<p>I'd like some advice for a friend.
Her MCATS were very low. She had a 3.49 GPA at a fairly prestigious LAC in the south. She was rejected by Moorhouse, UM, Emory, U. Rochester, et al.
She's gotten a job offer from the CDC in Atlanta for approx. 25K. This job is equiv. to a graduate position and will only be hers for 14mts.
She has a pretty good chance of being accepted into med school in the West Indies where she's a citizen of one of the countries.
She's also considering doing a post-bac program in Florida.
She really wants to be an MD.</p>
<p>My suggestion to her was to take the job at the CDC and go back to working on her MCATS. You never know where a job at the CDC can take you, right? Or am I over-rating the CDC?</p>
<p>Any and all advice will be more than welcome.</p>
<p>If she can raise her MCATs to be a competitive applicant then she should take the CDC position and re-apply for next year. If she thinks she may not get in on her 2nd try -or doesn't think she can improve her score or just wants to get on with her life by entering med school in the West Indies- these are all valid points. Did she get any interviews?? Maybe she could re-apply to lower tier US schools.</p>
<p>Is your friend a US citizen? If she is not, I'm not surprised at her poor showing - applying to medical school is competitive enough for US citizens with good MCAT scores and 3.6+ GPAs. An international student with <3.5 GPA and a poor MCAT score stands virtually no chance at US allopathic schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is your friend a US citizen? If she is not, I'm not surprised at her poor showing - applying to medical school is competitive enough for US citizens with good MCAT scores and 3.6+ GPAs. An international student with <3.5 GPA and a poor MCAT score stands virtually no chance at US allopathic schools.
[/quote]
That's exactly what I was going to say. If she is not a citizen, tell her to forget about US Schools and head to the West Indies. She can still do the whole CDC thing if she wants to for the experience...</p>