Hello everybody;
I have been quietly reading this forum for a few years on and off. I will have few questions for You and would really appreciated your thoughts on my situation.
I am 31 years old, come from Poland. Back in my old country I finished 3 years in 6 year medical program and then came to US and decided to start everything from the beginning( few reasons,financial, I met my wife, etc.). My GPA is low from this school ( about 2.8 ) because in the past I did not care too much about grades. I am listing it as professional on aacomas application so most school should not count it towards GPA - is it correct ?
Do U think that attending med school and not finishing may negatively impact me?
Here in US I spent first 2 years as a live-in caregiver - I stayed 24 hours a day 13 days in a row with elders. Later I finished CNA, worked for a while as medical assistant, and than finished LPN. For last 3.5 years I have been working as weekend charge nurse in nursing home. So I have been exposed to medicine all my adult life ,and in the future see myself as a geriatrist.
I did my premed in community college with 3.6 gpa (my first class in US college was microbiology and I received C which I am going to repeat in this coming spring).
My bachelor is problem because it is BS in Liberal Arts from Excelsior college. it is online degree - I did many test out credits like clep and dante - and I know that adcoms do not like it sometimes - what do U think? my GPA is around 3.6 ( I am still finishing it ).
I started Excelsior thinking that I am going to do LPN to RN bridge and later I changed my mind.
I do not know what to do - should I do regular bachelor or postbac? I really want to go to LECOM so I thought maybe do their postbac - what do U think ? do I have any chances?
ohh IO forgot - I took MCAT last January and got 27 L , without physics - I did not write almost anything and took it just for fun to see where I am without studying too much - I know that I can improve at least 3-4 points.
This semester I am taking Biochemistry, AP 2 , human growth, statistics and upper level nutrition and multidisciplinary woundcare.
Please give me Your thoughts.
Thank You.
Andrezej -
Welcome!
Two thoughts - sounds like you have a bachelors degree in this country, so you could just do a postbac. Your starting med school in your country and not finishing should be addressed in some way in your personal statement such that it supports your overall narrative, of your journey to medicine.
Taking the MCAT “just for fun” is generally not a great idea since the admissions committees see every score you have received, not just your most recent one. However, 27 is decent enough that it should not throw up too many red flags (especially considering you had not had physics yet!). I’d concentrate on good MCAT prep especially for doing well in the writing sample, as admissions committees will probably want to be sure your written English is good. Take it again only when you are prepared to do as well as possible. In that case, a strong personal statement, a good MCAT score, and what seems to be fairly good academics could make you a competitive applicant.
Kate
Andrezej -
Welcome!
Two thoughts - sounds like you have a bachelors degree in this country, so you could just do a postbac. Your starting med school in your country and not finishing should be addressed in some way in your personal statement such that it supports your overall narrative, of your journey to medicine.
Taking the MCAT “just for fun” is generally not a great idea since the admissions committees see every score you have received, not just your most recent one. However, 27 is decent enough that it should not throw up too many red flags (especially considering you had not had physics yet!). I’d concentrate on good MCAT prep especially for doing well in the writing sample, as admissions committees will probably want to be sure your written English is good. Take it again only when you are prepared to do as well as possible. In that case, a strong personal statement, a good MCAT score, and what seems to be fairly good academics could make you a competitive applicant.
Kate
- andrzej Said:
I am 31 years old, come from Poland. Back in my old country I finished 3 years in 6 year medical program and then came to US and decided to start everything from the beginning( few reasons,financial, I met my wife, etc.). My GPA is low from this school ( about 2.8 ) because in the past I did not care too much about grades. I am listing it as professional on aacomas application so most school should not count it towards GPA - is it correct ?
From the accomas 2011 application instructions
"Professional school coursework listed will be verified against official transcripts, but will not be included in your GPA calculations."
