<p>Question for knowledgeable personal: </p>
<p>I am a senior about to finish in fall with a SS major concentrating on pols and LA classes aiming towards a law degree for a future career. However, due to the economy, I have decided to pursue a M.D for psychiatry instead. I need to take pretty much all of the pre-med courses.(With a few extra to finish my major) So my question: I have the option of finishing this by taking a full class load by 2012 summer.(Or I can wait and skip summer and do it in fall) The problem is I will finish the pre-med req by '12 Summer. Do most med schools start around Aug-Sep for new students, or does it work in comparison with undergraduate and work towards a a acceptance of fall/spring? If not, am I pretty much screwed in the sense that I will have to wait a whole year to start in Fall 13? (I could apply early while I am "taking" these classes, but I doubt I will be considered as a potential student without proof of finishing the pre-med track.) Any advice?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>The medical school admission process takes about a full year to complete. And there’s no way you can complete your med school pre-reqs in summer '12 and be accepted into the med school by Fall '13. You’ll be lucky to get in by Fall '14.</p>
<p>You need to take the MCAT before you can apply and even if you take it immediately after completing your pre-reqs, it still takes 4 weeks to get your score back. Sept is too late to apply because med schools work on a kind of rolling admissions and most of the interview invitations have already been tendered by the time you’re applying.</p>
<p>You also will be lacking in several vital non-academic requirements–medical shadowing, hospital volunteering and community service.</p>
<p>Your timeline will look more like this–</p>
<p>Fall '11–, begin physician shadowing, hospital volunteering
Summer '12–finish pre med classes
Fall '12–take MCAT, continue volunteering
Summer '13–start med school application process, continue volunteering
Summer/Fall '14–start med school (I believe most start in July or August)</p>
<p>BTW, med school admission is extremely competitive–that 3.2 GPA you posted elsewhere isn’t going to get you into med school. The average successful applicant has a 3.66 GPA with a 3.5+ GPA in their BCMP courses.</p>