<p>S is a Junior at a large private college in west coast, Bio-Chemistry major, Psy minor, will be taking MCAT next summer, plan to apply for med school after graduation, Texas resident, will be applying to TX med schools.</p>
<p>Started college as a Engineering student decided to switch to bio-chem (pre-med) after 3 semesters, resulting in a 3.1 GPA this semester with only 3 semesters to go before applying to med school. If rest of the grades are really good, might end up with 3.4 GPA (reg & sci). Volunteer at hospital with 280 hr commitment, shadow at a rural clinic, does not like research.
1. Is med school out of the question at this point even with a good MCAT > 32?
2. Should he transfer to state U at this point & try 5th year?
3. What other options does he have?</p>
<p>If your son is willing to consider the less popular TX med schools (like A&M and Texas Tech or Galveston), I suspect he will get interviews, if he can get that 3.4 and score 30+ on the MCAT, esp given his interest/experience in rural medicine. </p>
<p>I’m not from TX, and I’m sure one of TX resident experts will give their opinion, but to me it looks do-able without the fifth year.</p>
<p>Is your S OK with a DO school (there is a good one north of dallas)? Is he against the idea of going to an area outside of the 3 major cities (houston, dallas, san antonio), especially the two medical schools in the west or northwest of texas? An important factor for getting into those 2 schools is to show your commitment to that region of texas. If you happen to be from that region, it would be great.</p>
<p>It appears that many texas applicants fail to get into a medical school because of their poor MCAT scores. If he could excel in MCAT, I think he still has a good chance.</p>
<p>For a record, DS was a texas resident and was applying last year. Unlike some other states, the love for in-state applicants appears to be strong in this state.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice, it is encouraging to hear that S might have a chance to fulfill his dream; he works very hard to improve his GPA.
What do you think is the best thing he can do during his gap year to improve his chances for admission, working, research, volunteering?</p>
<p>find all the easy classes that boost GPA. look for the easiest teachers. (Ratemyprofessor.com, other students, etc). GPA should be the only concern when picking classes. Pick classes that sound hard but in actuality are not because of the teacher. Isn’t that a crying shame. It is true though. Never go into a class without knowing the teacher. Do not take a difficult teacher that can be avoided. Medical schools look at GPA and MCAT, period. It is true that if two applicants are generally equal, then the harder course load will carry the day. Other than that, the higher GPA coupled with identical MCAT scores wins.</p>
<p>^don’t know if I agree with that advice, especially the piece that medical schools only look at GPA and MCAT. It seems that having solid numbers will get your foot in the door, but at the schools where I interviewed (3 top 20s and a state school), once you hit that threshold, numbers stopped mattering and the soft stuff really came into play.</p>
<p>I’d encourage him to do something that he likes to do so that he can show he’s passionate about something. If that “something” is medical, all the better!</p>
<p>Critically important. First and foremost, one must get a foot into the door to be interviewed (bcos one cannot receive an offer of admission without an interview). The other way to look at it, without solid numbers, the soft stuff doesn’t much matter.</p>
<p>As several others have said, a 3.4/32 will not be good enough for UTSW, Baylor and most likely, UTH. If the rest of his application is strong, he could see interview invitations to A&M Texas Tech and UTMB (Galveston) but none would be guarantees in my mind. He should apply to those schools plus UTH and the DO school as well as Oklahoma. If you live in West Texas, applying to U New Mexico might also make sense, but only if you live in West Texas.</p>
<p>Getting a 34/35 would certainly enhance his chances at any of the above schools but the top three instate programs would remain a big reach because of the 3.4 barring URM status.</p>
<p>If the “large private college in west coast” is USC, you need to understand that UTSW and Baylor have many students from there already enrolled so they are familiar with grading and rigor and know that higher GPAs are possible with its grads. Two of my S’s roommates are USC grads and had significantly higher GPAs and MCATs.</p>