<p>Hello, I'm currently an undergrad history major who has recently become interested in a career in medicine. My GPA isn't stellar at the moment (3.4) but I have ample time to raise it during the remainder of my undergrad work. I PLAN on graduating from a UC (hopefully UCI, but I'll take UCR or UCM) with at least a 3.6-3.8. I looked at several of the top 10 medical school's (for primary care) websites and they indicated that having a non-science major for my BA wouldn't be a detriment to my application. I don't necessarily want to go to Harvard or Yale per se, I don't believe in "brand name" schools, but I would like to get the best residency possible after I graduate, and I know going to one of the top 10 would be ideal. I understand that the application process for medical school is very different from that of an undergrad, and I further understand that admission to a top 10 school is not a guarantee by any means, even with a high GPA and an astronomical MCAT score, so of course I'll be applying to safety schools when the time comes as well. Here are my questions:*</p>
<p>1) will the fact that I attended a community college for the first round of my undergraduate studies negatively affect my chances for admission at a great medical school?*</p>
<p>2) when should I start taking MCAT prep courses?*</p>
<p>3) when should I start taking the MCAT?*</p>
<p>4) some websites suggest I get involved in "research" work at my current school...how exactly do I get into that?</p>
<p>5) should I be volunteering and participating in community service? I know this will look good on my application, but I've never done community service outside of high school, and I know top med school admissions officers will probably see right through any BS community service I'm trying to play up...*</p>
<p>Please, I just need a plan. As I mentioned before, I'm not trying to get into Harvard here, but UNC- Chapel Hill or UCSF would be ideal. Again, I know these schools are reaches even for already-super qualified students, but bear with me. I know I can raise my GPA and make myself a good applicant, and hence not have to attend med school in the Caribbean.*Although, some aspects of that do sound appealing...</p>
<p>the mean of accepted students at UCSF is a 3.8…75% have volunteer experience.</p>
<p>for Carolina, it’s a 3.7 and 76%. Of course, throw in a healthy does of instate residency.</p>
<p>If your gpa is not in the 3.8+ range, and you don’t have a hook/compelling story to tell, suggest you ignore top 10 med schools – all of which, by definition, have a heavy focus on research.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean that I felt community service was BS, but that an admission officer may see it as me attempting to pad my resume, because I haven’t exactly been involved before. As for my GPA I have confidence I could raise it to a healthy level before I start applying to graduate schools…but how badly will my going to a CC affect my chances at a top school, would you say? So badly that I ought not even try for top-tier, or what? I’m flying blind through this.*</p>
<p>LostinLight: I think you need a bit of a reality check. So far, what you’ve achieved is a 3.4 at a community college, and you’re asking about top 10 medical schools. Forget that. If you want to be a doctor, any U.S. medical school will be perfectly fine, and lead to a fine residency. Any getting into any medical school is a great accomplishment.</p>
<p>Right now, however, getting into ANY medical school is out of reach. A four-year university will be harder than community college, and you’ll need much higher than a 3.4. So decide if you want to be a doctor, and if you do, committ to doing much better academically, and in a few years now, you’ll be thrilled with any acceptance, to any medical school, and rightly thrilled.</p>
<p>OP, have you taken any of the prereq courses yet? Physics, Bio, Inorganic Chem? Right now your GPA is lower than it would be for even less competitive medschools. The avg I believe is a 3.6 GPA and a 30 MCAT. Your prereq courses should ideally be taken at a 4 year university not CC, so thats something to think about. These big intro science courses are very competitive since they’re big and graded on a curve. Only a 1/3 of the class should be getting A-'s and A’s. I’m not trying to shoot you down just letting you know what you’re in for. Most medstudents are happy to get into any medschool, Harvard or the medschool in their state that no one else even looks at. </p>
<p>But for top primary care medschools you will need some sort of clinical experience. This can be volunteering in a hospital setting or shadowing a doc. You can shadow a doc that you or a family member sees, or if anyone in your family is a doc that works too. Community service is not a requirement but if you’re going to medicine you should be committed to service and thats why so many people do community service. Even though these are primary care schools research, if you’re interested, is not a bad idea. I’d also advise getting involved in something. Whether its a sport, a club, or a charity, its always good to get involved.</p>
<p>do the math. A perfect 4.0 for the next three years, including two at a UC, where the competition is much more significant, would get you to a 3.8, or the average for SF.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, for answering my questions. Mythreesons, I politely decline your reality check, as I was aware that my GPA was below the req for ANY medical school before I posted this. I know I have a long road ahead of me if I really want to do this.</p>
<p>please don’t take our comments in a negative light. There are really two messages: 1) get as many A’s as you can; 2) all US med schools are great, so aim for any med school – the top 10 are research-focused, which generally requires four years of A’s, adn awesome test scores, recs and undergrad research…</p>
<p>Even with perfect GPA, awesome MCAT and unbelievable EC’s, it is extremely difficult to get into top 10 Why stress over that, any Med. School will do, and most junior pre-meds have the goal of getting into any USA Med. School. It is nice to have choices based on your personal preferences, but it is mostly a luxury which is available to relatively few.</p>
<p>Plus, for primary care you are better off going to a school that will give you a huge scholarship in exchange for you agreeing to go into primary care/rural medicine. Most of the top 10 schools are private or otherwise pretty expensive. Some of them do have such programs though (Columbia and UWash come to mind).</p>