another kid who needs reassurance...please

[allypoolumpere]

Alright guys,
first of all...what a great forum! it is just what i have been looking for. I'm a rising soph-junior (i'm lacking a few credit hours and entering my third year) in college. I'm a pre-professional (premed) biology major. My dilema is this: my first semester freshman year was a disaster. I failed half of my classes, got b's and c's in the rest, and consequently earned only 6 credit hours. This was due not to course difficulty, but to a total breakdown and collapse (triggered by many personal factors) which caused me to stop going to my classes completely. Although that semester will haunt me for the rest of my life, the following 3 semesters I have attempted to redeem myself by repeating the courses I failed, completing my basic math chem and bios, and earning all A's. My school's policy uses only the 2nd grade earned in a repeated class when calculating gpa; mine is now a 3.7. SO...

* is it true that medical schools average all attempts on a repeated course when calculating gpa? if so, mine would be a 3.7 by the time of graduation ONLY if i continue to earn solid A's for the rest of my college stay...

* assuming I do well on the mcat and with letters of reference, etc...to what extent do you think my first semester grades will affect my acceptance into a U.S. med school

* will it hurt my chances of acceptance if i am now forced to extend my college stay from the traditional 4 years to 4.5 or 5?

AND
* (as an unrelated question) what types of volunteer work should i pursue at my local hospital? i am about to put in an application, and would like to know what i can do as a volunteer to get the most valuable clinical experience...

Thanks for your feedback, it is greatly appreciated!
Ally

[jameslynton]

Pretty much what happens in your freshman year in intro courses does not really mess you up. I worked in grad admissions at a University. The best indicator used was the last two years in school where you took your core courses. A high good MCAT will help you get in the door. Higher level course work you 300-400 level courses are better indicators than say Bio 101-102 where you have std multible choice q's and the courses have 300-700 students per class.

I talked to several medical schools admisions - they have several core courses they look at Organic Chem, anatomy biology type classes, microbiology, any drug pharmacology, and genetics. Psychology courses they look at also. They do like to see good grades in physics and chem quan and qual also. They have to filter on several things overall GPA, Science GPA and MCAT. Next comes certain courses, LOR, Essay etc. For state funded schools your state of residence (location).

My advise - do what you have to get A's in the remain classes and get Barron's MCAT prep book and start doing practice tests off the MCAT website - you can download a few old for free - and pay to download more recent ones. Work them for speed.

If you do well - apply to a 8 to 20 US medical schools first before you do the island route. Just my .02's

[JLea]

Ally,

I too had terrible grades during my freshman year. However, that was 20 years ago. Currently, my GPA is 4.0 and my MCAT was 29R. I did not get in to the U.S. schools, so I went the Caribbean route.

Interestingly, it seems that the U.S. schools were more shy of my age than my former GPA.

Anyway, in answer to your question, yes, medical schools incorporate all of your classwork into your GPA, even if you retook the classes. I would advise you to continue to work hard and make straight A's. Also, take some higher level science courses, such as Genetics and Biochemistry, and do well in them.

The MCAT is really important to the U.S. schools as well. I read the Kaplan book for about 2 weeks prior to writing the test. (I took it to see how it was, and really did not prepare for it...) Additionally, I took the practice MCAT tests that are available on the AMCAS website.

I ended up with the following scores:

Verbal Reasoning 10
Physical Science 11
Biological Science 08
Writing Sample R

When I wrote the MCAT, I had not yet taken Organic Chemistry. The practice tests that AMCAS offers online didn't have much Organic on the Biological Science portion, so I thought that I would do well. When I took the MCAT, it was 80% Organic!

How did I get an 08 when I didn't have a clue about what was going on in the Organic portion? I purchased on e-book that was called something like "MCAT Secrets." This book takes you through the reasoning that the test writers use when they come up with the questions and answers that are on the test. The MCAT questions almost always have two or more answers that would seem to be correct. The key is in figuring out which one is right. This book helped.

Why are the answers misleading? According to what I have found, the MCAT folks want to see that we, as prospective physicians, are able to completely understand what is being asked and to come up with the answer that is most correct. Apparently, this is a quality that doctors need to have. (Who would have guessed!?!)

Finally, make your AMCAS application stand out. Once you have answered the questions on the application, hire one of the companies that helps with personal statements to make suggestions on how to make the applicaion really sizzle. When you get your secondary applications from the medical schools, use the company again to edit your personal statement that you write for the school.

Hopefully, you will get into the school of your choice!

Hope this helps, :p

Jim

[JLea]

Ally,

I forgot that you asked about volunteer work. Try to find a couple of local doctors who will allow you to work with them in their practices. Spend as much time with them as possible. The idea is to be able to defend your decision to become a physician when you interview with your med schools.

Also, if the doctors will allow you, get experience interviewing patients. Take histories and try to make your own diagnoses. (Tell the doctor, NOT the patient!) Get as much hands-on experience that they will allow. The admissions committees will be impressed.

Hope this helps! :p

Jim

[JLea]

One last suggestion...

Take the computer-based MCAT. You will have much more time to go back to the questions that you had trouble answering. (No need to fill in those silly circles with a number 2 pencil!) Also, the computer will take you back to the questions you left unanswered or marked as needing more time.

It's worth the drive to take the computer-based test.

Jim

[allypoolumpere]

Thanks guys!