Med School Timeline and Advise
Vested
🗣️Hello,
I would like some advice on how to proceed with my Pre-Med journey. I'm currently a junior going into my senior year of college, but I'm starting to do more research on what I need to do to get into medical school, and I'm realizing that I'm really behind and at a disadvantage due to the grades I've received in my previous courses. My GPA is well below the average for most medical schools, and I only have about 30 hours in volunteer experience and 25 hours in medical experience. I will be retaking the courses in which I received a low grade in and working to find more shadowing opportunities this summer, but I would like some advice on how to improve my acceptance if possible.
Also, has anyone had experience using Khan Academy's MCAT prep? Was it useful?
Best Answer
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Hi, my name is Maria Lofftus, one of Kaplan’s Medical School Admissions consultants. If your current GPA is outside of the range accepted by either allopathic and osteopathic medical schools it's time to get serious about your academic performance and extracurricular involvement it you aspire to become a physician. Unfortunately, one year of stellar academic performance is unlikely to overcome three years of mediocre performance.
As the former admissions dean for the UC San Diego School of Medicine, I was frequently asked about strategies for overcoming a lackluster academic history. One avenue that applicants who have been unsuccessful in their initial application to medical school consider is a Special Master's Program (SMP). An SMP is a master's degree designed to prepare students for medical school and, in some cases, other health professional programs. Typically, SMP programs target students who have previously applied to medical school and therefore have completed the pre-med requirements. It is a graduate program, and a graduate degree is awarded upon successful completion. Many of the most competitive programs are affiliated with a medical school, and students enrolled in the SMP take their classes along side medical students, thereby allowing SMP students to demonstrate that they are ready for medical school.
A second type of program designed to prepare students for medical school is a post-baccalaureate program, a non-degree program. Post-bac programs typically target students who have not completed their pre-med requirements. However, to complicate matters, you will often hear people refer to these two types of programs as though they were the same, using the names interchangeably.
I recommend reviewing the general information about these programs on the AAMC website. While the title of the webpage refers to postbaccalaureate programs, the information discussed is relevant to both types of programs. Considering a Postbaccalaureate Program. Within this webpage, you will find a link to the AAMC's database on such programs.
A third option that a future medical school applicant may consider is whether to earn an MPH (or any other professional or educational graduate degree). I would say that the most popular second graduate degree for a physician to earn is an MPH, due to the diversity of focuses among programs and the direct applicability of the skills and knowledge to the medical profession.
Regardless of which option you choose, some medical schools will consider your performance within the context of your academic background, while others will not. For this reason, as with many things in life, it is important to be a savvy consumer; understand what is included in a program, the costs, and the placement statistics of their graduates, and then choose the route that makes the most sense for you and your goals.
I don't know anything about Kahn Academy's MCAT prep, but I can tell you that as Dean, I always recommended Kaplan.
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Answers
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Hi, my name is Maria Lofftus, one of Kaplan’s Medical School Admissions consultants. If your current GPA is outside of the range accepted by either allopathic and osteopathic medical schools it's time to get serious about your academic performance and extracurricular involvement it you aspire to become a physician. Unfortunately, one year of stellar academic performance is unlikely to overcome three years of mediocre performance.
As the former admissions dean for the UC San Diego School of Medicine, I was frequently asked about strategies for overcoming a lackluster academic history. One avenue that applicants who have been unsuccessful in their initial application to medical school consider is a Special Master's Program (SMP). An SMP is a master's degree designed to prepare students for medical school and, in some cases, other health professional programs. Typically, SMP programs target students who have previously applied to medical school and therefore have completed the pre-med requirements. It is a graduate program, and a graduate degree is awarded upon successful completion. Many of the most competitive programs are affiliated with a medical school, and students enrolled in the SMP take their classes along side medical students, thereby allowing SMP students to demonstrate that they are ready for medical school.
A second type of program designed to prepare students for medical school is a post-baccalaureate program, a non-degree program. Post-bac programs typically target students who have not completed their pre-med requirements. However, to complicate matters, you will often hear people refer to these two types of programs as though they were the same, using the names interchangeably.
I recommend reviewing the general information about these programs on the AAMC website. While the title of the webpage refers to postbaccalaureate programs, the information discussed is relevant to both types of programs. Considering a Postbaccalaureate Program. Within this webpage, you will find a link to the AAMC's database on such programs.
A third option that a future medical school applicant may consider is whether to earn an MPH (or any other professional or educational graduate degree). I would say that the most popular second graduate degree for a physician to earn is an MPH, due to the diversity of focuses among programs and the direct applicability of the skills and knowledge to the medical profession.
Regardless of which option you choose, some medical schools will consider your performance within the context of your academic background, while others will not. For this reason, as with many things in life, it is important to be a savvy consumer; understand what is included in a program, the costs, and the placement statistics of their graduates, and then choose the route that makes the most sense for you and your goals.
I don't know anything about Kahn Academy's MCAT prep, but I can tell you that as Dean, I always recommended Kaplan.
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Thank you. As far as my shadowing experience goes, do you believe that it's still possible to get enough hours to be in competitive standing with other students?
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While all medical schools want you to have clinical experience of some sort, only a few specify shadowing, and a smaller number yet specify the required hours. Whether you can fulfill a school's shadowing requirement depends on when you plan to apply, the number of hours that they require, and your schedule.
For all schools, including those with a specific shadowing requirement, the critical factor will be the insights you have gained through your clinical experiences about yourself and the medical profession, and your ability to articulate that learning effectively.
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