Undepriv - First time poster - Opinion needed

[ridgedice]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello SDN Forum,


I'm currently a finishing up my bio and chem majors at a 4 year university that does not offer a pre-med program. My institution has limited/no pre med advising knowledge.

Question 1.

What should I do if my advisers are not familiar with pre med advising?


Question 2.

If I'm pell eligible, does that mean I'm most likely able to apply for Underprivileged status? I live at home, single parent. Less than 30k annual income, 2 other siblings (3 including myself) that all live at home. My father has never paid child support and Im a first generation college student.
I guess I'm interested in attaining some more information on claiming an underprivileged status, and/or where I can acquire more information on this topic.

Question 3.

Unusual Circumstances - I have heard this term being thrown around carelessly and was curious to know if I had a legitimate 'unusual circumstance' that would be worth mentioning.

My educational career has been constricted by ADHD/ADD. I have always been significantly above average in the intelligence department. My grades tell a completely different story though. I was an average student during k-12. I took all the AP (College Credit) High school courses that were offered during my 9-12 grades because I love to learn. Yet, I always received mostly C's and some B's ( 1 D). My teachers always gave me the 'after school special' about how I'm wasting all this great potential.

It was never that I didn't want to study, I just wasn't able to study. I could look over my notes for hours upon hours and realize that I hadn't retained one bit of information from studying.

I was always aware of the problem but never had proper healthcare or health insurance to analyze the issue.

After my first two years of college at a local community college, I had acquired a 3.07 gpa. I knew that I had to do something about my ADD issues if I ever wanted a chance @ med school acceptance.

I made a phone call to a doctor (a very very very very kind doctor that I will praise forever) She only charges me what I can afford to pay. I am now on medication and I have a 4.0(All upper level science classes) since being properly diagnosed and medicated.

3.07 in basic level courses at a local community college VS. 4.0 in all upper level science courses at a 4 year institute(Nuff said)


Question 4.

Opinion on my chances of being accepted into med school?

Im speculating that my gpa will be approximately 3.4 overall with a 3.6-3.7 science gpa

My timed practice mcats have ranged from 29-35. I have always done very well on standardized tests and the mcat is the least of my worries to be honest. I will be testing in April.

With my speculated gpa's (Listed above) what minimum mcat score would I need to achieve to have an average application?

Extracurriculars - Botany internship for a summer. Literally, over 1,000 volunteer hours at a local nursing home. I am currently working on a paleobiology research project that will get published in a local/state Paleo journal. I am starting my shadowing in the next week with hopes of accumulating 100-200 hours over the next semester.







Question 5.

Do I stand a chance? or should I be looking to go DO?

 

[graduate2be]

Hello SDN Forum,


I'm currently a finishing up my bio and chem majors at a 4 year university that does not offer a pre-med program. My institution has limited/no pre med advising knowledge.

Question 1.

What should I do if my advisers are not familiar with pre med advising?

I have the same type of situation at my university (even though we do have a pre health advising office). There is a wealth of information available on the web that can assist you with things like what sort of classes you should be taking, how to and from whom to request letters of recommendations from, what sort of EC's are suggested, etc... There are also some for-profit pre-health advisors that will advise you (if you can pay). Personally, I'm using the services of Cynthia Lewis (http://www.lewisassoc.com/) and she has given me all of the info that I need. You can also check out the web sites of some of the medical schools that you would be interested in attending as they will often have useful advice as well. Finally, talk to other students at your school and here on SDN; lots of folks have been through what you are going through and they can provide useful info. The moral of this response is to use the internet as your best friend.


Question 2.

If I'm pell eligible, does that mean I'm most likely able to apply for Underprivileged status? I live at home, single parent. Less than 30k annual income, 2 other siblings (3 including myself) that all live at home. My father has never paid child support and Im a first generation college student.

I guess I'm interested in attaining some more information on claiming an underprivileged status, and/or where I can acquire more information on this topic.

