What should my application focus on?

[tedwilliams1999]

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Hey guys,

Here's my story... It's a little unusual but I hope you like it! 🙂


In high school, I was one of those nerdy kids who was able to keep up perfect grades and get a pretty good ACT score (34) by doing the bare minimum. The idea of doing home work never appealed to me, and so I would always get stuck with A-'s instead of A's but it didn't matter back then. I was, however, super competitive in clubs (like science bowl, scholastic bowl) and in classes (like biology, chemistry, physics) that interested me. I did really well in those geeky things like math team, science bowl, scholastic bowl.

But I was also incredibly shy and a little awkward socially. I had several friends, and everyone liked me, but I was only close to a few people. I was more of a follower than a leader, and I hated it. Another unfortunate side effect of being shy is not being good with the ladies. I knew at some point I would have to stop being shy and improve my people skills if I wanted a girlfriend. So once college started, I read a few books on dating, psychology, and social dynamics. I threw myself into leadership roles, volunteered as much as possible, started partying, and basically tried to surround myself with people. Practice makes perfect, so I worked hard to try to remove my shyness from my personality.

So in these past 3 years, I have completely transformed myself mentally. The shy, awkward dude from 3 years ago is gone. Now I have complete confidence in myself and I have gotten very good at interacting with both women and men. I forced myself to become a leader, and now my friends call me instead of the other way around.

Here's the catch though: along the way, my grades suffered. I wasn't used to juggling having a social life with my school work, so it took me a while to get used to that. I still did okay, and maintained a ~3.0 average through my first 2 years, but obviously that doesn't cut it for medical schools. Things finally started clicking after I got a 2.84 gpa during my 2nd semester of sophomore year (One of my college friends passed away right before finals week in a freak accident). In the 2 semesters since then, I've had a 3.5-3.6 gpa despite taking almost all science courses.

I'm positive that I want to go to medical school, and I'm sure that I can do very well if I get in. My MCAT score was 32, but my cGPA is still a 3.39 and my sGPA is just a 3.0.


So finally (yay!) here's my question:

Should I base my personal statement on my metamorphosis during my college years? I picked molecular biology and chemistry as my majors because I liked the subjects, not particularly because I wanted to go into medicine.

At the start of college, the idea of going to medical school sounded interesting, but I wasn't sure I wanted to sacrifice what little social life I had to study for medicine. Now I know without a doubt that this is the field I want to go into, and I know I'll be able to manage my time accordingly.

I'm a completely different person now, and I feel like that should be the theme of my personal statement.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for anyone who read the novel!

 

[Shaq]

ok med school is filled with people who can pull a 3.7 gpa in molecular biology and chemistry in their sleep.

you don't need to be an outgoing person to be a doctor. as long as you are mature, intelligent and determined you can do it. it seems like you mixed up your priorities in college. if you really felt that you worked hard and despite that you were only able to get a 3.4 gpa, then maybe this isn't the profession for you. im not saying you cant get in with your numbers, but you will find that it will be extremely difficult

im sorry if this sounds harsh, but it really is the reality of the situation.

now to actually address your question - i think you should focus on why you want to go to medical school and what changed your mind from your slacker mentality to someone who really wants to go into medicine. was it an experience in the hospital, some volunteering exp, etc - FOCUS on that. maybe discuss your personal metamorphosis, but only how it sheds light on why you want to go into medicine and why that makes you a good candidate for medical school.

like i said earlier, your stats put you at a disadvantage, but that doesn't eliminate you from the running. just prepare for the worst case scenario of not being accepted and plan some back up career choices.

 

[riceman04]

ok med school is filled with people who can pull a 3.7 gpa in molecular biology and chemistry in their sleep.

you don't need to be an outgoing person to be a doctor. as long as you are mature, intelligent and determined you can do it. it seems like you mixed up your priorities in college. if you really felt that you worked hard and despite that you were only able to get a 3.4 gpa, then maybe this isn't the profession for you. im not saying you cant get in with your numbers, but you will find that it will be extremely difficult

im sorry if this sounds harsh, but it really is the reality of the situation.

now to actually address your question - i think you should focus on why you want to go to medical school and what changed your mind from your slacker mentality to someone who really wants to go into medicine. was it an experience in the hospital, some volunteering exp, etc - FOCUS on that. maybe discuss your personal metamorphosis, but only how it sheds light on why you want to go into medicine and why that makes you a good candidate for medical school.

