wondering

[greentea]

My friend asked for my opinion the other day about whether to apply for med school, and being that I've never applied to medical school before, I wasn't sure how to answer. Since all of you have much more experience than I on this matter, I thought I'd turn to this forum.

My friend wanted to apply for med school this summer as a "trial" because she feels that she will not be able to be accepted anywhere, but still wanted to get the experience of applying and stuff. Is this a good idea? The reason why she feels that she will not be able to gain acceptance anywhere is because she has an incredibly low GPA and a not so good MCAT score. But, she has published 2 papers...even one as lead author...and has gotten a near 4.0 as a graduate student.

Is applying for med school as a "trial" a good idea? Or should she just go for it?

Thanks for your help!

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[hellokitty]

Does your friend have at least $2000 and countless hours (for filling apps)to waste? If she wants to go to medical school, she should be serious about it and aim to get in. It is not a fun process.

She improve her weak points and apply when she is ready. It seems as though she has improved alot since college and that will help her. If she wants to apply this year, maybe she should start studying and retake the MCATs in August.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

I think that it would be an incredible waste of money to do a "trial" application. Your friend should improve her MCAT score, do some clinical/volunteer work, and be prepared financially to invest heavily in applying in a couple of years. Oh yeah, and make sure that medicine is "for her".

 

[lilycat]

It is really unwise to apply as a "trial run" -- waste of money, time, and can be potentially detrimental in the future. A lot of schools keep previous applications on file for a couple of years, and if you reapply, they expect for something to have changed significantly for you to be reconsidered for admission. She should apply only once she is serious and ready about the process. If she has a low MCAT, she should definitely retake it, and make studying for it her main priority during that time. As for the GPA, it depends how low we are talking. If it's below a 3.0, she probably is best off taking a post-bacc program -- I know it seems like a step back after being a grad student, but she needs to prove that she can handle med school-level coursework -- there are some people out there who believe that there is significant grade inflation with graduate programs, so "close to a 4.0" may or may not be impressive. I'm not trying to belittle anything she has done, but just want to point out some of the criticisms she may face when applying.

 

[greentea]

I think the reason she has counted out retaking the MCATs again is because she has already taken it 2 or 3 times (I forgot how many). How many times can she take it? Can taking the MCAT too many times hurt her?

How any years of post-bacc classes should she take?