I have a few questions :)

[Tamim]

Hello everyone, I have just completed my first year of community college and I have a few questions regarding some things.

1. I am currently taking sign language, I like sign language more than I like Spanish or French, if I plan to apply to medical school will this be a bad thing? Do they want people who can speak Spanish instead, there should be a big demand for doctors who know sign language?

2. I read a book about medical school admissions and I saw a section on minorities, there were charts showing the average MCAT scores and GPA's that people had gotten and were accepted with, depending on their race it would be different. Asian people had to have an average of 30 on the MCAT, white about 28, black about 22, aboriginal about 21 and such. Does this still exist? Do minorities have an easier time getting into medical school? I was born in Algeria (North Africa) but I have Canadian citizenship, will I be classified as a minority?

3. I went to my counselor yestarday and she told me that not all of my classes count towards my GPA. Since I am in community college there are such things as non transferable units, for example begining algerbra is non transferable b/c its not college level math. I accidently messed up on my algebra final b/c I was horribly ill and bombed it, got a C in the class, she told me not to worry about it b/c only the transferable university level courses im taking will count, for example like anthropology, art appreciation, environmental science etc... Does anyone know if this is true? When medical schools calculate my GPA will they leave out the non transferable classes that I have took?

4. My first year of college I did not really know what I was going to major in so I took classes in all fields, because of this i'm now probably going to be in community college for 2 1/2 years instead of 2, will this be looked down upon by medical schools? If it takes me 5 years to get my bachelors instead of 4, will this be a bad thing?

5. I tryed to get some volunteer work at a hospital and it did not turn out too great. I called the hospital and they told me that I couldnt work directly with patients and people in the hospital because there is a 1 year waiting list to do this, but I could volunteer and do office work for them down the street in which I would have no contact with doctors or patients, no exposure to the hospital scene really. Should I volunteer there? Would looking for a different hospital be a better choice for me? I find it wierd that you need to wait a year to give a helping hand.

6. The classes I need to take to get into medical school are 1 year of physics, 1 year of Biology, 2 years of Chemistry (including 1 of organic) 1 year of calculus. In order to get out of the college im in right now and into the 4 year school that I plan to transfer to (UCSD) I need to take 1 year of any of these classes. I plan to do math since that seems the least science oriented. Once I transfer to UCSD I'm going to attempt to take the rest of the science classes from there on. Is that a bad idea? Is taking them late like that going to affect me? I have a feeling I wont have the knowledge for the MCAT until after I've completed my Bachelors.

7. What are the extra classes they want you to take? On the UCSD med school site, they say that some good courses would be behavioral sciences, biology of cells and development, genetics, biochemistry, English, social sciences.

Behavioral sciences = Psychology?
Biology of cells and develpment = ??
Genetics = Biological Anthropology?
Biochemistry = ??
Social Sciences = Political science and Environmental science?
English = Extra english classes that you don't need to take other wise cept for English majors?

Do these sound like some good extra courses to be taking? I am majoring in Philosophy and there are no actual prerequisites while im in junior college, so I am able to take whatever classes I want, as long as I get together 60 units I then go on to the 4-year, so I have an open class schedule as to what I can take to progress.



Sorry about the long list of questions lol I promise that I will try to help people on here as much as I can based on the knowledge that I will obtain.

:dance:

[student-2]

Allow me to start answering your questions with a question: who is this "they" you keep reffering to? Please understand that there is no right or wrong here and that most of the info you will get here is speculation!
1)About the non-transferrable courses: they are usually given by colleges in the beginning just to make sure that everyone has the same background and to help those with a weaker background; for example in math. They aren't on your transcript and it's usually a pass/fail. But if you want to make sure- check your transcript.If it doesn't appear then that's a good thing.
2)About minorities- I don't know what to tell you- sorry.
3)Sign language (excuse the switching around of your organization)- it's fine! I hardly think they will get caught up on wether or not you took sign/ aramaic/ or whatever language. Perhaps it may even count towards you as something unique (I will soon reffer to this point again)
4) About being in college for 5 years- I don't know what to tell you. I think you can also put a positive spin on it saying you wanted to be all around and take many courses.
5)Volunteering- I very much do understand the long wait list at hospitals. Every medical school wannabe automatically looks to do EC work in the most obvious places. There is no shortage of people willing to work with cancer patients and sick little children because when people think volunteer work that's what they think. If you ask me- there are a billion other things that you can do! How about tutoring underprivelidged kids. How about just playing with them. There are other people that need help- not just the sick kids! You will have plenty of time to be around sick people later. If you really want to help and really stick out- do something else. I am sure that personal statements are full of volunteers with cancer patients. How about using your sign language to some use- helping out a deaf kid. Later you can also show in your statement that not only did you want to learn sign language but you also put it to use, further demonstrating your ability to take from the world of academics and utilize it in the real world.
6) I don't know
7) They have no further demands, besides pre-med mandatories. It can change from school to school. Some schools may want you to be an "all around" person with a transcript filled with artsie classes and history and some schools may want to see a science freak that considers evolution a social science.
The most important point is to do your thing and be good at it!
Good luck

[RavenFighter04]

Student-2 summed it up well, but I'd like to add that those extra classes are important. They're typically easier than science and math classes, so they can bring up your GPA if you do well in them. :) Take what you like and take a little of everything if time and money permits.

[Tamim]

Thank you for the advice.

When I say "they" I mean medical schools. So it is looked down upon if it takes you longer to get a bachelors? This is happening to me b/c in high school I did horribly at math, by the time I got into college I forgot all of my algebra, I have to start with begining algebra then move up about 3 other classes then im at calculus, it's really time consuming.

[enigma00183]

I'm not sure if this is available at your college, but you may be able to take a proficiency exam to place out of those classes and into Calculus.

[Tamim]

It is definately available but I do not know any math :shock:

[aframe]

Showing compassion in your volunteer work would definitely be an beneficial. However, hospitals are not always the way to go. Tutoring deaf kids would be a definite plus not to mention extremely helpful to these kids. Or coaching in the special olympics.

[student-2]

Any underprivelidged would be glad to have you as a friend, it's amazing how much they respond. You don't have to be a "special olympics coach". Just an ordinary person that takes a kid to the movies can do alot!!! (For both parties). I even heard of programs for the kids of inmates. That's a hard task and anyone who does something like that definitely gets my respect. (Just think about those kids and what a rough deal they got, at no fault of their own.)