will i make it to Med School?

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: ArmenK

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
its the end of my senior year in HS, i really want to go into Med School and i will enter Pre-Med this summer, but i dont know if i can do it. here is my accomplishments, do you think i got what it takes to get thru premed and eventually make decent on the MCAT?

ME
Will graduate in May 2004 with highest honors
GPA 4.22
Rank in class 7 out of 137
ACT score 22


my ACT score worries me, but money should not be a big problem for me. are there many doctors with this low of ACT score?

Did you study for the ACT? How many times did you take it? If you studied and took it more than once, then I dont think you have much of a chance of doing well on the MCAT. The ACT is a joke compared to the MCAT. But I believe that with hard work anything is possible so if you really want it, get ready to work your ass off.

did not study, took it in the 10th grade and that is what i made

 

[stormbv]

how many doctors are there on this planet? - K Pax

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: dethman
med school doesn't give a crap about what you did in high school.

EXACTLY

So that might be good news for you as they really couldn't care less about your ACT score. However, you have to do really well on your MCAT, and your college GPA has to be decent. In addition, its best that you do research during undergrad and demonstrate interest and poficiency in your area of expertise.

 

[DaWhim]

stop being a fool. you do NOT need to be in pre-med major to get accepted to medical school. even philosophy major can get into medical school

 

[KEV1N]

Too early to tell, man. Just get into college, (sorry, just skimmed the thread so I don't know if/where you're going) and worry about doing well in your undergraduate coursework. Med school? Cross that bridge when you get to it. You might decide it's not for you in a few years.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
its the end of my senior year in HS, i really want to go into Med School and i will enter Pre-Med this summer, but i dont know if i can do it. here is my accomplishments, do you think i got what it takes to get thru premed and eventually make decent on the MCAT?

ME
Will graduate in May 2004 with highest honors
GPA 4.22
Rank in class 7 out of 137
ACT score 22


my ACT score worries me, but money should not be a big problem for me. are there many doctors with this low of ACT score?

Med school is about $30K/yr plus you have living expenses. Are you independently wealthy or something?

you can get student loans. well, at least this is the case for law, i'm assuming banks are not any less likely to lend money to medical students than law students. the average law school graduate from a top 10 school is like 60k in debt or more. they usually make bank when they graduate so it's ok, but it does tend to discourage them from going in to the public sector (much lower pay) because they have to worry about paying it off.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
stop being a fool. you do NOT need to be in pre-med major to get accepted to medical school. even philosophy major can get into medical school

So true. Do most good schools even have a 'pre-med' major? I don't think they do. I believe they have a pre-med program, but you have to choose a 'real' major.

If you go to a good school, then there will be tons of people that had 4.XX GPAs and were the #1 person in their HS class. By the end a lot of those people will barely even have 3.00s. That's why it's impossible for any of us to say if you can get accepted into a US medical school.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
stop being a fool. you do NOT need to be in pre-med major to get accepted to medical school. even philosophy major can get into medical school

yea but that'd be kind of dumb, with the requirements that medical schools have, you might as well pick up a biology or chemistry major along the way.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
its the end of my senior year in HS, i really want to go into Med School and i will enter Pre-Med this summer, but i dont know if i can do it. here is my accomplishments, do you think i got what it takes to get thru premed and eventually make decent on the MCAT?

ME
Will graduate in May 2004 with highest honors
GPA 4.22
Rank in class 7 out of 137
ACT score 22


my ACT score worries me, but money should not be a big problem for me. are there many doctors with this low of ACT score?

Med school is about $30K/yr plus you have living expenses. Are you independently wealthy or something?

you can get student loans. well, at least this is the case for law, i'm assuming banks are not any less likely to lend money to medical students than law students. the average law school graduate from a top 10 school is like 60k in debt or more. they usually make bank when they graduate so it's ok, but it does tend to discourage them from going in to the public sector (much lower pay) because they have to worry about paying it off.

You can definitely get loans for Medical school. Some banks have special types of loans for Medical or Law students.

