Second year student here. GPA is only 3.80. Way too much stress, and I don’t think I can get into medical school with that sort of GPA, and I doubt I’m going to do well on the MCAT. I’ve talked to other students who got in and their GPA’s are way closer to 4.0, their majors are way harder than bio, they have more research and more experience. I do extracurriculars/have hospital experience/shadowing but I don’t do research and having looked at acceptance rates, my chances are slim to none.
I’m just feeling kind of discouraged and I don’t know what to do.
Well there is still time to get research experience, and you are only a sophomore. You don’t have to decide today. You won’t have to take the MCAT until at least spring of next year. Your GPA doesn’t seem off the mark and there are many more courses to take to contribute to your GPA before you apply. Do you really have to decide now? Probably not. Do the best you can and by the end of Junior year make some decisions about directions you want to go in. There are also lots of other medically related fields besides medical school.
Also check out DO schools. You seem like you are still on the path to MD/DO schools to me…but that doesn’t mean it isn’t okay to change your mind anyway.
@NorthernMom61@bopper what would you guys honestly put my chances at? I don’t want to be in medicine unless I can be a doctor. I would also consider doctor of optometry but if I can’t do either of those I don’t want to be in the field.
The first thing you need to do is do the very best you can every single day now. It is impossible to predict your chances at this point in time. It doesn’t really matter what a few random anonymous people on the internet think about your prospects. You have to believe in yourself first and find a way to get over the discouragement you are experiencing at this time. Take things step by step. Becoming a doctor is a long and hard road with lots of ups and downs. Your desire to be a doctor is going to have to override everything in order to make it happen. How much do you really want it?
Focus on the here and now…getting through this semester. Then you can figure out what you want to do- do you still want to major in bio if you decide med school is not for you?
Being a doctor is hard, long, draining, and doesn’t have the return on investment that most premeds think. Its also not as prestigious as most premeds think. So if you don’t even want to stay in the medical field if you can’t be a doctor, then medicine may not be right for you.
I say to look at www. studentdoctor . net
I say that you should only do medicine if you cannot image yourself doing anything else.
I say to start volunteering and shadowing.
DO schools have an average closer to 3.4
check here for average MD school entrance GPAs http://www.mcattestscores.com/usmedicalschoolsmcatscoresGPA.html
Research is not THAT important, especially if you’re not looking to get into a top research university (eg Harvard). From what I understand, GPA, MCAT, and clinical experience and/or volunteering tend to be top criteria that medical schools look at. Looks like you are on a good track in terms of extracurricular/volunteer involvement.
3.8 is still a very competitive GPA for med school. Med schools don’t care what major you’re in, as long as you finish the prerequisite classes. You haven’t even taken the MCAT yet or learned enough to even think about taking it, so don’t worry about it at this time. A gap year after graduation is becoming more and more popular, which would allow you an extra year to prepare your application and the MCAT (or think about what you really want to do).
Remember, DO school is a valid option - you still become a doctor, only that you’d most likely be specializing in primary care.