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Originally Posted by Foodle
Take this board with a grain of salt. Some of the people are neurotic psychos who should never be allowed near a patient.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by txz4
Good stuff guys! Though, I would never sell the M coupe for anything. Good advice on learning everything you can about the schools applied to, the interview will be a breeze for me. There are pluses to being a business school graduate and working in an executive position. I need to work on the advisor rec letter though, time to start making advising appointments!
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I'm not on an admissions committee so I don't want to come in here telling you stuff like its FACT, but I obviously have an idea of how things work.
The point in bold could bring you positive and negative bias as odd as that sounds. Some may question your intentions and others may feel that the background you have is HIGHLY important in the field. Rock those interviews and make sure if you're getting any bias' they go in your favour. With the position you hold now I got a feeling you'll rock those interviews.
Quote:
Originally Posted by txz4
My current doctor was the Chief of staff at a large hospital system in town, also he was taught by my grandfather.
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The value of this right now is great, but the value of this relationship come residency time will be MONEY. As much as it sucks the system is heavily based on who you know and who puts in a good word for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by slo_guy
Unless you're well off already, you need to get your priorities straight. Getting into med school is one thing. Actually finishing it is another.
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What's wrong with his priorities?
Here's some random advice, it's pretty obvious and you've heard it 100 times, but sometimes hearing it again helps.
1) Rock those MCAT's and rock them to a whole new level. Have a stellar GPA to go along with it and honestly there won't even by any discussion on whether you're getting in or not. As long as you don't come off as a complete pyscho during interviews you're in a good position.
2) If your GPA is borderline, you really need to rock that MCAT. When you're in that middle group where everyone falls along the average GPA your MCAT is the very first thing that can make you stand out. Remember if you don't get past the first screening your personal statements, LOR's and what not won't hold the same weight because you might not even get that interview. At this stage it all comes down to getting into that room and sitting down with the admissions team and selling yourself.
3) If both your GPA and MCAT are both very borderline you need to do everything and anything to get yourself that interview. I often see people go volunteer for 2 months after the MCAT, that's fine, but at the same time the admissions committee can see right through it as well. You need to demonstrate your desire and dedication over extended periods of time.
Honestly, with the amount of applications that go in and the amount of reading to be done a lot of filtering is done simply by cut-offs. You need to make sure you meet those cut-offs because after that the interview is HUUUUGE.
Another thing to remember is that medicine doesn't care about the "what's" it's all about the "why's". The answer is never as important as the reasoning behind the answer.
I'm sure you're making an advised decision, but just be sure that this is what you want to do. It's a fairly long journey and at times it does require elite mental toughness. It's a lot more pleasant for those who actually enjoy medicine and find it mentally stimulating.
Don't let the "no-life" talk scare you. I had WAY more fun and was a lot less stressed during basic sciences than I was during undergrad. It's pretty darn easy and manageable up until STEP 1 of the boards... that's when shit hits the fan for a lot of people.
I have a habbit of typing long messages with little content and awkward structure. If you have any direct Q's feel free to shoot me a msg and I'll try and be clear and concise haha.
PS: SDN forums is full of gunners and all the crazies from med school... heavily biased forum.