What do you think?

[dumbest premed]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Besides for my advisor's opinion, I would like to get a few impartial inputs on my chances of acceptance into a medical school for next year's application cycle.

As some of you may know, I am a junior in a New York State university pursuing a biochem major. My path for getting there was somewhat...unconventional...though. During my senior year of high school i was in the top 10% of my class and got several acceptances to excellent colleges and universities. Due to a terrible fight that I was having with my parents at the time, I decided to drop out of high school a few months before graduation...and therefore never graduated from high school nor got a diploma...stupid move, I know. There's a lot behind it though. That summer i took the GED and then enrolled in my local community college for a semester. I then tranferred into a state university, which I am currently attending.

My GPA that I will submit to amcas will be around 3.5-3.7(depending on this semester) and I will be taking the MCAT next month. I'm expecting to get a 30-34, juudging from the many practice exams that I have tried. I also have several hundred hours of hospital volunteer work and a year of EMT experience. I have 6 months of research and am good at writing essays.

With these stats do you think that my high school history will come up a lot on interviews? I don't really have a "good" reason for dropping out so I'm kind of worried about how the adcoms will look at this. I know about the whole interview process and how it works, but do any of you think that with these stats and circumstances I will have a problem gaining admission into med school? I would be happy in a state or private institution, so which type of school do you think would be more understanding of my situation? I don't want that stupid decison from 3 years ago to mess up my future plans, so I'm in quite a dilemma here.

 

[dynx]

Don't mention it and it won't come up. Your HS sats are not on the application so don't worry, just don't write and essay about it if you don't want it known. Your numbers are very good now and if you can pull a 30+ on hte MCAT you are right in the running. Clearly if you can indeed get those numbers you are not the dumbest premed although you have had some dumb posts in the past. Good luck and don't dwell on your chances with numbers like those, you piss off people who are really on the border of getting accepted. Again, good luck I am sure you will make it.

 

[Bostonienses]

To be quite honest, your high school grades won't show up on AMCAS or anything. So it's not like your interviewer will see that you are in the top 10% of your class and then suddenly decided to go to a community college. The reason why you transferred from the community college is because "you knew you could do better and wanted to be in an evironment that provided you with the right resources" and if he asks you why you attended community college in the first place just say that you were going through a personal hardship during your senior year and you realised that you needed to come to terms with that before getting into college. So the community college was a way that you could "take a break" for yourself without taking a full break from your education. I wouldn't mention the fight with your parents. Good luck

 

[dumbest premed]

Sounds good then. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[zingyraindrop]

While it is true that your high school stuff will not be questioned beyond the school name and dates......But if this experience was something that made you change for the better in terms of value system or self worth (e.g. if you were standing up for something/someone/yourself and therefore had the confrontation). Then I would value it as growth factor and can be a good platform for you to convey what you are all about. And you did say you are good at essays.....just something to think about if that whole altercation did make a difference towards shaping the "you".

good luck
zingy