Want to get into a California school. Chances? How to succeed?

[chromejs10]

Hi all. I know these are always posted but I really want to know how to succeed.

I will be a Junior in college next yr. Right now my GPA is at about 3.5 (I will for sure get it up to at least a 3.6). I have not taken MCATs yet. I have taken Biology 2 (got a B) but not Bio 1 yet. I took Physics 1 (calculus based, which is higher than required for med school and got a B+) and Physics 2 (calculus based and really hard, got a C+).

I am a Comp Sci major right now and we have the most required units out of all other majors at my school. This limits my time to do the premed classes (hence the reason for the low grades in the ones I've taken). I have a few questions that I would like to have answered:

1) Because of my limited time, I plan on doing a Post Bacc premed program at one of the state schools nearby (such as SFSU) so that I can do my premed requirements there. Do med schools look down on this? Will it prolong my entrance to medical school for a few years (since I have to take those classes, then spend time studying for the MCATs, then wait a yr after that)?

2) What MCAT score should I be shooting at to get into a CA school? Obviously I will be trying to get the best score possible, but I do sort of need a reality check.

3) Do you think I need to retake the 3 premed classes I have already taken?

Thanks for any answers you can give me. I'm hoping people who were in similar situations or knew people in similar situations will answer the most, but I am open to everyone. Thanks a lot!

Congrats all those who got into med school! Good luck.

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[JRock310]

i am def in the same boat w/ u in wanting to go to a california school!!!

buy a MSAR (medical school admissions requirements) book. IT IS THE BEST RESOURCE EVER. it lists every med school and gives you the average GPAs, MCAT scores, how many ppl applied (in state and out of state), etc. it even tells u the lowest MCAT scores at the school (UCSD is my first choice, and i believe the lowest MCAT score there was 20, but the average was 33, forget which letter for both).

if you have any questions you can message me and i can look up a specific school for you in my MSAR book if you wanted some stats on it.

 

[chromejs10]

Thanks a lot for the fast reply! I was just on a website that stated some of the med school stats which is why I thought up these questions. I would love to go to UCSF (that is where I am volunteering in the ER and am currently going to USF). Obviously, that's a top school so I don't have my hopes up. UCSD is definitely in my top 3 choices. After that, Loma Linda since the requirements aren't quite as strict.

Does it give any stats regarding entrance from post bacc schools?

 

[JRock310]

no it doesn't say anything about that, but here's some useful pieces it does say (this is for UCSF)

selection factors
comm service/volunteer: 69%
medically-related work: 92%
research: 92%
(good to know, i guess research is really important to them!)

for 2006-2007 class...
2947 residents applied
2505 non residents applied
157 international
so 5609 total.

out of those...129 residents and 24 non residents accepted...153 total.

oh wait,

it does say:

science and math majors 69%
Bachelor degrees 100%
graduate degree(s) 8%

any other questions just feel free to ask!

 

[chromejs10]

Thanks for the info! Holy crap. 2.7% get accepted. That's crazy. I think I'll scratch that off my list lol. Does the book have any hopeful information for a place like Loma Linda? lol. Thanks again for looking up all this info. I'll have to buy this book before i apply.

 

[scarletgirl777]

i am def in the same boat w/ u in wanting to go to a california school!!!

buy a MSAR (medical school admissions requirements) book. IT IS THE BEST RESOURCE EVER. it lists every med school and gives you the average GPAs, MCAT scores, how many ppl applied (in state and out of state), etc. it even tells u the lowest MCAT scores at the school (UCSD is my first choice, and i believe the lowest MCAT score there was 20, but the average was 33, forget which letter for both).

if you have any questions you can message me and i can look up a specific school for you in my MSAR book if you wanted some stats on it.

Don't misread those stats. The stats show the range for each section. Example, bio was 6 to 14, phys was 7 to 14 and verbal was 7 to 14. That does not mean that the lowest score is a 20 and the highest is a 42. It could be that 3 different people got each of the section scores, so that the person with a 6 in bio got 13s in the other 2 sections, and the people who got 7s in phys and verbal got 14s in the other 2 sections.

 

[chromejs10]

Ah that makes sense. Thanks for that info

 

[JRock310]

yes that does make sense. i did misread that, dont know why, my brain just added the lowest ones together!

