WAMC- First Generation College Student needing assistance to which school to apply for DO or MD. Any assistance helps!

[sarko99]

1. cGPA: 2.59, AMCAS sGPA: 2.18, AACOMAS sGPA: 2.31
2. MCAT Score: 479, Chemical and Physical Score: 118, Critical Analysis and Reasoning Score: 120, Biological and Biochemical Score: 121, Psychological and Social Score: 120.
3. Pennsylvania
4. White
5. Undergraduate: PSU 4 Years
6. For Clinical Experience: I have currently 257 hours of Scribing
7. Research Experience: Project ABO 2 years- mission was to promote seasonal vaccines and raise awareness to blood supply shortage in PA due to Covid-19.
8. In process of shadowing
9. Student Health Insurance Advocate-1 year to present
10.High School and Middle School Boys Soccer Coach for 7 years, Athletic Advocate for 3 D1 schools and 1 D2 school- 1 year and counting.
11. N/A
12. Growing up I had a tough time adapting to the educational system in this country. My parents came to the US after a devastating war with barely anything and were able to achieve so much in thee life time. Growing up it was hard to understand how to do some school assignment and I never really had any assistance as my parents were not familiar with it at all. Both parents of mine barely finished HS degrees due to the war, so I had to really fend for myself and get to where I am today. I faced language barriers for 3 1/2 years to 4 years. Worked my butt off to get my HS degree and to then obtain my bachelors degree was definitely my hardest point. My grandmother passing away was the toughest time I had in college, I had no will to really continue. Stressed out and so over everything I had to dig deep to find that energy that I had when I was younger when times were tough and somehow barely pulled it off.
I am politely asking that someone provide me with suggestions to which schools would fit the best to apply for. Obviously am interested to apply anywhere but I want to have a chance and I feel my background and story can help me. I grew up speaking multiple languages and I am a very quick learner and all I would like is a chance to continue to prove myself.

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

I don't mean to be discouraging, but you are not ready to apply right now and won't be for several years. I have the greatest empathy for how difficult your childhood sounds, but no medical school will take this big of a chance on someone without *any* metrics to back them up.

If you want to go to med school, you need to get your GPA close to 3.0 and your MCAT at least at 500. You also need to acquire 250+ hours of clinical experience (a billing office isn't really clinical imo) and 50-100 hours of shadowing, as well as 250+ hours at a food bank or similar service activity.

My honest suggestion would be to complete a second bachelor's degree and do extremely well. Or take classes and improving your GPA until *any* SMP with a linkage agreement accepts you.

Good luck.

 

[candbgirl]

You are nowhere near ready to apply to med school at this point. You have to get both of your GPAs as close to 3.0 as possible. It’s going to be very hard to do this so you need to take several semesters of full time courses and get at least 3.8+. I suggest you start with retaking any science course you got a C- or lower. Any course you retake should result in an A.
I don’t even know what to say about your MCAT. How did you study? What were your FL scores? Obviously you have severe test anxiety or you have a huge gap in your scientific knowledge.



Read the attached .

Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention (updated for 2021)

EDIT: Post in WAMC forum for recommended school lists. This thread isn't for that. So you want to be a doctor, but your GPA is terrible. Is that the end? Rule #1: Take a deep breath, and stop fussing. The sky is not falling. But you are going to need to reinvent yourself. This will take...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If I were to characterize your narrative for medical school, I think you are at chapter 3 of your finished journey (say 10 chapters).

Read Goro's Guide. You are looking at an SMP to really give yourself a shot, but you are already planting seeds that could work for or against you. You took an MCAT already, and your undergrad GPA is pretty much locked at below 3.0. You may need to retake all your prereqs in a few years.

GPA Repair and Management for Pre-Health Applicants - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

I hesitate to suggest other graduate programs at this point because I don't think you have an argument without significant shadowing. No more excuses; the COVID-19 emergency is over. Billing/back-office experience will not substitute for patient-facing and patient-serving clinical experience.

I completely get your adversity story, but you need to show small victories leading to larger successes in your academics. You can strive to get a medical assistant position. Get certification in phlebotomy or X-rays. Use your language skills and work as a medical translator. As I mentioned, you are likely in chapter 3 of your story, and you have a ways to go before you apply (near chapter 7).