<p>If one does not like the job, the one should switch to something else. I have done it in my 30s…successfully. Went back to school and several employers paid for my additional BS and MBA, finished in my 40s, but I have been working full time in my new field (IT) rigtht afte getting my associate degree (CC) and never stopped loving it.<br>
All this talk is really a waste. You will not know until you start working. Keep in mind that there is no perfect position out there. There are always some negatvie at every place. I have worked for so many in very different industries, including Health Care (on IT side). In comparison to industry in general, Health Care seems to be more political. In regard to IT (which MD will not care much), the systems are much more complicated, there is no comparison to anything else. But it mostly still go down if you like what you are doing and who is your superior.<br>
I do not care what is out there on Internet in regard to this topic. It si sooo personal, you cannot relate to other’s opinions, actually I would say, do not listen to anybody, including me and others, we all have a different background, different preferences, family situation…etc., evaluate your own…</p>
<p>what is DOA in IWBB’s above post?
“Add in applying in september and my application was DOA.”</p>
<p>DOA = dead on arrival</p>
<p>‘I submitted by AMCAS in June 2009.’ by IWBB</p>
<p>Was it on time for June submission? why was it DOA then? DOA means late?</p>
<p>Do not base your medical school choice on rankings. PLEASE!!! It would be just dumb to do that! The accreditation process for medical colleges have left schools nearly equal with no group or individual school dominating medical education. Research is a completely different subject. I went to a medical school at the bottom 50, scored 97th percentile on my boards and attended what was considered the top residency program. I realized then how great my education was from the bottom 50 program. The Harvard, Johns Hopkins, UCSF or Duke colleagues never demonstrated any advsntages over me at all. We all had our individual strengths.</p>
<p>by applying in june 2009 I was early. I meant I would have been late had I applied in 2008 because my MCAT score did not come back until mid september.</p>
<p>WOWmom was right, that’s what I meant. Had I applied in the 08-09 cycle there is zero chance I would be at the school I’m at now and it’s unlikely that I would have gotten into a single MSTP program. I might have gotten into a much lower ranked, not fully funded MD/PhD because my MCAT ended up being very high. Waiting a year was incredibly beneficial for me.</p>
<p>Now I got it! Totally! :)</p>
<p>A few more questions. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can I take MCAT more than once? what I really want to ask is: student usually takes SAT 1-2 times, the most 3 times, that’s the advice I got in HS. So will taking MCAT multiple times make me look bad?</p></li>
<li><p>I saw on another thread, talking about some medical school will accept AP credits. WOWmom posted a very good link about what APs are accepted in each MS.
my question: if I submit the APs to the MSs, do they require HS transcript since I took those classes in HS? I asked it’s because I got 5 on Bio AP, but only got B on my HS grade. Will this make me look bad if MS requires the HS transcript? If they do require the HS transcript, should I retake the equivalent bio class in the college (I will try to get A)?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>thank you very much!</p>
<p>1) In theory, you can take the MCAT up to 3 times in a single year. In practice, you want to be “one and done”. Taking the test multiple times looks bad. Plus unless you show a substantial score improvement (like 4-5 points or more–which is tough to do), adcomms tend to discount your later scores.</p>
<p>2) Med schools will not ask for HS transcripts. In order for AP/IB/CLEP credits to be accepted by a med school, your credit MUST appear on your college transcript.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>p. 41 AMCAS Instructional Manual 2013</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf</a></p>
<p>WOWmom always gives the very useful and helpful links! Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Premedical requirements in most medical schools are (courses wise):
Biological Sciences: 1 year
Chemistry, general and organic sequence: 2 years
Physics: 1 year</p>
<p>Since I got 5 on Bio AP, I can place out one of the bio classes in my school:
CELLS AND ORGANISMS W/LAB or ORGANISMS AND POPULATION W/ LAB. </p>
<p>I am thinking to place out ORGANISMS AND POPULATION to take upper division bio course. Is this a good idea? I don’t know if they will be covered in MCAT.</p>
<p>But one MS1’s father told me that his son consulted with adviser in the undergrad school, they recommend that do not use AP to place out anything, because some medical schools require the students to take all bio courses in the sequence in the college. Is this true?</p>