 

[MaxFusion16]

no

 

[ScottyB]

What's with all these people with ultra high GPAs and average to low ACT scores?

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
its the end of my senior year in HS, i really want to go into Med School and i will enter Pre-Med this summer, but i dont know if i can do it. here is my accomplishments, do you think i got what it takes to get thru premed and eventually make decent on the MCAT?

ME
Will graduate in May 2004 with highest honors
GPA 4.22
Rank in class 7 out of 137
ACT score 22


my ACT score worries me, but money should not be a big problem for me. are there many doctors with this low of ACT score?

Med school is about $30K/yr plus you have living expenses. Are you independently wealthy or something?

you can get student loans. well, at least this is the case for law, i'm assuming banks are not any less likely to lend money to medical students than law students. the average law school graduate from a top 10 school is like 60k in debt or more. they usually make bank when they graduate so it's ok, but it does tend to discourage them from going in to the public sector (much lower pay) because they have to worry about paying it off.

You can definitely get loans for Medical school. Some banks have special types of loans for Medical or Law students.

I think medical school loans are even more special... I don't think you pay for them even while you're in residency.

 

[phatj]

you are only a high school senior... med schools are not gonna care about what you did in high school. You'll have a really good chance of getting into a med school if you are not a white male. Remember to apply to lots of me schools when you are a junior. But your high school sh*t does not matter. Just study to get a high MCAT and high GPA, get involved too.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
What's with all these people with ultra high GPAs and average to low ACT scores?

It seems that lots of schools give out 4.99 GPAs now.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: phatj
you are only a high school senior... med schools are not gonna care about what you did in high school. You'll have a really good chance of getting into a med school if you are not a white male. Remember to apply to lots of me schools when you are a junior. But your high school sh*t does not matter. Just study to get a high MCAT and high GPA, get involved too.

Stop playing the white male card. If anything that might actually help since med schools are becoming more and more female. It's also difficult for some minorities to even get in med school since so many of them are applying yet they don't want a grossly over-represented minority (Indians, Chinese, etc.).

 

[Corporate Thug]

college is the real indicator of post-graduate work, hard to tell from HS rankings

 

[dafatha00]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
its the end of my senior year in HS, i really want to go into Med School and i will enter Pre-Med this summer, but i dont know if i can do it. here is my accomplishments, do you think i got what it takes to get thru premed and eventually make decent on the MCAT?

ME
Will graduate in May 2004 with highest honors
GPA 4.22
Rank in class 7 out of 137
ACT score 22


my ACT score worries me, but money should not be a big problem for me. are there many doctors with this low of ACT score?

Med school is about $30K/yr plus you have living expenses. Are you independently wealthy or something?

you can get student loans. well, at least this is the case for law, i'm assuming banks are not any less likely to lend money to medical students than law students. the average law school graduate from a top 10 school is like 60k in debt or more. they usually make bank when they graduate so it's ok, but it does tend to discourage them from going in to the public sector (much lower pay) because they have to worry about paying it off.

You can definitely get loans for Medical school. Some banks have special types of loans for Medical or Law students.

I think medical school loans are even more special... I don't think you pay for them even while you're in residency.

oops, misread your post

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: DaWhim
stop being a fool. you do NOT need to be in pre-med major to get accepted to medical school. even philosophy major can get into medical school

yea but that'd be kind of dumb, with the requirements that medical schools have, you might as well pick up a biology or chemistry major along the way.

Nothing dumb about it, and in fact it's the smart way of going about it. First off, an alternative non-biological science major exposes you to different career choices. You may not at all even want to attend medical school after spending so much time in your major that has nothing to do with being a physician. Next, medical school admission boards carefully analyze your GPA based upon major and draw cut-offs from there. Biological science majors have the toughest standards, like a 3.8 minimum overall GPA. Social sciences, physical sciences, and engineering follows; an engineering student with a 3.2 has a good shot at attending med school while a biological science major of the same gpa can forget any hope of ever attending. So there is good value in choosing the major of your liking and not just because it must be related to the health sciences.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
What's with all these people with ultra high GPAs and average to low ACT scores?

bad test takers?

