YellowCocoPuffs

What do most people do when applying to Med school? Do they take a year off or apply at the end of Junior year at Cal? What is the best choice?

sakky

Yeah, exactly, and that's why that old answer is a cop-out, as not everybody can get an 'A' in the AP classes. Similarly, not everybody will get an A in the conventional Berkeley premed courses. In fact, the curve mandates that the vast majority of students won't.

I am reminded of the time when I heard "advice" that in order for a guy to successfully get a date with a woman that he really likes, all he has to do is look like Brad Pitt. Clearly, the obvious problem with that "advice" is that the vast vast majority of guys do not and will never look like Brad Pitt (and the tiny minority that do don't need advice about how to get dates anyway). Similarly, it's all well and good to say that everybody should just take the conventional Berkeley premed sequence and get top grades, the obvious problem with that is that only a minority of people are able to do that, and if you're a member of that minority, then you don't need anybody's advice anyway.

I have never disagreed with this point, and neither did McCullough (who authored that Stanford Quest Scholars document that I posted).

But our point is that while doing so may raise eyebrows, it won't raise as many eyebrows as taking OChem at Berkeley and getting a bad grade. It's better to take OChem at a community college and get an A then to take it at Berkeley and get a C (or worse). Again, the driving principle is that premed success is really about avoiding bad grades, or put another way, it is better not to take a class at all than to take it and get a bad grade. Sad but true.

sakky

At most schools, the number of alumni applicants (not just one-year-off, but also 2-years-off, 3-years-off, etc.) vastly exceeds the number of undergraduate applicants.

But applying after x-years-off is often times not "voluntary". Many students won't complete the premed requirements and/or don't take the MCAT by the time they graduate, and if they do apply, will have to apply later. Often times, this occurs because the person wanted to try another career or some other grad school and found out that they didn't like it, and hence now decided that they want to try for med-school. The average age in the US of entering medical students is something like 25.

Often times, they spend their years after graduation in a related field. For example, I can think of quite a few people who took jobs right after undergrad in the health-care industry (i.e. in pharmaceutical firms, biotechs, medical devices, health care consulting, etc.) and only years later decided that they really wanted to be on the front lines of patient care by becoming doctors. But sometimes, the field in question is completely unrelated. I can think of several other people in my graduating class who took jobs at firms such as Intel and IBM or at Internet startups and then later decided to become doctors.

And then of course there are those people who do apply as undergrads, and just don't get in anywhere, and hence try again the following year, and again and again if necessary. Only about 60-65% of Berkeley undergrads who apply to med-school will actually get into at least one, the remainder will be rejected from every med school they apply to. Furthermore, that's just talking about the undergrads who apply; the Berkeley alumni are admitted at an even lower rate. Nationwide, more than half of all med-school applicants will get rejected from every med-school they apply to.

Career Center - Medical School Statistics

I don't know that you can say that there really is a 'best' choice for everybody; it all depends on your individual circumstances. However, it is certainly true that you should not contemplate applying to med-school unless you are truly sure that you want to go, and that may well mean spending some time after graduation to explore other opportunities.

realestate

i have a great premed schedule that guarantees acceptance.

major in psychology - easily secure a 4.0, many more research opportunities. lots of extra time.

take premed requirements - if you survive bio1a/chem3b you should have a 4.0 by this time. take german/scandanavian instead of english/rhetoric/comparative literature.

take upper division ib courses - very easy. you should get 4.0

plan to take grad courses your 6th/7th semester.

go to kaplan and get a 40 on mcat. do some bs research/volunteering. be an emt and work for a few months and say it was too demanding if adcoms ask why you quit.

this is such a easy way to get 4.0 and 40 on mcat.

sunfish

You have to take this with a big grain of salt becasue the sample includes only those who report voluntarily and people have a tendency to report good news and suppress bad news.
Also, those with gpa<3.4 and mcat<30 probably won't or be allowed to apply unless they're minorities.

sakky

I don't think that applies. I would argue that people who get in are also just as likely to not report in. After all, what do they "gain" by reporting that they got in? The survey is anonymous.

Besides, even if what you say is true, all you have to do is compare the statistics to those of other schools, as those statistics will have the same self-reporting problems. HYP, for example, have a90+% premed admit rate.

Uh, who is blocking them from applying? Berkeley certainly can't, as they don't have a premed committee screen. Heck, they don't even have a premed committee at all.

Besides, if what you are saying is true, then that makes the Berkeley statistics even worse, right? After all, if you are blocking the mediocre candidates from even applying, and you still have only a (self-reported) 60-65% admit rate, then that's really not a very good rate at all. By blocking mediocre students from even applying at all, you should be raising your admit rate.

LeftistHominid

Realestate, please can the ********, it is not appreciated

realestate

LeftistHominid, what is so wrong about my post? maybe you won't get a 4.0 and 40 on mcat, but if you are a decent hard working student, you will get close by following my plan. Most psychology classes give atleast 40% of some sort of A. i also noticed that there are many more research opportunities, and definitely more clinical oppotunities. and just like sakky said, it is doubtful that adcoms will actually know the difficulty of the classes that are on your transcript.

BlueElmo

Just took my MCAT on 9/6. Wish me luck for a good score!

realestate

good luck blueelmo!