Need some honest opinions

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hello All,


I am 27, graduated with a MS in Bioengineering in 2005 and I have been working for a medical device company as a Scientist since then. I have just decided that I would like to try for med school, wanted to few years ago but was not able to. Here are my credentials:


GPA in MS : 3.42 (UT Arlington)


BS in Biomedical Engineering, India


3 years work experience


Volunteer experience: Homeless organization, hospice care (6 months)


First of all, does my background make a good contender for med school? My main concern is the GPA and relatively unknown school. Most importantly, I have read about how much easier your application experience can be if you have an advisor to work with.

  • Can anyone tell me where I can find an advisor to help me navigate through this complex process?

  • How do I find out what other premed courses, if any, I need to take?

  • Any tips on devising a study plan for someone working full time. I plan on taking the test Apr 2009.


    Pre-med courses: I have done the following in undergrad.

  • 1 yr chem (org and gchem) with lab

  • 1 yr physics with lab

  • 1 sem human biology and physiology with lab

  • Clinical engineering

  • 6 months internship in a hospital in India

  • 2 yrs Calculus


    In addition, we had extensive phy, bio and chem with labs in high school (11 and 12 grades in India)


    In MS I took the following courses:

  • Cell Biology

  • Human anatomy and physiology

  • Immunology

  • Genomics


    If these are not enough, I can still take courses at a community college, etc before the application opens up.


    Someone just scared me saying I should drop the idea. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!!
2

nk06,


welcome to the site. You can probably find the answers to most of the questions you asked here. Just browse a little bit ;). Meanwhile:

  • Many medical schools/ most of them actually like to see a degree (undergrad degree) from an American University. To find out specifically about your case I’d contact a med school or two that you might want to apply in the future and ask; maybe you don’t have to go to school entire 4 years and get a degree?

  • another way to get this information would be to talk to an advisor. Most of universities have student career counseling and pre-med advisors, but since you’re not enrolled at school right now, you might try to meet with an independent advisor (for example Judith Colwell whose ads you can find on this website).

  • your GPA is not that low, but again: med schools want to see undergrad GPA, and they want it to be good. I know grading system in India is different and unless you did great in every single class, the transfer/ translation might not be too favorable (at least this was the case with me; my Polish grades wouldn’t get me far in here, so I ended up going to school again and getting another degree in the US before applying to med school).


    Hope it helps for now,


    Kasia
3

Thank you for your reply. I will get this info and get back to you with more questions.


Thank you for your time!!