- Joined
- Mar 29, 2005
- Messages
- 26
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Ok folks, I've got a dilemma on my hands. How big of a dilemma it is, I won't know until you give me some feedback.
The deal is this:
This coming summer I will be finishing up the requirements for my major (which is non-science). If I wanted, I could then graduate (from UC Davis) with a 3.8. Although I have no significant clinical, research, shadowing or volunteer experience, my pre-med advisor has given me the thumbs-up on applying to some of post-bacs that we here at SDN would consider some of the best (namely Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Johns Hopkins, Scripps, etc.). I applied to Bryn Mawr earlier this month and *SURPRISE* I wasn't accepted. Of course, this didn't come as a shock to me because no matter how good my personal statements, LORs or extracurriculars were, there was no way for me to hide the fact that I have absolutely no medically-related experience whatsoever. This is largely due to the fact that I didn't finalize my decision to become a doctor until recently. But don't pull out your violins just yet; there is some good news.
For now, things are looking up because I landed myself a pretty sweet clinical internship and a volunteer position at a local hospital. Hooray! Hopefully, these experiences will make me a better applicant when I apply to Goucher in September and the rest of the aforementioned programs in February and March. BUT, since I would just be sitting around until February and March anyway, I'm thinking I would be best served by holding off on graduation for a while and taking some of the pre-req sciences here at Davis (since I have yet to take any of them). Doing this would provide me with a few added bonuses, such as giving me access to many of the volunteer and internship opportunities in the area (since I'd still be affiliated with the university), and (of greater importance) my parents would continue to help me out with rent payments and student fees. However, quite a few of the post-bacs have certain disclaimers regarding applicant eligibility such as "must not have previously taken 'too many' premedical science courses."
What I want to know is does anybody have a guess about how many courses would constitute "too many?" I would hate to jeopardize my chances of gaining admission, but I'd also hate to sit around with my thumb up my arse for 9-10 months when I could possibly knock out 3-4 of the pre-reqs in the meantime. Maybe some of you think I've got my thumb up my arse in general. Whether you do or you don't, I'd appreciate some answers since I'm sure I'm not the first person to wonder about this. Thanks for your time, and I swear to God I'm not Type A.
The deal is this:
This coming summer I will be finishing up the requirements for my major (which is non-science). If I wanted, I could then graduate (from UC Davis) with a 3.8. Although I have no significant clinical, research, shadowing or volunteer experience, my pre-med advisor has given me the thumbs-up on applying to some of post-bacs that we here at SDN would consider some of the best (namely Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Johns Hopkins, Scripps, etc.). I applied to Bryn Mawr earlier this month and *SURPRISE* I wasn't accepted. Of course, this didn't come as a shock to me because no matter how good my personal statements, LORs or extracurriculars were, there was no way for me to hide the fact that I have absolutely no medically-related experience whatsoever. This is largely due to the fact that I didn't finalize my decision to become a doctor until recently. But don't pull out your violins just yet; there is some good news.
For now, things are looking up because I landed myself a pretty sweet clinical internship and a volunteer position at a local hospital. Hooray! Hopefully, these experiences will make me a better applicant when I apply to Goucher in September and the rest of the aforementioned programs in February and March. BUT, since I would just be sitting around until February and March anyway, I'm thinking I would be best served by holding off on graduation for a while and taking some of the pre-req sciences here at Davis (since I have yet to take any of them). Doing this would provide me with a few added bonuses, such as giving me access to many of the volunteer and internship opportunities in the area (since I'd still be affiliated with the university), and (of greater importance) my parents would continue to help me out with rent payments and student fees. However, quite a few of the post-bacs have certain disclaimers regarding applicant eligibility such as "must not have previously taken 'too many' premedical science courses."
What I want to know is does anybody have a guess about how many courses would constitute "too many?" I would hate to jeopardize my chances of gaining admission, but I'd also hate to sit around with my thumb up my arse for 9-10 months when I could possibly knock out 3-4 of the pre-reqs in the meantime. Maybe some of you think I've got my thumb up my arse in general. Whether you do or you don't, I'd appreciate some answers since I'm sure I'm not the first person to wonder about this. Thanks for your time, and I swear to God I'm not Type A.
