Will I get into Medical School?

[deleted848155]

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Hello,

I recently switched from thinking of applying to optometry School to now medical school. I have already taken the OAT a few months ago and did a little above average. I just don't know if my stats are good enough for medical school. I am just an average student and haven't done much for medical school requirements compared to the extraordinary things my friends do. I graduated with a Bachelors in Neuroscience.

I was a research assistant for a couple of months in a lab in my school, but the research head ended up leaving so it all shut down and I didn't get a chance to get a LOR and she hasn't answered any of my emails or calls in the last year. I have volunteered at nursing homes and hospitals for about 6 months. I am a part of a pre-health/medical professional fraternity. I have worked on a couple of blood drives for American Red Cross. I have worked as an Optical Assistant at an eye doctors office for about a year. I am currently a contact lens specialist at an eye doctors office and will hopefully be hearing back from an urgent care about being a scribe soon. It is too late to apply to any sort of masters programs so I can't do that to take more upper level classes. I have not taken MCAT. I would only do so if these stats are even slightly good enough to get me in to a decent medical school. I'd like to go to SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, SUNY Buffalo, Stony Brook, or NYIT. But, I know those are incredibly difficult. I would like to go to an East Coast school. I don't have any of LOR from a physician at the moment, I don't have any other clinical/research experience besides the little I have done. My parents are too strict to send me on a medical abroad mission trip.

CGPA: 3.44
SGPA: 3.2

I had a rough start to college and unfortunately that is when I took my major science classes. But I do have an upward trend, granted I took less sciency classes. Here are my science classes and my poor grade classes:

Freshman year (Community College) :
- Bio1 A-
- Chem1 B, Chem Lab A
- Bio2 A-
-Chem2 A-, Chem Lab A


Sophomore year (4-year institution):
- Anthropology: C+
- Orgo 1: B
-Psychstats: B
- Molecular Genetics: C
-Orgo 2: B-
-Orgo Lab: A-
-Physics A-
-Neurosceince B

Junior year:
- Anatomy B-
- Microbio B
- Physics 2 A-
-Genes & Heredity B+

Senior Year:
-Micro Lab: B
-Research Methods A
-Forensics A
- Perception A
-History of Psych A

Please be honest. What do you guys think? I know it is hard to tell without MCAT scores.

Also, what should I do to become a stronger candidate? Is volunteering enough? If I get the scribe, is that enough?

 

[BigPremedGuy]

Everyone here's gonna tell you you mostly only have a shot with DOs with that GPA.

A 3.4 GPA isn't unheard of for getting into MD schools, but it's certainly not competitive, and a 3.2 science GPA is kind of a killer. You do have a positive trend though. Scoring in 90th percentile MCAT will raise those odds of MD significantly, but everyone says that—its much harder to actually pull off.

Those GPAs are doable for DO, but sounds like you need a lot more clinical exposure w/ providers before you'd be considered by either an MD or DO school. That includes getting a letter from a physician.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello,

I recently switched from thinking of applying to optometry School to now medical school. I have already taken the OAT a few months ago and did a little above average. I just don't know if my stats are good enough for medical school. I am just an average student and haven't done much for medical school requirements compared to the extraordinary things my friends do. I graduated with a Bachelors in Neuroscience.

I was a research assistant for a couple of months in a lab in my school, but the research head ended up leaving so it all shut down and I didn't get a chance to get a LOR and she hasn't answered any of my emails or calls in the last year. I have volunteered at nursing homes and hospitals for about 6 months. I am a part of a pre-health/medical professional fraternity. I have worked on a couple of blood drives for American Red Cross. I have worked as an Optical Assistant at an eye doctors office for about a year. I am currently a contact lens specialist at an eye doctors office and will hopefully be hearing back from an urgent care about being a scribe soon. It is too late to apply to any sort of masters programs so I can't do that to take more upper level classes. I have not taken MCAT. I would only do so if these stats are even slightly good enough to get me in to a decent medical school. I'd like to go to SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, SUNY Buffalo, Stony Brook, or NYIT. But, I know those are incredibly difficult. I would like to go to an East Coast school. I don't have any of LOR from a physician at the moment, I don't have any other clinical/research experience besides the little I have done. My parents are too strict to send me on a medical abroad mission trip.

CGPA: 3.44
SGPA: 3.2

I had a rough start to college and unfortunately that is when I took my major science classes. But I do have an upward trend, granted I took less sciency classes. Here are my science classes and my poor grade classes:

Freshman year (Community College) :
- Bio1 A-
- Chem1 B, Chem Lab A
- Bio2 A-
-Chem2 A-, Chem Lab A


Sophomore year (4-year institution):
- Anthropology: C+
- Orgo 1: B
-Psychstats: B
- Molecular Genetics: C
-Orgo 2: B-
-Orgo Lab: A-
-Physics A-
-Neurosceince B

Junior year:
- Anatomy B-
- Microbio B
- Physics 2 A-
-Genes & Heredity B+

Senior Year:
-Micro Lab: B
-Research Methods A
-Forensics A
- Perception A
-History of Psych A

Please be honest. What do you guys think? I know it is hard to tell without MCAT scores.

Historically, of all those applying through AMCAS for MD schools with a cGPA of 3.44, about 45% got an acceptance if they had an average-ish MCAT score of 510.

This statistic is somewhat misleading though. It does not specify possible mitigating factors, like Special Masters Program completion with a GPA>3.7, stand-out extracurriculars, non-traditional age, legacy factor, membership in an underrepresented population group, interest in rural med or inner-city med, first family member to attend college, economic disadvantage, people with PhDs, ex-military, participants in Teach for America, AmeriCorps, or the Peace Corps, steep upward GPA trend or a very-high BCPM GPA, and lenient state schools, etc.

You can see historical outcomes for various MCAT scenarios and ethnicity-based stats in this thread: SDN Success Rate Charts - 2017 Edition

 

[candbgirl]

Depending on your MCAT score you’d probably be okay for DO schools. And as you said, we don’t really know until you have a MCAT score. You need to figure out your ECs too. You need roughly around 150+ hours of clinical experience(direct patient contact). You also need around 150+ hours of nonclinical volunteering with the unserved/underserved in your community. This means service to those less fortunate than yourself. You also need around 50 hours of shadowing a physician including a good bit with a primary care doctor. You might have some of this done but you need to sort it out. We can’t really tell from all you wrote. Oh, you don’t need a medical mission trip. In fact these types of trips are not looked at positively by ADCOMS. Your ECs are best done in the US.
A year or two of a DIY post bacc classes might help you out. Look into taking upper division science classes..