 

[SilentNight]

Thanks for the info! Holy crap. 2.7% get accepted. That's crazy. I think I'll scratch that off my list lol. Does the book have any hopeful information for a place like Loma Linda? lol. Thanks again for looking up all this info. I'll have to buy this book before i apply.

Don't be so scared about the acceptance percentage, because most schools have a very low acceptance rate, due to many applicants. So if you have a desire to go to a certain school then apply (also make sure your MCAT and GPA are close to their average).

 

[chromejs10]

Well the reason I'm worried is because even if i were to get 4.0's for the next 4 semesters, it would only raise my GPA to a 3.72. a 4.0 is hard to come by. Now granted, this does not include the classes i will be taking in my post bacc, but still. I think I'll really have to focus on the MCATs more than anything. Are the MCATs really as hard as it seems it would be? I'll probably have to go to the MCAT section for that answer

 

[SilentNight]

A 3.72 GPA would be very good, you don't need a 4.0 to get into med school. I think the average GPA is 3.5-3.6 for matriculants.

MCAT is important, aim for 30+ (30 is about 70-percentile), but if u want to be in CA it is better to get 33 or higher (33 is about 90-percentile). Unless you have a lot of ECs that can set you apart.

 

[chromejs10]

Well 3.72 gpa would be the MAX. the odds of me actually getting straight 4.0s is relatively low. As for ECs, the main ones I have are volunteering in an ER, playing USTA league tennis, and playing intramural tennis.

So many people have travelled to different countries and did stuff over there, but I don't have that kind of money. Do med schools really care about how well travelled you are? From a lot of forums that I have read, it seems to be pretty important (especially if you had taken a year off before going to med school. I saw one prompt for a personal response that was simple "talk about what you've done since you graduated")

 

[SilentNight]

Well even if you don't get 3.72 the range of 3.6-3.7 is good for med school. How long have you done your volunteer exp? Preferably you have completed a year or more? Tennis EC is a good way to show you have other interests but then again overall from what you listed its a bit on the low end.

Traveling abroad gives an applicant an opportunity to learn about other areas, I as well do not have the funds to support that. Since it seems everybody is going abroad medical schools do not look into it as much as before. Why don't you try something closer to home like serving in underserved areas or experience that lets you be closer to your community? Overall the ADCOMS are looking for well-rounded applicants so do things you enjoy along with the usual volunteer, shadowing, etc.

I think that by waiting this year and applying next year you may be a stronger applicant. Since your ECs is not fantastic you should spend a year building it up. After you graduate spend the year to explore life, work, volunteer, and relax.

 

[chromejs10]

Well even if you don't get 3.72 the range of 3.6-3.7 is good for med school. How long have you done your volunteer exp? Preferably you have completed a year or more? Tennis EC is a good way to show you have other interests but then again overall from what you listed its a bit on the low end.

Traveling abroad gives an applicant an opportunity to learn about other areas, I as well do not have the funds to support that. Since it seems everybody is going abroad medical schools do not look into it as much as before. Why don't you try something closer to home like serving in underserved areas or experience that lets you be closer to your community? Overall the ADCOMS are looking for well-rounded applicants so do things you enjoy along with the usual volunteer, shadowing, etc.

I think that by waiting this year and applying next year you may be a stronger applicant. Since your ECs is not fantastic you should spend a year building it up. After you graduate spend the year to explore life, work, volunteer, and relax.

Yeah I definitely need to be working on more ECs it's just a matter of figuring out what to do. And I for sure won't be applying to medical school for probably 2 yrs (at minimum) so I will have about 3 yrs of volunteering in an ER under my belt. I also help coach tennis lessons to high school kids, I don't know if that would count or not.

One thing I never understood is, how do you shadow a doctor? I wouldn't expect a shadower to be able to enter in a room with the doctor and patient due to patient doctor confidentiality, not to mention it would probably make the patient uncomfortable. Can you really get anything out of shadowing or is more of something you just want to be able to put on your application?

 

[SilentNight]

If you're only applying in 2-3 years then you got a lot of time to strengthen your application. So I would think that you would be a strong applicant by then. As far as shadowing goes...most patients are fine with you being there and the doctor usually says you are a pre-med or sometimes a resident haha...if the patient is not okay with you being there you would usually wait outside. Honestly shadowing is good for only a few hours just to see what some doctors do. I shadowed a few specialties to get a feel for what I would like to do. Overall, it is nothing great since you aren't serving the community, but gives you some exposure into the profession.