Howdy! (as we say here at Texas A&M)
I am currently a second-year college student and will be graduating a year early (in May of 2019) with a degree in health humanities, and minors in English and public health from A&M. I will be finishing up my pre-reqs for DO school post-bacc in the year following graduation and applying immediately after completion. I have many years of experience as a CNA, lots of hours volunteering at a local animal shelter, hundreds of hours shadowing physicians, many summers volunteering on medical mission trips, and impressive extracurriculars...but my gpa may be around a 3.3 when applying. However, I am hoping to do very well on the MCAT.
1) I have college credits from multiple universities (transfer and dual credit). Do all of these grades get factored into the gpa for my med school application? Even the dual credit from high school?
2) If I come out with a gpa on the lower end, are there any recommendations for DO schools that look more holistically at an applicant and would possibly look past this (given a great MCAT score and ECs)?
3) For my post-bacc year, while I'm attending class part time to finish up my pre-reqs, is there anything else you'd recommend I add to my ECs, work experience, shadowing hours, or volunteer experience(is one of those more important than the others?) Is there a job other than CNA that would be beneficial to have on my resume?
4) For those of you that are currently in med school, any ideas of what I should do for the year in between when I begin applying and actually start attending class? (Should I polish up on things for med school or take a break?)
5)MCAT PREP RECOMMENDATIONS? (Should I attempt to take it as practice before I complete all of my pre-requisites even though I won't have covered all of the material in class before?)
6) I know there are only two DO schools in TX, and I'm planning on applying to others but am not sure which ones to consider. Any recommendations for DO schools to apply to in general? Ones with great programs, cool professors, nice locations, interesting differences?
I am currently a second-year college student and will be graduating a year early (in May of 2019) with a degree in health humanities, and minors in English and public health from A&M. I will be finishing up my pre-reqs for DO school post-bacc in the year following graduation and applying immediately after completion. I have many years of experience as a CNA, lots of hours volunteering at a local animal shelter, hundreds of hours shadowing physicians, many summers volunteering on medical mission trips, and impressive extracurriculars...but my gpa may be around a 3.3 when applying. However, I am hoping to do very well on the MCAT.
1) I have college credits from multiple universities (transfer and dual credit). Do all of these grades get factored into the gpa for my med school application? Even the dual credit from high school?
2) If I come out with a gpa on the lower end, are there any recommendations for DO schools that look more holistically at an applicant and would possibly look past this (given a great MCAT score and ECs)?
3) For my post-bacc year, while I'm attending class part time to finish up my pre-reqs, is there anything else you'd recommend I add to my ECs, work experience, shadowing hours, or volunteer experience(is one of those more important than the others?) Is there a job other than CNA that would be beneficial to have on my resume?
4) For those of you that are currently in med school, any ideas of what I should do for the year in between when I begin applying and actually start attending class? (Should I polish up on things for med school or take a break?)
5)MCAT PREP RECOMMENDATIONS? (Should I attempt to take it as practice before I complete all of my pre-requisites even though I won't have covered all of the material in class before?)
6) I know there are only two DO schools in TX, and I'm planning on applying to others but am not sure which ones to consider. Any recommendations for DO schools to apply to in general? Ones with great programs, cool professors, nice locations, interesting differences?
