start now you will be ok, but you might have to take a year off to work on the MCAT. It was a lot for me to do with school, research, work and volunteer at the same time.

 

[midi 21]

I think it would be possible to do everything, but I know I would drive myself crazy! Personally, I think what you get out of the experience is more important than the experience itself. As I was volunteering/participating in research... etc., my idea of what kind of doctor I wanted to be changed a lot! Giving yourself more time to really figure out why you want to go into medicine and what you want to do with your MD could be good for you and your application. 🙂

Also, consider how the transfer has been for you so far. If you're still getting accustomed to be at a 4-yr, that might be another reason to slow down.

 

[AllDaWEI]

If you can spin that junior year was when you really decided to go into medicine, you can probably get by with starting your ECs then and still being accepted. It seems to be more of a gunner mentality to rack up so many of them and then taking a year off.

You've already accomplished transferring to a four year university. Good job! Now just focus on your grades and MCAT. Remember this, in terms of ECs, you might have someone who simply did four hours of volunteering at a hospital, and then another person who did ten different ECs. Assuming they have similar stats, they can both be admitted to the same school. So be proud of transferring, because it shows that important drive they look for. G'luck!