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Sorry if this has been a topic recently, I went back 8 pages and didn't see it. I'm 24, with a BA in Psychology from a UC. I graduated with a 4.0 in 2007. I then became a Paramedic, which took a year, and worked as one for a year, during which I decided to return to school to complete the medical school pre-reqs. I'm having to take those classes at a community college though, because unless you are an enrolled student in the major, getting into general chemistry, physics, bio, etc. at the UC is next to impossible since everyone else has priority over you and those classes are highly in demand. I also quit my job as a paramedic, since my company wouldn't let me go to part time for school, and working full time and taking a full class load was just too much. So, I guess my questions are : Will taking these classes at a community college hurt my chances of getting in? Will working as a paramedic increase my chances or since I already have a year of experience, should I just focus on school? Any other advice is also greatly appreciated, on anything related.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 19:43 |
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| # ? Nov 20, 2009 22:17 |
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More than likely will have more luck asking here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=2777787 My admittedly uneducated guess is that a) taking the courses in CC won't necessarily hurt you, but you'd better make sure you have good grades because they'll be looking at your grades in those courses as well as your overall GPA b) any sort of real experience in the medical field is beneficial since it demonstrates that you're familiar with it already.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 19:45 |
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I have no direct experience with this, but from having several friends who have tried to get into med school I can try to help out. 1. All med schools have a limit on the applicants that they can allow into their medical program. This makes it competitive. The better schools are VERY competitive and you probably won't get in unless you score very high on those standardized tests (MCAT's and the like). 2. School doesn't really matter that much, as the standardized tests is what it's all about. There is SOME consideration, like if you go to Podunk Kommunity Kollege and then apply to Harvard or something, but as long as you do well on your standardized tests you should be fine. 3. Working as a paramedic will give you a leg-up on those tests and is considered 'prior experience' so it will favor you in the eyes of others. One problem is that medical students tend to burn out very quickly, and they're more likely to accept people who have been in the field and haven't had a psychotic episode.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 19:47 |
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compshateme85 posted:Sorry if this has been a topic recently, I went back 8 pages and didn't see it. No, CC probably won't make a difference. Yes, it will help quite a bit. Med school adcoms are really starting to accept a lot more alternative students. I'd say at least 50% of my class took at least a year off between undergrad and med school, whether it was doing post-bac or getting a Master's or what have you. You'll get more answers in the med school thread if you ask there, but I would just advise you to cast a wide net. I'm a California resident myself and the UCs are next to impossible to get into. Hope you went to undergrad at one of the UCs with a med school.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 20:25 |
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no, unfortunately I did not. I've also been kicking myself for spending 4 years getting what amounts to a useless degree, but better late than never, right?
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 20:30 |
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Azure Renraku posted:2. School doesn't really matter that much, as the standardized tests is what it's all about. There is SOME consideration, like if you go to Podunk Kommunity Kollege and then apply to Harvard or something, but as long as you do well on your standardized tests you should be fine. This is not really true, the (state) med school that my friend got into is well-regarded, but not Harvard, and still over 3/4 of the accepted applicants were either from the state or went to a very big-name school like Harvard for undergrad.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 20:35 |
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Do really well in your premed requirement classes, as they are going to be very important. Also, being a few years out of undergrad is something that a lot of med schools like to see nowadays as it shows more maturity and genuine interest in wanting to be a doctor. Honestly, the biggest thing you have going against you at this moment in time (assuming you will do well in your classes and on the MCAT) is that you're from California. All of the UCs are notoriously hard to get into, and your primary private schools range from difficult (USC) to near-impossible (Stanford). Premeds who apply from states like Texas or Florida that have tons of mid-tier state schools probably have the easiest time getting into a medical school. Californians, not so much. It Freshens! posted:This is not really true, the (state) med school that my friend got into is well-regarded, but not Harvard, and still over 3/4 of the accepted applicants were either from the state or went to a very big-name school like Harvard for undergrad. Agreed. I'm not sure how high you'd want to be aiming, OP, but I go to undergrad at an Ivy League institution with an extremely well-regarded medical school that publishes their acceptance list every year, and I was fairly surprised to see how incestuous the undergrad colleges were -- 90% of the accepted students were from an Ivy League school, MIT, Stanford, Duke, or an upper-tier public school (Cal/UCLA/Michigan/Virginia/UNC). Of the remaining 10%, I'd say an additional 5% of them comprised of some big liberal arts colleges (Swarthmore/Amherst/Williams) and great private schools like Tufts and WashU. The remaining 5% were random schools with no real geographic bias. That said, when applying, you should explicitly make clear the reason as to why you're taking the classes at a community college and not at a four-year school. I had friends who took classes like Organic Chemistry over their summer at their state schools back home purely out of convenience, and the adcoms raised a big stink as to why they took it there and not at their Ivy League undergrad. You might want to see if there is a premed advisor you can talk to regarding your nontraditional applicant situation.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 22:16 |
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Community colleges are, in fact, frowned upon if for nothing else than people tend to think the classes are probably easier to do well in than at a more competitive university. Considering college grades are one of the factors used to discriminate between applicants, a 3.75 GPA at a university will be light years more impressive than a 3.75 at a community college. It might not be true, but I guarantee that it is a belief entrenched in the medical community. Almost no one I've come across so far in medical school spent ANY time at a community college. There's no magic formula for getting accepted, though. Just do well in your college classes, do well on the MCAT, get a few decent letters of recommendation from college professors, and work on doing things outside of school (volunteer work, shadowing physicians, research projects, etc.).
