Where am I?

[Astharia]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey there,

I'm having a hard time even calculating my chances of getting into medical school. I have yet to take the MCAT, but I think I'm going to schedule it for this summer, but I'd be taking it without much from orgo, as I need to retake orgo I probably this summer. I'm a transfer student to my university from a community college where my GPA was 3.64. At my 4 year I had one bad semester (C's and one D+) which kind of tanked my GPA sub 3.0. I've worked many hours in 3 hospitals doing registration work over the last 5 years, and I plan on adding volunteering and shadowing on my list. My biggest concern is that I may not find time to fit these two EC's in. My husband is currently a graduate student with a full time career and I have three children at home. We've planned it so that he'll be done with his Master's degree before I enter into medical school, but I'm having a hard time finding time to do EC's while he's in grad school. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm probably going to stick this into my PS so that the schools know that we know how to balance graduate education, but I'm feeling discouraged after a friend of mine who did okay (she says) on the MCAT can't even get into a DO school when she had a 3.8 GPA and years of experience as a paramedic.

Just need some advice/encouragement. Thanks 🙂

 

[GreenDuck12]

There are resources on the Association of American Medical Colleges (https://www.aamc.org/data/facts) that detail acceptance rates based on ethnicity, GPA, and MCAT score. As you will see, the higher the numbers the better, though with medical school admissions, nothing is guaranteed. Around 60% of applicants in any given year do not matriculate to a medical school because of how competitive admissions have become. As for determining your chances, it is hard to do without a complete picture (gpa, mcat, volunteering/shadowing, ECs, etc).

It sounds like you are trying to squeeze everything in to make the next application cycle. I would caution you (and everyone else) against trying to meet an arbitrary deadline (even though it is hard) and only apply when your application is as strong as possible through proper dedication to ECs, post bac classes and MCAT prep. If you are planning on retaking orgo, my guess is that is for a reason and taking the MCAT while retaking orgo may not enable you to be "as prepared as possible" on test day. The MCAT is a test you only want to take once because if you take a retake, your old score will be sent along with your new score. Keep in mind that a competitive score on the MCAT is at or above the top 25% percentile, meaning you should aim for scoring higher than 75% of other test takers.

My advice would be to take the time to finish your pre-med classes, then dedicate several months to study for the MCAT, strengthen the ECs that are weakest in your application and apply when your application is ready. I find myself posting this a lot but it helps me stay focused to remember to "respect the competition." Best of luck to you.

Hey there,

I'm having a hard time even calculating my chances of getting into medical school. I have yet to take the MCAT, but I think I'm going to schedule it for this summer, but I'd be taking it without much from orgo, as I need to retake orgo I probably this summer. I'm a transfer student to my university from a community college where my GPA was 3.64. At my 4 year I had one bad semester (C's and one D+) which kind of tanked my GPA sub 3.0. I've worked many hours in 3 hospitals doing registration work over the last 5 years, and I plan on adding volunteering and shadowing on my list. My biggest concern is that I may not find time to fit these two EC's in. My husband is currently a graduate student with a full time career and I have three children at home. We've planned it so that he'll be done with his Master's degree before I enter into medical school, but I'm having a hard time finding time to do EC's while he's in grad school. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm probably going to stick this into my PS so that the schools know that we know how to balance graduate education, but I'm feeling discouraged after a friend of mine who did okay (she says) on the MCAT can't even get into a DO school when she had a 3.8 GPA and years of experience as a paramedic.

Just need some advice/encouragement. Thanks 🙂

 

[ROSC]

Let me get this right .... you're planning on retaking Orgo this summer AND taking the MCAT which you have yet to being prepping for, and already have a sub par performance in one of the major foundations that leads to the largest portions of the new MCAT- (>50%) Bio Chemistry which you have yet to take.

My advice would be to work on your GPA - retake the courses you scored poorly in. Get settled in a 4 year college, prove yourself. Then develop a solid foundation in your AAMC Science courses. Properly prepare for the MCAT. Gain as much clinical exposure and shadowing hours as possible.

Do NOT take the MCAT until you're ready.

 

[Astharia]

Thanks guys! I've decided to wait a year and apply when I'm absolutely ready, avoiding the stress of applying when I'm not. Hopefully I'll be able to make time for volunteering and shadowing. My husband isn't happy because it's another year with a single income, but he understands.

 

[ROSC]

Thanks guys! I've decided to wait a year and apply when I'm absolutely ready, avoiding the stress of applying when I'm not. Hopefully I'll be able to make time for volunteering and shadowing. My husband isn't happy because it's another year with a single income, but he understands.

The end result would be worth it, but it would be unwise to rush and apply with mediocre or sub par scores. Every one seems to want to apply a year earlier. Just apply when you're ready.

 

[futuremdforme]

Your friend has something else going on in her application... or she lied about her MCAT. Agreed with everyone else, you need to improve your GPA and make sure that you are able to perform in the basic sciences before taking the MCAT. This also gives you plenty of time to do volunteering and a bit of shadowing.

 

[Astharia]

She went to a crappy private school so I think that's why she got passed over. In the last few days since I've decided this, I've been able to sign up as an undergrad TA and I am working on my CV for a summer internship at a local vaccine development company and have shadowing lined up for spring break and possible volunteering opportunity once a month at an adolescent free clinic. I feel better being able to do this stuff instead of spending time studying for the MCAT. Exciting times!

 

[DrMikeP]

She went to a crappy private school so I think that's why she got passed over. In the last few days since I've decided this, I've been able to sign up as an undergrad TA and I am working on my CV for a summer internship at a local vaccine development company and have shadowing lined up for spring break and possible volunteering opportunity once a month at an adolescent free clinic. I feel better being able to do this stuff instead of spending time studying for the MCAT. Exciting times!

I'd bet private school had little to nothing to do with it. With 9000 applications, schools don't have time to deeply contemplate where the 3.8 gpa came from and lots of sorting/filtering gets done by computers. A 3.8 cgpa with a ~2.8 sgpa with an okay MCAT can mean doom. Don't measure your potential success against friends, but use numbers from schools and major application entities themselves.

I agree with others. Take your time and make yourself highly competitive. Get your science gpa up to above a 3.25 or better if possible by making A's to show adcoms you've overcame challenges and have what it takes. It's a marathon and the worse thing non-trads do is treat it like a sprint.