woundcarelover
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Hello! I am really at a crossroads and struggling with what I should do next, so I apologize in advance for the lengthy post, but I would greatly appreciate any advice!
Background and Grades:
I am a ORM (white) woman (KS resident with MO and TX ties) who graduated with a degree in biology and leadership studies with a minor in biomedical science from a small liberal arts school in May and am currently working full-time in a clinic as an MA while studying for the MCAT and volunteering when I can. As of now, I have a 3.46 cGPA and 3.28 sGPA (AMCAS)/ 3.42 GPA AACOMAS. I don't have much of an upward trend (3.4/3.46/3.49/3.76 last 30 credits). 1st MCAT was 489 (definitely did not study enough, bad idea). I am already doing much better on my FLs (504, minimum 125 in each section) and will take my next MCAT in February. I really enjoy working with unhoused patients, patients on Medicaid, and patients who are uninsured. I am keeping an open mind but I am interested in Family Med, Emergency Med, or Psych.
Paid Clinical Experience
Other possible red flags and things to note:
Part of the reason my GPA is so low is that when I graduated high school, I enrolled at the same community college where I had done my dual credit (Spanish A, College Algebra B). I took a trigonometry class and was not doing terribly, but not doing great. Over the summer, we had on-campus class registration, and the advisor I spoke to advised me to drop the class. I thought I had dropped the class because I had filled out the forms and submitted them on time. However, because I was dumb and 18, I didn't realize there was a different procedure for dropping self-paced online courses, so I failed the course. I am going to try to appeal the grade to get a W instead, but I doubt this will happen, as colleges are not known for changing grades. I did end up retaking Trig in college, but did take a W due to unrelated reasons (had to start working more due to my family's financial situation and had a lot on my plate). However, I finally took Calc and did just fine and finished with a B (there were no +'s or -'s on the professor's grading scale).
I have a few B-'s in my first few chemistry classes, but I improved as I went through college and did very well in my more advanced science courses (biochem, anatomy, physiology, upper-level bio electives).
Closing Thoughts
I know I am in the category that could benefit from an SMP it just kills me to have to take out massive loans for tuition and for COL then have to take out another 4 years of loans for med school. Plus, with BBB and the loan situation, I know I will have to take out a large amount of private loans. I am somewhat interested in family medicine, and I am scared I would be in debt forever if I ended up doing that. I also don't really want to wait another year to start med school because I'll graduate after I'm 30. I am lucky that I live in an area with 2 SMPs. One is at a DO school with a "guaranteed" interview if your SMP GPA is high enough. The only issue is that I have actually heard of very few people accomplishing this, and it is still not a guaranteed acceptance. There is another, slightly cheaper, program at a University with an attached MD program. The master's program does not guarantee anything with the medical school; it is just to boost GPA. I could also apply for an out-of-state program with better linkage, but I would have to take out COL loans.
Personally, I would like to apply in May (MCAT-dependent, of course), but I also don't want to throw money out the window if I have no chance of getting accepted. If I do apply, I will apply as broadly as possible to as many DO programs as I can and to a few MD programs with which I have state ties. I know there's not much to be said since I don't have my new MCAT yet, but I will not apply until I get a 509 or above. If I were to apply to the following schools in May, would I have a chance?
KCUCOM
DMUCOM
MSUCOM
OSUCOM
WesternUCOMP
NYITCOM-AR
LECOM
BUCOM
DUQCOM
VCOM
ATSU KCOM
ATSU SOMA
ARCOM
ACOM
Noorda COM
PNWUCOM
WVCOM
MARCOM
RowanCOM
UNECOM
PCOM
KUSOM
UMKCSOM
UTTyler (parent born and raised in Tyler)
Missouri-Columbia SOM
Background and Grades:
I am a ORM (white) woman (KS resident with MO and TX ties) who graduated with a degree in biology and leadership studies with a minor in biomedical science from a small liberal arts school in May and am currently working full-time in a clinic as an MA while studying for the MCAT and volunteering when I can. As of now, I have a 3.46 cGPA and 3.28 sGPA (AMCAS)/ 3.42 GPA AACOMAS. I don't have much of an upward trend (3.4/3.46/3.49/3.76 last 30 credits). 1st MCAT was 489 (definitely did not study enough, bad idea). I am already doing much better on my FLs (504, minimum 125 in each section) and will take my next MCAT in February. I really enjoy working with unhoused patients, patients on Medicaid, and patients who are uninsured. I am keeping an open mind but I am interested in Family Med, Emergency Med, or Psych.