Whether or not you can get a Pell Grant is based on your income and whether or not you are considered an independent student according to Federal financial aid regulations:

The Federal government qualifies students as independent only if the meet one of the following criteria:

• are at least 24 years of age by December 31 of the award year
• are a U.S. Armed Forces Veteran
• are an Orphan or ward of the court
• have legal dependents other than a spouse (that is, have children) and pay at least half of their support
• are married and are no longer claimed on parents' income tax returns
• have not been claimed as a dependent on parents' income taxes for the past two calendar years. For this to be true, students (all must apply):
  • Must earn more than $4,000 per year from income and benefits
  • Cannot live with parent for six or more consecutive weeks during the year
  • Must not have received $750 or more from parents within the year

If you do not meet the above criteria you must submit both your and your parents' income tax return forms for the previous year or your federal financial aid forms from the previous year. If you do meet the above criteria, you must submit your income tax return forms from the previous year or current federal financial aid forms.The Pell Grant does not take into account whether or not you are URM.

Now, you may be eligible for some funding via the MBRS/MARC or McNair Scholars programs (if they are available at your school). Funding for these programs is based on URM status as defined by the U.S. Department of Education; you can go to their web site or your university FA office to find out what the URM definition is for these programs. You would likely go to your university School of Life/Physical Sciences to find out if the MARC/MBRS or McNair programs are offered. Finally, you ought to get on the web and see what scholarships/fellowships are availaible to URM's; there's a lot out there. You just have to do your homework.


Question 3.

Unusual Circumstances - I have heard this term being thrown around carelessly and was curious to know if I had a legitimate 'unusual circumstance' that would be worth mentioning.

My educational career has been constricted by ADHD/ADD. I have always been significantly above average in the intelligence department. My grades tell a completely different story though. I was an average student during k-12. I took all the AP (College Credit) High school courses that were offered during my 9-12 grades because I love to learn. Yet, I always received mostly C's and some B's ( 1 D). My teachers always gave me the 'after school special' about how I'm wasting all this great potential.

It was never that I didn't want to study, I just wasn't able to study. I could look over my notes for hours upon hours and realize that I hadn't retained one bit of information from studying.

I was always aware of the problem but never had proper healthcare or health insurance to analyze the issue.

After my first two years of college at a local community college, I had acquired a 3.07 gpa. I knew that I had to do something about my ADD issues if I ever wanted a chance @ med school acceptance.

I made a phone call to a doctor (a very very very very kind doctor that I will praise forever) She only charges me what I can afford to pay. I am now on medication and I have a 4.0(All upper level science classes) since being properly diagnosed and medicated.

3.07 in basic level courses at a local community college VS. 4.0 in all upper level science courses at a 4 year institute(Nuff said)


Whether or not your circumstance is considered unusual will depend upon the medical school that you are applying to and how you explain how it has impacted you in your personal statement and secondaries. So long as you don't use your circumstance as a crutch and show that you have done all that you can to overcome the circumstance, I don't think that there is a med school out there that would hold your situation against you. I would however suggest that you go to your university Disability Services Office so that they can get you any additional help that you may need. They can also document your disability and the efforts that you have undertaken to become a better student; having that documentation to include with your med school admissions application would be beneficial to you.

Question 4.

Opinion on my chances of being accepted into med school?

Im speculating that my gpa will be approximately 3.4 overall with a 3.6-3.7 science gpa

My timed practice mcats have ranged from 29-35. I have always done very well on standardized tests and the mcat is the least of my worries to be honest. I will be testing in April.

With my speculated gpa's (Listed above) what minimum mcat score would I need to achieve to have an average application?

If you graduate with those stated GPAs and score a 27+ MCAT, I would imagine that there are anumber of medical schools that would take a look at you. Given that there are a number of factors that go into the whole medical school admissions process, my suggestion would be to make sure that you present the complete applicant (GPA, MCAT, letters of rec, EC's, etc...) I wouldn't get caught up in the whole thing of "What MCAT or GPA would I need to have an average application?" Your goal is to have a STELLAR application and to that end, you need to work as hard as you must to raise that GPA as high as you can and make as high (and as balanced) of an MCAT score as possible. Personally, my goal for the MCAT is a 42. I don't know if I'll make that, but I am setting the bar high because I don't want an "average" application, I want it to be stellar.

