Undergraduate Freshman Questions

[badst6]

I am currently a freshman in college who is thinking about applying for medical school in a couple of years. Right now I am in the physicians assistant program and found out from my adviser that I should switch to a biology major. My main concern about this is that if I decide to switch, I have to make sure im accepted into medical school or else I wont have much to fall back on as far as medicine is concerned. The first semester I got a 3.3 (not many science classes), and Im working on bringing up my GPA this semester. If I only have an average GPA of around 3.3-3.4 for my first year, how much will that affect me if I can bring that up considerably the next couple years. Im still learning better study habits, and my grades are getting better now.Will something like a 3.5 overall GPA be sufficient to get into medical school with good MCAT scores, or will I need to get closer to something like 3.8 and above.
Any comments or information from current med students or doctors would be greatly appreciated!

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[DMacNeuro]

I'm pre-med, but I think I can help you out. A 3.3 GPA freshman year is fine. Let us say you get a 3.4 freshman year, 3.7 sophomore year, and a 3.8 junior year, that is a 3.63. Let's say you get 3.6's sophomore and junior year and end up with "something like a 3.5", that is competitive at many schools provided you score 30+.

You certainly don't need a 3.8 or above to get into medical school, or else many current matriculants would be shyt-out-of-luck. The average GPA's at the top medical schools are about 3.8.

 

[xrevision]

Right now I am in the physicians assistant program and found out from my adviser that I should switch to a biology major.

Your adviser sucks.

 

[xrevision]

Also, don't aim for a 3.5. Try to get at least a 3.65, thats the average GPA for a matriculant last year.

 

[MSU2012]

Choosing a biology major does not mean you are out of luck if you don't get into medical school, or later decide that PA school is really where you want to be. As far as I understand (and I applied for, interviewed at, and was accepted to PA school before deciding that med school was where I really wanted to be), PA school is a graduate program. You do not need to be in a "PA Program" in undergrad to go to PA school...a biology major would also be fine as long as you complete all of the pre-requisite courses.

 

[riverwoman1040]

Choosing a biology major does not mean you are out of luck if you don't get into medical school, or later decide that PA school is really where you want to be. As far as I understand (and I applied for, interviewed at, and was accepted to PA school before deciding that med school was where I really wanted to be), PA school is a graduate program. You do not need to be in a "PA Program" in undergrad to go to PA school...a biology major would also be fine as long as you complete all of the pre-requisite courses.

Advisors can be wonderful resources, but it's good to do some research on your own too (which you're clearly doing) No one else can possibly care as much about your future as you. A biology major tends to be one of the easier ways to get in your med school pre-reqs, just because the pre-reqs will count toward your major, but you can choose any major and still go to med school. If you're worried about not ultimately going to med school you could always do something like engineering that would give you a fall back. You do still have plenty of medical choices without being in a PA program. You can always do PA, PT, DO, DPM later. Ultimately choose something you'll enjoy. There are plenty of history, spanish, etc. majors in med school, and undergrad should be fun.

 

[Kromosoft]

I am currently a freshman in college who is thinking about applying for medical school in a couple of years. Right now I am in the physicians assistant program and found out from my adviser that I should switch to a biology major. My main concern about this is that if I decide to switch, I have to make sure im accepted into medical school or else I wont have much to fall back on as far as medicine is concerned. The first semester I got a 3.3 (not many science classes), and Im working on bringing up my GPA this semester. If I only have an average GPA of around 3.3-3.4 for my first year, how much will that affect me if I can bring that up considerably the next couple years. Im still learning better study habits, and my grades are getting better now.Will something like a 3.5 overall GPA be sufficient to get into medical school with good MCAT scores, or will I need to get closer to something like 3.8 and above.
Any comments or information from current med students or doctors would be greatly appreciated!

.

 

[riverwoman1040]

Be careful about switching out of the PA program to a biology major. All departments in a college want to graduate kids from their majors. They use these numbers to sell to high school kids.

I would advice to ask this question in the section where PA's hang out. You will get a better understanding of what you should do by talking to them.

You can talk to the PA students, but regardless of what they say being in a pa program as a premed isn't going to do you any good.

 

[Perrotfish]

You also can pick a major that's slightly more useful in a job hunt, like biochemistry or chemical engineering, but not quite as bad as a PA program. It could still hurt your GPA a bit compared to biology major, but I agree that a back up plan is generally a good idea.

 

[riverwoman1040]

You can get jobs with a biology major too. They're not necessarily exciting jobs that you'd want to do as a career, but you can always work in a lab between undergrad and some sort of grad school. My roommate is a poli-sci major who is in banking. Major isn't as important as it may seem.