What are my chances?

[DarkProtonics]

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What are my chances in getting into medical school?

I'm 17, and I currently attend Cerritos College to complete my non-science general education requirements (my GPA is 2.81, but I know I need to raise it, and I will). I also am mentored by a local invasive cardiologist (I'll call him Dr Keith here).

In the fall, I'll be transferring to Orange Coast College to earn my AS in Cardiovascular Technology (as well as hopefully complete beginning calculus, physics, and biology during the wait period).

I then plan on passing the Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer exam, and earning my BS in Cell and Molecular Biology at CSULB while working as an echocardiographer/EKG technician part-time at the local hospital (Long Beach Memorial Heart and Vascular Institute). I've always been so fascinated by the ECHOs Dr Keith showed me how to read, and the equipment involved in TTE/TEE/ICE/IVUS is just so cool.

I then plan on either taking the MCAT, or take the GRE and earn a MS degree in Biotechnology from UCI (in addition to a strong interest in medicine, I'm also interested in biopharmacology), and then take the MCAT.

I predict a strong reference letter from Dr Keith (he says I'm on par with the fourth year med students and IM residents he's had); I hope to get similar-quality references from my employers and professors.

How possible is it to get my GPA up to a 3.7 by the time I graduate w/ my BS degree (around six years away)? Would working as an echocardiographer part-time and being mentored by a local invasive cardiologist look favorable? If I didn't get in the first time, would earning an MS help my chances?

Thanks! I hope to eventually become an interventional cardiologist, and split my time between private practice and academia/research.

 

[Stratego]

Yikes! That GPA is not on par with a med student's. Why is it so low? To answer your question, we'd need to know how many semester hours that 2.81 represents. If it's only one semester, you should have no trouble getting it into the competitive range if you start getting all As and A-s from now on. How will your grades for the current semester turn out?

Working as an echocardiographer would be good clinical experience. Most allopathic med schools don't ask for a physician letter, but a strong letter of reference from a doctor won't hurt, and some pre-med committees might want one.

Having a masters degree doesn't help you with the MD application process. It's looked on as a nice EC (extracurricular), but the GPA isn't included in your application GPA which is only undergrad classes. If it has research activities associated with it, that would help your application.

 

[Anita817]

This is a really strange question... no one can tell you what your chances will be 6 years from now, with limited coursework completed (are you even in college yet? you're 17...) and no MCAT. If you are asking whether your experience in this job will help you, the answer is absolutely. If you're asking whether a rec from the doctor you've worked with will help you, absolutely. But neither of these things will make you a shoo-in...

It will totally be possible to increase your GPA, but to give you any sort of accurate idea of what that will mean for your chances so far in the future, I couldn't even guess.

 

[DarkProtonics]

Yikes! That GPA is not on par with a med student's. Why is it so low? To answer your question, we'd need to know how many semester hours that 2.81 represents. If it's only one semester, you should have no trouble getting it into the competitive range if you start getting all As and A-s from now on. How will your grades for the current semester turn out?

Working as an echocardiographer would be good clinical experience. Most allopathic med schools don't ask for a physician letter, but a strong letter of reference from a doctor won't hurt, and some pre-med committees might want one.

Having a masters degree doesn't help you with the MD application process. It's looked on as a nice EC (extracurricular), but the GPA isn't included in your application GPA which is only undergrad classes. If it has research activities associated with it, that would help your application.

I know my GPA is low; it's about for 1.5-2 semesters, due to the fact that I was immature (I also have somewhat of a learning disability, but I think my grades were due more to my immaturity), and didn't know what I wanted to do (Cerritos didn't have a big selection of biology classes, and they didn't have any majors I wanted).

Why don't MD admissions officers look at the fact that you've managed to get good grades in a few semesters of tough graduate-level work, and published a thesis in a respected journal, as partially making up for an average undergrad GPA? I've never figured out why they only take into account undergrad studies.

My grades for the current semester will be 2.61 (these courses at Cerritos are so disorganized, and I can never reach the instructor, so that's just compounding my learning disability). But know that I know my plan, I plan on getting all As and Bs, b/c I can finally convince my brain to let me study. And I have a clear goal in mind.

What would happen if I had average grades for a med student, but a MCAT of 32? Is the MCAT weighted more than GPA?

I've got a LOT of shaping up to do to acheive my dream of being an interventional cardiologist...

 

[DarkProtonics]

This is a really strange question... no one can tell you what your chances will be 6 years from now, with limited coursework completed (are you even in college yet? you're 17...) and no MCAT. If you are asking whether your experience in this job will help you, the answer is absolutely. If you're asking whether a rec from the doctor you've worked with will help you, absolutely. But neither of these things will make you a shoo-in...

It will totally be possible to increase your GPA, but to give you any sort of accurate idea of what that will mean for your chances so far in the future, I couldn't even guess.

I'm enrolled as a freshman in college; CHSPE certificate due to being homeschooled.

 

[Stratego]

The "average" undergrad GPA for someone accepted to an MD school is 3.65. With an MCAT of 31, you could have a good chance of acceptance.

Making some assumptions: If you have a 2.75 GPA after the first two years of college, and got straight As for the second two years, your GPA would be up to 3.37. You said you'd be in college for 6 years, so two more years of 4.0 would get your GPA to 3.58. If you can get an MCAT score of 31-32 and the rest of your application is as expected, you have a good chance to get an acceptance. But to achieve this, you have no wiggle room for more poor grades. You can't afford to get another B unless you are able to get a better MCAT score than "average."

 

[sarahl86]

Its entirely too soon to tell what your chances are, or if your mind will even change. Just keep on course, get A's in all your classes and come back in a couple years with a couple more relevant extracurricular activities. Its too early to be worrying about the MCAT. You're still young!!

 

[DarkProtonics]

Its entirely too soon to tell what your chances are, or if your mind will even change. Just keep on course, get A's in all your classes and come back in a couple years with a couple more relevant extracurricular activities. Its too early to be worrying about the MCAT. You're still young!!

I know. I'll also take a few undergrad courses if I go on to get an MS.

Other than shadowing an invasive cardiologist and working as an echocardiographer, what other ECs can I do?

My alternate plan, if I can't get into med school, is to earn my PhD and work as an industrial researcher at a biopharmaceutical company, or start my own echocardiography practice.

 

[Mobius1985]

It would be good if you could get involved in some type of community service. It could be medical volunteerism in a clinic, hospital, hospice, etc. or non-clinical like Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchen, Humane Society. Do something that sounds interesting to you. But don't rush into this type of activity now, as your biggest priority is to get great grades and you should not get distracted from that goal.

 

[DarkProtonics]

It would be good if you could get involved in some type of community service. It could be medical volunteerism in a clinic, hospital, hospice, etc. or non-clinical like Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchen, Humane Society. Do something that sounds interesting to you. But don't rush into this type of activity now, as your biggest priority is to get great grades and you should not get distracted from that goal.

I know! When my grades have improved, I'll volunteer at the cardiac surgery department of Long Beach Memorial as a patient liason.

Or volunteer at the local animal shelter taking care of kittens; I've always loved kittens.

 

[Stratego]

I know! When my grades have improved, I'll volunteer at the cardiac surgery department of Long Beach Memorial as a patient liason.

Or volunteer at the local animal shelter taking care of kittens; I've always loved kittens.

Good ideas. I love kittens too.