Paid Clinical Experience
- 2,300 hours as an MA at a private dermatology clinic, where I do typical MA things in addition to scribing and assisting with surgery
- 50 hours as a volunteer emergency room attendant
- 125 hours as an MA for a free clinic providing acute and primary care to Medicaid and uninsured patients
- 50 hours at non-profit aiding former drug addicts, unhoused families, and victims of DV get back on their feet by providing community resources and discounted professional attire and homewares
- 200 hours in a school-specific volunteer organization assisting local non-profits. The bulk of the hours were home renovations for elderly and disabled members of our community to make their homes safer and more accessible
- 100 hours of neurodegeneration research. Unfortunately, my PI left, so I was unable to continue this project
- 300 hours of oncolytic virus research, with one presentation at a small research event at my school
- 3,000 hours as a college athlete and team captain. Recognized 4x by my school for academics and 4x by my athletic conference for academics. Also, was awarded "most valuable athlete" one year.
- 1,000 hours as a freshman year dorm resident assistant
- 200 hours in 2 different executive positions for my sorority (Vice President and Judicial Chair)
- 120 hours of a situational leadership training program for one of the organizations I was involved in
- 100 hours as President of Panhellenic (the organization that regulates women's Greek life)
- 60 hours total in two different honor societies
- 3,000 hours during college in retail, food service, and pharmacy. I worked a minimum of 10 hours a week in college and up to 20 hours, all while being in season (my sport was in season from before the fall semester began until the day before finals started in the spring)
- 10 hours with family med doc my freshman year
- Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Psych, and more Family Med: Not official shadowing, but by the nature of my job and my clinical volunteering, I pretty much shadow a doctor daily. I follow them around and watch them interact with patients from the moment they arrive for work until we see the last patient of the day/shift
- Trying to get some more shadowing in, just having a hard time doing so since I work full-time. Goal is to get 25-30 hours minimum
Other possible red flags and things to note:
Part of the reason my GPA is so low is that when I graduated high school, I enrolled at the same community college where I had done my dual credit (Spanish A, College Algebra B). I took a trigonometry class and was not doing terribly, but not doing great. Over the summer, we had on-campus class registration, and the advisor I spoke to advised me to drop the class. I thought I had dropped the class because I had filled out the forms and submitted them on time. However, because I was dumb and 18, I didn't realize there was a different procedure for dropping self-paced online courses, so I failed the course. I am going to try to appeal the grade to get a W instead, but I doubt this will happen, as colleges are not known for changing grades. I did end up retaking Trig in college, but did take a W due to unrelated reasons (had to start working more due to my family's financial situation and had a lot on my plate). However, I finally took Calc and did just fine and finished with a B (there were no +'s or -'s on the professor's grading scale).
I have a few B-'s in my first few chemistry classes, but I improved as I went through college and did very well in my more advanced science courses (biochem, anatomy, physiology, upper-level bio electives).
Closing Thoughts
I know I am in the category that could benefit from an SMP it just kills me to have to take out massive loans for tuition and for COL then have to take out another 4 years of loans for med school. Plus, with BBB and the loan situation, I know I will have to take out a large amount of private loans. I am somewhat interested in family medicine, and I am scared I would be in debt forever if I ended up doing that. I also don't really want to wait another year to start med school because I'll graduate after I'm 30. I am lucky that I live in an area with 2 SMPs. One is at a DO school with a "guaranteed" interview if your SMP GPA is high enough. The only issue is that I have actually heard of very few people accomplishing this, and it is still not a guaranteed acceptance. There is another, slightly cheaper, program at a University with an attached MD program. The master's program does not guarantee anything with the medical school; it is just to boost GPA. I could also apply for an out-of-state program with better linkage, but I would have to take out COL loans.
Personally, I would like to apply in May (MCAT-dependent, of course), but I also don't want to throw money out the window if I have no chance of getting accepted. If I do apply, I will apply as broadly as possible to as many DO programs as I can and to a few MD programs with which I have state ties. I know there's not much to be said since I don't have my new MCAT yet, but I will not apply until I get a 509 or above. If I were to apply to the following schools in May, would I have a chance?
KCUCOM
DMUCOM
MSUCOM
OSUCOM
WesternUCOMP
NYITCOM-AR
LECOM
BUCOM
DUQCOM
VCOM
ATSU KCOM
ATSU SOMA
ARCOM
ACOM
Noorda COM
PNWUCOM
WVCOM
MARCOM
RowanCOM
UNECOM
PCOM
KUSOM
UMKCSOM
UTTyler (parent born and raised in Tyler)
Missouri-Columbia SOM
