General Advice / Schools / best path / post bacc / masters? ahhhhhh!

[BennieBlanco]

Hi, my name is Ben and I've decided to start to pursue a medical career and become a physician.

I was curious if I could get some advice on general questions I have in creating the best possible med school app.

So I would really appreciate your input because there are a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum.

My outcome is to get accepted into the best possible allopathic school.


I have read through threads on studentdoctor.net for about 5 hours and have a good feel on what I need to do, but still I have a some specific questions, first though I will give you some background on my academic history/work history.

-1st Year attended University in CA.
-3.4 overall GPA

2nd year got pretty ugly, moved back home and took both community college and local university classes. (I decided to become an actor and was enrolled in acting/theater classes)
-GPA very low, didn't really attend classes so there were a lot of W's (withdraws) yet a few profs kept me enrolled, giving a few Fs... Overall 1 semester with 1.9 GPA (at local university) and a couple Fs at comm college.

Moved to pursue acting in NYC, then LA. This was a few years, eventually I just went back to school to get a degree.

Return to school around 23 years old. Had 4.0 at community college (60 units) then went to local university, had excellent grades for 1 year then slacked off, ended with a 3.2 and a B.A. in communications. Graduate at 25

_________________________ _________________________
That gives a good summary of my academic career. I would say my GPA is around a 3.0 to 3.3, which is inflated because of those Comm Coll classes.

So, now I went to work for 2 years as a salesperson/consultant. I'm in the home mortgage field right now, and I have done well but now I am BORED with my career.

This makes me 27 and DESPERATELY wanting to do something that MEANS SOMETHING at the end of day.

I enrolled for my sciences at a comm college but after reading how they are viewed I am withdrawing from O Chem and Phy tomorrow. I guess I will have to wait.

Even after all my research I have a few questions still.


1. If I want to move my undergraduate performance from par 3.0-3.3 to excellent, is a post bacc program or informal post bacc best (even masters)?

(I have read the answer, it doesn't matter, the program is what you make it)

2. I want to have the best possible shot at getting into a school, I live in AZ but am willing to relocate to ANYWHERE. Where would you guys go? I see that Maryland/Washington DC is a rich area with Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Maryland Univ and a few other strong universities in one area.

I understand a common answer is, "it doesn't matter. It is what you make it."

So my real question is, if you guys could move/go to any undergrad which one would it be, or what areas have the strongest medical communities (Boston? MA)

3. What are you guys doing for work? My problem was that most course at Universities in AZ were only offered during the day, that is why I originally was enrolled in CC. If you are taking classes all day, what are you doing for money at night, or are you just living on loans/savings?

4. My fears are that I go take classes and then I don't get in.

Then I start saying, "do I take a masters for 2 years? Enroll in a clinic for another year? Keep applying while improving the little areas I can?" I guess I'm saying, what do you do if you don't get in the first time?

It is a gamble with the amount of time/money involved in the quest to apply. Years and $ go into this, so you don't want to start this journey without a well crafted plan that almost certainly ensures success.

5. I had a B in 2nd semester biology, would you guys retake that?

6. What general advice would you give someone in my shoes? Focus on volunteering? Post Bacc vs informal post bacc, does it matter? Do I have a better shot getting into a great school like Hopkins if I go do my pre-reqs there and get a letter of Rec from a professor there? Am I over thinking it in moving, should I just try to get pre reqs at ASU (local university)?

I want to put together a well rounded app with volunteering, improved GPA, Great MCAT, Great LORs, but I need to know where to start. Are your chances better with the better undergrad schools esp since you can get LORs from that university(i.e. hopkins, georgetown, etc)?

7. Does it matter where you go to med school?

I want to specific do surgery, do I have to go to a great school or is it better to go to a less known school and finish higher in your classes. I've tried to educate myself on how applying to surgical residencies works. I guess you take "boards" and if you do well on those you have a better shot at being a surgeon. How does getting into good residency programs work after you are in medical school?

8. Is it hard to get into these better schools with a B.A.? If I wanted to attend science classes at Johns Hopkins with a 3.2 BA, do they just let you in or do they have a stringent admissions process?

Any all all comments are appreciated! Sorry for the verbosity.

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[njbmd]

First of all, take a deep breath! You have a load of stuff in your past that make you appear a bit scattered even to the best.

You need to gather every transcript that you have from every school that you have attended post secondary, make a spreadsheet and calculate your undergraduate GPA.

Your next step would be to figure out what you will have as some kind of a major. It doesn't make much difference what you decide to study, just pick something that you can do well in and in which you can get your pre-med coursework completed.

If you have an interest in attending a particular university to complete your studies, then you need to get your "happy self" on the internet (not SDN) and find out how you are going to transfer/enter/take coursework. It doesn't really make much difference where you take your coursework as long as your coursework is of sufficient depth and breadth that will enable you to prepare well of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).

