Can I get into medical school?

You’ve probably heard the numbers before and been appalled: 3.6 GPA and 30.5 MCAT. These are the rough averages for getting into a MD program in the USA. But do you NEED to hit those numbers to get in?

The numbers above are only averages and therefore there is a broad range of scores and GPAs that are accepted to medical school every year. Although balanced numbers are preferred, some students rock a 35 MCAT and a 3.2 GPA and get accepted. Others get in with a 3.9 GPA, and a 27 MCAT. Each school also takes into account letters of rec, your personal statement, your extra-curricular activities, and research experience. But keep in mind that if you don’t have a GPA and MCAT that are within some realistic range of the averages of the schools you want to apply, no number of hospital volunteer hours, leadership experiences or letters of recommendation from Obama himself will get you an acceptance. (Well, maybe ;-p)

Like the subsections in the MCAT, it’s better to get have more balanced numbers. Therefore, it’s probably better to have the 3.6 and 30 than a 4.0 GPA and a 23 MCAT or a 37 MCAT and a 2.8 GPA. Low numbers make it easy to weed applicants out with a simple statistical elimination.

So what if you can’t get in ‘the range.”

If you are not within the range, but your dream is to be a doctor, there are still options. Osteopathic medical schools have slightly lower standard for admittance (around a 3.3 and 27 MCAT depending on the school). Osteopathic medicine is based upon the principle that the body is an integrated whole. It has all of the same elements of medical school plus the additional benefits of osteopathic manipulative techniques to diagnose and treat patients. ‘DOs’, or Osteopathic Doctors, are still licensed doctors in the US and can practice in a variety of specialties. I’ve heard it can be more difficult to enter into certain specific specialties later on in residency. That said, there are orthapedic surgion DOs and a range of specialties, it just takes a bit more red tape crossing to enter into an MD residency program.

Caribbean medical schools also offer admittances with lower averages as well. Schools in the Caribbean are generally cheaper, but it is more difficult to later practice in the States. If you are able to study and get competitive board scores throughout medical school, then your chances of practicing in the states or transferring to a US medical school are high.

Don’t forget that you can work in the healthcare field and not be a doctor!

If patient care and being a health care professional is definitely your thing, consider being a nurse, nurse practitioner or a physician assistant. You could also work in policy or health administration by being a master of public health. Nurses and PAs still work directly with patients and administer drugs, put in IVs and are vital to an efficient medical delivery system. You also might find it better than being a doctor! Nurses don’t have to deal with nearly as much blame for medical errors, malpractice lawsuits, years of schooling, debt, and get to spend more time with patients than doctors. Plus, with a few more years of schooling, nurses can become Nurse Practitioners and gain a higher salary, more skills and responsibility.

MCAT course/Advice

Princeton Review/MCAT Advice

My opinion on the course:
The course is a good idea for a few reasons.

1. It allows you to access the practice tests which are by far the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO in preparing for the MCAT. There is no better way to study than take practice tests. Although at the same time, you want to have reviewed a decent amount of material before you do too many.

2. It allows you to pace your studies. If you are a good self starter with studying, than this might not be an issue for you, but it was nice to see that I would finish reviewing all of the material before I took the test.

3. Class time is helpful, the teachers are selected stringently and they give you good practice passages and guidance in class.

Keep in mind that most of the studying for the MCAT is done to prepare you to think though the passages quickly as opposed to memorize material to regurgitate it later (like on a UCSD bio test). The MCAT is like the SAT in that they want to see how well and fast you can understand complicated science material and non science material (verbal). This is why the practice of taking MCAT diagnostic tests is good because it trains you to pace understand quickly.

There is no section where pacing and understanding is more important than the verbal section. Princeton Review has a verbal strategy that works for some and not for others. When I took the course, they advised students who could not do well on all 7 passages to to only do 5 or 6 well and guess on the other one or two. This could be the best method for you, but I discovered that it was not for me. I did better going through all 7 passages even if I was rushing. If you are like me, this will be your most challenging section and a cause of great frustration. I spent about half the time used studying for the MCAT on this section alone.

You can prepare without the course, but I would not try it unless you are a. A superhero standardized test taker who has already taken a Practice MCAT and done well. b. An excellent self-studier and self-planner who doesn't need extra motivation, or pacing. or c. You just don't have the money (Although you might be able to apply for a scholarship.)

If you don't use a course, you need to find some good books to study, a good MCAT study schedule so you cover everything and take diagnostic tests on time, and plenty of practice tests and practice passages. Some good books include...1. Examcrackers 2. Princeton review's comprehensive book. 3. Kaplan is alright too.

Either way you will want to purchase online tests through the AAMC and get any test you can get your hands on. AAMC tests are $35 a piece. A definite bummer, but worth it.

See what your weaknesses are and work on them because a 10 10 10 is better than a 5 14 13 or something like that. This is why I spent a lot of time on verbal.

You can assess your weaknesses and mistakes by analyzing your practice tests. Each time you plan a practice test, allot at least five hours to doing it and then another two to three sometime later to check over it. It doesn't need to be on the same day, as I would recommend a good fiesta or chilax time after taking an MCAT practice test. But sometime soon after you should see why you got questions wrong and really think about why you picked what you did. Then you can adjust your studies to focus more on these types of questions.

Another tip: If you don't read a whole lot like me, you should start trying to read the New York Times/ Economist.com to try and understand articles quickly. It will help you for the verbal a lot.

Also, don't stress about not doing well on your first several MCAT diagnostics. I think i started out at a 17 maybe 18? You will improve if you stick with it. Don't compare yourself to others either, just work on improving where you can. If you talk to other pre-meds taking diagnostics they will often ask you what scores you are getting on practice tests in order to judge their own. To me comparing practice MCAT scores is equivalent to comparing GPAs and doesn't help anyone achieve a higher score. The MCAT is a test of mental endurance and you don't want others taking you away from your goal of improvement. That said, ask others about strategies and resources that help them. Good luck!