Thoughts For Pros/Cons of Military Route

[Sahgee]

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I'm not bitter. I'm deeply troubled by your sense of entitlement and lack of humility.

Yes it does make a difference. Your anecdotes are not evidence to the contrary.

Aw but you seem bitter though.

& i am very hunble. Since the beginning I've remained humble & positive, but when people like you continue to me with irrelevant info like "ooo you're not going to pass step 1!" Or "ooooh you should only have gotten into a Caribbean school!" That is when I stand my ground & defend my achievements. You guys are the ones that need a dose of humility at because we are all in the same position at this point. 🙂

 

[medic86]

Aw but you seem bitter though.

& i am very hunble. Since the beginning I've remained humble & positive, but when people like you continue to me with irrelevant info like "ooo you're not going to pass step 1!" Or "ooooh you should only have gotten into a Caribbean school!" That is when I stand my ground & defend my achievements. You guys are the ones that need a dose of humility at because we are all in the same position at this point. 🙂

Almost everything you posted in this thread demonstrates otherwise.

You've also managed to become one of the most utterly annoying posters on this forum. Congratulations.

 

[whatever5]

You are not humble. See below:

The mcat is just another hoop to jump through to get into medical school, which i have successfully done. & with the support and resources at my schools of choice there's no way im failing out of anything.

You can say what you want but that doesnt change that i got into not one but two prestigous medical schools. 🙂 and I'm going to be an amazing doctor.

i will continue to rise & be successful while giving the haters more to hate on

PS I deserve to be at a prestigious medical school

My step 1 is going to be just fine, believe me.

It is clear you think very highly of yourself. However, when you don't have anything to back it up, you cross the line from being confident to being grandiose. You should feel lucky that things turned out the way they did, not feel as if it was owed to you.

We're here trying to give constructive feedback to OP, and his deficient MCAT is part of the problem. You seem to take that as a personal attack for some reason. The purpose of this forum is to give the best advice possible to prospective applicants - I owe a lot of my success in the application process to this forum. So when someone comes in and says -

"There's something in not telling you"? Lol dude if it boggles your mind than that's your issue. Nothing is out of the ordinary about me. I got a 496 had a 3.6 cumulative ugpa lots of research experience & extracurricular activities.

I want to make it absolutely clear that there IS something you aren't telling us (being URM), and that people reading this forum don't go out and think "I failed my MCAT, but I can compensate with ECs" and go on to waste hundreds of dollars on an application.

 

[redferrari]

I too would much rather have an ardent socialist commanding me. Don't even worry about HPSP until you get in. It'll be a struggle with your mcat. Then devote time to researching the military route.

I was unaware that an "ardent socialist" was running for POTUS. Please educate yourself before being sucked in by the word 'socialism' when used in conjunction with 'democratic.' Socialism doesn't work. Our species has barked up that tree MANY times, and failed miserably each time. However, look at countries where democratic socialism is the structure of government. They're doing a lot better than the U.S.

Feel the Bern.

 

[Sahgee]

@whatever5 :

I am beyond blessed that things worked out for me on multiple accounts. That should go for everyone. There are those (many) that had perfect stats & still didn't make it. So what do you say about them? They obviously have other things lacking in their application which they should improve on. Which is what I am saying through my posts. You should work on your reading comprehension because i have repeated this many times & you still don't get that. You should also consider yourself lucky as well & when you undermind what I accomplished when we got into the same school, you come off as bitter. There is more to an application than the mcat & if you fail to realize that then you shouldn't be giving advice.

As for the "there's something you're not telling us" i don't have anything that I have to tell any of you & if you believe that there is then that is just another testament to your self-entitlement lol. You can look at all the posts you want, but you still have no idea if I am urm or not, only speculate, & either way you shouldn't care lol. I got in & so did many others in similar if not worst situations than mine & if you think that you are better than anyone simply because of your test score then you are sadly mistaken. 🙂

 

[whatever5]

@whatever5 :

I am beyond blessed that things worked out for me on multiple accounts. That should go for everyone. There are those (many) that had perfect stats & still didn't make it. So what do you say about them? They obviously have other things lacking in their application which they should improve on. Which is what I am saying through my posts. You should work on your reading comprehension because i have repeated this many times & you still don't get that. You should also consider yourself lucky as well & when you undermind what I accomplished when we got into the same school, you come off as bitter. There is more to an application than the mcat & if you fail to realize that then you shouldn't be giving advice.

As for the "there's something you're not telling us" i don't have anything that I have to tell any of you & if you believe that there is then that is just another testament to your self-entitlement lol. You can look at all the posts you want, but you still have no idea if I am urm or not, only speculate, & either way you shouldn't care lol. I got in & so did many others in similar if not worst situations than mine & if you think that you are better than anyone simply because of your test score then you are sadly mistaken. 🙂

Then refrain from giving others advice based on your experience if you're not willing to share important details.

Word of advice: if everyone else always seems to be against you, maybe the problem isn't everyone else.

