what do you think my chances of getting into medical school are?

Question

So I started my community college with kind of a rough start. I have about a 3.2 (or something to that effect) science GPA. I was unfocused and my classes were relatively intense given my lack of dedication (gen chem, lower division bio). Im currently attending UC Davis, and I have managed to perform an about face in my academics. Im spending about 4-6 hours a day studying now, so I expect my grades to go up. I have a high gpa in my non-science general ed, which I finished at community college. I worked all summer for UCSF, and ill have two research publications soon. (1st author on one of them). Im an eagle scout. Im taking neurobiology this semester and its not easy. I intend on minoring in anthropology to buffer my incredibly low GPA. Im going to start studying for my MCAT soon , so I can take it this summer. i have yet to finish my Physics/Inorganic series and all upper division reqs. I can write one hell of a personal statement. What do you think. I want to go to a good university

is it at all possible to get into any reputable med schools at this point? Im taking about a 4.0 or close to it, from here on out. I dont want to go to a DO school or some sub-standard med school. I know, at this point, im going to have to compromise somewhat, but i have a lot of units to go. Is there anyone out there who can shed some light on this situation.

Answer 1

What, do you think you're the first person who tanked their first year in college? I know many doctors who have worse stories than yours. Read that last sentence again.

Recent studies indicate that the MCAT is the best indicator of how well a person will do in med school. Before you take the exam, you need to take a lot of practice exams to become familiar with how the questions are asked and to assess how well you will do on the actual exam. Knowing you're going to do well on the actual exam eliminates the anxiety about the exam and actually improves your score.

The Association of American Medical Colleges offers several practice exams, as does Kaplan (and there are several others on the web). The AAMC's are here: https://services.aamc.org/Publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Catalog.displayProductList&queryType=TC&chr_id=22&cfid=1&cftoken=91B783B6-F04C-4DB3-92B0B02582D09252

Answer 2

Your animal clinic experience won't help you with a medical school nor will working as a life guard. You would be better off devoting that time to more volunteer work in a hospital or clinic. A better thing to do over the summer would be to see if you can get involved in a research project. Grades and scores are not a guarantee of being accepted into a medical school, but they certainly are required. You might consider shadowing a few physicians in specialties that interest you. Letters of Recommendation from physicians who know you carry more weight with an admission committee than LoR's from instructors. Best of luck!

Answer 3

TCM
If your MCAT scores are high enough, you'll have no problem. So - make sure they are and study your keister off preparing for it when you take it. If you don't do very well - study hard and take it again. If you do ok but not fabulously, look at D.O. school. They have full practice rights just like MD's and in reality, the education is so similar anymore that it won't make any difference once you are practicing. You'll hear differently from some people but if it were that big a deal, the insurance companies and hospitals wouldn't let them do surgery and take care of dying people.

If you want to be a doctor bad enough, be a doctor. Don't let the fact that Harvard Med school won't let you in stop you altogether. Zillions of great doctors come from regular med schools. Once you get out, nobody is going to care about anything but are you a good doctor, and your paycheck won't be split with your school, so just study like hell, get in where you can, work like a dog for several years, and you'll make it.

- good luck
Kevin

Answer 4

Not all medical schools base their entrance on grades or MCAT results alone. McGill University in Montreal (internationally renowned for its medical school specifically) takes into account much more than just grades. They look for stand-out experience (such as a summer internship in a hospital abroad - South America has many such opportunities), extra-curricular activities that show dedication and promise in useful areas, and of course they take into account your personal statement very seriously.

To find out specific entrance requirements for medical schools you might be interested in, visit their web pages. They usually list their accepted applicants' highest & lowest GPAs, MCAT results, etc. to give you a better idea of what you're up against, and what your chances are.

The important thing is to pull your grades up as high as you can, so that all the other things you do to make yourself appealing to the university are bonuses and not what you'll use to scrape by.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Hello Tash Can Man:

Do you know what they call the student who graduates at the bottom of the class in Medical School?



Doctor.

Keep at it, and you can get in. You might consider public health medicine. My nephew's medical school was paid for by the Department of Indian Affairs, and he had zero debt out of med school. He owes the DoIA 10 years as a physician on an Indian reservation, but they throw tons of money at him and he works only a few days a week. I would guess he makes 10k per month, and has NO malpractice insurance to pay.