Question 5.

Do I stand a chance? or should I be looking to go DO?

Again, I think that you stand a chance but much depends on your complete application as opposed to one particular part of it. Also, the timing of the submission of your application, when you take the MCAT, the strength of your letters of rec, etc, can all impact whether or not you get an interview and eventually an acceptance. I'm not sure what you know about allopathic vs. osteopathic medicine but I wouldn't make the assumption that just because the D.O. route says that they will take students with lower GPA's and/or MCATs you stand a better chance of getting in. Whether you get into an MD or DO is going to depend on the effort that you put out and how badly you want to be a physician. Have you thought about post bacs or SMPs in the event that you don't get any interviews? Just work hard and you'll get to where you gotta be. I wish you well!

 

[ridgedice]

Thank you Graduate2be!

 

[mybubbles14]

I think you definitely stand a chance if you follow through on everything that you mentioned. It's great that you were finally able to identify what was holding you back from achieving your full potential. Although your cgpa will be a little lower than the average matriculant you still have a very strong upward trend that will be taken in account. (and a 3.4 is certainly not horrible) Also it's a plus that your sgpa is in a very respectable range. Take SDN with a grain of salt. Although there is a wealth of great information on here you have to take what you find at face value. This is an anonymous internet forum and the people on here are not representative of the entire applicant pool and all of the individuals who gain acceptance to medical school. Unlike what you might find on here not EVERYbody has a 43T and 4.0. There are MANY other factors that go into a good application. Also, AMCAS breaks down your scgpa and cgpa by each semester and year so adcomms will be able to see that. Many people have a rough start and are able to turn things around (myself included). My first semester gpa was abysmal due to a variety of reasons related to family issues, not applying myself and just being in a major I downright hated. However, I addressed my issues and turned things around for the better. Make sure that you get LORs from individuals who won't write you standard mediocre letters and also that you have an amazing PS. When you do apply make sure that you apply early...do NOT overestimate how timing can affect your application. (by early I mean submit your primary june/july and aim to have your secondaries finished by August)

Good luck to you I'm sure you'll be fine...if you want to apply to DOs and would attend if you were accepted then do it. However I think you stand a good chance at MD if that is what you want. 👍

 

[ridgedice]

Thank you Bubbles =) Very helpful and sweet. And congratulations on your acceptance!

jrs

 

[njbmd]

If your school doesn't have a pre-med adviser, then head for the local public library and check out a few pre-med advisory books. You can even purchase these online. There's lots of free stuff on the main SDN page SDN MAINPAGE, including one that you can download. Also have a look at the SDN Wiki which is at the top of the page.

If you are close to another college/university, then head over there and utilize their advisers. It's been done before.

As for your financial aid stuff, there's a Financial Aid forum below. Scroll down and post your questions there. You may find someone who can specifically address your specific problem. If not, the Financial Aid office at your school (I will bet that they have one of those) can help you.

 

[ridgedice]

How would I go about using a different school's adviser?? Shoot them an email and see how generous they're feeling?

 

[DoctaJay]

Hello SDN Forum,


I'm currently a finishing up my bio and chem majors at a 4 year university that does not offer a pre-med program. My institution has limited/no pre med advising knowledge.

Question 1.

What should I do if my advisers are not familiar with pre med advising?

If your advisors have never advised someone applying to medical school then you have to take the ball into your own hands. Like njbmd said there are plenty of books out there but also SDN is an amazing resource. If you take the time to scour through all the past threads in the pre-med forum and this forum you will have more information than the majority of applicants out here. Don't waste your time talking to anyone who hasn't applied in the past 5 years because they don't remember anything. Also, talk to people who graduated from your school recently who were accepted to medical school. Also, I don't mind you PMing me if you have questions that you can't find answers for on here but it might be best to post it so others can see the answers too.


Question 2.