<p>Have you or your S/D used APs to place out the classes to get into upper division courses?</p>
<p>Medical schools do not require any specific biology courses (except for the few that require biochem). It’s one year of bio with lab so if you want to skip ahead skip ahead - I (and many others at Brown) did.</p>
<p>
My son used AP credit to bypass the intro Bio class however he is a Bio major so he has instead taken Genetics and Cell Bio in addition to taking Biochemistry this year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. D2 used AP credit to take advanced standing in math. (She was a math major so this helped.)</p>
<p>Her school’s policy specifically prohibits any bio major or pre-med (regardless of major) from using AP credit to place out of intro bio. An AP Bio score of 5 is required to take the ‘harder’ of the 2 intro bio classes offered–which she did.</p>
<p>She chose not to report her AP physC or chem score because she didn’t want to use those credits.</p>
<p>When being placed out of intro classes, you may need to plan what labs to take. Not all upper division classes have the corresponding labs.</p>
<p>Is the biochem lab a chem lab or a bio lab? It is sometimes hard to tell. (I think it depends on college as well as the medical school.) I really so not know the answer. Another example is biophysics: is it a bio or physics or neither. I think in general the students should avoid taking classes with the interdisciplinary names.</p>
<p>
Huh? Biochemistry is required by my son’s major so he didn’t have much choice. In addition, some medical schools require or recommend biochemistry so I would never advise against taking the class. At my sons school it is a “biology” assigned course and there isn’t a corresponding lab but he will have at least 3-4 semesters of bio labs so it’s a non-issue anyway.</p>
<p>Well…I should take it back. Biochem should be taken due to its importance. I think most MS1s take Biochem. At some med schools, it is an important class.</p>
<p>I think DS’s major (standard track) requires cell bio, genetics, and biochem (and two other electives, one of them being a >450 class?) DS once said cell bio is the first more intense, and more real bio class (weekly quizzes) but it is not as annoying as other intro bio classes (large class = annoying class, in his definition of annoying classes.)</p>
<p>When DS was an UG, biochem at his school has a separate 0.5 credit biochem lab. Actually, it was a shorter but more time intensive lab. The lab time was doubled each week but you could choose the first half semester session or the second half semester session - if I remember it correctly.</p>
<p>I should rephrase my post. There is not a “required” lab for the Bio major for Biochemistry or Genetics specifically. There are labs for both classes if you want to use them to satisfy the lab or elective requirements. 
My son chose to take the Cellular Biology labs instead.</p>
<p>Also, the requirement was Biochemistry and Cell Bio or Developmental Biology with either Genetics or Microbiology, at least for MCDB majors.</p>
<p>What? There is Microbiology class now?</p>
<p>I remember DS said that if he plans to pursue a vet school, he needs to take Microbiology elsewhere, as it was not offered at his school back then.</p>
<p>I do not know whether it is a bias. Back then, it was rumored the Develomental Bio is for “sissy”. The real premeds took Cell Bio. One of DS’s friends took Cell bio in his freshman year and got burned. DS took it in the sophomore year and it appears it was “better” as he was more mature as a sophomore.</p>
<p>I am surprised that the labs can be chosen. maybe labs for some courses are mandatory, some are optional?</p>
<p>But is taking the lab better to help you understand the contents?</p>
<p>at my school labs were not optional. Either the course had lab and you had to take it or there was no lab.</p>
<p>A lot of this information is very school specific. That is why you get several differing opinions on the actual classes.</p>
<p>Most schools have premed clubs and/or premed advisors who provide documentation on what is the standard at that school for meeting the specific minimum AMCAS requirements at that school. These are usually in a lot of detail addressing which class codes they are designating as meeting the minimum requirements. So if someone is using AP credits to skip some classes, there is usually advice from the counselor on what the school thinks is appropriate in that case, to take a higher level class or use the credit, based on the med schools most students apply to from there.</p>
<p>I noticed many of them have not updated their lists to reflect any new classes so far because AMCAS has not asked for any required classes although they have changed the MCAT. I would think people need to take some psychology, sociology and additional biochemistry classes to tackle the new MCAT but none of that seems to be taking place yet.</p>