Lets keep it real. How difficult is it really to get into med school?

[freshnikes]

I'm currently in my second year of college as a kinesiology major with an athletictraining option. For the past month or so i've been doing a lot of research about med school and being a physician. It's something that's appealedto me for the past few years but I never thought i'd ever consider it because of the difficulty of it and the years of training. but now that i'm incollege i'm taking it into consideration.



So my question is. Are there any med school students here? How hard was it to getaccepted? Im not looking into getting into Harvard med or anything like that. How was your experience? and how hard is that damn MCAT exam?

 

[justhotkicks]

http://niketalk.com/topic/214418

 

[jetpacunlimited]

Keep your science GPA high and focus on your MCAT

 

[freshnikes]

Keep your science GPA high and focus on your MCAT
how difficult is the MCAT? I know what its made up of. Is it general/basic chem, bio sciences, and physics? Or does it go into a lot moredeatailed questions?

 

[sn souljah]

this is not the forum to ask..most of the ppl on here have little interest on things like this..i would ask this question on message boards likecollegeconfidential.
but to answer ur question..it is hard..plain and easy..i am currently weighing my options when it comes to which medical school i will go to..med schools suchas UofA have a 36% acceptance rate..while Harvard and Yale are <2% ..so it depends on what school your looking for. .i would take AT LEAST 6 months ofstudying for MCAT..and i mean everyday..treat it like a class. and take prep courses..keep ur sci gpa above or around 3.5..do EMT courses..MAcourses..volunteer...learn a second language...all these things HELP..med schools want variety..my boy just got a 38 on his mcat..which is VERYY VERYYGOOD..and he got denied by a few schools due to his plain and boring resume..so spice it up...stay focused..and the required classes for mcat and most medschools are
1 yr bio
1 yr chem
1 yr ochem
1 yr or one sem of physics
Calc (some require..some don't)

good luck

 

[al audi]

Originally Posted by freshnikes


I'm currently in my second year of college as a kinesiology major with an athletic training option. For the past month or so i've been doing a lot of research about med school and being a physician. It's something that's appealed to me for the past few years but I never thought i'd ever consider it because of the difficulty of it and the years of training. but now that i'm in college i'm taking it into consideration.

So my question is. Are there any med school students here? How hard was it to get accepted? Im not looking into getting into Harvard med or anything like that. How was your experience? and how hard is that damn MCAT exam?

you can be my future Doc.

my mom has uconn med connects.....................smh my sis still has to take MCATs again though......all i know as she was cryin when the scores came 30 dayslater but she did more partyin than study.

she said that MCAT review book was nothin like the test

 

[joe camel smooth]

man i used to want to be a doctor. now, hell no. best of luck to all of you though.

 

[shaolin]

Originally Posted by JOE CAMEL SMOOTH

man i never to want to be a doctor. now, still hell no. best of luck to all of you though.

fixed to my standards.

practicing medicine has too much liabilities for me. pass.

 

[recycledpaper]

Originally Posted by SN Souljah

this is not the forum to ask..most of the ppl on here have little interest on things like this..i would ask this question on message boards like collegeconfidential.
but to answer ur question..it is hard..plain and easy..i am currently weighing my options when it comes to which medical school i will go to..med schools such as UofA have a 36% acceptance rate..while Harvard and Yale are <2% ..so it depends on what school your looking for. .i would take AT LEAST 6 months of studying for MCAT..and i mean everyday..treat it like a class. and take prep courses..keep ur sci gpa above or around 3.5..do EMT courses..MA courses..volunteer...learn a second language...all these things HELP..med schools want variety..my boy just got a 38 on his mcat..which is VERYY VERYY GOOD..and he got denied by a few schools due to his plain and boring resume..so spice it up...stay focused..and the required classes for mcat and most med schools are
1 yr bio
1 yr chem
1 yr ochem
1 yr or one sem of physics
Calc (some require..some don't)

good luck

what kinda applicant gets denied with a 38? even someone who does the basic extracurricular +%+@, a 38 will GUARANTEE YOU an interview in most, if not allmiddle-tier med schools and a few upper-tier schools. your friend must've either 1) done NOTHING aside from going to school or 2) called the adcom members+%##%+! and $*+! during his interview

 

[typerpinoy]

Originally Posted by freshnikes

Keep your science GPA high and focus on your MCAT

how difficult is the MCAT? I know what its made up of. Is it general/basic chem, bio sciences, and physics? Or does it go into a lot more deatailed questions?

evidently you don't know what is on the test. you're missing the english and composition components.
and quite honestly if you are already in your second year in college and just now thinking about entering medicine you are way behind the ball. don'texpect to get in right after you graduate. you're almost certainly going to have to bolster your resume and take some time off after undergrad to do so.

