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Current Computer Engineering Undergraduate Student - Do I have a chance for medical school?


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Hi all, I am currently an undergrad computer engineering student going into second year. During my first year, my GPA was 3.88 for the first half, but it dropped to 3.5 during the second half due to my health condition. I was unable to have a full course load during that time for the same reason. I am very interested in medical school, however, and I would like to take biomedical engineering for my minor during undergrad. For extracurricular activities, I am currently involved in three different clubs, but they are mostly academic/research oriented. I am also volunteering as an executive at a non-profit student organization, where we run programs at public libraries to teach children from underrepresented communities programming for free. 

I heard from other people that in order to meet academic prerequisites, I may need to take summer courses in chemistry and biology, given that computer engineering program at my school has a very full course load and I can not take them during fall/winter. During the next few years, I will also try my best to get involved in biomedical engineering related researches. But other than that, I am really lost right now, and do not know where to get started in order to plan for applying to med school. Specifically, I am very confused about a few things:

1) GPA. Given the current GPA I have earned during first year, the best I could do over the next three years would probably be bringing it back up to around 3.7~3.8. If that happens to be the case, do I still have a chance to get into medical school? Also, I am really worried about my not-full course load during the second semester of first year. Would that affect anything?

Also, I have heard that first year GPA is not always considered for medical school applications. Is that true?

2) MCAT. I know that in order to get into medical school I need to take it, but I don't know when would be the best time to take it? Given that I have almost no biology/chemistry related courses until the 3rd year in my undergraduate program, how much time should I put into preparing for MCAT?

3) Volunteering/Extracurricular/Research/Employment. Should I focus on activities related to medical field? Or would engineering-related ones be okay?

Any advices will be really appreciated! Thank you!

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1) Don't worry too much about your first year GPA. It's not bad, despite the problems you had in second semester. Aim for 3.8+ going forward and take a full course load. Some schools have different definitions of what constitutes a full course load while other are strict on the 5 courses/semester requirement. Further, some schools only want a full course load in the years they are using for your GPA calculation. It depends on where you apply. For U of T, they don't drop courses in the GPA calculation unless you've taken a full course load. However, you will have the opportunity to write an Academic Explanations essay explaining why you were unable to take a full course load. Depending on how convincing your essay is, they may apply the weighing scale. I wouldn't worry too much about it, just keep your grades up!

2) Most students take it during the summer after second or third year. It's useful to have the science background, but many students have achieved high scores without previous experience with biology/chemistry/biochem etc. It can be self-taught if necessary. Allow 2-4 months of dedicated study.

3) Do what you enjoy! Having medically-related experiences is helpful because it helps you determine whether you are truly interested in pursuing medicine. Long-term commitments, leadership roles, and research are highly valued by admissions committees, as well as your ability to communicate what skills you gained from these experiences. It seems like you are on the right track :) 

I'd recommend taking prerequisites during the summers rather than overloading. Be aware that most schools don't include summer courses in the cGPA calculation (this can be a blessing *cough cough* organic chemistry). 

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A very common path to Med is to do a science undergrad -- write MCAT after 2nd year -- apply during fourth year.  Some superstars apply during 3rd year. You can do it from Engineering it just has some extra overhead and timing to think about.

GPA is king so you must focus on in for the next 2 years instead of worrying about science pre-reqs or MCAT.  You should be aiming for +3.9 in each year.

In your case,  you may want to wait to apply after Engineering graduation.  You may now need the completed 4th year to boost/offset your 1st year GPA. Various schools have wGPA (weighted GPA) that allow you to drop a low year or some bad courses.  They are all different. Familiarize yourself with a few schools you may apply to.  Do take a full course load though.  

Many schools do NOT have science prerequisites (while some do),  but you do need some of the knowledge to write the MCAT.  Consider also that things like Engineering Chemistry (stack gases, chemical processes) is not like general science chemistry. You can either take the courses in the summer or maybe better learn the subset you need yourself in a dedicated May-Aug prep cycle after 3rd year.

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On 7/22/2017 at 2:19 PM, taylor12 said:

1) GPA. Given the current GPA I have earned during first year, the best I could do over the next three years would probably be bringing it back up to around 3.7~3.8. If that happens to be the case, do I still have a chance to get into medical school? Also, I am really worried about my not-full course load during the second semester of first year. Would that affect anything?

Also, I have heard that first year GPA is not always considered for medical school applications. Is that true?

Every school calculates your GPA differently as most do not just take your cGPA, they'll drop your worst years or lowest marks, have a weighted system, etc. Have a look at the websites of the schools you are interested in applying to and see how they calculate GPA. All hope is not lost though with a low GPA in one semester! My cGPA is ~3.69 and my best two years were ~3.81, which was good enough to get into Western :)  Just do your best and as long as you work on your ECs and get decent MCAT scores you'll have a good chance!

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  • 1 month later...

It's totally okay to apply to medical school without any sciences. 9 of the schools in Canada have removed their science course requirements.

I'm applying as a Commerce graduate, no sciences, out of school for 5 years. 

It's also totally possible to study for the MCAT without taking a science course. I personally spent 8 months preparing for it. 
I wouldn't spend less than half a year. Cramming from scratch all the sciences in 2-4 months, in my opinion, is unrealistic (unless you're a genius).

My scores weren't stellar, but I got a 129 in CARs and Psych/Sosc. Total score 508. 

This exam is already difficult enough for students who had a science degree, let alone for those without it.

My advice is to continue doing what you enjoy in life. I would volunteer in a medically related field to develop of sense of what working in healthcare is like and whether you have a passion for it. Other than that, volunteer and do things that make you happy and give you meaning in life.

At the end of the day, the admissions committee want to know who you are as a person.

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  • 3 weeks later...

For me, yes it was pretty much full time. I quit my job and studied about 8-10 hours a day.  I took a one month break to go traveling. Hence it was truly 7 months of studying. First 5 months on content, last 2 months on passage practice and full lenglth practice exams.

I didn't join any prep courses. I just bought 2 sets of prep books (Kaplan and Examkrackers) and subscribed to youtube videos online.

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