Help about MedSchool

Pre-Med & Medical School
1

<p>i am starting my 3rd year of school next fall. but i recently decided that medicine is what i really would like to purse a career in, only problem, i've been studying political science/international relations for the past 2 years now, and completly hate it.</p>

<p>I have don't only one science course, geology, which doesn't count towards pre-med. my college doesn't have pre-med major, only biology or chemistry. </p>

<p>1) i'll probably change a major in biology since i am more better in that and minor in chem</p>

<p>since i am going to start my thrid year, i know it's pretty much required that you take the MCAT fall semester of junior year, which, i have no science course done to even have the change to get a good score on it.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO !!!!</p>

<p>next, currently i have a 3.1 GPA, which, pretty much sucks for this kind of work if i am not mistaken, since med-school you need to have at least a 3.6 to get in.... AHHHHH</p>

<p>i know i don't want to study politics, i want to study medicine, and get into med school.</p>

<p>is it too late for me? what should i do? </p>

<p>thank you in advance!!</p>

2

<p>You may be better off graduating w your current major and then doing a post Bach program. Regardless you will heave to take time off because there is no way you can cram all the pre reqs into one year and hope to do well and also prep for the meat. You also need time to build up extra curricular activities. My biggest advice is to not do anything hasty. Switching majors now means you will probably need to take atleast one additional year anyways.</p>

3

<p>so, don’t purse med at all ?</p>

<p>and, if i did switch, does it still look okay if i take that additional year or two ?</p>

<p>i really don’t want poli-sci because i hate learning it. (it was a “do it for the parents kindof thing”)</p>

4

<p>*my college doesn’t have pre-med major, only biology or chemistry. </p>

<p>1) i’ll probably change a major in biology since i am more better in that and minor in chem</p>

<p>since i am going to start my thrid year, *</p>

<p>1) Colleges and Universities don’t have “pre-med” majors. So, your school is NORMAL. At all colleges, you major in what you want and take pre-med courses.</p>

<p>2) Since you’ve only finished 3 semesters, you still have time. </p>

<p>3) You don’t have to major in Chem or Bio. </p>

<p>4) What are you signed up to take next semester?</p>

<p>5) Does your school have a “design your own major” option?</p>

<p>6) I do NOT agree with going ahead and graduating and then doing a “post-bac”…that can be too expensive.</p>

<p>7) you may have to do some summer school classes…maybe in classes that won’t be for pre-med.</p>

5

<p>I didn’t say don’t pursue it I said you might be better off graduating then taking the premed classes. They wont care as long as you take reasonable course loads and not the minimum</p>

6

<p>What school do you go to? Do you commute or are you a resident student?</p>

<p>can you change next semester’s schedule to include General Bio I and maybe General Chem I?</p>

<p>You don’t have to take your MCAT junior year. You can take it in spring of senior year and then do a “glide” year after you graduate…that’s when you would do your apps…which is a good idea because of interviews and such.</p>

<p>I think that is much better than doing a post-bac.</p>

7

<p>okay before i answer questions. i am starting my 4th semester in the next two weeks.
i have taken 2 semesters of english already since it’s part of our colleges General-Education requirement which you have to do the first two years before you start courses for your major.</p>

<p>1) Colleges and Universities don’t have “pre-med” majors. So, your school is NORMAL. You major in what you want and take pre-med courses.
— i do know there isn’t a “pre-med” major. i plan to change to sociology major maybe, since i have taken two course in that department and enjoy it. i want to be an Anesthesiologist. </p>

<p>2) Since you’ve only finished 3 semesters, you still have time.
—even with my GPA? though, i would start taking all the pre-med courses now, and do my BEST to get a higher GPA. also someone told me that if it’s impossible to raise it there is an “special masters program” that would help to raise your GPA to enter med-school. </p>

<p>3) You don’t have to major in Chem or Bio.
– though, i would like to minor in Bio :)</p>

<p>4) What are you signed up to take next semester?
– currently i am signed up for poli-sci classes, but, i am going to sign up for pre-med recommended course for this semester. i plan to visit my advior on tuesday.</p>

<p>5) Does your school have a “design your own major” option?
–no we don’t. i go to Cleveland State, but i plan to transfer over to Case Western for the start of my junior year.
also, let me mention, this semester i am consided a sophomore since i was one credit short at the start of fall 10’ semester, but i would transfer to case for fall 11’</p>

