Thanks for the quick response, but is a computer science class really that important? Why would they want some one who has taken tha class verses some one that hasn’t? Also how did you figure that interesting fact out?
It doesn’t have to be a Computer Science class per say, it can be Computer Literacy or another dinky Computer-related class. I found this out after I got in during Year 1, that the most common reason for rejection from the program is not having taken a class dealing with computers - I guess bc as a med student and later physician, familiarity with computers and not being computer illiterate is important, as medical records are more and more electronic rather than paper. You may want to check with the admissions people to see if this is still the case, as maybe things have changed.
Oh you can also see here where it says, “one-half unit of a computer science course is recommended by the medical school.” on page 5.
<a href=“http://www.umkc.edu/admissions/docs/2009MedApplication.pdf[/url]”>http://www.umkc.edu/admissions/docs/2009MedApplication.pdf</a>
my class rank isn’t that great
55/410
but my average is 101 and I’ve taken the hardest classes possible. I am not in the top 10% but i have 500 hours volunteering and a 34 act. Im oos. What are my new chances?
Do you go to a private school az1698?
According to the link above and go to page 5:
“The average accepted Missouri applicant has an ACT score of 29 and a rank within the top 10% of the graduating class.”
“The average accepted regional or out-of-state applicant has an ACT score of 30 and a rank within the top 5% of the graduating class.”
So your rank is outside of the average, but your ACT score is very high. To be honest, your rank may hurt you, as UMKC is not really hardcore about standardized test scores once above a certain number, which is why the interview revolves around your extracurricular activities, community service, etc. Do many students share the same rank at your school or something? As such a high numerical grade average and your rank doesn’t seem to fit.
Of course, I don’t know what scale your school uses, which seems to be a little different than most schools. For example at my school, per class for each semester:
90-100 = A = 4.0 for Regular, 5.0 for Pre-AP/AP
80-89 = B = 3.0 for Regular, 4.0 for Pre-AP/AP
75-79 = C = 2.0 for Regular, 3.0 for Pre-AP/AP
70-74 = D = 1.0 for Regular, 2.0 for Pre-AP/AP
69 & below = F = 0.0 for Regular, 0.0 for Pre-AP/AP
Our GPA was thus weighted.
What is your GPA? Can you list your classes?
I would say apply and send in your application EARLY as well as apply to as many BA/MD programs you would be comfortable going to their medical school.
Thanks! hey happy when did you in fact graduate?
oh ya and what does oos mean?
I graduated in 2006.
OOS = Out of State
[School</a> of Medicine - Fees](<a href=“http://www.med.umkc.edu/med_admissions/educational_fees.html]School”>http://www.med.umkc.edu/med_admissions/educational_fees.html)
"Estimated Educational Fees for 2009-2010
These are annual figures.
Instate
Years 1-2: $24,779
Years 3-6: $28,724
Regional (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Illinois)
Years 1-2: $36,585
Years 3-6: $42,462
Out-of-State
Years 1-2: $48,389
Years 3-6: $56,194
Room and Board:
Years 1-2: $8,600
Years 3-6: $12,000
Books and Medical Supplies
Years 1-2: $975
Years 3-6: $975
Medical Instruments (one time expense): $550
These estimated expenses are subject to change without notice."
Thanks for the info
Sorry, hadn’t checked this thread in a while. Only I am the #55, and I know that sucks. Not a private school, just your average OOS public school.
My unweighted was 91
Classes:
AP EURO
AP SPANISH
AP ENGLISH
LATIN
AP USH
AP ENGLISH LIT
AP ENGLISH LANG’
AP COMPARTIVE GOV
AP CALC AB
AP PHYSICS
REST HONORS AND/OR COLLEGE LEVEL
az1698, what are you trying to get from your post? If you want to know what your chances are for getting accepted into the program you should tell us much more information. including
-Class rank out of how many people are in your class
-GPA on a 4 point scale (91 doesn’t work)
-Standardized test scores (including the ACT, SAT, PSAT ect…)
-Extracurricular activities
-What scores you actually got on in those AP tests (its good that your taking challenging courses but just saying that your taking a bunch of AP doesn’t look impressive if you don’t tell how you did in them).
-What you got in those AP classes
-What experiences/ exposure have you had in the medical field/
Try supplying us with some more information so we can give you more accurate feed back.
Hey az1698, I was wondering where you went after my response (#1625).
I know you said in your prior post that your rank is 55 / 410.
