<p>Hello all, I've been interested in going to medical school for a good while, but recently after reading these boards and taking all things into consideration, I'm not sure if I should bother given the circumstances of my past. My story is this: during my first two years of highschool I was a **** poor student that did nothing but slack off. Each semester I'd usually average about one A (band) one B, three C's, and a D(math). Math was always my weak point, and by "weak point" I mean I was absolutely terrible at it since I had been slacking off and not paying attention since the 6th grade. I scraped by my freshman year of highschool in math with a C (mostly lucky guessing), failed geometry sophmore year, then dropped out because I realized I was just wasting my time. I did school online through BYU up to half way through my senior year, but then was told in order to get a diploma I would have to go back to highschool for the last semester. By this time I had been out for about a year and realized how completely stupid highschool and all its drama was, so I opted to just get my GED instead. From there, I took the residual ACT from UNLV and (predictably) scored high on the english related part and low on the math related part (so low in fact I had to take a placement math class before I could take a class I actually got credit for).
So, my first semester of college I only took 3 (avoided the math course because I'm an idiot), and got a 3.79 gpa. This semester it looks like it will come out to about a 3.5, and the highest math I will have completed will be introductory college algebra. Being able to do the math is not an issue, it's just a matter of applying myself, which I plan to do. My current declared major is Clinical Laboratory Science, since that what my advisor recommended because UNLV lacks an actual pre-med program. Now <em>breath</em>, to the point. Am I already screwed because of my past? Should I just give up now and pick something less math heavy since I'm already so far behind? And if you think I should stick with it, should I transfer to somewhere that actually has a pre-med program? Sorry for the long, poorly formatted post. If anybody can offer me any constructive advice I'd appreciate it greatly.</p>
<p>Most medical schools do not require a math course. Satisfying your university requirements is enough for many medical schools. You are doing pretty well in college right now, so you are not screwed. You will be screwed if you do not work very hard and get used to working very hard. Getting into medical school is tough enough, doing well in medical school takes a lot of work as well. Also, I would not change to another school because UNLV doesn't have a "pre-med" program. The beauty of being a premed is that you can major in anything you want, as long as you meet the prerequisites that medical schools require. I will be attending college this fall, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Maybe someone more experienced can help?...</p>
<p>if u are any science major, u need at least precalc. </p>
<p>Have u taken chem or physics class? It's mostly math.</p>
<p>No way to avoid it man.</p>
<p>I recommend going to a CC to learn math if u need to, better instruction there.</p>
<p>As for premed progs, there is no such a thing, u just have to take prereqs for med school. Most meds schools to require a year of calc. U can be a history major and still apply to med school. major don't matter.</p>
<p>As for personal advice. It's never to late to start anything.</p>
<p>U got to learn math man.</p>
<p>Ok, very interesting. I was talking to someone the other day and when I told her I was going to UNLV for pre-med she scoffed and suggested I go somewhere with a "real pre-med program". Glad to hear it's not too late, I plan on taking summer math coarses as well to catch up, so hopefully I won't be stuck waiting around for too long before I can take higher level science courses.</p>
<p>i don't mean to sound harsh, but math is the best indicator of a person's work ethic, to do well in college, u have to work hard, i know from experience myself that saying this is 1 million times easier than doing it.</p>
<p>I've never heard that about math before, but I don't doubt it. Like I said, I was always a slacker up until the beginning of my Junior year of high school. The problem is that since math is cumulative, I couldn't just start paying attention and take it up from there. The only reason I stayed slightly ahead of the curve with English related subjects was because I was and am a fairly avid reader. I have a pretty harsh set of rules that I force myself to adhere to when studying to prevent myself from slacking. These rules are typed out and posted in front of my desk as a reminder. I've got the motivation, but being a realist I understand that sometimes just being motivated isn't enough, so I wanted to hear the opinions of some people with experience on the matter.</p>
