<p>Hey all, I got accepted into a really prestigious engineering school for a Master's program in Electrical Engineering. But I am really struggling with the courses and concepts. I didn't realize how lacking undergraduate engineering education was (also from a top 10 engineering school).</p>
<p>Now, a little back story, I grew up in an Indian High School, where the science courses were pretty deep (almost equivalent to freshman/sophomore college level science courses). In that high school, I had also taken Biology and Organic Chemistry (never got them transferred though), and I had really liked them. The reason I took everything was because I was undecided between Engineering/Medicine.</p>
<p>My question is this: I had a decent GPA in my undergraduate classes, but my graduate GPA is low, and I'm starting to reconsider that Engineering may not really be right for me. If I take some time, take some pre-med classes and study really hard for the MCAT, can I still get into a good Medical School?</p>
<p>Do you have any shadowing, volunteer, leadership in ECs, or biomedical /clinical research? Without those it won’t matter what your gpa or mcat are</p>
<p>GPA and MCAT are only the beginning of expected accomplishments for potential med school applicants. You will also be expected to have clinical experience working with patients, some clinical and laboratory research, physician shadowing, medical volunteering, community service hours and perhaps some leadership positions in your activities.</p>
<p>A good GPA (the national average is 3.6 for successful applicants) and good MCAT may get your application looked at, but if you’re missing the rest…your application will get tossed out.</p>
<p>If you’re willing to remediate the lack of medically related ECs at the same time you’re completing your med school pre-reqs, you have a chance. If you’re not–then you haven’t got a prayer.</p>
<p>hey i don’t actually. I was really focussed on my engineering side, kinda tunnel-visioned actually. But if i do end up choosing this path (I’m still considering it VERY carefully), I will have to do one year of organic chemistry and one year of biology as part of the official requirements, right? During that time, I can do the extra-curricular stuff you mentioned. I have a really prestigious medical school (Emory) and a couple of big hospitals in my city too (Atlanta), so I can take advantage of those perhaps. Also, are all of those necessary? Or any one? And which should I choose? I know research is out, that is one of the reasons I don’t want to continue graduate school.</p>
<p>Also, that’s a good point. It may seem like Med School is a second back-up choice, but I think it’s more of, I may have made the wrong choice earlier. I was reading an article by a pre-med advisor about people coming to medical school at a much older age (30+), and that in fact, is one of the things that has me absolutely scared. It’s a big change and it may be a right change, because if it was a ‘back-up’, I wouldn’t be so scared. The other thing I’m scared of is my graduate GPA, which is really low. I know that I can work hard and do well on the MCAT and the orgo/bio classes that I will have to take, but is it enough?</p>
<p>Yes, they are. Really and truly. Educating a physician is extremely expensive both in terms of time and money. Even the very high tuitions at private med schools don’t cover the full cost to the school. Med schools want individuals who have demonstrate a strong commitment to medicine and of service to the community. They also only want individuals who fully understand what kind of life and lifestyle they are committing themselves to. </p>
<p>My D1 (currently a MS2) is a non-traditional student who switched from physics to medicine. (Though fortunately before she started grad school.) So I understand your concerns about the time it will take to develop a suitable portfolio of activities. But it really is necessary if you want your application to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>Your grad record must be included as part of your application, but how med schools will view it will vary by school and even by individual committee member.</p>
<p>mistborn: The fact that your Grad GPA is ‘really low’ clearly tells more about you than you realise. A person of sound mind who have interest in GRAD will make sure that he has tremondous interest in GRad edu before taking up grad studies. Very few people in GRAD drop out! If you are struggling in GRAD in electrical/whatever, there is no way you can be FIT to study medicene even if you can think that you can study just like how you thought about studying GRAD…It is not worth it! MONEY is secondary! Try something else!</p>
<p>btw wayoutwestmom and brown, ty for ur answers…some more questions…