So it would appear that even though you have a low GPA in the professional program abroad, it will not be used in the accomas GPA calculation
- andrzej Said:
yes it will have a negative impact. Not completing a program, especially a medical program goes directly to your commitment and motivation to being a doctor. Additionally, even though your grades from this will not be included in the GPA, the adcom will see your transcripts. On the other hand you have the generally unusual story of being an immigrant who was in a med school when he left his native country. You'll have to deal with this and you motivation effectively in your PS narrative on your application
- andrzej Said:
I did my premed in community college with 3.6 gpa (my first class in US college was microbiology and I received C which I am going to repeat in this coming spring).
The C in micro is not the most vital of issues, though you do get grade replacement towards GPA on the aacomas
- andrzej Said:
I started Excelsior thinking that I am going to do LPN to RN bridge and later I changed my mind.
This could be a huge issue. Only a year or two ago did the AMCAS (MD) school MSAR start noting which schools would even accept online courses. Many would not. You are dealing with a full online degree
- andrzej Said:
I would suggest the following:
1) Contact LECOM admissions and/or recruitment to see if they will accept online degree. 2)
2) If so, Doing a postbacc would make more sense at this point. Once you have a degree, all your additional work, even a full second bachelors is considered postbacc.
3) Doing LECOM's postbacc would make the most sense. Your ability to show you can do the work there, as well as gaining LOR from LECOM's own instructors will go a long, long way in strengthening your application
- andrzej Said:
While you do passably well, taking the MCAT without prep and "for fun" can be a big mistake for many students.
1) The MCAT is the one place where nontraditional students can show that they compete across the diverse applicant pool with all other students, especially those with old, weak, or atypical educational backgrounds.
2) It is perceived that most schools look at 3 MCATs as the maximum number of attempts. You've taken one already. While you have done passably well, suppose that you take the next one and you happen to have a bad day and dont have much improvement? Now all your hopes and dreams fall to the last attempt. I don't advise students go down this path exactly for this scenario
_________________________ __________________
andrzej said:
"This semester I am taking Biochemistry, AP 2 , human growth, statistics and upper level nutrition and multidisciplinary woundcare."
_________________________ ___________________
If your degree is specifically geared to nursing at RN level, then the courses you take may not be acceptable as fulfilling the prereqs. Many schools offer different levels of say chemistry such as for the majors, for nursing and allied health students, etc.
Hello;
Thank You Kate and gonnif for respond.
I should not phrase “that I took MCAT for fun” it was rather trying to see how can i perform under time and stress conditions. I do not think taking a 5 or 6 hours test can be fun. I apologize for this.
I haven`t finished my bachelor yet (still have to take few exams and 2 classes).
I contacted few DO schools and they said that they do not mind online classes or even CLEPs. However I wanted to know how the situation looks in real life, if anyone did it before.
In my personal statement I wrote about my life here in US and my commitment to healthcare and long term care. But there was a space to write explanation for my med school.
I just got verified by aacoms today. I am going to apply to few schools. I am still finishing classes and trying to improve my GPA, and starting volunteering. LECOM said that before applying to postbac, I have to try to apply to their DO program, this is one of the reasons that I am applying this year. I really want to start postbac in 2012.
The biggest problems I have with DO shadowing - I am not able to find one who would agree. Any advice? I have been working in healthcare and all the doctors I met were MDs.
Thank You,
and If anyone have any comments, please share Your thouths with me.
I forgot to add one thing.
I am not sure how adcoms look at the writing section .
I read that starting in 2015 the new MCAT will not have writing section, so it is probably not very influential section. On the other hand, English is my second ( to be honest third ) language, so they may pay special attention to my writing. So far I took only English 101 , and when I was taking MCAT it was before any English class.
Andrezej -
In future, you can take the AAMC online practice tests instead of the MCAT for exactly what you were looking at - seeing how you are doing in your preparation. Try to simulate the test conditions closely (timing yourself, etc).
Kate
The AOA (American Osteopathic Association) has a list of D.O.s in each state and may be able to direct you to one to shadow.
Kate
I did call them and they said they were not able to help me. 