like i said earlier, your stats put you at a disadvantage, but that doesn't eliminate you from the running. just prepare for the worst case scenario of not being accepted and plan some back up career choices.

bwahahahahaha...ohhhhhhhhh premeds. Shaq you speak as if you have experience on an med school admissions committee. Oh wait, maybe your father or step-mother's third cousin's baby's father was on a med school admissions committe, and you heard him say XYZ about the application process 🙂rolleyes:). Clearly you are completely reliant on numbers you have seen on websites or in the MSAR to formulate your completely biased and INSIGNIFICANT opinion! I understand you are trying to "help" (please notice the quotes), but you ARE NOT! You would have done well by simply answering his question instead of speculating whether or not medicine "is the right professoion for the OP." Please do us all a favor and take your thick skull out of your arse: it is not cute and it fact it smells even through my computer!

ANYWAYS, to the OP:

Yes, you may find that when you apply some schools will immediately question both your science gpa and cumulative gpa and MAY even screen you out of their application pool. HOWEVER, most schools WILL NOT and will look closely at other key and (possibly endearing) components of your application. That being said make sure everything else in your application is stellar. Schools will recognize the positive trend in your GPA (so that's a plus). In terms of what to focus on in your application, DO NOT waste your time talking about how much you were a SLACKER and not able to balance having a social life with school. Don't waste space on your application talking about that madness. I would not even focus on your friend's death. It will be quite evident that something clicked and influenced you to "get it together."

Instead use that space to talk about whatever has specifically driven you to pursue medicine. Use the application to give the adocomms (admissions committee members) an insight in to who YOU are as a person and WHY you want pursue this rewarding, yet very challenging career.

If you feel obligated you can always submitt an addendum to your application (in the form of a letter) thanking the committee for taking the time to read your application and also showing your recognize the "blemish" on your early college grades. If you do that, DO NOT make excuses. Be honest about the past...own up to your mistake and also show that you recognized your need to improve.

Another option for you to pursue is a POSTBACC program or just take extra upper level science courses. A postbacc program WILL give you the opportunity to further demonstrate your ability to handle the rigor of medical school (and believe me it is NO JOKE...and slacking off WILL NOT cut it). Furthermore, this will give you extra time to prove to yourself and to the adcoms your desire to pursue medicine (through clinically related activites as well as other activities predicated on benevolence and/or research).

Lastly, during the app cycle APPLY TO WHERE YOU WANT TO ATTEND. Those numbers you see listed (the same ones Shaq probably blindly considered when giving you such imbecilic advice) represent class means and medians. People get accepted to awesome medical schools with lower numbers all the time (granted a few percentage get accpeted..but it does happen). IF YOU WANT SOMETHING BADLY ENOUGH YOU WILL WORK FOR IT!

In this not I am definitely not trying to sugar coat anything. It would be quite remiss of me to do so. Your road is going to be challenging (as Shaq suggested), but recognize there definitely can be a NICE bright light at the end of the tunnel! The reason why I find it unecessary to even respond is with a pseudo-diatribe is because I think you are aware of your current situation and are simply asking for a little more guidance. There is no need to be negative towards you or even speculate as to whether medicine is the profession in which YOU belong. Shaq simply needs to grow a pair

Best of luck to you OP...You do have a tough road ahead, but with persistance, faith in your abilities, and more hard work you WILL get accepted to med school


Back to the annoying imbecilic premed known as Shaq: It will be very interesting to see between the two of you who ends up accepted to their choice of medical school. You wreak of hubris/arrogance so much I would not be surprised if "rejection" becomes your middle name. But hey...it might do you some good!😎

 

[tremulousNeedle]

While I am not sure I would be as harsh towards Shaq as riceman was, I do agree with his advice to you, the OP.

Your personal statement should be whatever you want it to be, this is your opportunity to tell your story (or any other story you want to tell). After reading numerous PS's in preparation for interviewing applicants here are some pointers: Please be organized. Make sure the flow is good. Please have an objective pair of eyes critique the content and proofread the grammar and spelling. Don't be boring. Don't be pretentious. Don't be arrogant. Don't be controversial. And don’t feel the need to use all 5300 characters (if you can say something in 7 words instead of 11 words, go with the 7 words).

Your thoughts of writing about personal change is fine, just try to follow the rules above as well as any other trustworthy advice you find regarding PS's.