This question only applies to some of you:

[champSJL]

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For those of you who were non-science majors but came to see "the light" after you received your degree - you can help:

I am a recent grad from the University of Texas with a Business Economics degree. After working the past year in financial services, I really realized how much I should've gone towards the medicine route, something I truly love.

I'm currently taking my science classes at a college here in Dallas and knocking out the credits I need but I'm worrying a bit about not being competitive enough to get into medical schools. For those of you non-science majors like me, and those who have gotten into medical school - what'd you do to get competitive? Any research jobs? Did you volunteer a lot? What kind of MCAT score did you get?

Anyone who can answer these questions can truly help me out as I will be applying not this May but next. (I plan on being an extremely early applicant)

Thanks!

 

[phoenixsupra]

For those of you who were non-science majors but came to see "the light" after you received your degree - you can help:

I am a recent grad from the University of Texas with a Business Economics degree. After working the past year in financial services, I really realized how much I should've gone towards the medicine route, something I truly love.

I'm currently taking my science classes at a college here in Dallas and knocking out the credits I need but I'm worrying a bit about not being competitive enough to get into medical schools. For those of you non-science majors like me, and those who have gotten into medical school - what'd you do to get competitive? Any research jobs? Did you volunteer a lot? What kind of MCAT score did you get?

Anyone who can answer these questions can truly help me out as I will be applying not this May but next. (I plan on being an extremely early applicant)

Thanks!

Well, I was a humanities major and did a post bacc program to get my science prereqs. What I did to "get competitive" was work my ass off, get very high grades, rock the mcat, do some research, look sharp as hell on interview day and charm their socks off. Hope that helps 🙂

 

[nala]

Well, I was a humanities major and did a post bacc program to get my science prereqs. What I did to "get competitive" was work my ass off, get very high grades, rock the mcat, do some research, look sharp as hell on interview day and charm their socks off. Hope that helps 🙂

couldn't have said it better myself. I was a social science major, did a post-bacc program, and then did research for over a year. The research definitely helped round out my application. I had spent time working as nurse's aide too - direct pt care is always good. Do well in your post-bacc courses - you have to prove you can handle the "science" coursework.

 

[thackl]

the guy I study with has the same degree from UT. You might know him (send a pm if interested). Anyway, he's here.....

 

[champSJL]

the guy I study with has the same degree from UT. You might know him (send a pm if interested). Anyway, he's here.....

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm doing really well in the science classes but I don't have any research experience yet so that's something I'm definitely going to look into.

 

[Dr Who]

I was a psych major interested in doing a masters and/ or Phd, but decided in my junior year that medicine was more of a fit for me. I was lucky enough to land a full time job as a respiratory equipment tech, where basically all I did was deliver medical equipment and medication to patients with acute respiratory deseases. I got the chance to interact with many patients and physicians on a personal level that would have been impossible any other way, I consider that to be my turning point.

I decided to take one more year to graduate (5 instead of 4) and used the last year and a half to do all my science pre- requisites. I want to make one thing clear, I didnt do ANY reasearch , it just isnt my thing. When asked about it during my interviews I truthfully stated that while research is a VERY important aspect of medicine I just wasnt drawn to it. My primary interest is the clinical spects of medicine, which is where I believe I could contribute the most.
While there are med schools that are research oriented (most of the top ten), having research experience is not an absolute requisite in most med schools. So dont worry.
BTW, I didnt have a 4.00 GPA and I didnt get a killer score on the MCAT, what I did show was persistence and dedication, and sometimes that could make just as big an impact as any other aspect of your apps. In the end I got acceptance letters to quite a few med schools, so I am proof that research is not as crucial as most people might think. Dont get me wrong, it DOES help you stand out all things being equal, but if research is not your thing then concentrate on standing out in other areas.
I hoped that helped.

Dr Who

 

[Anka]

I was a lit major. They kind of enjoyed talking to me at interviews. Your prereqs and MCATs are important to demonstrating that you can handle the workload, but the idea that doctors are a bunch of would-be scientists is falling my the wayside in a generation that emphasises the human side of medicine. If you aren't interested in research, you may not need to do it.

Anka

 

[medic170]

For those of you who were non-science majors but came to see "the light" after you received your degree - you can help:

I am a recent grad from the University of Texas with a Business Economics degree. After working the past year in financial services, I really realized how much I should've gone towards the medicine route, something I truly love.

I'm currently taking my science classes at a college here in Dallas and knocking out the credits I need but I'm worrying a bit about not being competitive enough to get into medical schools. For those of you non-science majors like me, and those who have gotten into medical school - what'd you do to get competitive? Any research jobs? Did you volunteer a lot? What kind of MCAT score did you get?

Anyone who can answer these questions can truly help me out as I will be applying not this May but next. (I plan on being an extremely early applicant)

Thanks!

I was a non-science major, but I incorporated the pre med sciences into my degree during undergrad. I worked in healthcare, voluteered, and did some independant recearch (not science though, it was about racial disparities in health), and I interned in health policy legislation with a Congressman. My MCAT was not bad, but not great either, and I got in. Being a non-science major does NOT put you at any disadvantage whatsoever, so you don't really have to do anything to prove yourself that the Bio majors don't have to do too.