You might also stroll by your local library/bookstore and scan/pick up a copy of some of the pre-med information books. Another start would be this site: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine-Premedicine Handbook. This site can answer many of your questions and provide useful information in terms of the medical school application process.

It really doesn't matter where you live in terms of the number of medical schools around. What does matter is your competitiveness for said medical schools. In short, the average uGPA for matriculants in 2007 is around 3.6 and average MCAT score is 31. That's the average for that year. These numbers have been going up every year so make sure you are as close a possible.

Can you transfer into Hopkins? Look at their website and find out. Can you transfer into University of Maryland? Look at their website and find out. In short, you have a bit of work to do in terms of where you stand right now and where you want to go.

Hating your job and wanting to do something meaningful are not particularly compelling reasons for admission to medical school. Get some shadowing/volunteering done so that you have a bit more focus - seems that this has been a bit of an issue in your past. You definitely want to change this for the future. I can tell you from personal experience, that while many people have romantic notions of being a surgeon until they actually have to do it (third year of medical school).

You can become any type of physician from any medical school that you can get into provided you do well once you get there. Rather than focus on the caliber of medical school, at this point, you likely need to focus on just getting your pre-med work completed with a very high level of achievement (no grade less than B+ with mostly As).

 

[BennieBlanco]

First of all, take a deep breath! You have a load of stuff in your past that make you appear a bit scattered even to the best.

You need to gather every transcript that you have from every school that you have attended post secondary, make a spreadsheet and calculate your undergraduate GPA.

Your next step would be to figure out what you will have as some kind of a major. It doesn't make much difference what you decide to study, just pick something that you can do well in and in which you can get your pre-med coursework completed.

If you have an interest in attending a particular university to complete your studies, then you need to get your "happy self" on the internet (not SDN) and find out how you are going to transfer/enter/take coursework. It doesn't really make much difference where you take your coursework as long as your coursework is of sufficient depth and breadth that will enable you to prepare well of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).

You might also stroll by your local library/bookstore and scan/pick up a copy of some of the pre-med information books. Another start would be this site: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine-Premedicine Handbook. This site can answer many of your questions and provide useful information in terms of the medical school application process.

It really doesn't matter where you live in terms of the number of medical schools around. What does matter is your competitiveness for said medical schools. In short, the average uGPA for matriculants in 2007 is around 3.6 and average MCAT score is 31. That's the average for that year. These numbers have been going up every year so make sure you are as close a possible.

Can you transfer into Hopkins? Look at their website and find out. Can you transfer into University of Maryland? Look at their website and find out. In short, you have a bit of work to do in terms of where you stand right now and where you want to go.

Hating your job and wanting to do something meaningful are not particularly compelling reasons for admission to medical school. Get some shadowing/volunteering done so that you have a bit more focus - seems that this has been a bit of an issue in your past. You definitely want to change this for the future. I can tell you from personal experience, that while many people have romantic notions of being a surgeon until they actually have to do it (third year of medical school).

You can become any type of physician from any medical school that you can get into provided you do well once you get there. Rather than focus on the caliber of medical school, at this point, you likely need to focus on just getting your pre-med work completed with a very high level of achievement (no grade less than B+ with mostly As).

Thx for the help.

I do realize that just hating a job and wanting to do something meaningful isn't enough motivation to complete a 10 year process. I just got a bit caught up in explaining my dilemma.

To not sound lame, I've always been fascinated with the cause/effect relationship of our biology and just how this whole system (the body) works with all its unique mechanisms. Plus I really enjoy working with people and as I can imagine, helping fix them. I've tried to read plenty of books to figure out what this is really like (I've read Complications and Better by Atul Gawande and just finished Hot Lights and Cold Steel by Mike Collins, which were all excellent. Next I have a book called Intern and On Call, which were both highly reviewed on Amazon) I'd say in the past months I've wrestled with this idea for 30-40 hours of thinking and planning. It is just so scary but seems to be the ultimate reward

I do plan on having 2-3 years of volunteer experience before I apply, at least 5-10 hours per week. I called the Mayo Clinic in Arizona today to inquire, so I am serious and dedicated... I just want to do it right! Thx again.

As I've been reading on here the last few hours, I've read that a 2nd Undergrad degree might be a better option (since my BA is in communications).

Has anyone quick their job to go to school during the day? The 4 years all have DAY classes and my job is 8-5 or so. So there is absolutely 0 chance to do school and my current job (only problem is that my job pays pretty well, so I've been saving for tuition... I have 20k saved for school so far which probably means nada since we are looking at a 200k tab at the end of this journey)!

 

[BennieBlanco]

I did the math. 3.28 GPA

If I take 40 units with A's that goes to 3.45
If I take 60 units with A's that goes to 3.505