• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

No longer competitive for med school. What now?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Honestly, you don't sound like you're ready for med school. Take it from me. I graduated with a 2.6 undergrad GPA. I skipped a whole bunch of finals and got a whole bunch of F's. It was sort of a disaster. My Junior year Science GPA was 0.92. At the time I graduated, I was in no way ready for medical school. I had some thoughts of perhaps doing very well on the MCAT and sneaking my way in, but by the time I was a senior, I knew the dream was over.

Fast forward a couple of years out of college and I figured out that I had been a dumbass all along and decided to go all or nothing for med school. I went and talked to a guidance counselor at a nearby college and started simply taking classes. I didn't do a formal post-bacc program but I do recommend it. I moved back home. I retook most of the prerequisites and did some good research in a lab on campus. I eventually got straight A's, scored a 40 on the MCAT and ended up with a scholarship at a top 20 research school. So it can be done, but it is by no means easy. I only had a few interviews for med school. Most of them were from very decent schools. All of my so-called "safety" schools denied me an interview. I had no interviews from my home state. Yet one school decided I was worth it enough to pay my entire tuition. Go figure. Anyhow, whatever you do, you're going to need to change your habits or your mindset or whatever you need to do to do better.

RBH said:
http://www.aacom.org/about/osteomed/Pages/default.aspx

List of schools: http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Documents/2013cib/2013CIB_whole_web.pdf



There's really not that much of a distinction between MD's and DO's nowadays. DO's get the same training as MD's (aside from OMM-related stuff), can apply for alot of the same residencies, and are just as much qualified to diagnose and treat patients as MD's are. DO schools have basically the same pre-requisite course requirements as MD schools, and although GPA and MCAT requirements are slightly lower for DO schools than MD schools, those requirements are getting higher each year (more so on an individual basis rather than overall):



Despite this, alot of colllege students are so dead set on MD and don't even take the time to properly consider the DO route. I guess part of the reason DO schools have slightly less GPA/MCAT requirements is to raise awareness of their schools and osteopathic medicine in general. Either way, DO's are doctors in the same way as MD's are.
Click to expand...
I work with a lot of DOs at one of the hospitals I work at. DO is a great option, but be aware that you will face uphill battles if you go this route. There is a lot of bias against DOs in many parts of the country, and even from DOs themselves. Patients will ask you what the hell a DO is. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone into a patient's room with a DO and the patient will call me doctor and will ask him what's a DO. It will also be much more difficult to get into the more competitive specialties. My residency program flat out will not take DOs (or caribbean grads) and it's not the only one. Sure, there are DO specific residencies but there aren't that many of them.
 
MThanded said:
My GF who is a current MD PhD told me you can still get into med school.
-Finish out the rest of school strongly(mostly if not all As)
-Post-bac program (specific to med school focused students)
-Spend a lot of time volunteering in hospitals during your free time
-Study like hell for the MCATs
-Go visit med schools and get your name out there. Show you really want it.
-Be strategic about the schools you pick for med school
-You need resume padding such as student involvement


If you want it you can get it.

Do you really want it though? Seems like you are doing this to please some parents not yourself.
Click to expand...

As others have said, you still have a chance with 2 years worth of classes left under your belt if you're just entering your junior year. No one said you are required to apply in your junior year. Plus you could even fit classes in your winter/summer sessions to boost your GPA. Now you just have to decide if this is something you really want. You're obviously on the ground but you're certainly not out of the fight just yet. This is coming from someone who failed General Chem 1, and had a few C+'s in science related classes. After this semester I'll be sitting 3.3 science gap and only graduating a semester late. Nothing to ride home about but i'll definitely be in the pool. I hope to apply to dental school this year.
 
