When should I apply to St.George?

[texasholdems]

Hey guys
I graduated from top 30 US university with B.S Neuroscience
Did a post bac year to improve sciences for a year
I have ~3.5 overall GPA, and ~3.4 sGPA. MCAT is 22.

I am applying to MD programs, but my MCAT is low and I don't know how many MD schools will accept January MCAT updates.
I am in process of "thinking" about DO schools, and probably will end up applying to several programs.
this is my MUST situation: I have no option to "wait out a year", I must start next year, 2014, one big reason why I need to apply to Carribean

I want to apply to St.George. I have everything, transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays. But I am retaking MCAT in January 2014.

Do I have chance to get in with current stats?
Part of me thinks I want to apply now and set my "safety", but part of me thinks I want to wait out for a while until MCAT is done..probably apply in Feb 2014.

What's your comments?
thanks!

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[Top Gun]

Hey guys
I graduated from top 30 US university with B.S Neuroscience
Did a post bac year to improve sciences for a year
I have ~3.5 overall GPA, and ~3.4 sGPA. MCAT is 22.

I am applying to MD programs, but my MCAT is low and I don't know how many MD schools will accept January MCAT updates.
I am in process of "thinking" about DO schools, and probably will end up applying to several programs.
this is my MUST situation: I have no option to "wait out a year", I must start next year, 2014, one big reason why I need to apply to Carribean

I want to apply to St.George. I have everything, transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays. But I am retaking MCAT in January 2014.

Do I have chance to get in with current stats?
Part of me thinks I want to apply now and set my "safety", but part of me thinks I want to wait out for a while until MCAT is done..probably apply in Feb 2014.

What's your comments?
thanks!

First, retake your MCAT and, if you get a better score, apply to US schools. I think you could get into DO for sure. Failing that, then consider the Caribbean.

 

[pattr]

Unfortunately nothing is "for sure" in medical school admissions (except for Caribbean to a certain extent). OP to put it into perspective with your stats right now you are likely competitive for SGU. However to be just as competitive for DO school you need to retake the mcat for 26+; for an MD school 30+. There are several threads detailing the chances at certain types of residencies for each of these 3 paths. I strongly suggest you use the search function for these threads. In general I would recommend you not begin considering SGU until you've exhausted all your options in the U.S.

 

[bedevilled ben]

SGU has rolling admissions, with classes starting in January and August. You can defer your admission for one term, meaning if you apply now for the January start and get accepted, you can defer your admission and start classes with the August group. Keep in mind that when you start can have an impact on how much time you have to study for the Step exams.

Your MCAT is low but I know some folks down here that got accepted with less, so your chances are good. If you wait until January to retake the MCAT you can probably still apply and make it into the August class, but you may want to talk to an admissions counselor first before doing that.

I just started MS2 at SGU, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[vamp]

Keep in mind that when you start can have an impact on how much time you have to study for the Step exams.

When would you recommend starting?

 

[bedevilled ben]

When would you recommend starting?

There are pro's and con's to both, so I can't really answer that, but I can give you the pertinent info.

SGU has the first two years of basic sciences spread over 22 months that are divided into 5 terms. Terms 1, 2, 4, and 5 are standard 17 week semesters, but term 3 is kind of a screwy compressed term that only runs for 6 weeks. If you start in August, you will finish Term 5 at the end of May of your second year. Most clinical rotations for third year start in July or August, and you have to have taken Step 1. So that gives you about 5-6 weeks of study time. On the other hand, if you start in January, you will finish term 5 in December of your second year. That will give you about 6 months to study for the step before starting your clinicals. I have heard that there are some hospitals that will let you start earlier but I don't have any first-hand information on that, and that would be a good question for an admission's counselor

Depending on your study habits, 6 months to study for Step 1 might be your salvation or it could kill you. Additionally, you will not receive a loan disbursement during that time, so you will have to make financial arrangements beforehand. Finally, there is a 6 month grace period on your student loans. After 6 months, you either need to be enrolled in a clinical program (in which case your loans get disbursed as before) or else you have to start making payments.

One last small thing. If you start in January, because of the way Term 3 has to line up, you will have a 3 month break in the summer between term 1 and term 2, whereas the August class only has 4 weeks (for Christmas). Same as above, depending on how wisely you use your time, that could help you or hurt you.

It's a bit confusing, so if you have questions just let me know.

 

[vamp]

Thanks for the info! Yeah its so confusing, basically term 1 is Jan-May, term 2 is Aug-Dec, term 3 is Jan-Feb, Term 4 is Feb-Jun, and Term 5 is Aug-Dec. You get a summer break of ~12 wks after term 1, winter break of ~4 wks after term 2, and another summer break of ~6 wks after term 4. I don't know if it's a good thing to wait 6 months before clinicals.

