Sophomore finishing BIO major, could use some advice

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Essentially-
my GPA is ~3.5 which will either stay the same or dip .1 by the time this my sophomore year is over and summer hits. Science GPA is ~3.0 I'm planning to take evo/eco for Maymester and Ochem 1 with lab for 11 week.
I've been looking at med school requirements and also optometry. I'm familiar with the tests and GPAs required for both , how the scoring works and I'm also looking at DO school as a 2nd option to med school and opto school as a 3rd option. My gf who's going to opto school next year (she got in this cycle) is questioning my dedication and the desire to pursue ANY kind of medicine and I agree. I've shadowed (part time job) and I've been pushed into this field at a young age (parents, relatives the typical lot). I love it and WANT to do medicine or DO or opto, but I have never shadowed an optometrist and am franky scared to put that option out to my relatives and family (last time I tried to have a convo about it my uncle (MD) straight up said no. I have no car to shadow behind their backs. </p>

<p>I don't think I have the academics for med school (a 3.7 gpa is beyond me this late not to mention how insane the mcat is. I'm not brilliant so I've worked for every A B or C I can get my hands on) and taking another 2 years for research or doing a Masters is something I've regarded as a last ditch effort. I don't know if I should:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>seriously just gear up for opto (being realistic, its easier than both but requires the SAME amount of drive) or</p></li>
<li><p>take my chances next year, study and take both MCAT and OAT and see what happens, by which I think I'll be behind in applying. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>Any advice/opinions(?) will help. Please be courteous. I appreciate ALL of your posts.</p>

2

<p>Optometrist and physician are really 2 different career tracks, although they do share some overlap. You need to make a choice and commit to one or the other. </p>

<p>I am more concerned that you feel you’re being pushed into medicine by your family. Family expectations/pressure is a lousy reason to become a doctor (or an optometrist). Medicine requires a huge commitment of your time and energy. If you’re just ‘meh’ about it, you’ll burn out before the end of the first year. (That’s assuming you even get accepted in the first place since that attitude won’t be helping you win the heart of adcomms.)</p>

<p>Also the fact you’re scared (your words) to open an adult discussion with your family about your future is also a bad sign. You’re an adult now and you need to take charge of your life. It’s your future, not your uncle’s or your cousin’s or your mother’s or anyone else’s. </p>

<p>I think you need to push back against your family’e expectations and discover what you want out of life. If it’s medicine–wonderful!. If it’s optometry–good for you! If it’s something completely unrelated to any medical field–that’s fine too. But grow up and accept the responsibility for running your own life. You’re an adult, act like one.</p>

<p>w/r/t to optometry shadowing. “Going behind their backs”–do you even understand how immature and childish that makes you sound?</p>

<p>Also, why do you need to sneak out? Can’t you shadow during the school year? </p>

<p>You don’t need a car to shadow so stop making excuses. (And please no whining about how there’s no way to get to where you need to be. I live in a area not known for it’s public transit. My kids managed to get where they needed to be via bike, city bus, public shuttle, walking, etc for years. Neither had a car at college and they managed to get where they needed to be when they needed to be off campus for all 4 years–by bus, shuttle, bike, taxi, walking and bumming rides off friends.) If you really wanted to shadow, you’d find a way to make it happen.</p>

<p>I think your girlfriend may be right–it’s not your grades holding you back from med school, it’s your attitude.</p>

<p>For the record, one of my kids got into a MD school with a GPA lower than your current GPA. So while it’s easy to shrug and say that only geniuses make it into med school, that’s simply not true. The people who make it into med school are smart, hard-working and dedicated to doing what’s necessary to get in.</p>

3

<p>Depending on the MCAT score your GPA could land you in plenty of medical schools.</p>

<p>That being said, I agree with the above - you have much more pressing concerns to deal with first.</p>

4

<p>Both of you are fantastic. Thank you. I bike 1o minutes to school so I will definitely look for optometry places to shadow. I never thought about doing that so thank you. I love doing medicine and just being in that office and figuring out how to help someone get better. I’ve decided to go all out and at least try for med/DO school first. I’ll focus on grades and mcat</p>