General Premed Advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>This discussion room is for all those students planning to get into medical school, or are thinking about applying, or have gotten accepted to one. </p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore, declared Immunology major and plan to take the MCAT sometimes in early fall 2009 or spring 2010. If I don't get into any bioresearch programs over the summer, I'm probably going to take the time to seriously study for the 5 hr long exam with prep books and classes. I'll be finished with all my required classes by end of this semester considering my science schedule:</p>

<p>Frosh Fall: Chem 1A Math 1B
Frosh Spring: Chem 3A/3AL Bio 1B
Soph Fall: Chem 3B/3BL Phys 8A
Soph Spring: Bio 1A/1AL Phys 8B</p>

<p>I've also completed the required 1 year of english for med school with Eng R1A/ R1B</p>

<p>My current GPA is about 3.93</p>

<p>I'm doing research in the IB department under Dr. Wake in Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and plan on volunteering during my junior and senior year.</p>

<p>Some advice I've read from other posts on CC regarding admission to medical are:</p>

<p>1) Define for yourself what becoming a doctor really means because if you are truly passionate about becoming a physician then the process is easy</p>

<p>2) Maintain a solid GPA. A lot of people have stressed that GPA often flashes first before a person viewing your file because GPA demonstrates to adcoms whether you have put in enough effort and hardwork into classes that they'd expect from you at their med school
I would say a 3.5+ is a good GPA.</p>

<p>3) A good MCAT: the average MCAT for Berkeley is around 35+, national average 30+
Taking science classes at Berkeley really prepares you for MCAT </p>

<p>4) E.C.'s Volunteering at a hospital is almost manditory. When you get to the interview and are at a lost about responding that you had no volunteer experience almost tells them that you're trying for QB in NFL without having thrown a football. Research is also necessary if you are a strong candidate and are thinking of applying to top tier med schools.</p>

<p>5) Letter of Recs: There's a quality system at Berkeley that facilitates letters of recommendation and that's the Letters Service at the Career Center. Go check it out if you haven't already done so. Make sure you really get to know 2 science professors, wait until upper div classes, and 1 other person who really knows you well. GSI's are a big NO NO!!!
Unless your GSI knows you from head to foot, you might as well write yourself a recommendation.</p>

<p>6) The interview: If you have received an interview then one of two things can happen.
1. You have beaten 90% of other applicants to that school and must have something they really like and most certainly will be accepted
2. You tweaked your profile and now will put to the test against an alumnus who will ask you all sorts of questions to stump you.
If that's the case, then don't jeopardize your chances by falsifying anything on the app. </p>

<p>7) Confidence: Not arrogance; confidence in yourself that you will succeed and get into medical school is a lot different than assuming that you're guranteed admission just because it's your destiny to do so.</p>

<p>Please don't take my word for everyting I say because I'm just an exhausted student who'd much rather major in English and take EAP to Paris :)</p>

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<p>3.93?!?!?! O.o</p>

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<p>Then go do that, your major does not matter to med schools. An MCB degree confers no advantage before the admission committees.</p>

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<p>average GPA of those who get admitted to med schools is 3.8. yes, very tough.</p>

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<p>I did think of majoring in English before coming to college. however, the combination of required classes for med school and time committed to extracurriculars would mean that I would either have to major in English and forgo some upper div MCB classes or Major in MCB and minor in English. Of the two I think I would choose the latter because at the least if I don’t get into med school I can do research with MCB degree. There’s always time in the future for EAP.</p>

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<p>I believe it’s more around the range of 3.6.</p>

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<p>My understanding is that LOR’s written by GSI’s hold the same weight if it’s cosigned by the professor. In fact, if your GSI can write a much better LOR than your prof because the former knows you better, then it’s actually better to get one from your GSI and get it cosigned.</p>

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<p>wow babydragon, with a decent score on the MCAT (35) you’re a really competitive applicant for the top 10 med schools. Any idea where you want to apply? How hard did you have to work to achieve your GPA?</p>

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<p>oh… i have a question… if you got a pretty low GPA in your first semester at cal… but maintained a higher GPA for the next few years, will you still have a chance in getting into med school?</p>

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<p>@tastybeef: i saw a counselor at the career center yesterday and he showed me the booklet with all the med school stats, and for Stanford and Oregon at least the avg GPA is 3.8</p>

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<p>Does it really matter which med school you go to?
Are there med schools that have like average of 2.5~3.5?</p>

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<p>i have a hard time believing someone would get accepted into med school with anything as low as a 2.5. when i looked at the range of GPAs of those who got accepted in that booklet i was talking about, it was 3.6~4.0 i think. then again, there could be outliers.</p>

<p>edit: again, this is just for Stanford and Oregon.</p>

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<p>~noob</p>

<p>Of course. Med School committee understand that adjusting to a college atmosphere is not easy and therefore not entirely your fault if you did not perform as well as you have in high school. However, this does not exempt you from doing your best because med school seeks only top applicants. Therefore you should step up your game and do better the rest of your college years. That said, you might consider talking to an adviser to schedule an appointment to go over your classes. I did this my freshman year and it really helps because having a plan and prioritizing what you need to take gives you a good picture of where you are. If science or math classes are hurting you, then I suggest going to office hours or doing many practice problems.</p>

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<p>the above reply was for sn0angel07, not noob. sorry for the confusion</p>

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<p>Correct. Stanford and Oregon are both top-tier schools-- the former in research and the latter in primary care. So, of course the numbers tend to be on the high end.</p>

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<p>The lowest average would be around, I’m guessing, 3.2 or so. Pay a visit to studentdoctor.net for random information like this.</p>

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<p>thanks babydragon, yeah I guess I need to study harder for those science courses… but I don’t think general advisers really help… they usually don’t know about the class difficulty, do you know of any premed advisers though?
and have you already taken your MCAT?</p>

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<p>I talked to the premed adviser at the career center and he advised going to major advisers or peer advisers for info on difficult of courseloads and courses.</p>

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<p>I agree that GSI’s who know you better will produce a better LOR, but usually this is for a one semester course. And often times GSI’s are focused on their own studies and don’t have much time to caress their student’s ambitions. With that said, Professors would have more experience writing letters as they have done so for a long time and would be received with more respect. And this is why I’m waiting until my third to go looking for letters</p>

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<p>is this a brag thread lol? 3.93 is an extremely high gpa (i bet you know that lol)</p>

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<p>No this is not a brag thread. As I have suggested in the beginning this thread is for everyone to discuss anything about medical school, including their credentials, chances, hopes, failures, whatever. I listed my GPA only because that’s where I stand today. If I had gotten a 3.5 I would’ve listed it too. I didn’t elaborate on my GPA, it’s just one sentence. And if that’s all you cared about after reading the thread then you’re obsessive about GPA.</p>

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<p>whoa whoa whoa babydragon relax…</p>

<p>whats wrong with being obsessive over GPA? i think that is a great mind set that most students need to become successful applicants… are you saying that it’s been a cakewalk for you?</p>

<p>for the record theres a whole other forum dedicated to premeds at studentdoctor.net</p>