@GoldenRock Thanks for the info
DS is just finishing second year as an undergraduate. Up to recent days I had assumed he wouldnât be applying until next year, but he now seems to be moving toward finishing undergrad in 3 years so applying to med school in this coming cycle. He is in a guaranteed admission program at Louisville and perhaps this will be the only school he applies to. Is this crazy talk? He has completed all of the pre reqs Louisville requires. They recommend an additional semester of Biochem which he is looking to take in a summer session this June. Has not taken the MCAT yet, but would target later this summer. He has a 4.0 overall/4.0 science, good ECs, research, volunteer and shadowing hours . For the guaranteed admission program he has to score at or above national mean on MCAT, which I believe he has an excellent shot at (but of course needs to see what happens).
Thoughts? Seems daunting to apply a year early. If he wants to apply to other schools he would probably be better off taking another year to work on rounding out his resume.
If he is planning to continue in UofL GEMS program, it is not going to be a complex task. Just apply AMCAS and complete whatever the formality.
If he is planning to apply to other medical schools, first he should check that he is not going to loose the guaranteed seat in UofL.
In case if he still plans to apply out then it is task and plan carefully. Need to complete the AMCAS app once it opens, short list the schools list, secondaries, allocation of time for interview, travel etc., First MCAT also need to be taken to prepare the school list based on the score. Since you mentioned he has done all other items (like EC, Shadowing), he can apply this year or next year if he prefers to take a gap year even if he finishes his UG in 3 years.
@luckydad - check if the program has restrictions for admitted year of entry. Texas Tech and Baylor donât allow students to come in early.
Thanks for advice.
Guessing he may also have issues with a couple pre reqs that were either AP credit or dual credit at HS level. All of his science pre req courses have been taken at U of L. U of L didnât count AP Bio (they only counted toward gen ed bio for nonmajors) and he chose not to use AP Chem credit he had (they wouldnât count toward labs, only lecture course). He did however use AP English Language and a dual enrollment second semester English class, as well as credit for AP Calc AB and BC, so he has taken any English or Math at U of L.
U of L SOM will accept all of the above but Iâm guessing not every med school will. Do some schools let you clean this up by taking in your last year of undergrad during the admission cycle? By clean up I mean take a higher level math and English class during final year.
First need to be clear & firm if plan to apply out. If applying out, then it needs lot of careful planning.
- Need to review target medical schools requirements if anything explicitly mentioned. Example: some schools will say AP is allowed or not, Math needed or not or what extent writing intensive course or humanities needed etc.,
- It is not mandatory by the time of application all pre-req courses must be completed. In the year of the application students can do the courses and those courses are also listed in AMCAS.
So grateful DS is in the GEMS program. How much less stressful this is going to be. Seems increasingly likely he wonât apply out. He is planning to take MCAT late July. Next three months will be focused on preparing for it. Taking biochem class in June summer term. Using Kaplan and Kahn Academy resources to study. Solid study plan. Proud of him the way he is seizing this opportunity and using the time (study abroad was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID travel restrictions).
Any decision (remote) to apply out would be after finding out MCAT score and if he did apply out it would not be this cycle. He would stay in UG for the 4th year and work on rounding out his application. Again though I think that is unlikely.
Does all this sound rational?
@LuckyDad Yes. Ask him to prepare well for MCAT (self study) in case if he has not yet taken Genetics course. No harm in doing MD in UofL and later he can plan for different colleges for residency if he is keen on going some where else. As an IS, UofL will be most cost effective for MD.
He has taken 4 semesters of biology with labs through genetics. Same with chemistry through organic. 2 semesters of algebra based physics. Biochem this summer before the MCAT. Has taken a lot of psych classes for Neuroscience major. No sociology or anatomy and physiology yet so these Iâm thinking are holes where he will have to self study. He is planning to do thorough review of all areas. I think he is doing diagnostic tests to figure out what to prioritize.
He had a very helpful call this week with someone in admissions who counsels students in the GEMS program. She walked him through the application process as a GEMS applicant. Very easy no LORs or personal statement. So grateful!
Does he need a specific MCAT score for GEMs?
Did he take any statistics? Some sections of MCAT need knowledge. Anatomy and Physiology - i am not sure they are needed for MCAT.
Yes as I recall he needs to score at or above the national mean on each section (125 I think?). He needs at least a 506 to be eligible for merit aid they give to the GEMS class (not guaranteed but given historically, subject to available funds).
He did AP Stats in HS and a Biostatistics class as an UG. I think he is in good shape there.
Khan academy is a good resource for Psy/Soc section of MCAT. The national MCAT mean is a reasonable score to achieve. Anatomy and Physiology class may be helpful for MCAT. D took MCAT recently. A subscription to UWorld for
MCAT may be a good idea for practice as well as AAMC practice tests 1, 2,3,4.
I heard that Khan academy has good prep which surprised me since most of it is free(?). The test is too long and prep testing a lot can make the difference in doing well. It is surprising that after 5 years of 2015, they still only have 4 practice tests.
4+1 small FL. They also have Qbanks. I think for most those are good enough. My S didnât do any other ones.
I have a rising college sophomore who has indicated some interest in medical school. I hope you all donât mind me lurking to find out as much about this process as possibleâŠand cheering you all on. Thank you!!
There is one fewer applicant for this years cycle and DS has decided on a gap year. Not knowing his mcat (not able to take it now until July) is too much of an unknown at this point in the cycle.
Sorry to hear that, @threebeans. At least he has a MCAT date. And I think this year a July MCAT isnât going to be too late if he changes his mind about applying⊠Heâll have his score before the end of August.
CA medical schools have formally announced they will review applications without a MCAT score and offer applicants interviews without MCATs. (Though they will not tender acceptances until after an applicant submits an MCAT score.) I strongly suspect other medical schools will doing the same thing this cycle.
Additionally both AMCAS and many individual medical school have already pushed back application deadlines. AMCAS wonât begin transmitting application to med school until July 10th. (Usually they begin June 22-24.)
FWIW, over 70,000 people have opened AMCAS applications prior to June 1. Whether this represents a big jump in the number of med school applicants or whether this is just an early bump because people are home with time on their hands remains to be seem. Per AMCAS ~100,000 unique individuals have registered to the take the MCAT this summerâwhich is a significant increased over the last few years.
Khan Academy signed a contract with AMCAS to provide free test prep 5 years ago. Itâs part of AMCASâs initiative to make medical school admission more equitable for lower income applicants.
Some are taking early thinking that shortened test will improve scores.
MCAT score may go either way for shortened test since the scores are scaled for each section. A correct/incorrect answer in any section should have a larger impact on scaled score.
A lot of students may be doing risk mitigation here by taking early even though they might take a GAP year or two. At least, they will know their MCAT score before applying. Right now, if you submit your application, MCAT score may be a big unknown. How do you determine your good application list to apply without a MCAT score ?