If you want to do it keep at it. You can get in a DO or MD school with B's and C's in undergrad just like you can get in with an MCAT of a 24 or 25. You will have to understand you will have to apply multiple times and continue to improve your application. Applying to med school does not have to end right after you graduate. You will have to do somethings:

1) Mature: Believe it or not but med schools realize there are late bloomers.
2) Get organized and learn how to study: It is a must you will have to prove to admissions committees that you have learned from your past mistakes about studying and have devised a successful way to study that works for you.
3) Use that study technique on the MCAT and rock out: If you can do well on the MCAT it might get you an interview somewhere or a foot in the door. Where you can explain how you were able to turn it around.
4) Write an amazing personal statement and essays: People kind of write this off but you can use it as a way of telling about your growth as a student. They read this stuff and take it very serious.
5) You have to get some experience of some kind: If you are nearing graduating a good thing to do would be to look for a clinical research job. Usually they get you excellent experience. You will also need to volunteer somewhere. Usually hospitals have stuff on their websites.
6) You/when you ever get an interview you have to rock it so they remember you when you apply again.

There are probably more things but I can't think of any.
 
Fast forward a couple of years out of college and I figured out that I had been a dumbass all along and decided to go all or nothing for med school. I went and talked to a guidance counselor at a nearby college and started simply taking classes. I didn't do a formal post-bacc program but I do recommend it. I moved back home. I retook most of the prerequisites and did some good research in a lab on campus. I eventually got straight A's, scored a 40 on the MCAT and ended up with a scholarship at a top 20 research school. So it can be done, but it is by no means easy. I only had a few interviews for med school. Most of them were from very decent schools. All of my so-called "safety" schools denied me an interview. I had no interviews from my home state. Yet one school decided I was worth it enough to pay my entire tuition. Go figure. Anyhow, whatever you do, you're going to need to change your habits or your mindset or whatever you need to do to do better.
Click to expand...
Admissions are so random.
 
Richard Cranium said:
Honestly, you don't sound like you're ready for med school. Take it from me. I graduated with a 2.6 undergrad GPA. I skipped a whole bunch of finals and got a whole bunch of F's. It was sort of a disaster. My Junior year Science GPA was 0.92. At the time I graduated, I was in no way ready for medical school. I had some thoughts of perhaps doing very well on the MCAT and sneaking my way in, but by the time I was a senior, I knew the dream was over.

Fast forward a couple of years out of college and I figured out that I had been a dumbass all along and decided to go all or nothing for med school. I went and talked to a guidance counselor at a nearby college and started simply taking classes. I didn't do a formal post-bacc program but I do recommend it. I moved back home. I retook most of the prerequisites and did some good research in a lab on campus. I eventually got straight A's, scored a 40 on the MCAT and ended up with a scholarship at a top 20 research school. So it can be done, but it is by no means easy. I only had a few interviews for med school. Most of them were from very decent schools. All of my so-called "safety" schools denied me an interview. I had no interviews from my home state. Yet one school decided I was worth it enough to pay my entire tuition. Go figure. Anyhow, whatever you do, you're going to need to change your habits or your mindset or whatever you need to do to do better.


I work with a lot of DOs at one of the hospitals I work at. DO is a great option, but be aware that you will face uphill battles if you go this route. There is a lot of bias against DOs in many parts of the country, and even from DOs themselves. Patients will ask you what the hell a DO is. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone into a patient's room with a DO and the patient will call me doctor and will ask him what's a DO. It will also be much more difficult to get into the more competitive specialties. My residency program flat out will not take DOs (or caribbean grads) and it's not the only one. Sure, there are DO specific residencies but there aren't that many of them.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where you are in the country, but the attitude towards DO's isn't that bad, lol. I'm in Chicago, and this is the DO capitol (the AOA is located here). The overall match rate for DO's (including both ACGME and AOA match) is about 90%, which is only a bit below MD's 93%. I've worked with MD's (no lie) and people thought I was the doctor. That's just patient ignorance. While there are a few MD residencies that are probably out of reach for DO's (Dermatology, Orthopaedic surgery, ENT, oncology radiology, other surgeries out of general etc.), most are fine. I believe about 50% of DO's now go into specialties outside of Primary Care (or at least close to that number).

The DO match rate in ACGME this year was about 76% (over all match rate of 90% when taking AOA and ACGME into consideration). That 76% is MUCH higher than Carib grads (which is lower than 50% now). DO match rates in ACGME are also going up, not down.

EDIT: BTW, going by your story, you were probably at one of the top programs in the country.
 