According to this website a 91 converts to a 3.6 on a 4.0 (unweighted) scale: [GPA</a> Conversion Chart](<a href=“http://inquiry.princetonreview.com/leadgentemplate/GPA_popup.asp]GPA”>Calculate Your GPA With Our GPA Scale | The Princeton Review)
What was your score on the ACT or SAT?
For UMKC, your AP scores are not even really considered so it’s not a big deal. I took almost every AP course offered at my school (for the extra weighted GPA and ranking purposes - I also went to a public OOS school) and concentrated on making good grades in them, but took very few AP tests, as I didn’t know whether I was going to do the 4+4 route and thus APing out of Bio, Chem, and Physics was not a good idea. In the spectrum of BA/MD programs, UMKC is one of the lesser competitive ones, hence the lack of asking for SAT II scores unlike the Northwestern or Brown programs.
List your extracurricular activities (school and non-school), community service, medical opportunities/volunteering, and awards, as UMKC does tend to emphasize these parts of your application a LOT more.
Happy, I was just showing you my difficulty of classes
PA: 91 UW/ 101 W
ACT: 34
SAT I: 700 CR, 740 M, 700 W (2140 total - retaking for 2250)
SAT II: 730 World History, 670 Biology, 700 Math I, 800 USH, 670 Chem
College Level Classes taken: 9 AP’s (projected), 4 Other college level classes
Other:
Letter of Recs - Beastly, 1 from GC, 1 from Bio teacher, 1 from doctor
Essays - Also beastly, had AP English teacher and former admissions person read it, both said it was great.
Misc- Parents are doctor, will talk about how I have a full understanding of what it means to be a doctor.
Awards-
Presidential Volunteer Service award (gold)
Superintendents Scholar athlete award
Poetry contest editors choice award
Schools highest PSAT scorer award
Prudential spirt of the community award (projected)
Scholastic art & writing award (projected)
EC’s-
Track 2 years
Varsity football 1 year
Pre-med club----secretary
Horticulture club—secretary
Spanish Honor Society—public relations officer
Science Honor society
National Honor Society
Tutoring underprivileged kids in science and math
Babysitting
Medically related EC’s-
Volunteering (500+ hours)
Shadowing (100+ hours)
Research w/ physician (name will be published in journal as special thanks to)
Research w/ psychiatrist (name will be published as main contributor)
Helping with health clinics
az1698, I know you were listing them as I had asked. You had said “Sorry, hadn’t checked this thread in a while” that’s what I was referring to. I think BreakingDawn didn’t realize why you were listing them, but I remembered your post from before.
I think your CV is spectacular actually, things esp. of note: your spectacular SAT score and ACT (can’t believe you took both! you rock!) and SAT IIs, your involvement in sports and academic honor societies, as well as your medical research which sets your application apart from the rest of the pack. While you may be 55/410, in my opinion, your academics (from a standardized exam standpoint which tests everyone equally as grade inflation in some schools esp. small rural schools can heavily skew ranks) and extracurriculars put you at the top of the pack. Also your score of 34 on the ACT will definitely stand out to the UMKC Council on Selection.
I’m sure you’re already doing so, but also apply to more prestigious (i.e. better) BA/MD programs besides UMKC as your superior stats would open the door to these places, esp. the ones that tend to put more emphasis on standardized testing (as they are better schools): Brown, Northwestern, Rice/Baylor, SLU, Tufts, Boston Univ., Jefferson Medical College, Temple, and USC Keck.
Thanks Happy (Loved the stuff in PM as well). I am applying to some of the others schools you listed, but I have so much more information about UMKC that I feel more prepared(?) for it (most of the info is from the posts of you and other previous students, as well as some that are in the program). While my number 1 choice is Sophie Davis, I would love UMKC as well. As for the SAT and ACT, on the east coast everyone takes the SAT so I had to be able to respond to the question, “What did you get on you sat?” For some reason, those scores qualify someone as really smart (Go figure).
Do you have any advice as to how I can “boost” my CV (internship somewhere ect…) not for college, but for the time after. I am 100% dedicated to medicine, I just want to know what would look good when residency time comes along. Thanks for all your help
The only thing I can think of as you’re not able to get involved in official university extracurricular organizations yet, is to to continue your research but in a field you are thinking about possibly going into or if you’re not sure: get involved in basic science research projects. I know premeds tend to also do EMT volunteering type of stuff as well, or doing a month of international medicine in a foreign country. Many medical schools/colleges let you do a summer of biomedical research as well as the NIH: [NIH</a> Student Training Opportunities](<a href=“http://www.training.nih.gov/student/]NIH”>http://www.training.nih.gov/student/) For residency though, many of those things are outside of things you can do now like rotations, board scores, etc. so the above is more for doing the usual 4+4, unless you go into the field you happened to do research in which is hard to know at this point.
