djo12

[djo12]

i think your MCAT scores are really great and you have great volunteer experience. i heard that med schools will consider improvement trends in your grades (maybe not top med schools, but at least middle tier ones). i think it depends on how many semesters of improvement that you showed. i would ask your pre-med advisor what he/she feels about this.

good luck!

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Originally posted by chuckycheese

From what you say, it seems apparent that you have a great deal to offer and a lot of desire. I don’t think your customer service experience will offer you any advantage but your volunteer work will be very meaningful. I would suggest you apply to a number of medical schools. If you are offered interviews, anticipate any tough questions that you will be asked regarding your past performance. Approach the entire process in a positive and enthusiastic manner and I think you certainly stand a chance of gaining acceptance. Remember, you only need one! Good luck!

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

I think that as long as your are disciplined and take a lot of practice tests on your own as if it were the real MCAT exam, you will be fine. This is what I did without a prep course and it worked out for me.

Good luck!

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Originally posted by migq58

Well… In my opinion… I think you should study the thing on your own. You still have your Bio and Chem books right? It maybe hard if you haven’t studying it since 10years ago, but you may remember the important topics that your teachers emphasized during lecture…
But I am very cheap…. so I won’t pay extra money for a course.

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

I think if a student is disadvantaged, med schools take that into consideration when evaluating your application.

I think D.O schools have averages in the low to mid 20’s and med schools usually expect 29 and above. Your GPA looks really great. I think if you just retake the MCAT again you will be a good candidate. I have a friend who scored a 23 and 25 the first two times and broke 30 the third time! She always told me that 3 was the “magic number.” Good luck and let me know how it turns out for you!

Deva

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Originally posted by wynterbabi

Hello all…here is my situation. I took the MCAT twice- first time I got an 18, the second time I got an 18. My cumulative GPA is 3.7 and my BCPM GPA is 3.6. I managed that while working 40+ hrs/wk. I’ve done everything under the sun except research. My question is what schools will look past that stupid score?[V]

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

Hi,

I am someone who took the MCAT so I would really really recommend that you take as many practice exams as possible. When I first took a practice exam I got a 14. When I kept practicing and took about 10, I was up to a 34! On the actual MCAT exam day, I scored a 31 (Bio -11, Verbal 10, Phys Sciences -10). I always thought I was a horrible test taker but practice really counts.

This is what I would recommend to you.

Retake your MCAT exam and start studying 3 months before. On weekdays cram material and practice verbal passages. Every weekend, try taking a practice MCAT exam. And afterwards, don’t just look at your score. Go over EVERY SINGLE wrong answer, and understand why the correct answer is correct. I believe this is what helped me score above 30.

I would also recommend to you to try to take Kaplan and Princeton practice exams. These are much harder. The Kaplan physics is so hard, that when you take the real AMCAS exams you will be breezing.

Best of luck to you! You can do it– just believe in yourself. Let me know how it turns out,

Deva

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Originally posted by pl4DOwannabe

Hi everyone.I want to apply to med schools,particularly DO schools.My MCAT score was 170.Any advice

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

Thank you very much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I went to the University of Pennsylvania for undergraduate studies and I did my Master’s at Johns Hopkins University.

I think one of the reasons that my GPA from undergrad is horrendous is because my undergrad institution was way too hard for me. I got into Penn based on academic reasons, but I think compared to the other students, I was far less prepared in high school than they were to succeed in science classes. As a result, I really struggled to compete with other kids at Penn when taking science exams. I am not calling myself stupid, but I knew from the beginning I was not as smart as the other kids I was in class with. For me to even achieve a score slightly above the mean was an accomplishment for me.

I am willing to go to any medical school that will take me. Ranking doesn’t matter to me at this point. Any school that will accept me and give me the opportunity to follow this career dream will be enough of a blessing.

Thank you very much again for your advice! I will let you know how this turn out.