 

[whizplusdum]

Hey guys
I graduated from top 30 US university with B.S Neuroscience
Did a post bac year to improve sciences for a year
I have ~3.5 overall GPA, and ~3.4 sGPA. MCAT is 22.

I am applying to MD programs, but my MCAT is low and I don't know how many MD schools will accept January MCAT updates.
I am in process of "thinking" about DO schools, and probably will end up applying to several programs.
this is my MUST situation: I have no option to "wait out a year", I must start next year, 2014, one big reason why I need to apply to Carribean

I want to apply to St.George. I have everything, transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays. But I am retaking MCAT in January 2014.

Do I have chance to get in with current stats?
Part of me thinks I want to apply now and set my "safety", but part of me thinks I want to wait out for a while until MCAT is done..probably apply in Feb 2014.

What's your comments?
thanks!

I am planning to apply to St. George for the August term of 2014. The admission person that I have been in contact with told me that there avg Mcat last year was 27/28. The average GPA last year was 3.6 .
My friend who is currently attending sgu scored a 32 on the Mcat. He was the sole reason why I decided on retaking the Mcat. Because there is an automatic screen that will remove applicants that do not meet there minimum requirements of an 8 on each section he said that because my score break down was an 11/6/11, the 6 basically ruined my chances. Well I got my third retake score back 2 days ago. I ended up getting a 9/9/11. And my GPA is above a 3.6 and my science is above a 3.8. I am not trying to put you down, my first Mcat was a 23, I scored wopping 9/4/10, 4 is from verbal. I do not want you to give up, after my first exam I was devastated, I was doubting my abilities but after hard work and studying, I never expected to score a 9 on verbal.
Also l, I contacted a few DO schools, they mentioned that a 7 was the minimum requirement to get in.LECOM was the only school that responded, "because of your high science scores and GPA you will most likely get an interview."
My other friend got into ROSS with a 25 on the MCAT. There is a reason why ROSS accepts lower MCAT averages, from what I heard, ROSS requires you to take a pre-exam before taking the USMLE, if you do not pass that pre)exam you can never take the USMLE and they have not been able to secure as many residency spots compared to St. George. If you look at the stats for St. George, they have grown a lot and made a name for themselves within the last decade and there stats outshine a lot of US schools.
Just dint give up, keep studying, if you can take a year off, then you should, if you are not willing to take a year off because of pride, then you should not allow your pride to take the best of you. If you need help oj verbal you cab PS me. I actually developed a methis on how I improved on verbal. Plus, I am nit an ESL student which is kind of funny, seeing how I scored a 4 on verbal the first time. Sorry typing this all out on my phone.

 

[Medstart108]

Hey guys
I graduated from top 30 US university with B.S Neuroscience
Did a post bac year to improve sciences for a year
I have ~3.5 overall GPA, and ~3.4 sGPA. MCAT is 22.

I am applying to MD programs, but my MCAT is low and I don't know how many MD schools will accept January MCAT updates.
I am in process of "thinking" about DO schools, and probably will end up applying to several programs.
this is my MUST situation: I have no option to "wait out a year", I must start next year, 2014, one big reason why I need to apply to Carribean

I want to apply to St.George. I have everything, transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays. But I am retaking MCAT in January 2014.

Do I have chance to get in with current stats?
Part of me thinks I want to apply now and set my "safety", but part of me thinks I want to wait out for a while until MCAT is done..probably apply in Feb 2014.

What's your comments?
thanks!

How do you get a 22 MCAT seriously. I have a friend who barely studied a summer didn't even do bio, chem or physics in uni and got a 35 after 1st year. I wouldn't apply until you have your MCAT at least 26.

 

[danny89]

How do you get a 22 MCAT seriously. I have a friend who barely studied a summer didn't even do bio, chem or physics in uni and got a 35 after 1st year. I wouldn't apply until you have your MCAT at least 26.

That's great for you're friend, really. But many have test anxiety, or don't generally do well on marathon exams like the MCAT.

 

[Dentalgains81]

SGU has rolling admissions, with classes starting in January and August. You can defer your admission for one term, meaning if you apply now for the January start and get accepted, you can defer your admission and start classes with the August group. Keep in mind that when you start can have an impact on how much time you have to study for the Step exams.

Your MCAT is low but I know some folks down here that got accepted with less, so your chances are good. If you wait until January to retake the MCAT you can probably still apply and make it into the August class, but you may want to talk to an admissions counselor first before doing that.

I just started MS2 at SGU, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Hey I'm interested in apply to SGU as well, was wondering what my chances are I haven't took the MCATs yet, but I have a 3.4 overall GPA and 3.2 science GPA. Thanks

 

[Hazydance]

Hey I'm interested in apply to SGU as well, was wondering what my chances are I haven't took the MCATs yet, but I have a 3.4 overall GPA and 3.2 science GPA. Thanks

Get it above a 500 and you will be good.