What do you recommend I do?

[nm825]

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Ok, I am not sure if this is the right area; sorry, if it isn't.

What would you recommend for to do in my situation. I have been really lazy my first three years of college, and now I am extremely worried that I may be in trouble.

I am plan on applying to medical school after senior year.

Economics major at GWU from CT

cGPA: 3.53 (I expect to have around a 3.8 this semester, so by the end of this year, this should be in the high 3.5s.

sGPA: 3.30 (yikes, I know. This includes a C in Orgo II which just makes things even worse.)

Planning on taking the MCAT in August but in the past, and I know the MCAT is a whole different monster, I generally perform well on standardized test

Extracurriculars: Awful. Vice-President of my fraternity (not even sure I would put this on an application. During the past two summers, I work for a police department in a local town. I work at a beach and basically do everything the cops do except arrest people; I can write tickets and such. Last summer, I oversaw four others. This year I am being promoted to "seargant" according to the police officer in charge. I really have no medical experience to speak of. My freshman year, though, I took a course and worked directly with patients at GWU's ER enrolling patients in medical studies.

I am also going to try and volunteer at my local hospital over the summer and possible shadow a doctor. Next year (senior year), I plan on loading up on a couple of upper level sciences.

How bad of shape am I in if I am just looking to get into any MD or DO school I can?

Also, would you even recommend applying to DO schools this year? I would have to bump up my MCATs to May.

 

[nm825]

Also, for what it's worth, I didn't include "Statistics for Business and Economics Majors" into my math and science GPA. The class was offered through the Stat dept. and I received As in both semesters.

 

[Swartzlehman]

X

 

[atb2828]

Your story is interesting. I agree with Swartzlehman... You definitely need to gain more experience in the medical field. Maybe even apply for a job at a hospital, or gain a CNA or phlebotomy certificate? I was planning to do phlebotomy because even the job I have (in a clinical histology lab) is still not enough "clinical experience". I never see patients, and one of the residents I shadowed said it's best to work around people or volunteer in the ED.

The GPA you have isn't terrible, but try to shoot very high on the MCAT. Good luck 🙂

 

[oceanillusion42]

Keep your grades up for the remainder of college... you're GPA isn't going to preclude you from getting in somewhere. However, that being said, you need to nail the MCAT as was said above. Study hard, do it once and do it right. A solid score on the MCAT will give your overall application a boost.

Try to gain as much medical experience as possible from now until you apply... since you are involved with police-type work, maybe becoming an EMT would be of some interest to you? Still get to be "in the field" but also gain experiencing with not only patient interaction but actually TREATING the patient. Becoming EMT certified would also convey that you are motivated and took initiative in gaining a form of medical education.