I took all of the prerequisites except for the bioII and organic chemistry labs as an undergraduate. I'm now across the country and seriously considering pursuing medical school. I'm planning on going back and taking at least a semester of full time upper division science credit in addition to completing the labs. Does anyone know if I am required or at least encouraged to take the labs at the same school that I took the lecture, or does it not really matter? Thanks!
Taking labs at a different school?
- Thread starter icosane
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2006
- Messages
- 7,506
- Reaction score
- 2,715
W's aren't good in general, and you can expect to have to explain them eventually. One W is not something that needs explaining. If you have a bunch of W's or a period of underperformance, then you need to use the secondary prompt "explain any academic indiscretions and give us a reason to look past them." Under no circumstances should you call out academic underperformance in your personal statement unless your primary theme is recovering from underperformance due to death/cancer/military/etc.
But it's a long way down the admissions process before anybody will look at your transcripts at the level of detail where they'll see you got a W in a class that you finished at another school. Ideally, you'd blind the adcom with lots of shiny A's and a killer MCAT score so they don't look too hard.
Best of luck to you.
But it's a long way down the admissions process before anybody will look at your transcripts at the level of detail where they'll see you got a W in a class that you finished at another school. Ideally, you'd blind the adcom with lots of shiny A's and a killer MCAT score so they don't look too hard.
Best of luck to you.
Thank you very much for your quick responses! I hope you/someone wouldn't mind giving some more advice on my current situation. I graduated with a double major in psych and econ (no clue what I wanted to do with my life). Right before graduation I decided I had sold myself short by not looking into the sciences, and that I may want to be a doctor (father is doctor, shadowed another surgeon in highschool). The advice I received at the time was to graduate and then go through the pre-reqs as a post-bacc part time, to see if med school was even an option. I got A's in everything I took (gen chems, ochems, bio, physics) except for the W in my bio2 lab. I also didn't take the ochem labs because of scheduling conflicts. I don't have an exceptional reason for getting the W... which worries me.
Maybe I was just a neurotic pre-med, comparing myself to ridiculous SDN-type all stars, but I was and still am very discouraged by some red flags that will appear on my application.
Heres the basic overview... I graduated with a 3.199ish, 2 Ws and 2 unresolved incompletes. The 2 incompletes and 1 W fell on one semester junior year, in which I only recieved 6 credits (2 C's). The reason for this is I was seriously considering dropping out, as I had no real direction. So my app would have 3 W's and 2 incompletes without any really exceptional GPA (overall-3.35 science-3.55). I never got a D or an F, just a huge mass of B's with sporadic A's and C's. Also no real trend with my grades. One semester I would get a 3.7, the next a 3.0, very volatile. At the time I had lots of volunteering (was in a fraternity) but no research, no clinical hospital volunteering, and no shadowing since high school.
I was told to get in, I would need to take a full year of upper level science classes getting all A's to show my early pre-req success wasn't just attributed to taking class part time. I would also need to log in some serious hospital volunteering time and shadowing hours while studying for the MCAT like a mad man. Even then there was a sizable risk of rejection. Knowing this, I just didn't think I had it in me... so I quit.
Its been two years since then, and I regret not just going for it. I've been volunteering at a hospital and have shadowed a handful of doctors. I am certain now that I would enjoy the work and would love to pursue the career. My question though, is how to approach this. Some self proclaimed med school admission experts have told me I have a real viable chance of acceptance if I nail the MCAT and a full course load of upper level bios. Others say that due to my sub par undergrad my best chance is an SMP... Another person thinks I don't even need to take a full course load again, and that I should just finish the labs I didn't take. What do you guys think?
I'm considering studying for the mcat for next spring/summer, and only enroll in classes if I do exceptional. Is this reasonable? I'm afraid my application will look bizarre if everything is so spread out, like I couldn't handle the normal pre-med load of activities. Thanks!
Maybe I was just a neurotic pre-med, comparing myself to ridiculous SDN-type all stars, but I was and still am very discouraged by some red flags that will appear on my application.
Heres the basic overview... I graduated with a 3.199ish, 2 Ws and 2 unresolved incompletes. The 2 incompletes and 1 W fell on one semester junior year, in which I only recieved 6 credits (2 C's). The reason for this is I was seriously considering dropping out, as I had no real direction. So my app would have 3 W's and 2 incompletes without any really exceptional GPA (overall-3.35 science-3.55). I never got a D or an F, just a huge mass of B's with sporadic A's and C's. Also no real trend with my grades. One semester I would get a 3.7, the next a 3.0, very volatile. At the time I had lots of volunteering (was in a fraternity) but no research, no clinical hospital volunteering, and no shadowing since high school.
I was told to get in, I would need to take a full year of upper level science classes getting all A's to show my early pre-req success wasn't just attributed to taking class part time. I would also need to log in some serious hospital volunteering time and shadowing hours while studying for the MCAT like a mad man. Even then there was a sizable risk of rejection. Knowing this, I just didn't think I had it in me... so I quit.
Its been two years since then, and I regret not just going for it. I've been volunteering at a hospital and have shadowed a handful of doctors. I am certain now that I would enjoy the work and would love to pursue the career. My question though, is how to approach this. Some self proclaimed med school admission experts have told me I have a real viable chance of acceptance if I nail the MCAT and a full course load of upper level bios. Others say that due to my sub par undergrad my best chance is an SMP... Another person thinks I don't even need to take a full course load again, and that I should just finish the labs I didn't take. What do you guys think?
I'm considering studying for the mcat for next spring/summer, and only enroll in classes if I do exceptional. Is this reasonable? I'm afraid my application will look bizarre if everything is so spread out, like I couldn't handle the normal pre-med load of activities. Thanks!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Messages
- 2,187
- Reaction score
- 511
Taking the labs at a different school won't matter.
Your GPA is pretty low for MD schools.
You need 1-2 years of upper level science courses, and/or a SMP before you apply. A 3.2 - 3.3 overall gpa won't have much luck, even with a real good MCAT. Your stats would be more competitive for some DO schools, but they are pretty competitive right now as well.
I'd look into DO schools. If you decide they are a good option, finish the labs, maybe retake a few classes and apply. You can apply to MD schools at the same time if you wish.
If you really want MD, be prepared to put in a few years work before you apply.
Your GPA is pretty low for MD schools.
You need 1-2 years of upper level science courses, and/or a SMP before you apply. A 3.2 - 3.3 overall gpa won't have much luck, even with a real good MCAT. Your stats would be more competitive for some DO schools, but they are pretty competitive right now as well.
I'd look into DO schools. If you decide they are a good option, finish the labs, maybe retake a few classes and apply. You can apply to MD schools at the same time if you wish.
If you really want MD, be prepared to put in a few years work before you apply.