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: shady06

Originally posted by: ScottyB
What's with all these people with ultra high GPAs and average to low ACT scores?

bad test takers?

BS schools?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Don't lock yourself in to being a doctor. That's foolish. Be thankful you're not Asian and being forced to be a doctah. You can explore options.

 

[dafatha00]

Originally posted by: vegetation

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: DaWhim
stop being a fool. you do NOT need to be in pre-med major to get accepted to medical school. even philosophy major can get into medical school

yea but that'd be kind of dumb, with the requirements that medical schools have, you might as well pick up a biology or chemistry major along the way.

Nothing dumb about it, and in fact it's the smart way of going about it. First off, an alternative non-biological science major exposes you to different career choices. You may not at all even want to attend medical school after spending so much time in your major that has nothing to do with being a physician. Next, medical school admission boards carefully analyze your GPA based upon major and draw cut-offs from there. Biological science majors have the toughest standards, like a 3.8 minimum overall GPA. Social sciences, physical sciences, and engineering follows; an engineering student with a 3.2 has a good shot at attending med school while a biological science major of the same gpa can forget any hope of ever attending. So there is good value in choosing the major of your liking and not just because it must be related to the health sciences.

The problem is that picking a major that has little to do with med school will give the student a hard time if he/she does get in. Biological majors will probably perform better on their MCATs and have a stronger grasp of the med school coursework.

 

[phatj]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: phatj
you are only a high school senior... med schools are not gonna care about what you did in high school. You'll have a really good chance of getting into a med school if you are not a white male. Remember to apply to lots of me schools when you are a junior. But your high school sh*t does not matter. Just study to get a high MCAT and high GPA, get involved too.

Stop playing the white male card. If anything that might actually help since med schools are becoming more and more female. It's also difficult for some minorities to even get in med school since so many of them are applying yet they don't want a grossly over-represented minority (Indians, Chinese, etc.).

Underrepresented Minorities

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges definition, underrepresented minorities are black/African-Americans, American Indians, Mexican Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans.

So if you are not caucasian you have a better chance. Check out the profiles at mdapplicant.com. Hispanics, African Americans, and South Asians seem to have an edge in the application process. Example (one of several): Hispanic with 3.7 GPA and a 37 MCAT accepted by Harvard. Caucasian with 3.96 GPA and 41 MCAT rejected. Similar extracurriculars. There are lots of cases like this, and it is heavily debated on forums like studentdoctor. URM's definitely have a significant advantage, there is no question about it.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: phatj

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: phatj
you are only a high school senior... med schools are not gonna care about what you did in high school. You'll have a really good chance of getting into a med school if you are not a white male. Remember to apply to lots of me schools when you are a junior. But your high school sh*t does not matter. Just study to get a high MCAT and high GPA, get involved too.

Stop playing the white male card. If anything that might actually help since med schools are becoming more and more female. It's also difficult for some minorities to even get in med school since so many of them are applying yet they don't want a grossly over-represented minority (Indians, Chinese, etc.).

Underrepresented Minorities

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges definition, underrepresented minorities are black/African-Americans, American Indians, Mexican Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans.

So if you are not caucasian you have a better chance. Check out the profiles at mdapplicant.com. Hispanics, African Americans, and South Asians seem to have an edge in the application process. Example (one of several): Hispanic with 3.7 GPA and a 37 MCAT accepted by Harvard. Caucasian with 3.96 GPA and 41 MCAT rejected. Similar extracurriculars. There are lots of cases like this, and it is heavily debated on forums like studentdoctor. URM's definitely have a significant advantage, there is no question about it.

Uhh.. Americans Indians aren't South Asians Is that what you meant??

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

As has been said, med school does not care about your high school.

Med schools will be looking for good grades, good MCAT scores, interviews, recommendations from faculty, and any volunteer experience you may have.

One thing I disagree with here is that major makes no difference. Not true. If a med school has a choice between a philosophy student and a biology major, they will take the bio major every time (assuming everything else is equal)

In other words, dont worry about ACT scores or whatever. Just get into a decent program at college and do well.