 

[Jos.A.Bank]

You are not humble. See below:











It is clear you think very highly of yourself. However, when you don't have anything to back it up, you cross the line from being confident to being grandiose. You should feel lucky that things turned out the way they did, not feel as if it was owed to you.

We're here trying to give constructive feedback to OP, and his deficient MCAT is part of the problem. You seem to take that as a personal attack for some reason. The purpose of this forum is to give the best advice possible to prospective applicants - I owe a lot of my success in the application process to this forum. So when someone comes in and says -



I want to make it absolutely clear that there IS something you aren't telling us (being URM), and that people reading this forum don't go out and think "I failed my MCAT, but I can compensate with ECs" and go on to waste hundreds of dollars on an application.

But p

You are not humble. See below:











It is clear you think very highly of yourself. However, when you don't have anything to back it up, you cross the line from being confident to being grandiose. You should feel lucky that things turned out the way they did, not feel as if it was owed to you.

We're here trying to give constructive feedback to OP, and his deficient MCAT is part of the problem. You seem to take that as a personal attack for some reason. The purpose of this forum is to give the best advice possible to prospective applicants - I owe a lot of my success in the application process to this forum. So when someone comes in and says -



I want to make it absolutely clear that there IS something you aren't telling us (being URM), and that people reading this forum don't go out and think "I failed my MCAT, but I can compensate with ECs" and go on to waste hundreds of dollars on an application.

But there actually are non-URM applicants who are admitted every year with poor scores. So it's unfair to blanket everyone who scores poorly with "your score is lethal" or "you have no chance." Clearly, admissions deans at some schools find compelling reasons to admit applicants beyond scores. Granted, no one with a poor score deserves to be admitted (similarly to how no one deserves admission simply because they scored really well). Its a single data point on a spectrum of factors that are important to medicine and institutions, and some schools do treat it as such instead of the don't bother applying mentality that many on SDN have. No one is arguing that poor scores arent a concern, rather that they can be overcome and telling someone that theres no hope is a little extreme.

 

[jojo58]

I was unaware that an "ardent socialist" was running for POTUS. Please educate yourself before being sucked in by the word 'socialism' when used in conjunction with 'democratic.' Socialism doesn't work. Our species has barked up that tree MANY times, and failed miserably each time. However, look at countries where democratic socialism is the structure of government. They're doing a lot better than the U.S.

Feel the Bern.

How much is Bernie paying you?

Actually you are the meme people laugh when they see young liberals crying over his lack of success.

 

[redferrari]

How much is Bernie paying you?

Actually you are the meme people laugh when they see young liberals crying over his lack of success.

Not a dime.

Lack of success? Nobody gave him a chance and its 595-405 in delegate count as of now. Superdelegates can (and did in '08) pull support from Hillary before the convention. While it's an uphill battle for sure, don't rule Bernie out.

 

[naijacardriodoc]

I would tell them that there may not have been anything wrong with their application at all. Sometimes admissions committees make mistakes and let arrogant unqualified people into medical school and reject perfectly qualified candidates. Potentially the case with a certain poster on this thread...

Sometimes you do everything right and still don't get in.
Sometimes you do everything wrong and still get in.
Life's not fair and that's a fact.

Be thankful that you were on the receiving side of luck 🙂 ... At least until Exams, Step 1, and the match 😉

ok so what? they got in and YOU can't take the acceptance away from @Sahgee ....you really have this warped rosy pre-med mentality where you think exams, step 1 and the match matter when you are practicing....let me tell you that it doesn't. I have worked for physicians that graduated from Penn, Yale and Hopkins for medical school respectively and none of them were immune to the realities of medicine because of their degree or board scores and the specialties were derm, ob/gyn, GI all of which required really good board scores. Patients still dissed them and talked about them. They still faced the financial challenges that some private practices face. Do you think that the first thing they thought about were their board scores? LOL you have a lot to learn...you should have paid more attention when you were "shadowing."

Sometimes you do everything right and patients still hate you and your practice falls apart.

Test scores do not equal good doctor....but you knew that. right?

 

[Sahgee]

Then refrain from giving others advice based on your experience if you're not willing to share important details.

Word of advice: if everyone else always seems to be against you, maybe the problem isn't everyone else.

I will continue to give advice to those in similar situations as mine & in this case someone had a similar mcat score. & if i lived by that mentality i wouldn't have gotten into medical school 😛 so you're advice to me (as with your other points) are irrelevant lol. it's just you like minded, negative, pompous and entitled pre meds that have a problem with me & i am just fine with that lol.

 

[Sahgee]

I would tell them that there may not have been anything wrong with their application at all. Sometimes admissions committees make mistakes and let arrogant unqualified people into medical school and reject perfectly qualified candidates. Potentially the case with a certain poster on this thread...

Sometimes you do everything right and still don't get in.
Sometimes you do everything wrong and still get in.
Life's not fair and that's a fact.

