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Hello:
I was wondering if someone can help me figure out what my options are with my current situation as I would like to go to med school either in the us/caribb/mex.
Background...
I graduated in 2004 with a BS in Chemistry and a very low GPA (2.48) from a top public university; I took all the pre-med courses except 2 quarters of intro bio and 1 year of bio lab.
Since 2003, I have been working at a pharmaceutical company doing R&D in chemistry; I started out as an intern and then was hired full time upon graduation. So, I have been with the company for about 5 years and have done very well; I got promoted, made many presentations as scientific conferences and was published twice in two scientific journals; co-author in 2007 and primary author in 2008. Also, I can obtain very good recommendations from my direct supervisors.
Additionally, I have >500hrs volunteer/community work in hospital ERs and suicide prevention, community organizations, etc.
So, what are my options and then the steps that I need to take to accomplish getting into med school from here, be it a us/caribb/mex school? I would like to look at all the options and then choose which makes most sense.
I have already been exploring some options like enrolling in a post-bacc pre-med program, but many of the programs are either for career changers (who had good grades in college) and so they have minimum GPA cut-offs (above mine) and they want students who have not already taken a majority of the pre-med classes (I have). Are there any post-bacc programs for people like me who did poorly in their pre-med classes and need a second chance, in that they don't have such strict GPA requirements?
If I was to do an informal post-bacc, should I re-take the same pre-med classes that I already got Cs in? I have the oppotunity to re-take some of pre-med classes at the same university I received my bachelors; does it make more sense to take them there as opposed to taking them at a community college? What about the other non pre-med classes (for my major) in which I also did poorly in?
Or, should I just start studying real hard for the MCATs (review my textbooks/notes and then take a Princeton Review or Kaplan class) while taking some informal post-bacc classes concurrently so I can try to get into some type of special masters program since they require the MCATs. I know Columbia has a MS program in Human Nutrition where the requirements seem more lenient or there is an online masters in Bioethics from Union College (coupled with Mount Sinai). Would either of these degrees be helpful? Is it even worthwhile applying with my current situation?
Or should I hold off on studying for the MCAT and only take more post-bacc courses and then study for the MCAT and then apply to the SMP? if I do really well, is it at all possible to get into any US school? is there really any advantage for me to not get a huge head-start on MCAT studying since it will be a year or two away?
On a side note, I did contact Saint George's and sent them my transcript and they said their incoming class had GPA at around 3.3/3.4 so they highly recommended that I need to get a masters in bio medicine, take the MCAT and then apply. Kind of a catch 22, because I would typically need to have already taken the MCAT to apply to the masters program. Do you think I would have any chance at the others: Saba, AUC, Ross, UWI, UAG?
I know this is a lot of information and questions and any guidance and/or advisement would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
db
I was wondering if someone can help me figure out what my options are with my current situation as I would like to go to med school either in the us/caribb/mex.
Background...
I graduated in 2004 with a BS in Chemistry and a very low GPA (2.48) from a top public university; I took all the pre-med courses except 2 quarters of intro bio and 1 year of bio lab.
Since 2003, I have been working at a pharmaceutical company doing R&D in chemistry; I started out as an intern and then was hired full time upon graduation. So, I have been with the company for about 5 years and have done very well; I got promoted, made many presentations as scientific conferences and was published twice in two scientific journals; co-author in 2007 and primary author in 2008. Also, I can obtain very good recommendations from my direct supervisors.
Additionally, I have >500hrs volunteer/community work in hospital ERs and suicide prevention, community organizations, etc.
So, what are my options and then the steps that I need to take to accomplish getting into med school from here, be it a us/caribb/mex school? I would like to look at all the options and then choose which makes most sense.
I have already been exploring some options like enrolling in a post-bacc pre-med program, but many of the programs are either for career changers (who had good grades in college) and so they have minimum GPA cut-offs (above mine) and they want students who have not already taken a majority of the pre-med classes (I have). Are there any post-bacc programs for people like me who did poorly in their pre-med classes and need a second chance, in that they don't have such strict GPA requirements?
If I was to do an informal post-bacc, should I re-take the same pre-med classes that I already got Cs in? I have the oppotunity to re-take some of pre-med classes at the same university I received my bachelors; does it make more sense to take them there as opposed to taking them at a community college? What about the other non pre-med classes (for my major) in which I also did poorly in?
Or, should I just start studying real hard for the MCATs (review my textbooks/notes and then take a Princeton Review or Kaplan class) while taking some informal post-bacc classes concurrently so I can try to get into some type of special masters program since they require the MCATs. I know Columbia has a MS program in Human Nutrition where the requirements seem more lenient or there is an online masters in Bioethics from Union College (coupled with Mount Sinai). Would either of these degrees be helpful? Is it even worthwhile applying with my current situation?
Or should I hold off on studying for the MCAT and only take more post-bacc courses and then study for the MCAT and then apply to the SMP? if I do really well, is it at all possible to get into any US school? is there really any advantage for me to not get a huge head-start on MCAT studying since it will be a year or two away?
On a side note, I did contact Saint George's and sent them my transcript and they said their incoming class had GPA at around 3.3/3.4 so they highly recommended that I need to get a masters in bio medicine, take the MCAT and then apply. Kind of a catch 22, because I would typically need to have already taken the MCAT to apply to the masters program. Do you think I would have any chance at the others: Saba, AUC, Ross, UWI, UAG?
I know this is a lot of information and questions and any guidance and/or advisement would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
db
