Chances of getting into med school

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

Hey everyone!
I’m entering my senior year of college, though I have 3 more semesters left as I will take an extra semester since I’m a transfer. I’m deciding between PA school and medical school and would like to know my chances/if you have any advice. I started off at a small school (Merrimack College) for my first 2 years, earned a 3.94 GPA there. Transferred to University of Massachusetts Amherst (as a member of the honor college) entering my junior year as I felt it was a much better program. Currently have a 3.74 GPA here.
So heres my credentials:

At Merrimack:
Chemistry for Health Professions 1 (taken as General Chem 1) - A
Chemistry for Health Professions 2 (taken as General Chem 2) - A
Anatomy and Physiology 1 - A
Anatomy and Physiology 2 - A
College Writing - A
Acute and Emergency Care - B+
Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries - A
Biology 1 - A
Biology 2 - A
Nutrition - A
Public Health - A
Strength and Conditioning - A
Christianity - A
Philosophy - A
Global Public Health - A-
Precalculus - A

-Volunteer Work: Lawrence Math and Science Partnership (2 semesters) - assisting in middle school after school science programs. Also volunteered at IMEC for 1 semester helping package medical supplies for impoverished countries. About 60 volunteer hours total.
-Tutored anatomy 1 and was a study group leader for biology 1.

At UMass Amherst Honors:
Psychology - A
Evolution - B
Plant Bio - A
Greek Civ Honors - A
Calculus 1 - B
Organic Chem 1 - A
Ideas that Change the World - A
Sociology - A
Statistics - B+

Overall GPA at UMass after 2 semesters = 3.74

I’m really worried about my math courses since I’ve never been a strong math student. But I’m hoping an A in orgo will help that out. I plan to tutor at UMass for orgo, and want to join a few volunteer clubs. I plan on doing really well my last 3 semesters ( which include taking classes like orgo 2, microbio, biochem, physics 1 and 2 ect.) and feel like I can really get my GPA up to a 3.8 range. Do I have a good shot so far? I’m getting my EMT certification this summer and plan on taking a year off after undergrad to work as an EMT for a little and take the MCAT and or GRE (depending if I choose Med school or PA).

2

I have some concerns about your Merrimack coursework.

Chemistry for Health Profession isn’t the chem class Merrimack requires for its chem & bio majors. Because of this, it may not be acceptable for fulfilling pre-reqs for med school or PA programs. This is something you definitely need to check on before you proceed further. I suggest that you email a few med & PA schools (especially your in-state publics) to ask if it meets their requirements.

What is your sGPA? (sGPA includes an math, bio. chem and physics classes)

Regardless it’s too soon to tell if you might be a viable candidate for med school since you’re still missing key pre-reqs and a MCAT score.

If you do think you may want to pursue med school, you need to beef up your ECs --clinical or bench research, physician shadowing, clinical volunteering (more than just EMT service since EMT gives you only a limited view of medical practice) and, if possible, leaderships roles.

PA school requires anywhere from 500 to 2000 hours of direct hands on patient-care experience. Working “a little” as a EMT may not give you sufficient hours.

3

Assuming that you can keep up with your Gpa, you can be a good candidate for either. However, I think you should focus on only one because the preparation of those tests takes a lot out of you.