Setting an attainable goal

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hi everybody!


Several months back I posted my introduction - at the time I was just sort of feeling out the possibility of going to med school and ultimately becoming a doctor. After a lot of consideration, I decided to go for it. I’ve spent the last month or so fully immersed in an introductory biology class. Good stuff. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts, by the way…I was really relieved to find such a great community of people in similar situations to mine


So I’m looking to set a goal for myself, but I’m not sure it’s realistic.


I haven’t always been a great student - I graduated in 2003 with an English degree with a 3.2 GPA. I came back in 2005 to get a second bachelors (in Psychology this time) and my GPA has been 4.0 ever since. These weren’t cupcake classes, either. Physiology, statistics, experimental psych, etc…I feel like I should point that out because a lot of people think Psych is easy…sometimes it’s not!


Anyway, I live in Michigan and I’ve always wanted to go to the University of Michigan. I got waitlisted for undergrad so many years ago (due to mailing my application much later than I should have! ) and ended up going to Eastern (which has worked out very well for me!), but I would like to go to U-M for med school.


I know that the best way to give myself a shot is to excel in my science pre reqs (so far so good) and to ace the MCAT, but my cGPA is probably only going to get to around 3.5. Is it acceptable to talk to the admissions department for a medical school to ask if you have any chance of being a competitive applicant? I’d be pretty bummed if I did well in my science classes and on the MCAT, only to find out I never really had a chance to begin with. I also realize it’s probably not the best idea to get my heart set on one particular school, but I figure having a goal can’t hurt


Also, does my undergrad school matter? I understand med school admissions are very numbers-driven, but will I suffer because Eastern isn’t perceived to be a top-flight school? I’m sure I could get in now, but I can’t really afford U-M’s undergrad tuition at the moment.


Ok, off to watch the Wings finish off the Pens and win the Cup. :smiley:

2

From http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/admissions/ appl…

  • In reply to:


# Class Average GPA: 3.74 (Range 3.13-4.00)

# Class Average MCAT 11.63 (Range 8.33-14.33)



If you do well on your MCAT, they may consider you. I wouldn't put it out of the range of possibility. What's your BCMP GPA?
3
  • aylaanne Said:
From http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/admissions/ appl...

  • In reply to:


# Class Average GPA: 3.74 (Range 3.13-4.00)

# Class Average MCAT 11.63 (Range 8.33-14.33)



If you do well on your MCAT, they may consider you. I wouldn't put it out of the range of possibility. What's your BCMP GPA?



Thanks for your response. I did see that page, but didn't know how much I could infer from the GPA range, besides maybe the fact that they don't have a hard GPA cutoff like some schools.

The biology class I'm taking right now is actually my first BCMP class at the college level (I did well in those classes in high school, but that's obviously not the same), so I guess it's really too early to tell.
4

If your cGPA is 3.5, it still falls well within that range, even if it is below the mean. Do well on your BCMP classes, and on the MCAT, and you should be fine. And apply anyways. They can’t say “no” if you don’t ask.