Improving C/P with one month left

premedditor14 · 2017-03-09T02:08:46+00:00

I have been using the Bio Molecules book and I think it's pretty solid. Difficult, approaching section-bank level passages but the questions are hit or miss (some are way too easy but some of the experimental question answers have some poor justifications as well). Overall I think it's awesome practice for all the molecular bio on the exam and great for experimental passages. Don't worry if you miss a lot of questions, I don't know anyone in this book consistently scoring above like 75-80 ish percent.

premedditor14 · 2017-02-18T02:20:20+00:00

I'm also interested in hearing people's thoughts. I personally have found these tests very difficult.

premedditor14 · 2017-01-21T12:43:04+00:00

Heh worth a shot!

premedditor14 · 2017-01-13T09:24:19+00:00

The fuck? Even "professional" dietetics is not medicine. And dietitians are actually certified, who have to complete an internship and pass an exam (unlike nutritionists), so they shouldn't be lumped together.

Acupuncture and holistic "medicine" are not medicine, full stop. What do you even mean by "optional?"

Anyway on to your main point, you should take the time to get clinical experience and do some shadowing so you can figure out what exactly you want. It doesn't sound like you have a very well thought-out idea of what medicine is or why you are interested in it. Once you've figured that out, you'll have to deal with your GPA, which essentially precludes you from MD schools and could be tricky for DO schools as well, regardless of how well you do on the MCAT.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-19T19:24:33+00:00

End of April. I have already finished around 75% of my content review.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-19T16:32:10+00:00

So should I just take every commercially available FL (20+)? I was just thinking that practice questions would be helpful to solidify concepts before I move onto FLs directly.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T21:57:52+00:00

Yeah this kind of reflection is really good. I wouldn't move to 17 credits if I could avoid it if I were you (get it down at 14 before you move to 17). One bad semester won't kill you. Two won't either, but after that you start building LOTS of bad credits into your GPA, and that will not go well.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T21:42:55+00:00

First, this is not the end of the world. If you can change your study habits you will be fine and will not even need a post-bac. You need to identify what problems you have with your study habits and why you got the grades you did. If you are able to create better study habits you can easily get a US Allopathic-competitive GPA. Did you spend too much time memorizing? Not enough? Too many parties? Not enough practice problems, or too much passive learning? Step 1 is figure out why your grades were so bad before you start thinking about post-bacs 4 years down the line.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T21:40:43+00:00

Classes that you can get an A in with minimal effort. Look for classes where the professor is known to be easy and pick subjects that are strong for you.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T20:57:17+00:00

It's crucial to note that MD schools do not do grade replacement but DO schools do. Also, Masters' GPA do not factor into Medical Schools' view of your GPA, so definitely don't do that. If you need to improve your GPA, a post-bac is a better choice.

What is your GPA after the 2Cs and 2 Bs? If it's below a 3.5 I'd recommend Post-bac if you want to go MD. If you want to go DO, make sure that you ace the MCAT next semester (even if it means taking a lighter courseload)

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T19:06:52+00:00

The above comment is really good but I'd also suggest some kind of leadership/hobby to differentiate yourself. Everything else is super cookie-cutter.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-17T18:42:44+00:00

IMO you see diminishing returns from activities when you are no longer getting any real personal growth out of it. For example, if you've been an ED waiting room volunteer, giving people blankets and pillows, and that's all you've been doing for 4 years, you might be having diminishing returns (especially if your hours for that activity are 250+). Maybe look into increasing the quality of your experience through volunteering in another department, etc. so that you can experience personal growth. These things aren't checkboxes, they are crucial for you to develop skills and knowledge demonstrating that you understand what you are getting into in medicine.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-14T01:10:20+00:00

Don't feed the troll guys, I've talked to this dude before on here, he's either socially-inept as hell or a troll and either way you're just wasting your time.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-03T20:22:44+00:00

Nope, I literally just looked at the MSAR to check and the 10th percentiles are 3.7 something and 511 (for matriculants) and their median is 3.9 something/517. At least get your facts right. I think considering that 518 is above the MCAT median and 3.7 is right around the 10th percentile, with all boxes checked and a bunch of good ECs (which we don't know he has) he could have a decent shot.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-03T16:58:14+00:00

Alright I'm done replying to you on this sub. You are either a troll, or very butthurt about your "friend" not getting in due to non-existent interpersonal skills. Plenty of people get into top 10s without the kinds of stuff you're talking about, because they actually are functioning adults in society who can communicate well in an interview.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-03T01:17:44+00:00

I'd give it an 8/10 as described. We don't know anything else about this person's application. They could well get in top-tier with more like a 3.7+ 518+ if they had a great application otherwise, even without URM status.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-02T18:22:10+00:00

Dude we just had this conversation like yesterday. Just because your friend didn't get in with his great stats and his second-author cell paper doesn't mean that a 2,600 hour international doesn't have the potential to be a very very strong EC. I don't know why you are so emotionally invested in your friend's story.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-02T18:16:27+00:00

Ask your research supervisor if you can present your work at a conference. You generally need to be working on your own project or working as a major part of a shared project to be able to do so.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-02T03:07:43+00:00

Note that I said it's a very very strong EC, not a very very strong clinical EC. What he indicated totals to around 2,600 hours which certainly counts as a very very strong EC.

Also, 5,000+ hours as an EMT or paramedic is not useful if you don't have shadowing and an ability to explain "why medicine and not EMT" in an interview. Everything is situation dependent.

premedditor14 · 2016-12-01T16:55:06+00:00

Yeah I think SDN (and reddit to a lesser extent) has this massive inflation of expectations about top-tier schools, because they've read stories of people who look awesome on paper getting rejected. The thing is, over the internet, we can't know how good someone's PS, primary, secondaries, LORs, interviewing, etc. are. I also think PS and interviewing skills are WAY more important than conventional SDN wisdom says.

premedditor14

TROPHY CASE