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first of all i started the discussion because i was accepted conditionally with this MPH/MD prog. I want to thank jaywalk for his contributions to my question it helped. second, i would like to focus on RUSSIANJO and others who rapidly labeled me as a "slacker." 1st and formost, my GPA was not a 2.1 like u want to assume and im furiouse with ST. George becoming so picky $$$$. Second my gpa was above a 3.0 and my science GPA was at a 2.89. Im 21 years of age and i am a graduate of the University of California Riverside, which is in my biased openion and many unbiased openion the strongest research school in california, yes, stronger then UCLA or anyother UC's. had i gone to cal-state im sure my gpa would have been much higher but i thought admission boards understood what it meant to graduate from a UC especially UCR, but i was wrong. Its quite difficult to be a "slacker" and "baloney" your professor in microbio, or neurolgy when he/she is the leading reasearcher in that area, Just as it was when i had Campbell for biology....yes u heard his name, Dr. Campbell, who we all learned from. his biology series books taught me and numerous others at UCR and around the world untill he passed on last year(R.I.P) I also majored in ethnic studies, and graduated a quarter before my classmates. I took the mcat when i was 19 and was unable to retake it again for personal reasons (by the way the mcat will be a 3 hour test this upcoming year, no more marathon). SO what i said was for those who want to label me or others that were afforded the MPH/MD prog to look at your credentials and compare them to mine at the age of 21 before labeling "US" slackers. the reason for this thread to begin with was my shock to be offered this and not be accepted into the MD pog, knowing that i took the MCAT once as trial and scored in low 20's I know people with way less credentials that got in, and thats why i will not waste my time or my money on this stupid prog. I feel, that UCR has prepared more so then many of the people that are in MED schools on this site, im just in shock, BUT PLEASE AGAIN BEFORE CALLING ME A SLACKER REVALUATE YOURSELF,, I TOOK THE BIOCHEM SERIES WHEN I WAS 20 AT UCR AND THE FIRST TIME U LOOKED AT IT WAS PROBABLY THIS YEAR IN MEDICAL SCHOOL. THANKYOU. sorry to all but i feel that i am over qualified to be offered this, granted my mcat was low, something is not right $$$$. thanx.

best wishes and luck to you and to your endeavor in getting into a med school.

You seriously need to calm down.

Now I must restrain myself from being a grammar/spelling nazi.

However, I do want to say one thing. You took the MCAT when you were young and were "unable to retake it again for personal reasons". Okay, seeing as how that's one of the biggest determinants of admission into most medical schools, that's unfortunate for you and it's too bad that they're going to look at that as part of the criteria for letting you enter.

By your logic, I could have written the MCAT when I was 12 (got a score of 3; is that even possible?), then went on to do my undergrad at a good school where I earned a 3.9 GPA and the school should overlook my poor scores and understand that I'll do well (or should be admitted) because I have good grades.

I don't think that things work that way and SGU, or any other school for that matter, is not going to know (nor should they care for that matter) that you took the MCAT as a "trial". That is your personal issue.

I took the SATs on a whim at 15 despite never having studied a day in my life for it (not under a US school system) cause my vice-principal came to me one day and asked, "Hey, they're writing the SAT next week, do you want to do it?" I said sure, wrote it for the hell of it and ended up with a 1200 (which is decent, I believe).

But let's say I got an 800. Do you think I should be able to apply to a US university (that factors the SAT very highly*) and expect that they will admit me because the rest of my grades are good and I just wrote their standardized admissions test on a whim?

*As highly as the MCAT is used as a determinant for admission

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By the way, I agree that this school is all about the $ (we just get an MD degree out of it as an "after-thought") and that may very well be why they're putting you in the MPH/MD program, but be thankful that at least there's that option other than being rejected outright. Because let's face it, with MCAT scores in the low 20s and grades that weren't that great (3.0 and 2.89 in sciences is not very good for medical school), you don't have very many options.

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I am calm SAORA1. I dont know why you are taking offense to what im saying u must have personal issues, we are all at these carribean schools for "personal reasons" good for you and your 1200. Now, i was refering to the people in here that were refering to the mph/md candidates as "SLACKERS" so i dont know why and where u became involved in this, so back the F up. thanx

lets all stop with the degrading and derogatory comments to each other. this is getting ridiculous. all of us are aspiring physicians yet we cant talk to each other with respect and be civil to each other.
im just glad this isnt a political thread.

yeah i think you guys should stop flaming eachother, take a chaper from the book of smu and start cheerleading (hehehehe)

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I am not offended in the least. I just don't know why you had such an outburst.

Not at all. Well, not about this anyway.

Yeah, mine is that I live here.

Seeing as how it made no difference to my life whatsoever, I was only bringing it up as a parallel example of admissions requirements for institutions.

You simply have to face the reality that things don't work a certain way just because you want them to and low MCAT scores and not that great of a GPA (while it's okay, it's not brilliant for medical school) are not a shining beacon that they must let you in. My grades in Organic Chem were crap in undergrad, so seeing as how I was taking a year off of school before applying to SGU, and they are a part of the admission criteria, I decided to repeat the class and bring up my grade in that time.

Because I think you were way overreacting and I was disagreeing with your rant about how the school should somehow know that you took the MCAT as a trial and overlook that fact. Quite frankly, I can say what I feel like unless I was directly attacking you. In that case, the mods would probably step in.

With that attitude and your general reaction to comments from people on some message board on the internet, I forsee extended periods of high blood pressure in your life...

Have a pleasant day. I have better ways to waste my time.

Taking the MCAT or any other test that is going to determine the path for the rest of your life as a trial run is utter stupidity!!!
Life does not afford you trial runs. If you wanted a trial run you should have taken Kaplan tests.
Who you studied with is of no relevance when it comes to admissions. They don't care if he was a Nobel laureate. Same with the university you attended. It could have been at the university of the deep forest...
What determines admittance is GPA, MCAT research publications. So that means they judge you on your efforts alone and not those of your professors or the school's. Knowledge and fame does not rub off on people.
So if they gave you the MPH route that means there were at least 350 people with higher achievement than you.
I had beer rounds every week (and was a guest to my wedding) with the guy that invented aspirin use for myocardial infarcts back in 79. So what? It was his efforts that got him his fame. It didn't rub off on me.