the shadowing, that is done with a doctor mentor, is it possible for non-med-students? i can volunteer easily at an atlanta hospital, how long is usually expected? a year? getting a serious research position would entail establishing a relationship which takes some time pre-med school, which i don’t really want to do. it took me 2 years of undegraduate years to get enough connection to faculty to get into research positions with them.</p>
<p>what i plan to do, is either during my master’s or right after it, i plan to take one year to complete bio and orgo and perform extra-curricular medical-related activities during that time. is that viable?</p>
<p>Shadowing is possible for those who are serious about med school, regardless of major. It will take some time and effort to find a doctor who is willing to allow you to shadow. There is really no formal process for going about this. Each student is on their own for it. You should have anywhere from 50-200 hours of shadowing. Clinical experience is also extremely important. 200 hours? More? It depends on the quality of your experiences.</p>
<p>(As an example, when D2 applies, she will have 2000+ hours of direct hands-on patient experience doing procedures. But her hours on the high side.)</p>
<p>Don’t forget you should have a significant track record of volunteerism within your community in addition to your hospital volunteering. Several years, if possible. Start that ASAP. Don’t wait until you’ve completed your engineering degree.</p>
<p>More than 85% of all med school matriculants have clinical or bench research. Make sure the rest of your application is strong to compensate for this lack.</p>
<p>Another important part of your application will be LORs. You will need a minimum of 3 LORs. Two from your science professors (BCMP only) and at least one from a non BCPM - humanities or social sciences prof. Please check for specific requirements at each school you may consider applying to since LOR requirements are not uniform.</p>
<p>And one more thing since you now say you plan to finish you master’s before starting your pre-med classes— </p>
<p>Starting in 2015 the MCAT will include new content and will require addition coursework. You will need biochemistry and possibly genetics as well as Ochem and general bio. (Early peeks at the new test seem to indicate that biochem questions may represent as much as 45% of the new MCAT BS section.) Additionally, there will be an entirely new section devoted to human behavior and covering material in psychology, sociology as well as some ethics and medical anthropology.</p>
<p>It’s viable depending on your goals. If your goal is to get into any med school as fast as possible you might be able to get away with one year. If your goal is to get into any of the med schools close to the top, it’s not enough unless you’re putting in tons and tons of hours.</p>
<p>Your competition will be people who have been doing this stuff for years</p>
<p>"I’m starting to reconsider that Engineering may not really be right for me. "
-Well, here is another one. It was not fo me either. I have worked in a field for 11 years and thank goodness, I said enough is enough. Went back to school and a very happy working in IT. So, I completely agree, engineering is not for everybody, but deciding is it for you or not without job experience is not possible. I woudl say, this decision seems to be premature in your case. You see, I really loved engineering in school, what I did not like was a job. On the other hand, I do not know the purpose of Masters degree in engineering. I know many engineers and my H. is the one working for engineering company. I do not think there is a single one with Masters there. Some (including my H.), take PE exam and get PE certification. Masters? I do not know. I would advice, rather find the job and see if it for you or not based on your job experience.<br>
In regard to Med. School, you can enter at any time of your life. The oldest at D’s second year class is 47 y o. She has several with advanced degrees also. There is PhD from Harvard, few lawyers and MSs in her class.<br>
Again, Med. Schools, top or not, not very relevant to your future. Amrican MD is American MD, no matter he went to #1 or # 127, whatever the last one, not sure.</p>
<p>Follow Brown’s and Mom’s advice ASAP. if you have taken organic study the 200 to 300 hours and buy a general bio and cell bio book and take the MCAT next year before the change. The MCAT is good for 3 years so it will count if you spend a year shadowing, doing ec’s etc. I would apply to med schools like AMC which takes 20 engineering/scientists every year from the joint program with Renselear . Good luck and get going.</p>
<p>^^AAMC will allow both the “old” and the “new” MCAT for fall 2016 applicants. But, AAMC has not issued a ruling on whether medical schools will be obligated to accepted the “old” MCAT for students applying in the subsequent years (2017 and beyond).</p>
<p>Also the “good for 3 years” MCAT score is school-dependent. Some schools will accept scores not more than 3 years old; some will only accept scores that are not more than 2 years old.</p>