Usually the official websites of the programs (which should give you a VERY clear idea of how the curriculum is), as well as CollegeConfidential here, will give you enough information for interviews and so just get a book about getting into medical school and look at the chapter about the interview and just go through them to see how you’d answer them. The questions you will be asked will be getting to know you, not quizzing you on the intricacies of the specific program (although you may be asked why you picked THAT particular program - which is reasonable - and you’ll have to go beyond “Bc it’s a guaranteed program” or you’ll look like a putz).
The key is to find out EVERYTHING you can about the school by asking questions to someone who is actually in the program which they should be more than happy to give you a contact email of someone: [AAMC:</a> Applying to Medical School: Thirty-One Questions I Wish I Had Asked](<a href=“http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/about/31questions.htm]AAMC:”>http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/about/31questions.htm)
Is there any award that is considered prestigious or worthwhile that can help someone get a seat in a residency? What about med school? Are awards important for them? And if so, which ones.
Well for residency, getting into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society (AOA) during medical school, is helpful esp. for competitive residencies. There is a chapter at UMKC’s school of Medicine. Almost all medical schools have AOA, except Harvard Medical School which doesn’t have a chapter, but not like that matters, as it is Harvard, after all. But this isn’t a magic bullet, as esp. for competitive residencies, almost everyone applying will be AOA.
For college to get INTO medical school, Phi Beta Kappa is the highest undergraduate honor which is very well-known. There is no Phi Beta Kappa chapter set up at UMKC, at least not yet.
Other than that, it doesn’t hurt to try to amass as many awards (academic/university organizations/etc) as you can.
A frequent message I get is what undergraduate degrees are possible to pursue within the 6 year BA/MD program at UMKC. You have to realize that you are limited to very few options, as you only really get a total of barely 2 years to finish your degree (5 semesters).
You are charged the medical school rate of tuition per credit hour for School of Medicine courses AND undergraduate courses for all 6 years or longer if necessary. Click on “School of Medicine”: [UMKC</a> Cashiers Office - Fee Structure](<a href=“Cashiers Office | Cashiers | University of Missouri - Kansas City”>Cashiers Office | Cashiers | University of Missouri - Kansas City)
For those applying this year to enter in Fall 2009 (Class of 2015) - semesters that you are allowed to take undergraduate courses for your bachelors degree in are:
Year 1: Fall 2009, Spring 2010
Year 2: Summer 2010, Fall 2010
Year 4: Depending on how many hrs. you have left, one semester in Year 4 called your campus semester - Summer 2012, Fall 2012, or Spring 2013
This site lists them all: [choosing</a> a major](<a href=“http://www.med.umkc.edu/prospective/sections/program/choosingamajor.html]choosing”>http://www.med.umkc.edu/prospective/sections/program/choosingamajor.html)
Most people choose the Liberal Arts degree as it has the fewest extra hours outside your science classes - 21 hours of Humanities courses and 21 hours of Social Sciences courses. The downside of course, is that the Liberal Arts degree, as you can imagine, is relatively useless if you happen to leave the program in the middle.
For the other degrees, if you see the chart many require you to have incoming credit whether it is through AP credit, IB credit, CLEP credit, or transfer credit, as you are cramped for time to fit it into the 6 yr. program. The upside is that you have another route if things don’t work out, through those degrees, although the bachelor degree is coming from UMKC, so don’t really know how marketable that will be outside the midwest unlike if you were to do the same degree at Northwestern, Brown, etc.
There is no cap on transfer credit, but there is a cap of 30 credit hours for testing credit (AP/CLEP/IB): [UMKC</a> Registration and Records - Credit by Examination](<a href=“http://www.umkc.edu/registrar/creditbyexam.asp]UMKC”>http://www.umkc.edu/registrar/creditbyexam.asp)
If you notice, all the degrees are BA degrees. If you decided to pursue a BS degree, you would have to automatically extend in the program and do another year or 2 (and pay the School of Medicine rate no less) to finish those undergraduate requirements.
For those who asked about doing a backup degree such as Engineering and Business, as you can see, this is out of the question, unless you want to take more time and extend in the program and pay the annual med school rate tuition above.
Hence, before entering the program, think carefully and look at it from all angles, as the decision you make is hard to back out of after the first year, without coming out with a huge monetary loss for you and your parents.