<p>If you have a high GPA and a high MCAT score but no ECs, can you get into any medical school?</p>
<p>Not a chance - there are plenty of people with high GPA and MCAT and EC’s who don’t get into med school. Med school applications are a package deal. Yes, the numbers get your foot in the door at some schools, but you still need EC’s, volunteering, clinical experience, show dedication to medicine, etc.</p>
<p>You have to show, somehow, that you are dedicated to service and dedicated to becoming a physician to adcoms. You do that through ECs.</p>
<p>I actually know a person that had a 4.0 GPA and aced the MCAT, but didn’t get into any medical schools. Why? No ECs, not well rounded. I also know people that had pretty decent GPAs, did ok on the MCAT, but had leadership, volunteer, shadowing, work experience and knowledge of the field that got into several medical schools. Go to med school admissions pages and look up factors they consider for applicants and make sure you can look good on paper and in an interview with respect to all of those factors, and you’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>I was accepted to and graduated with my MD from MCP Hahnemann (now Drexel University) School of medicine without doing any volunteering, shadowing, medicine related research and really no ECs of any kind. I had a 3.65 GPA and a 31 on the MCAT. My undergraduate major was Astrophysics and I spent all my time in the Astronomy library during the day and at the university observatory at night. This was 15 years ago and things may be different now. Or, since my UG major was somewhat unusual for a medical school applicant they may have admitted me because my background was somewhat unique compared to all the Biology and Biochemistry majors that make up the vast majority of medical school applicants.</p>
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<p>They are in fact, VERY different now. Without meaningful ECs you aren’t getting in today.</p>
<p>Also, I assume you spent every night in the observatory doing something productive, and that is an EC.</p>
<p>But I also must 2nd eadad, the admissions game at EVERY level (both college and med school and others) is completely different now compared to 15 years ago.</p>
<p>To be honest you should be working in some compacity with patients. Too many doctors, dentist and nurses find out too late they are not suited for this type of career. Why spend so many years and find out later. I have seen five OB/Gyn doctors leave medicine. They were really good doctors(all female) but they didn’t have the passion for the job. Maybe it is a woman thing to need more than money from a job.</p>
<p>Did you speak to the women about why they left medicine? Are you sure it wasn’t about their children (a very common reason women leave/reduce practice time)?</p>
<p>How do you get “clinical experience” if you’re not a med student? From what I’ve seen, most volunteer positions at hospitals and doctors offices are just filing jobs.</p>
<p>Jason–you start by paying your dues and working as a clerical if that’s all that’s available. While there you make contacts, ask questions, prove yourself dependable and trustworthy, then ask if there’s anything else available. Or you call lots and lots of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, rehab facilities, etc until you find one that offers something other than clerical positions. You’ll probably have better luck at facilities other than hospitals.</p>
<p>Volunteers are something of a mixed blessing to hospitals. They’re willing hands, but they’re untrained. They get in the way of people trying to do their jobs and they don’t have the mandated HIPAA certification (which raises liability issues). A hospital doesn’t want to waste its resources (people’s time) training a volunteer unless they know that this person is going to stick around and actually be useful.</p>
<p>If you have a 45 MCAT and a 4.0 gpa. You will get into a couple of med schools. don’t listen to these scrubs. u dont need ECs.</p>