SoulPlaya said:
I'm not sure where you are in the country, but the attitude towards DO's isn't that bad, lol. I'm in Chicago, and this is the DO capitol (the AOA is located here). The overall match rate for DO's (including both ACGME and AOA match) is about 90%, which is only a bit below MD's 93%. I've worked with MD's (no lie) and people thought I was the doctor. That's just patient ignorance. While there are a few MD residencies that are probably out of reach for DO's (Dermatology, Orthopaedic surgery, ENT, other surgeries out of general etc.), most are fine. I believe about 50% of DO's now go into specialties outside of Primary Care (or at least close to that number).

The DO match rate in ACGME this year was about 76% (over all match rate of 90% when taking AOA and ACGME into consideration). That 76% is MUCH higher than Carib grads (which is lower than 50% now). DO match rates in ACGME are also going up, not down.

EDIT: BTW, going by your story, you were probably at one of the top programs in the country.
Click to expand...

I'm a PGY3 in orthopaedic surgery, and I do know there are excellent DOs. AFAIK, the midwest is much more accustomed to DOs, and there's not really much of a difference out there. The Osteopathic orthopods in Chicago have an excellent reputation. Unfortunately, there's just a lot of elitism in this field as a whole. A lot of DO students that rotate through here want to get into MD orthopaedic programs and it's simply tough. It's a little disheartening to tell an excellent student not to bother applying to this residency because you won't get in. The funny thing is, I'd guess that orthopaedic surgery would be one field you could make good use of OMM, but every DO orthopaedic resident I know has stopped using it.
 
As many have suggested, DO may be an option. Consider nursing school after you graduate, PA, or even MPH and work in administration. Get your GPA up though, you need at least above a 3.0 for all the above options. You still have time.

I'm not sure if this will make you feel any better, but I graduated in the top 10% of my class at UC Berkeley, received quite a few awards in my field (non-medical), scored a 37R on my MCAT, and yet I have only been waitlisted (I am also non-traditional, and apart from a year volunteering in a hospital, I don't have a lot of "relevant" medical experience, which I am assuming is the major reason - plus not really having a lot of "safety" schools either, interviewing too late - I fucked up as well, I was too arrogant, it isn't the end of the world, there are always alternatives). Medical school applications are complicated, it's more than just grades and test scores.

Keep your head up, don't get depressed or lose confidence. Learn from your mistakes and improve on them.
 
Richard Cranium said:
I work with a lot of DOs at one of the hospitals I work at. DO is a great option, but be aware that you will face uphill battles if you go this route. There is a lot of bias against DOs in many parts of the country, and even from DOs themselves. Patients will ask you what the hell a DO is. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone into a patient's room with a DO and the patient will call me doctor and will ask him what's a DO. It will also be much more difficult to get into the more competitive specialties. My residency program flat out will not take DOs (or caribbean grads) and it's not the only one. Sure, there are DO specific residencies but there aren't that many of them.
Click to expand...
All true, but I consider the bolded part an inevitability of being a DO and not entirely surprising given the general unawareness of osteopathic medicine.
 
Richard Cranium said:
I'm a PGY3 in orthopaedic surgery, and I do know there are excellent DOs. AFAIK, the midwest is much more accustomed to DOs, and there's not really much of a difference out there. The Osteopathic orthopods in Chicago have an excellent reputation. Unfortunately, there's just a lot of elitism in this field as a whole. A lot of DO students that rotate through here want to get into MD orthopaedic programs and it's simply tough. It's a little disheartening to tell an excellent student not to bother applying to this residency because you won't get in. The funny thing is, I'd guess that orthopaedic surgery would be one field you could make good use of OMM, but every DO orthopaedic resident I know has stopped using it.
Click to expand...
See, I knew you had to be in something super competitive. To be fair, there are actually a good number of Orthopaedic AOA residencies (if you consider that there are relatively few number of DO's), and one would be fine taking those (as long as they don't have aspirations in Academic medicine, as well). Those residencies, however, are difficult to get into, as well. Orthopaedic surgery is incredibly difficult to get into, MD or DO, so a big congrats on getting in.

Strives are being made for DO's every year, bit by bit, but thankfully, I have no intention of going into surgery, lol.
 