 

[nycknicks105]

The guy above is right. It is hard, but he's also right about his friend not having an interesting enough resume to appeal to the interviewer. A lot of thetimes they want applicants who has personality and character, which shows by what you did outside of school. The essay application can really show theinterviewer a lot about what applicant is all about too.

Most of the time, med schools want people who know for sure that they want to become doctors. The chances of you getting in after you take a year or two offafter undergrad helps a lot. In that time you can volunteer or do something else medical related to show the interviewer that medicine is something you reallywant to do.

You do need to have a high GPA, but what they look at first is your science GPA. Also, anything over a 30P is competitive. You don't even need to be a biomajor to get consideration either. Med school's like people who aren't only science major. They prefer to have a little diversity and like well roundedpeople. The reason why they sometimes take a person who majored in English or History or Philosophy is because it shows them that the applicant thinks outsidethe box and their reasoning isn't always black or white.

I'll give one of friends as an example.

She had an 3.4 overall GPA and was a history major. She took all the required science classes to sit for the MCAT's and had a really high science GPA ( Ithink it was around a 3.

. After she finished her undergrad, she went to Africa for three years to join the peace corps. While she was there, she realized howmuch she wanted to become a doctor and help people, so she took the MCAT's and scored a 34p. In her interview she really impressed them with all theexperience she has and her personality/character helped a lot as well. She now goes to Albert Einstein Medical College in the Bronx (It's a top 15 medicalschool in the country).

I have a lot of friends who are currently in med school and I'm thinking about going to med school as well. If you have anymore questions, PM me. I'llbe glad to answer any other questions you might have.

Hope I was some help.

 

[ac4three]

Very difficult. It's very stressful trying to get into a professional school.

 

[blazinrook]

posting for later

 

[freshnikes]

evidently you don't know what is on the test. you're missing the english and composition components.
and quite honestly if you are already in your second year in college and just now thinking about entering medicine you are way behind the ball. don't expect to get in right after you graduate. you're almost certainly going to have to bolster your resume and take some time off after undergrad to do so.


My mistake. I do know what the exam is composed of. I didnt't mean to put those two sentences together. When I mentioned those three subjectsI meant if those went into anymore detail beyond your typical high school courses. I didn't mention the writing portion and the verbal reasoning becausethose are pretty straight forward.
And to be honest I don't think I'm behind the ball. There are people who dont decide to go into medicine until much later in thier education carrer. Ifyou're thinking i have a blank resume thats not the case.

nycnicks105

Thanks for the advice. Taking a year off after my undergrad does sound like time to do some more volunteer work in the medical field. It'ssomething I might consider.

And what about being a physician assistant (PA)? I've read it's basically one step below a regular doctor. Anyone have any experience in that field?

 

[sn souljah]

recycledpaper..

yea he is socially inept..very smart *$@ed kinda guy..pisses off a lot of professors so really couldnt get any letters of rec lol

but he did get into columbia so go figure but idk if he will go cuz $$

 

[tml09]

Just my 2 cents:

It really depends on the Med School you want to get in to. Usually, majoring in anything other than the standard Biology/Biochem will make you stand out alittle more. All you need to do is take the required classes for admission. Keep you GPA up and start volunteering at a local hospital. Narrow your decisionsdown to which med school you want, look at the average GPA, requirements, etc, and work towards it. It is by no means easy, but it is not impossible. Gettinginto a prestigious school is extremely hard unless you have connections, and it never hurts to apply there. I wanted to go, but eventually said f-it, i'mnot that dedicated.