Have you tried iLearn Mentor program? Not sure if this is the same thing as the list AOA provides but I found my mentor through this program. http://cf.osteopathic.org/iLearn/home.cfm
- andrzej Said:
You can try a few other ways all of which require nothing more than letter, email or fax, and a followup phone call
1) The Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is near where you live. They were very helpful and open to us for our 2010 conference and I am sure could put you in touch with DO to shadow. BTW, the Dean, Dr. Karen Nichols was our keynote speaker at the 2010 conference and is an oldpremed herself. If you need help contacting, send me a PM
2) The AOA is in Chicago and you could contact them as well as the Cook County Osteopathic Society.
3) Simply start looking for DO's nearby, in the phone book, fax them a brief and well written note and I am sure you will find one to shadow
I went for open house to CCOM few months ago and I spoke with one of the DO and teacher there, he gave me his email and said he will help. I did email him twice and no response. I called the school and they told me they cannot help.
I did contacted AOA in Chicago no help. I have not try Cook County Osteopathic Society - thank You for info .
I emailed several of them from I-mentor. Not even one response.
Hi;
I contacted AOA again, and they were able to help me to find a DO to shadow.
Thank You for all the info.
do you still want me to contact Chicago DO school?
Hi;
if You haven’t contacted them yet, lets wait.
Thank you very much for info and willingness to help.
Sincerely,
Andrzej Zeglen
- andrzej Said:
I have been quietly reading this forum for a few years on and off. I will have few questions for You and would really appreciated your thoughts on my situation.
I am 31 years old, come from Poland. Back in my old country I finished 3 years in 6 year medical program and then came to US and decided to start everything from the beginning( few reasons,financial, I met my wife, etc.). My GPA is low from this school ( about 2.8 ) because in the past I did not care too much about grades. I am listing it as professional on aacomas application so most school should not count it towards GPA - is it correct ?
Do U think that attending med school and not finishing may negatively impact me?
Here in US I spent first 2 years as a live-in caregiver - I stayed 24 hours a day 13 days in a row with elders. Later I finished CNA, worked for a while as medical assistant, and than finished LPN. For last 3.5 years I have been working as weekend charge nurse in nursing home. So I have been exposed to medicine all my adult life ,and in the future see myself as a geriatrist.
I did my premed in community college with 3.6 gpa (my first class in US college was microbiology and I received C which I am going to repeat in this coming spring).
My bachelor is problem because it is BS in Liberal Arts from Excelsior college. it is online degree - I did many test out credits like clep and dante - and I know that adcoms do not like it sometimes - what do U think? my GPA is around 3.6 ( I am still finishing it ).
I started Excelsior thinking that I am going to do LPN to RN bridge and later I changed my mind.
I do not know what to do - should I do regular bachelor or postbac? I really want to go to LECOM so I thought maybe do their postbac - what do U think ? do I have any chances?
ohh IO forgot - I took MCAT last January and got 27 L , without physics - I did not write almost anything and took it just for fun to see where I am without studying too much - I know that I can improve at least 3-4 points.
This semester I am taking Biochemistry, AP 2 , human growth, statistics and upper level nutrition and multidisciplinary woundcare.
Please give me Your thoughts.
Thank You.
hello everybody; I just want to follow up on my post from few months ago.
I was disappointed with LECOM because they only look at your stats not you as a person - no letter of recommendations, or clinical experience. just your grades. But there are other schools that look at everything.
Well I just received today official letter of acceptance into LMU-DCOM !!!!
I also have interview invite in Western University in California but I am cancelling it.
So I just want to say everything is possible and I want to encourage everybody - do not give up on Your dreams. It took me 9 years here in US to learn English and finish classes, but it is possible.
Thanks everybody, I am so happy right now! I was in shock when dean called me last Saturday. I did not believe it until I saw it today on paper.
Congrats on your acceptance from another DO c/o 2016. LMU was my second choice, it is a great school, I would be there next year if it wasn’t for Des Moines. As far as LECOM goes I think you are getting a better school in LMU.
- andrzej Said:
Congrats!
Congrats!!