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Originally posted by wshelton

Assuming the school from which you received your Master’s in Biotechnology is a reputable institution, my sense is that there are many mid level medical schools that would give you a serious look. You seemed to have made good progress and now have some reasonably solid credentials. If you want to be a physician, my advice is to go for it!
Good luck.
Wayne Shelton, PhD
Senior Consultant
Admissions Consultants, Inc.
wshelton@admissionsconsultants.com

AdmissionsConsultants
http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/medical/blog.aspx
703.242.5885

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

This is to further address the misconception that Carribbean med students are “less qualified.”

I want to provide examples using people that I know personally in order to highlight the ignorance involved in judging a person who went to the Carribbean as “less competent”:

I know a girl who got a 26 on her MCAT and another who got a 24 on her MCAT, both of whom were accepted into U.S medical schools. Neither of these girls were disadvantaged in any way. Neither of them were underrepresented minorities. Given that information, they had HORRENDOUS scores.

On the converse, I know a guy who scored above 30 and went to M.I.T for undergrad and a girl who got a 29 and went to UPenn for undergrad, both of whom went to St. George because they were rejected by U.S medical schools. They had plenty of volunteer experience and extracurricular activities. Clearly, they are NOT less qualified than American medical school graduates. They had really wonderful MCAT scores and went to some of the toughest, most competitive undergrad institutions in this country.

So my point is, if you want to make sane decisions about your future medical care, don’t make ignorant judgements about foreign medical doctors based on generalizations and falsehoods.

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Originally posted by djo12

Hi,

I would like to say that I agree with Angela. If you look at statistics, St. George in the Carribbean has higher MCAT averages and GPA averages than some American med schools, such as Howard University, for example.

I would also like to add that in the med school application process, some really qualified people get rejected and get their medical degree abroad. In fact, I know people from M.I.T and UPenn that were not accepted into any U.S schools and went to St. George, where I know they will become GREAT doctors.

My point is, it is really ignorant and unfair to discriminate against doctors who went to the Carribbean for their medical degree. While some schools in the Carribbean may be out to seek profit, other schools like St. George actually have higher MCAT and GPA statistics than a few medical schools.

I would also like to point out that there are far more residency positions in the U.S than there are seats in American medical schools, so the U.S really benefits from the contributions of foreign medical grads to our society.

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Originally posted by doc2b123

First of all, I don’t think you should always believe everything you hear.
I’d also like to remind you that foreign students take the same exams you take, so on what grounds would you say that US med schools are a notch above foreign schools?
“And would you want someone operating on you if they had an inadequate background and education? I wouldn’t.” Isn’t that what you said? How exactly is it that you determined that we have inadequate background and education? Don’t forget that we don’t practice in the US unless we pass the same exams you do and these standardized exams allow reliable and valid comparisons to be made among students taking the test.

Angela Peters

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Rita Sahai

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Rita Sahai

[djo12]

Hi,

I would like to say that I agree with Angela. If you look at statistics, St. George in the Carribbean has higher MCAT averages and GPA averages than some American med schools, such as Howard University, for example.

I would also like to add that in the med school application process, some really qualified people get rejected and get their medical degree abroad. In fact, I know people from M.I.T and UPenn that were not accepted into any U.S schools and went to St. George, where I know they will become GREAT doctors.

My point is, it is really ignorant and unfair to discriminate against doctors who went to the Carribbean for their medical degree. While some schools in the Carribbean may be out to seek profit, other schools like St. George actually have higher MCAT and GPA statistics than a few medical schools.

I would also like to point out that there are far more residency positions in the U.S than there are seats in American medical schools, so the U.S really benefits from the contributions of foreign medical grads to our society.

quote:

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Originally posted by doc2b123

First of all, I don’t think you should always believe everything you hear.
I’d also like to remind you that foreign students take the same exams you take, so on what grounds would you say that US med schools are a notch above foreign schools?
“And would you want someone operating on you if they had an inadequate background and education? I wouldn’t.” Isn’t that what you said? How exactly is it that you determined that we have inadequate background and education? Don’t forget that we don’t practice in the US unless we pass the same exams you do and these standardized exams allow reliable and valid comparisons to be made among students taking the test.

Angela Peters

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Rita Sahai

[Author]

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