 

[typerpinoy]

Originally Posted by freshnikes

evidently you don't know what is on the test. you're missing the english and composition components.
and quite honestly if you are already in your second year in college and just now thinking about entering medicine you are way behind the ball. don't expect to get in right after you graduate. you're almost certainly going to have to bolster your resume and take some time off after undergrad to do so.

My mistake. I do know what the exam is composed of. I didnt't mean to put those two sentences together. When I mentioned those three subjects I meant if those went into anymore detail beyond your typical high school courses. I didn't mention the writing portion and the verbal reasoning because those are pretty straight forward.
And to be honest I don't think I'm behind the ball. There are people who dont decide to go into medicine until much later in thier education carrer. If you're thinking i have a blank resume thats not the case.

nycnicks105

Thanks for the advice. Taking a year off after my undergrad does sound like time to do some more volunteer work in the medical field. It's something I might consider.

And what about being a physician assistant (PA)? I've read it's basically one step below a regular doctor. Anyone have any experience in that field?

lol of course it goes beyond the typical HS science course. the depth of material tested is beyond your typical college level science course.
now i dont know what the kinesiology curriculum at your school requires but unless you have already taken a full year of intro bio and intro chemistry than,yes you really are behind at this point. those 2 full year courses are only prereq's for the higher level science courses you need to even be consideredfor admission to med school.
if you feel your resume is strong at this point, that's great. but there are always ways to improve on it. but cramming things into you last 2 years ofcollege will not be a good look if you end up having to do that. but what do i know? i was only on my school's admissions committee for 2 years.

 

[biggie62]

I wanted to go through with it. But after taking everything through chem and physics. I said screw it. I couldn't put up with another year of orgo and thenMCATs. I wanted to have more a life.

 

[freshnikes]

Hm. Thanks TypeRPinoY. So I'm guessing the safest route to take is to just take in slow? Thats been my intention. Like I said I'mconsidering it. I don't want to rush into it and have it be something I don't want to do.

 

[typerpinoy]

definitely. i would have been more inclined to consider an applicant with years of volunteer work, medical work experience, published research, and a 27 MCATthan an applicant with trivial amounts of experience and a 35.

 

[NewZ05]

pay cash they'll let u in

 

[adamsd11]

Have you looked into becoming a PA (Physician Assistant) at all?

I'm applying to PA schools right now. They can be just as difficult to get into as medschool, except there is no MCAT, only GRE (only for some schools). Almost all of the schools want patient contact hours, either as a CNA or EMT, (such as myself). Most are Master's programs that last for a full 2 years,some 3. 1 year academic work, 1 year rotations. PA's are listed as the second best job right now in America, (according to CNN). What's great is that you can still have your own patients,prescribe meds, and unlike a doctor or NP, nurse practitioner, you can work in cardiac care for 10 years and then switch to a surgical PA without needing to goback to school... a lot of freedom.

Courtesy of CNN:
[table][tr][th=""]Pay[/th] [th=""] [/th] [/tr][tr][td]Median salary
(experienced)[/td] [td]$90,900[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Top pay[/td] [td]$124,000[/td] [/tr][tr][th=""]Opportunity[/th] [th=""] [/th] [/tr][tr][td]10-year job growth
(2006-2016)[/td] [td]27%[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Total jobs
(current)[/td] [td]82,000[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Online want ad growth
(April 2009-August 2009)[/td] [td]54%[/td] [/tr][/table]
For more info on them, check out AAPA.org site.
Or let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[freshprince]

nothing is impossible. work as hard as possible and think about the pay out

definitely worth the effort

 

[recycledpaper]

TypeRPinoy, you were/are on a med school adcom? i'm gonna be applying to med school this june and if possible, am looking to get some positive criticism onmy resume at this point.

 

[recycledpaper]

Originally Posted by SN Souljah

recycledpaper..

yea he is socially inept..very smart *$@ed kinda guy..pisses off a lot of professors so really couldnt get any letters of rec lol

but he did get into columbia so go figure but idk if he will go cuz $$

columbia is legit. tell him to not even think about the $$ and just take out loans and get to work. he can pay that back easily once he graduatesas an MD. he is going to regret it if he passes up this opportunity to go to a school with as much history as columbia.