I also got a few messages saying that they found one of my posts useful and helpful (for once!).It was to an individual who felt like quitting after a low score, and even her parents had started to doubt her entrance into medical school. I'll post it here for the morning crowds
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monkey girl, do not be discouraged, because you got a 29 on those tests, it certianly means you can do it again, and perhaps even do better now that you have experience taking an mcat. were the topics hard? did you finish on time? test anxiety/ Now that you have seen the mcats, and know what its like, you only have room to improve. don;t let other people, including your parents, get in the way of your dreams.
And lets say that, in the instance, you do not get the score you want in a retest. go for DO!!!! Did you know that trends seem to be moving towards DO philosophy nowdays? Theres a lack of doctors now because prestigious med schools wont let more people in (even tho some schools are boosting their admissions by 30%) Thus healthcare systems are lookign for better altneratives...DO's and Physicians assistnats. Thats right! Average salaries for DOs are the same as MD's, insurance companeis pay the same, and you are in severly high demand. DO's approach to medicine is to treat the body holistically, which makes sense. MD's practice medicine by treating ad hoc basis, case by case, and only in one area. you will rarely see a cardiologist chekcing the rest of the body. DO's philosophy is to treat the body as one system that works togehter. if you have a heart problem from high cholesterol, odds are, the rest of your body is somehow suffering, which makes sense. Check here
http://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/...teo/salary.html
both DO and MD make the same salary
Physicians assistants also make apretty good salary, and depending where you live, can go up to 6 figure salaries. check here
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/...HC07000009.html
PA's do all the surgery stuff that doctors can do, and only thing that PAs cant do is prescribe certain narcotics, which im sure you will be fine with.
Don't forget SMP's. IF you retest and get a score around a 27-30, you have the basic mimumu score to get into special masters programs such as Boston University's Masters in Medical sciences, which puts you in classes with other medical students, which significantly increase syour chances of getting into medical school. I have complete faith in you raising your score at lest 4-6 points given the right studying. Other SMP programs are georgetown's SMP, university of cincinnati's special masters, go to services.aamc.org/postbac and choose special masters program, and you can find a bunch that will help you out. IN addition. drexel has a MSP program that is speficially designed for students with low mcats and ok gpas, to improve their MCAT throughout the entire year (and is a very successful program), as well as taking graduate level classes, plenty of students have gone on to furnish successful careers as doctors. My motto is, anyone who is dedicated enough to study for the MCAts and still not be discouraged if they have to take it again, can make it to medical school. its a matter of how much you are willing to commit to your dreams, how much you are willing to get there, to show schools that you realy are committed and mature. No matter what scores or GPA is, theres always one way or another, be it 1 year to as long as 10 years, to get into medical school. Theres alot of individuals who didnt get into medical sschool the first time, be it bad GPA, or bad MCAT scores, who havbe gone on with their lives either going for profesional degrees, working altruisitically, demonstrating maturity, and retakng the MCAT years later (notice many of the highest scores here at SDN by fantastic people like oxeyn or whoever are nontraditional applicants who are in their late 20s or 30s, or even 40s, some with 1 or 2 children?) This is amessage to anyone here upset or discouraged by scores. Brush that dirt off your shoulder. pick up your kaplan books/EK books, CDs. whatever, and go forward. being a doctor is all about making mistakes, learning from them, and succeeding later in life. i have plenty of resources for individuals who need help to get into med school/DO school/Dental school etc. Do not be discouraged. As long as you demonstrte your maturty and committment, and the attitude of "do whatever it takes to get there" (in a legal way of course haha), adcoms will look at you differently then just a number. A well prepared applicaiton, with an excellent personal statement, good LOR's, decent grades, improving trends on mcat scores, dedication, and motiviation will alwyas supercede that student with a fantastic MCAT but hollow in character.
