Where do I go from here? (grad school-->med school)

[jmccue7]

I know there are probably a ton of posts about "what should i do" so I'll try and keep this short. Here are the facts:

1. Graduated with a B.S. in Biology (minor in chem and govt) with about a 3.25 cum. GPA and a 3.0 math/sciences. (science GPA brought down by C in botany course). Went from wanting to do grad school to wanting to do med school about a year ago.

2. Worked last two years at Uniformed Services University for a nonprofit doing proteomics and core research (mass spec, HPLC, etc.) Got my name on a few posters and hopefully by the time I leave this summer will have completed my own project for publication.

3. Taking MCAT prep classes to take MCAT late summer. Apply to school next year for Fall 2009.

4. I'll be volunteering in an ER within the next couple months.


questions:
1. This intramural program I am participating in ends in july/august. What should be my next position to advance my application? I'm thinking some place clinical, but don't know what I'm qualified for.

2. What should I do about my GPA? Is it really worth trying to adjust?

3. Will I be competitive at all?

4. Any other suggestions to improve EC's?

Thanks for just reading this! I truly appreciate any help you all can give me.

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[Wanna_B_Scutty]

I know there are probably a ton of posts about "what should i do" so I'll try and keep this short. Here are the facts:

1. Graduated with a B.S. in Biology (minor in chem and govt) with about a 3.25 cum. GPA and a 3.0 math/sciences. (science GPA brought down by C in botany course). Went from wanting to do grad school to wanting to do med school about a year ago.

2. Worked last two years at Uniformed Services University for a nonprofit doing proteomics and core research (mass spec, HPLC, etc.) Got my name on a few posters and hopefully by the time I leave this summer will have completed my own project for publication.

3. Taking MCAT prep classes to take MCAT late summer. Apply to school next year for Fall 2009.

4. I'll be volunteering in an ER within the next couple months.


questions:
1. This intramural program I am participating in ends in july/august. What should be my next position to advance my application? I'm thinking some place clinical, but don't know what I'm qualified for.

2. What should I do about my GPA? Is it really worth trying to adjust?

3. Will I be competitive at all?

4. Any other suggestions to improve EC's?

Thanks for just reading this! I truly appreciate any help you all can give me.

Regarding your questions:
1. Something clinical sounds good if you can swing it. See what kinds of jobs might be available at your local hospital that require minimal certification (phlebotomist? ER tech? EMT?) and then see about getting the relevant certification from your community college. Alterntively, just getting a job as a Research Assistant at the local university would also be just dandy, provided that you continue to volunteer in the ER.

2. Your GPA is not good. I mean, really not good. In all honesty, I would recommend that you take a serious look at applying to DO schools instead of to MD schools. That said, I would suggest that you take out a calculator and figure out how many courses you'd have to get As in to drag your overall GPA up to 3.5 and your sciences GPA up to 3.4. Then, ask yourself if you can realistically get As in the required number of classes. If yes, go for it, even if this means delaying your application for a year. If no, apply DO instead of MD.

An alternate route would be to do an Special Master's Program (SMP), but these seem to be met with varying success depending on which schools you apply to. The thing is, a lot of schools use a computer algorithm to do preliminary screening based on MCAT score and undergrad GPA. Thus, anyone with a low UG GPA gets tossed out even if they did very well in their SMP. However, the screening at other schools accounts for the SMPs. It's just so school specific that it's hard to make a recommendation either way.

3. Honestly, no. You will not be competitive for an MD unless you make serious changes in your grades. You would be better off applying DO.

4. Do not worry about ECs right now other than to ensure that you have some clinical experience (which it sounds like you're getting). Your grades are the weakest link. Fix the weakest link.