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Any of you know anything about medical school?

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well...your in it for the wrong reason man. If you want money, i suggest a ski mask, a fast car, a gun...or just become a lawyer, "investor," anything that has to do with swindling 😛
 
Originally posted by: SLU MD
Originally posted by: RadioHead84
my brother just got into med school and i think he had like a 3.98...damn guy making me look bad even when i have a A GPA lol.

He did ok on his MCATS but he only took it once. You should DEFF take it twice if u are looking to go to meds school becaue on avg you get a much higher score onthe second one. He just ran out of time..
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That is the worst advice i've ever heard, DO NOT take it twice, practice practice practice and then just take it once. kaplan and princeton review both have great courses and practice tests that simulate the real thing very well.

it looks terrible to med schools if you take it twice, just do well the first time

slu MD
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If you say so..True i am not the one going to med school...I freaking HATE hospitals but my bro is and that is what he told me...which is what he got from currently employed doctors
 
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
cash rules everything around me

but i guess you're right...i'm more interested in mathematics anyway...maybe i'll pursue that...but lets see


edit: slu, did you read my earlier post about my research job. i just wanted you opinion on if that would help me or what not.
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I learned the hard way that a 50% paycut was worth taking for a job that I actually enjoyed.

 
i was overconfident applying with a 3.82 and a 36...interviewed at harvard, yale, hopkins, washu, but got rejected to all. eventually ended up at pitt which is actually pretty good at #15 but not where i wanted to be. so make sure you apply broadly regardless.

anyway i finally get to go back to cali for EM residency after 4 long years here.
 
i dont doubt that advice one bit rks...infact it was a dillemma i am at rite now and trying to figure...problem is, i dont know wether i'll be happy being a doctor or i'll be happy with something else. i cant decide which job will make me happy.
 
I knew a guy who was realy bright and graduated from med school. But along the way he decided he hated being a doctor and did not want to continue. So he went back to school, got a MLISc and ended up as a medical librarian. He seems happy now but admits he wished he had thought harder before paying all that money for med school.
 
I had a 3.86 and a 36 MCAT. Ended up at UCSF and graduated last year. Finishing up a surgery internship now and doing Anesthesia up here next year. Good times, PM if you need any info.
 
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
oh and i dint add this earlier but i also work at childrens hospital oh philadelphia doing research. actual lab work. i have a good relationship with the doctor that i work with. do you think that'll matter to medical schools. also, someone said something about minorities. I'm indian, does that work for or against me?
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Being Indian is not a good thing (I'm assuming you mean Asian Indian, not Native American). US hospitals are saturated with Indian doctors because they all get their MDs over there and then immigrate over here.

Also, if you don't think you want to be a doctor, leave the spots for those people that are positive that they want to go into medicine. If money's that big of a deal then find something else like law.
 
i dont understand...why can't making good money be one of my aspirations...you people act like getting money and being a doctor can't happen. I think that if I put so much work into something I wanted to be rewarded...with money and with satisfaction. Just cause somewants to achieve financial sucess doesnt mean they dont care about the job. Its such a narrowminded view.

and born, waht do you mean leave the spot. its not like I can hold a spot and keep someone more 'positive' (whatever that means) from getting it.
 
3.7 is too high for the cut off. Realistically they probably wont consider any GPA below 3.3 although at that point you would need a lot of other stuff to counterbalance it. From what I've heard, 3.7 is a competitive GPA and its pretty much what most applicants have. If you're interested you should go buy a USNews on the best med schools. THere are stats on average GPA and MCATs of each school and their acceptance rates.
 
Originally posted by: Naustica
Go to dental school. Easier to get in. Plus as a dentist you'll work less and make more money than doctors.

If I could do all over again I would've studied to become a dentist.
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Don't make dental school out to be so simple to get into, it's very competitive now. And it's bad bad advice to tell people who want to be doctors to just become a dentist. The careers while sharing similarities are very very different and I have classmates who "couldn't get into med school" and are very unhappy with their career choice. Other than that, if you actually are interesed in dentistry and enjoy working/volunteering in a dental setting, it's an awesome carerr to get involved in. A new Wall Street article says that the general dentist makes more on average than the average physician, but don't be fooled because specialist doctors make much more than most general dentist (after residencies/fellows which are another like 3-7 years after med school tho!)
 