Be thankful that you were on the receiving side of luck 🙂 ... At least until Exams, Step 1, and the match 😉

Life's not fair? Lol i think the admissions process is pretty darn fair. With the attitude & mentality that you have you should be counting your lucky stars as well that they even gave you the time of day lol. & again: you can speculate all you want but if i was successful thus far then I'm more than confident that i will be more than just fine in med school, step 1, oh! And boards. :3

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

But p


But there actually are non-URM applicants who are admitted every year with poor scores. So it's unfair to blanket everyone who scores poorly with "your score is lethal" or "you have no chance." Clearly, admissions deans at some schools find compelling reasons to admit applicants beyond scores. Granted, no one with a poor score deserves to be admitted (similarly to how no one deserves admission simply because they scored really well). Its a single data point on a spectrum of factors that are important to medicine and institutions, and some schools do treat it as such instead of the don't bother applying mentality that many on SDN have. No one is arguing that poor scores arent a concern, rather that they can be overcome and telling someone that theres no hope is a little extreme.

I agree with this quote completely. The issue I have with the bolded is that, while true, there is ALWAYS a caveat. I'm sorry but people with cookie cutter ECs, a below average matriculant GPA, and a 496 just don't get accepted to MD schools. Heck they usually don't even get into DO schools. There is always something in the app whether it be URM, fantastic research, military service, or some other major component that makes up for the low scores. Sahgee is failing to point this out or admit it. I stand by what I said earlier that there is most definitely something they aren't telling us that is in their app. If someone wants to come here and give advice after they were accepted with a 496 great, it's a good underdog story, but they have to include the whole story. It's like someone saying they got into Duke with a 3.0 GPA without adding that they got a 4.0 in a SMP and a 520 on the MCAT.

There is always hope, I do agree with that.

 

[Prilozack]

Irrespective of your individual success Sahgee, it looks like OP is probably going to strike out this cycle, which is to be expected given his low MCAT. If he is able to pull a higher score then I can't see you making a real argument against a retake. The "let's just have faith it will work out" attitude might not be advisable in this case since it is clearly not working out.

Here's the text from one of the million military recruiting emails I get regarding Army HPSP:

"The minimum requirements to apply (if criteria for automatic acceptance is
not met) are listed below:

*All four-year and three-year applicants must achieve a total score on
their most recent MCAT of 500 or higher with individual scores of
124 or
higher in each separate category. The older version MCAT test
scores of
26 or higher with individual scores of 8 or higher in verbal
reasoning,
physical sciences, and biological sciences can still be used as well

All four-year and first semester three-year applicants must use the grade
point average (GPA) from their undergraduate degree, with a minimum
GPA
of 3.2 or higher based upon a 4.0 maximum grading scale.


As of recently the US Army has initiated Automatic Acceptance for the Health
Professions Scholarship program based on the following criteria:

*Applicants must have a minimum Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
score of 507 with no less than 124 in each category or for the old
version a minimum of 29 overall with no less than 8 in each category
using the most recent test scores.

Applicants for 4-year scholarships must have an undergraduate
cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.60 or higher based on a 4.0
maximum grading scale or an individual class standing in at least the top
20% of their class if a GPA grading scale is not used. GPA/standing must
be from the degree producing school only."


Doesn't look like he's getting an auto acceptance and it looks like he's below the minimum standard. I don't know if they make exceptions. If he retook and got over a 507 (with no less than 124 per section) he would both increase his chances for an MD acceptance and ensure acceptance to HPSP given his good GPA.

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated!

 

[Prilozack]

And at a major risk to fail Boards and/or fail out of med school.

I can definitely see trends with statistics, but it appears to me (based on my observations and from talking with current residents) that an MCAT score does not always correlate with USMLE scores because they test different objectives. Is it true that USMLE exams are more based on actual medicine rather mind questions that contain tons of exceptions to the rule? Just wondering what your thoughts are.

 

[Goro]

All I can tell you is the data from my school, other schools, and PubMed suggest that low MCAT scores (< 25) are a risk for failing out of med school and/or failing boards. Once you get to 28+, any differences disappear.

Both exams are competency exams; the material being tested is beside the matter.

I can definitely see trends with statistics, but it appears to me (based on my observations and from talking with current residents) that an MCAT score does not always correlate with USMLE scores because they test different objectives. Is it true that USMLE exams are more based on actual medicine rather mind questions that contain tons of exceptions to the rule? Just wondering what your thoughts are.

 

[Prilozack]

All I can tell you is the data from my school, other schools, and PubMed suggest that low MCAT scores (< 25) are a risk for failing out of med school and/or failing boards. Once you get to 28+, any differences disappear.

Both exams are competency exams; the material being tested is beside the matter.

I understand. Do you suggest standardized test taking strategy classes or something if that has always been an area of weakness?

 

[Goro]

Absolutely!

I understand. Do you suggest standardized test taking strategy classes or something if that has always been an area of weakness?