<p>You are certainly not screwed! A 3.5+ GPA is good for med school. The school you go to and the bachelor's you get are not nearly as important as your GPA and MCAT score. So, with that in mind, you should choose a major that you will enjoy and that will result in the highest grades. In fact, English might be a good choice in your case since it sounds like you would do well. You still have to take the premed courses, of course, though, and do well in them. This means mostly As, particularly since your premed courses are used to calculate a separate GPA when you apply to med school. </p>
<p>According to the MSAR (medical school admission requirements) only 20% of med schools require one year of calculus. You might want to check into what the schools in your state require. There is some math in the chemistry and physics courses but nothing like differential equations or anything. You aren't required to take calc-based physics so the hardest math you MUST know is algebra and a small bit of trig.</p>
<p>Don't worry about what you did or didn't do in high school. No one will ever ask you about it and you don't use any high school stats in your med school application. </p>
<p>Hope this helps. You may also want to look for a premed advisor who is experienced and interested in helping you succeed.</p>
<p>By the way, tell people who scoff at your school to stick it up their nose! Unless you are trying to get in to one of the upper tier schools it won't matter. You know what they call the guy who graduates from the state med school?</p>
<p>Doctor.</p>
<p>Hoberto, unfortunately, the rejoinder to your last paragraph is: What do you call the guy who gets solid grades and solid mcat scores and still gets rejected from all the med-schools he applies to?</p>
<p>The point is, I think it should be emphasized that getting into med-school is a very hard road. A 3.5 in your first college semester is OK, but certainly doesn't do you any favors when you're talking about getting into med-school - not when there is plenty of extremely difficult coursework ahead. I would have to honestly say that while the situation is not terrible, it's certainly not that good. After all, the average matriculant at med-school in 2004 had a GPA of 3.62, and that number has been increasingly steadily each year for the past 10 years, which indicates that when the OP graduates, the average matriculant GPA will probably be even higher than a 3.62</p>
<p>I agree with you that the OP is 'not screwed', but on the other hand, the OP's position is not great either. After only one semester, the OP already has a GPA that is lower than that of the average med-school matriculant. Hence, I think we can all agree that the OP has to step it up if he wants to be fully competitive.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest advice all of you, it's quite helpful to me in planning my future. Something I was wondering about though, you say I should consider majoring in something I'm naturally good at such as english and just taking the required pre-med classes, but wouldn't that practically equate to a double major? Say I chose to major in creative writing, I would still have to take a metric ton of science courses outside of my major to meet the pre-med requirements right? Is there a list anywhere that I can look at and see the required courses to be considered being accepted into med school? I'll make an appointment to talk to my advisor about all this soon, but spring class registration is comming up and I'd like to be able to plot my course A.S.A.P. Thanks again for all the feedback everyone, it's very encouraging.</p>
<p>You should surf over to: <a href="http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/start.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/start.htm</a></p>
<p>As far as the pre-med requirements..they are:
One year of General Chemistry + labs
One year of Organic Chemistry + labs
One year of Physics + labs
One year of Biology + labs
One year of English</p>
<p>University of Nevada also requires 6 semester hours of behavioral science classes such as psychology or medically oriented sociology and an additional 3 semester hours of upper division biology credit. This is quite a bit more than many schools but I'm sure it's possible to cram them all in since you are only in year one of school. I'm not sure what other schools you'd be interested in but this is a starting point. To do it all in a reasonable amount of time you might want to map out all the classes over the next few years so you'll know what to take and when.</p>
<p>Your 3.79 first semester and 3.5 this semester are very encouraging. Depending on how many credits you have right now you may be at higher GPA than the average matriculant already. So, keep up the good work. If you ultimately decide to go for med school you'll have to really excel in your classes, especially the pre-med courses. To be most competetive you'll want to attend full-time if possible. Just remember that only ~50% of applicants actually get accepted so you'll want to be sure this is what you really want to do. It's definitely possible. Good luck.</p>