Whenever I meet doctors, I always ask them where they received their MD. That way, if they have a DO, they have to go through the shame of admitting it.
 
This is why I am so annoyed by the majority of pre-med students. I'm one of the few biochem majors I know of who has absolutely no interest in medicine which gives me an outside perspective on this.

It's sad that the majority of my classmates just fell in love with the idea of getting a prestigious/high-paying job but then get totally side-fucked when they see it actually takes some work to get good grades. This is the vast majority of my classmates, and apparently that's what happened to the OP.

If you don't enjoy the raping, you don't do it. You don't make excuses. You don't expect to fall gracefully to something else.

OP, this is your opportunity to sit down reevaluate your life. Bitching about nurses just "serving doctors" is in my opinion something a bitch does. I'm seeing you look left and right at carrbean and EMT's and pacemakers and any other fucking thing to get yourself into something"health" related.

What the fuck are you even trying to do with your life? Like seriously, tell me a few accomplishments you want to have by the time you retire.
 
Zhengi said:
Become a dentist or optometrist.
Click to expand...

entering dental school is quite competitive these days... just saying. Anywho if you want med go for it bust your ass and repair that gpa, show your dedication to the career. We all make mistakes, i did, and I am now doing very well in dental school
 
rififi said:
As many have suggested, DO may be an option. Consider nursing school after you graduate, PA, or even MPH and work in administration. Get your GPA up though, you need at least above a 3.0 for all the above options. You still have time.

I'm not sure if this will make you feel any better, but I graduated in the top 10% of my class at UC Berkeley, received quite a few awards in my field (non-medical), scored a 37R on my MCAT, and yet I have only been waitlisted (I am also non-traditional, and apart from a year volunteering in a hospital, I don't have a lot of "relevant" medical experience, which I am assuming is the major reason - plus not really having a lot of "safety" schools either, interviewing too late - I fucked up as well, I was too arrogant, it isn't the end of the world, there are always alternatives). Medical school applications are complicated, it's more than just grades and test scores.

Keep your head up, don't get depressed or lose confidence. Learn from your mistakes and improve on them.
Click to expand...
***thumbs up*** this is an applicant that understands their mistakes and will be in, in no time. Props to you future Doc... and I mean this in all seriousness
 
GreekWolf said:
Switch to nursing and study hard for the MCAT.

Apply to CRNA (Nurse Anesthetist) schools. While highly competitive in their own right, it's nothing compared to most medical schools. A relatively high MCAT, combined with a 3.0+ GPA should get you in the door.

CRNA's earn anywhere from 110k to 180k. Your position in the operating theater will be equally as important as the surgeon. Go for it.
Click to expand...

This. Crazy good pay and you can work anywhere.
 
I heard it is easier to get into med school in the Bahamas? Seems that American students are starting to warm up to going down there instead.
 
GreekWolf said:
Switch to nursing and study hard for the MCAT.

Apply to CRNA (Nurse Anesthetist) schools. While highly competitive in their own right, it's nothing compared to most medical schools. A relatively high MCAT, combined with a 3.0+ GPA should get you in the door.

CRNA's earn anywhere from 110k to 180k. Your position in the operating theater will be equally as important as the surgeon. Go for it.
Click to expand...

I'll second this, my wife is going down this route atm. Money is pretty good, hours are better, and there will be a bigger and bigger need for nurses going forward. If you still need a DR. at some point you could also go after your Ph.D. If you have any questions just post or pm and I'll get my wife to answer them.
 
Ra1den said:
I heard it is easier to get into med school in the Bahamas? Seems that American students are starting to warm up to going down there instead.
Click to expand...

It's definitely easier to get in that way, but going to a U.S. residency after med school is way, way, way harder. Virtually all U.S. residencies will give any U.S. medical student preference over a Caribbean med student
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

AI Is Now Fabricating What "The Public Thinks"
12
341
IAmRei replied
What is the easiest way to retire early now?
2
52
845
jason10mm replied
Hayley Atwell now
2
53
1K
-BLITZ- replied
Danielle Fishel (Topanga) now
39
889
BillMaxwell replied
  • Locked
Man kicked out of a board meeting for asking why the school library has sexual books.
10
336
Meicyn replied
Top Bottom