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 23:19 |
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I would like to go for a UC and take advantage of my residency here, especially UCSF (in my dreams, right), but I think I'm going to try and finish up my General Chemistry and General Physics at the community college, then move home and take everything else at a 4 year that is right over the border in Nevada (UNR). I think that, coupled with my GPA, should balance it out.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 00:14 |
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compshateme85 posted:I would like to go for a UC and take advantage of my residency here, especially UCSF (in my dreams, right), but I think I'm going to try and finish up my General Chemistry and General Physics at the community college, then move home and take everything else at a 4 year that is right over the border in Nevada (UNR). I think that, coupled with my GPA, should balance it out. I'm in medical school at SUNY Downstate in New York and I can tell you that 1/4 of my class is from California and I'm at a state school (meaning it costs more money to go to for anyone without residence in NYC). That is because California schools are hard to get into and the same goes for residency as well. As for your other question: It's generally ok to take a class or two at community college, but it will definitely not look good to take all of your medical school pre-reqs at community college. Your psych GPA will not balance it out in anyway either, as it is your grades in the pre-med requirements they really care about. I would suggest doing a post-bacc in medical studies, which covers all of the pre-med classes, instead of taking them at a CC. That is what everyone at my medical school who was in your situation (graduated college without taking any pre-med classes) did. Working as a paramedic will look good, but your school work should come first, so make sure you can do very well in your pre-med classes. Again I would advise against taking them at a community college, but if that is your only option you should try and 4.0 all of them for sure.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 01:42 |
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^^ Wow you answered a lot of my questions, thanks. This is the perfect thread, I was considering making a thread like this earlier today. I recently went through a pretty life changing experience that has made me want to switch careers and go back to school to become a doctor of some sort. I have a BBA in Finance and a minor in Philosophy. I really don't know much about how one gets into med school besides good GPA and MCAT scores. The problem I have is I graduated with a bad GPA. 2.75 (was a pretty high up school for business undergrad, though) but I didn't try very hard and consequently I am stuck with my GPA and learning what I can do about it. What are my options? I'm going to talk to some recruiters for info but I'd love to get some ideas from you guys. Should I go to another university and get a Bachelor's in Chemistry, Bio or something of the like? How long would that take given I have all my undergrad non essential classes done and assuming they transfer? Have I forever shot myself in the foot with my horrible GPA? What about going to a 2 year nursing school and then doing well on my MCATs, would that get me into a decent school? Really haven't had the time to do a lot of research so excuse my ignorance but I'd love any input people could give me. dongsweep fucked around with this message at Nov 08, 2009 around 02:01 |
| # ? Nov 08, 2009 01:46 |
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dongsweep posted:^^ Wow you answered a lot of my questions, thanks. I'm applying to medical school now, and have gotten into a UC (CA resident). Honestly, from what I've experienced and from what my friends who are also applying to med school are experiencing is it seems that the MCAT score carries a LOT of weight when it comes to getting interviews. My buddy who did well on the MCAT but has a mediocre GPA has about three interview invites so far. Also, many med schools are interested in applicants with research experience, so try and ask your favorite professor if they need anyone in their lab.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 04:10 |
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