If I'm pell eligible, does that mean I'm most likely able to apply for Underprivileged status? I live at home, single parent. Less than 30k annual income, 2 other siblings (3 including myself) that all live at home. My father has never paid child support and Im a first generation college student.
I guess I'm interested in attaining some more information on claiming an underprivileged status, and/or where I can acquire more information on this topic.

I certainly think that you should apply for disadvantaged status. Once you apply it is up to the AAMC to see whether you qualify or not.

Question 3.

Unusual Circumstances - I have heard this term being thrown around carelessly and was curious to know if I had a legitimate 'unusual circumstance' that would be worth mentioning.

My educational career has been constricted by ADHD/ADD. I have always been significantly above average in the intelligence department. My grades tell a completely different story though. I was an average student during k-12. I took all the AP (College Credit) High school courses that were offered during my 9-12 grades because I love to learn. Yet, I always received mostly C's and some B's ( 1 D). My teachers always gave me the 'after school special' about how I'm wasting all this great potential.

It was never that I didn't want to study, I just wasn't able to study. I could look over my notes for hours upon hours and realize that I hadn't retained one bit of information from studying.

I was always aware of the problem but never had proper healthcare or health insurance to analyze the issue.

After my first two years of college at a local community college, I had acquired a 3.07 gpa. I knew that I had to do something about my ADD issues if I ever wanted a chance @ med school acceptance.

I made a phone call to a doctor (a very very very very kind doctor that I will praise forever) She only charges me what I can afford to pay. I am now on medication and I have a 4.0(All upper level science classes) since being properly diagnosed and medicated.

3.07 in basic level courses at a local community college VS. 4.0 in all upper level science courses at a 4 year institute(Nuff said)


Congrats on turning things around. You can certainly work this into your app somehow in your PS to talk about why you start doing better in school...but that is totally up to you. Some interviewers may ask about the difference and as long as you can explain it clearly to them they will be satisfied.

Question 4.

Opinion on my chances of being accepted into med school?

Im speculating that my gpa will be approximately 3.4 overall with a 3.6-3.7 science gpa

My timed practice mcats have ranged from 29-35. I have always done very well on standardized tests and the mcat is the least of my worries to be honest. I will be testing in April.

With my speculated gpa's (Listed above) what minimum mcat score would I need to achieve to have an average application?

Extracurriculars - Botany internship for a summer. Literally, over 1,000 volunteer hours at a local nursing home. I am currently working on a paleobiology research project that will get published in a local/state Paleo journal. I am starting my shadowing in the next week with hopes of accumulating 100-200 hours over the next semester.

Its hard to speculate on exactly how hard it will be for you to get in, but the only weak part of your app right now is your GPA. It think that a strong MCAT score will balance out the GPA for you...and of course killing it with a score in the 31+ will certainly help you. You are already covered on the research and community service part.I think you have a good chance of getting interviews...once you get the interviews then it is up to your interviewing skills and overall personality to carry you through.





Question 5.

Do I stand a chance? or should I be looking to go DO?

I think you have a chance to get into an allopathic med school but it can't hurt to diversify your application with DO schools. Go after the good ones like PCOM.

 

[ridgedice]

Thanks Jay

 

[faith2]

Its easy you will get in to at least one school just apply on the first day that the cycle starts for DO and MD, start your personal statement now.....have it looked at by several differnt people....when you get invited to an interview go to the interview feed back of SDN practice prepare dress nice BAM you got a seat. It is not as difficult as everyone is making it seem if you have a good apps. you will get in 😍😍😍😍good luck

 

[Morsetlis]

I had absolutely no pre-med "advising" to speak of besides "take these and these classes and come back next year".

SDN will be the best pre-med advising you can get.

 

[VOP]

well, make sure you follow through with that MCAT score, you get a 35 and you should be fine for even some top 10 schools seeing as how that's their average. Even a 30+ makes you competitive for some good schools out there.

 

[rbnsafsadgf]

Re: Question #2

AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) is different from AMCAS disadvantaged status (e.g., http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=3632155&postcount=10). Being a first gen college student makes a good case for disadvantaged status. The FAP is basically income based. Some of the previous responses are confounding these two things.