I mean that there are only so many med schools in the country and only so many spots available at each of those med schools. Doctors are in the business of saving lives first and making money second. If I were to go under the knife, I'd want to have a doctor that decided to become one because he wanted to help people, not because he wanted to make money. I'd guess that doctors in it for saving lives are likely to be far more dedicated.

You stated that you just cared about money, not being a doctor so why do medicine? Become the next John Edwards, run for president, lose and then leave the public eye.
 
Originally posted by: BornStar18
I mean that there are only so many med schools in the country and only so many spots available at each of those med schools. Doctors are in the business of saving lives first and making money second. If I were to go under the knife, I'd want to have a doctor that decided to become one because he wanted to help people, not because he wanted to make money. I'd guess that doctors in it for saving lives are likely to be far more dedicated.

You stated that you just cared about money, not being a doctor so why do medicine? Become the next John Edwards, run for president, lose and then leave the public eye.
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You really don't want to know how many med students (or dental/pharm students for that matter) out there who are in it all for the ego and $$$, and the one of the "perks" of the profession is they get to save lives....
 
Im going to agree with Borns statement that a doctors first and primary interest should be saving lives...hell it should be there only interest/objective. Everything else is just "extra"...I know some doctors while rich are not very happy with what they do, and it makes me upset to see themselves forcing/hurrying patients out the door to just sit and do nothing. I believe RKS stated a very poignant statement that some people would gladly take a cut to have a job that they honestly enjoyed, its the real world, day in day out, you better like what you do, or your going to die angry....
 
That's why my fiancee is going to do most of my medical work that doesn't require a specialist.

I've got a pretty good idea how many are in it for money but it doesn't make my statement any less true. I'm not a fan of med students. Most of them are pricks that think they're better than everyone else.
 
I think most people know how many med students are in it for the money judging by how some doctors do "business" but those guys usually end up "offing" themselves anyway from stress and self hate.
 
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
why can't making good money be one of my aspirations...
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it can, but all the docs and ms's on here all will tell you, don't get into medicine if money is anywhere on the top 3 of your list of aspriations. for all the time and effort and training that you will endure, there are professions that are far more lucrative. back in the 80's, you could make serious bank in medicine. now with managed care and the health care system in ruins, making a buck has gotten very difficult. the majority of docs are not in it for the money. if you don't want to be $100k-200k in debt, don't do medicine.

you do research at childrens? fine. do you have any clinical experience, ie working or volunteering in the ER or at clinics? research shows your intellectual side, but won't get you far by itself. med school is about the package. for me, i'm pretty sure my clinical and research experiences overcame my lower gpa and mcat to get me in. plus, through your clinical experiences, you will find out if you TRULY want to endure 4 more years of school and 3+ years of residency to become a physician.

btw, SLU MD is right about the mcats, don't expect to take it twice. you will know what he means after you take a few practice tests and take your first real one. i took it twice and thank the lord, increased my score by 3 points. but i hated life so much during that time.

schools will look at most applicants with gpa's over 3.0 (middle and lower tier schools), but you better stand out.

i will be starting at an osteopathic school in august, freshly done with the application process so feel free to PM me. don't be afraid of us DO's, we're highly competent physicians too. 😉
 
my friend went to JHU for undergrad and is doing med school at NYU. he said it was a bitch to get into a school even with a 3.8 and 33 MCAT
 
*Sigh* Its 1AM and Im waiting in the ICU at the SF VA for my chief to come over to help eval this guy with a potential spleen laceration. Anyhoo the OP asked for some more info so Ill post it here so everyone can be enlightened.

A high MCAT score is better than a high GPA, especially the verbal score. I ve seen the UCSF admin checklist and believe me, you wnat your MCAT and verbal score to be as high as possible. Your GPA is a bonus but there are many x-factors. The ad com will go over your individual classes and see how you did in your easy vs. hard classes. There's also grade inflation that they try and take into consideration. ALmost everyone has done some research and volunteering, you wont stand out unless you've volunteered in some foreign country or set up a clinic in an underserved negihborhood or something. I didn't do anything real spectacular, but I did a few pretty decent things.

Your Undergrad school, race, financial background also give you or take away from your points on your app. Ill elaborate later if you want, but Ive got to split right now.
 
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