I graduated with a 2.79 GPA bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering in Dec of 2016. I took the fe exam and passed for NYC. I work in a HVAC consulting firm in NYC but it’s not fulfilling and I’m bored so I was thinking of doing a post bachelor pre med, taking the mcat, and going to med school. But I’m still paying off my loans, I’m OK in physics(not so good with waves) and chemistry, and my memory with words is bad. So I’m not sure if I can get through pre med with a high GPA and pass mcat. I am interested in the human body tho.
My questions are:
What do you think my chances are in getting in a post bac pre med program in NYC and getting a good GPA?
Have to say, this is really, really lousy reason to go to med school.
Have you done any physician shadowing or clinical volunteering? I would strongly recommend doing some of both before you quit your day-job to make sure this is really something you want to do. You’ll need volunteering & shadowing hours anyway if you do apply to med school.
You may want to take a few upper level bio classes (biochem, immunology, embryology, anatomy & physiology, neuroscience/neurochemistry, pharmacology.) and see how well you perform in those before committing to a post-bacc programs since post-baccs are expensive.
GPA and MCAT scores are critical for getting a med school acceptance. Because your undergrad GPA is weak, you will need to have a very strong performance in your sciences from now on (as close to 4.0 as you can manage) and you don’t just need to “pass the MCAT”, you need to crush it.
As a FYI, med school is extremely reading intensive and requires huge amounts of memorization.
Now to answer your questions–
Poor. Most formal post-baccs typically require a 3.0 GPA/sGPA or above for admission. You may need to take additional coursework to raise your GPA before you can enter a formal post-bacc program.
Loans are your only option. Unless you have money in the bank and can pay OOP.
Not in the least. The MCAT is 7.5 hour exam with 4 sections. See the description of the exam here: [What’s on the MCAT Exam?](What's on the MCAT® Exam?)
In the medical field, there is a lot to do with memory. It’s important to remember a lot of medical vocabulary that is not used in day to day conversation, are you ready for that? In addition, have you take intro to biology yet? If not, perhaps you should start to read it.
Med schools will give special considerations to “non- traditional” students that has been graduated for x number of years and trying to get back in medicin. As a 2016 graduates, you are not qualified to be in that group. Therefore, your chances to get into medical field is poor, based on your UG stats. However, you may want to consider in the other health related field such as PA, OT, PH and PT for example.
The major difference between the FE and Mcat is that you can take as many times of FE as you wish to pass and once you pass, you are licensed, but the Mcat is not an exam for passing or not passing, it is an exam to measure your standing among others who took the exam, that is similar to SAT/ACT. You get the highest standing if you get a score of 528 for example. Medical schools use Mcat score to admit applicants, along with other scores such as GPA, SGpa. According to the adcoms from med schools, you have only one or maximum two chances to take the exam, otherwise your chances being admitted demolish drastically. Therefore, please make sure you are prepared before taking Mcat.
Here is a non-traditional med student success story. You can search for more on the student doctor on the net. Lesson here is that if you are determined, you can succeed. OTOH, DO schools no longer will do grade replacement starting this year, so it will be more difficult for non-trad to be successful.
"1. Your age and GPA and MCAT if you have it.
When I started medical school: 32
MCAT 24 (took MCAT three times)
Undergrad GPA 2.9 with Science GPA 2.5
1 yr Post Bacc Work 3 yrs after graduating GPA 3.8
Chem I w/lab
Organic I
Biochem
Physic w/lab
Chem II w/lab
Organic II
Organic Lab
Physics w/ lab
Worked a 32 hour week as a ward clerk/cna while taking classes
I should say that I applied 3 yrs in a row before being accepted.
Your financial and work situation.
Worked for 7 yrs as a CNA/Ward Clerk. Had about $300 to my name at time of acceptance. Doctor friends gave me the money to hold my space in medical school. Another friend helped pay for me to move. Loans paid the rest, lived on $1200/month
Your family and significant other situation.
At the time just got divorced. Was dating a man who ended up moving with me from Alaska to Penn, we now have been together 10 yrs, Married 7. Had a 2yr old and a 5 yr old at time of matriculation to med school.
Your plan or your path to success.
Had trouble the first semester of medical school - failed 4 classes. Did the second semester as a post bacc student. Started medical school again the next fall and was successful. Never failed anything after that. Passed all three levels of the boards. Wanted to be a general surgeon, was not accepted into general surgery. Scrambled into family practice - really like it and finished FP residency this past July. Now I live and work in rural Montana. Plan to get back to Alaska eventually.
To everyone out there - If I can do it, anyone can. Keep working toward that goal and even if you don’t think your application is strong enough you never know until you apply.
I’m a DO and remember that DO schools tend to look at the overall picture, not just number crunch. You can do anything as a DO although most go into primary care."