<p>6) I do NOT agree with going ahead and graduating and then doing a “post-bac”…that can be too expensive.
–i probably wouldn’t do that as well, but if i didn’t finish all the courses i would need to be able to take the MCAT, then i would take them after i graduated. but, does that look bad to med-school officers ? </p>

<p>7) you may have to do some summer school classes…maybe in classes that won’t be for pre-med.
–&yes, i plan to do summer school till i graduate.</p>

<p>thank you replying, i will take any advice i take !!!</p>

8

<p>Why are you transferring to Case? </p>

<p>do you know for sure that all your credits will transfer and you won’t be digging yourself deeper into a hole?</p>

<p>Doesn’t your current school have strong enough science courses? I would think that it does.</p>

9

<p>to answer your questions mom2collegekids :

  1. i do commute to school
  2. i plan to change my schedual tomorrow right away to Bio I and General Chem I if there are still opeanings.
  3. so glide year you mean, a gap year, but still doing something productive that would help towards getting into med-school ?</p>

<p>what if i took my MCAT spring semester of senior year ? would that be too late or not a wise choice (becuase i feel as if i don’t have enough time in two years to do all the courses, get some clubs & Volunteering in & study for MCAT?
but i am very good at being under pressure, but MCAT isn’t something to joke about, like everyone says, your best score should be your first score.</p>

<p>i thought about transfering to case because

  1. it’s right next to my current college.
  2. they have a more presitgious program that helps towards med school.
  3. from what i heard, if you go to undergrad at a school you would consider med-school for you have a better chance to get in ?</p>

<p>4) my current school is known for its great engineering program, & we do have a science & research building. i could stay, your right.</p>

<p>would it be possible to stay an extra year in undergrad to feel less crammed about finish everything in such a short time? i feel if i stay a year back i’d be better off. so i wouldn’t take a gap year, rather, i’d graduate a year late, have MCAT & interview done and go straight to med-school in july/august that same time ? </p>

<p>also, thank you for helping.</p>

10

<p>Can you check online to see if there are course openings?</p>

<p>Is it a problem that Case will be a lot more expensive than your current school?</p>

<p>I want to make sure I understand…you have 5 semesters left, right? You should be able to finish your pre-med reqs as a sociology major or similar (maybe psych)…especially if you take some summer classes. </p>

<p>Can you make a chart to figure out your schedule for the next 5 semesters.</p>

11

<p>i talked with my advisor today. she told me, that i shouldn’t change my major yet and just take it slow.
i am going to start my 4th semester in 2 weeks.</p>

<p>so, she signed me up for BIO200(intro bio I) and BIO 201 (which is lab for the class)
then everything else is for political science major, ECN 201 (macroeconomics), PSC 231(inter poli)
this semester i am taking 12 credit hours.</p>

<p>pretty much she told me, i don’t know what is ahead to come, but, i do. i understand that if you plan to take the science route that school will take over your life. if you ask me, i’d rather study for the rest of my life, i’m okay with that.
also, she said that it’s not too late to change. & she said the having a 3.2 GPA is pretty good ( i disagree, i think its bad personally) </p>

<p>also that, BIO 200 is a WEEDER class, which a class to single out the weak. eh, i’m ready.</p>

<p>wednesday i am going to talk to a pre-med advisor and see what she has to say. </p>

<p>oh, my advisor said that, if i choose to change that, 1) i wouldn’t have to say an extra year, and i would just take the MCAT after graduating (which i kindof don’t want to do, i’d rather go an extra year, make sure i finish all my reqs to be comfortable to take the MCAT cause i don’t want to screw up on the first try) </p>

<p>i ask if i could join an chemi class, and pretty much she said take it slow, first see if i can do BIO 200.</p>

<p>any advice mom2collegekids? thanks.</p>

12

<p>why are you taking poly sci classes when you know you don’t want poly sci?</p>

<p>I think taking a psych class and a math class would be a good idea.</p>

<p>What math level can you take?</p>

13

<p>i can take math up to lvl 182, which is advance trig since i passed the math placement test more than my advisors expected i could. </p>

<p>i am taking a poly-sci still because my advisor said that if i don’t do well in the BIO i should stick with the poly-sci. yeah, i know.
also, she said i shouldn’t sign up for CHEM, just do BIO first since its a WEEDER class, which mean like singles out the weak links. </p>

<p>so only bio I & bio lab I are the “pre-med” classes i am taking.</p>

14

<p>oh yeah, i asked if i could take math and she said, just do bio first and see what i like… AHHH</p>

<p>so i got Bio I, Bio I lab,
eco, psc, and a 1 credit hour golf class to be full time…i do not like this…</p>