Medical Education US

Hi there, I am a very non-traditional applicant:

26/white/male
BBA Finance - 3.0 GPA
MBA Real Estate - top 20 - 3.2 GPA
Work Experience - two years as an owner's consultant on health care construction projects (major hospital projects)
Statement - have always wanted to be a doctor, but didnt believe I could do it...recently i have been talking with the hospitals I work with and think that trying to finally be a doctor is something i need to do!
Diversity - Lived in New Orleans post Katrina and worked in the 9th Ward for a year. Have seen real trauma and other real life issues outside of American Norms.
Current Steps - I've taken bio 1 and chem 1 at a junior college at night and received an A in both

Questions
1. Should I continue to take prerequisites at a junior college or find an accredited 4 year and take them there? My choices are either Houston Community College or University of Houston.
2. Is my Statement enough to base an application over?
3. How much will my past GPA be counted in an application?
4. Should I try to finish my classes ASAP or would I look desperate?
5. How do you view my overall profile from the glance I've shown?


Thanks and sorry for creating a new thread with old questions...basically I wanted to be special!!!

I think your prior GPA is not horrible, but is lower than most who go to medical school. You'll need to do well on all of your pre-med courses. I'd suggest you take them at a university as the junior college level courses will not be adequate to apply to medical school. The rest of your experience is a positive, but it mostly will come down to GPA and MCAT scores as to whether you will get accepted to medical school.

To go through your questions more specifically:

1. As above, take the courses at a 4 year college. Make sure they are the pre-med level courses (with lab) and not just the basic ones.
2. You will be fine with the questions on most applications based on your experience.
3. Past GPA will be counted. This will be your biggest hurdle, assuming you do well in your pre-med sciences courses.
4. You can finish them ASAP or take your time. No one will view taking the courses quickly as being desperate.
5. Overall profile: Undergrad GPA is a bit low. You may want to talk to someone at your local university to get some more professional advice on your chances of getting into medical school with your background.

Just a reminder, as I haven't given this disclaimer in a while - I'm not on an admission's board. I've never been on an admission's board. I'm just a doctor who applied to medical school (now quite a few years ago).

Great!

Regarding my undergrad GPA: In your opinion is there a school or group of schools that would view my undergrad GPA more favorably than others? Please list them if you know any.

These figures were taken from the 2008-2009 edition of the Medical School Admission Requirements book, published by the AAMC. You can order a copy at Amazon: Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) 2010-2011

Sorry about the bad formatting, but I haven't figured out a good way to do tables in these forums. You should at least get an idea of average GPA for each of the following schools.

School Name
State
Public (Y/N)
Overall GPA Median
Science GPA Median
Average MCAT
University of Alabama School of Medicine
AL
Y
3.79
3.77
10P
University of South Alabama College of Medicine
AL
Y
3.72
3.62
9.7Q
University of Arkansas College of Medicine
AR
Y
3.69
3.61
9.7O
The University of Arizona College of Medicine
AZ
Y
3.67
3.59
10P
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
CA
Y
3.68
3.66
11Q
Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California
CA
N
3.68
3.66
11Q
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
CA
N
3.78
3.73
10P
Stanford University School of Medicine
CA
N
3.8
3.79
11.7Q
UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program
CA
Y
3.82
3.83
11.7Q
University of California San Diego
CA
Y
3.82
3.82
11.7Q
University of California San Francisco
CA
Y
3.8
3.79
11.7Q
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
CA
Y
3.68
3.66
11Q
University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine
CA
Y
3.75
3.75
10.7Q
University of Colorado School of Medicine
CO
Y
3.78
3.76
11Q
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
CT
Y
3.7
3.69
10.7Q
Yale University School of Medicine
CT
N
3.81
3.8
11.7Q
George Washington University Sch of Med
DC
N
3.59
3.49
10P
Georgetown University School of Medicine
DC
N
3.69
3.65
10.3Q
Howard University
DC
N
3.38
3.24
8.3O
Florida State University
FL
Y
3.7
3.58
9O
The University of Miami School of Medicine
FL
N
3.76
3.72
10.7P
University of Florida
FL
Y
3.82
3.78
10.7P
University of South Florida College of Medicine
FL
N
3.81
3.75
10P
Emory University School of Medicine
GA
N
3.78
3.74
11.7Q
Morehouse School of Medicine
GA
N
3.46
3.31
8.7O
The Medical College of Georgia
GA
Y
3.72
3.66
10.3P
Mercer University School of Medicine
GA
N
3.6
3.49
8.7O
University of Hawaii John A. Burns Sch. of Med.
HI
Y
3.71
3.64
9.7Q
University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine
IA
Y
3.82
3.76
11P
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medici
IL
N
3.65
3.59
10Q
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
IL
N
3.8
3.79
11.7Q
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
IL
N
3.61
3.57
10.3P
Rush Medical College
IL
N
3.64
3.58
10Q
University of Chicago - Pritzker
IL
N
3.82
3.81
11.7Q
University of Illinois at Chicago-College of Medicine
IL
Y
3.62
3.53
10.3P
Southern Illinois School of Medicine
IL
Y
3.63
3.51
9.7P
Indiana University School of Medicine
IN
Y
3.78
3.73
10P
University of Kansas
KS
Y
3.72
3.66
9.7P
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
KY
Y
3.75
3.74
10P
University of Louisville School of Medicine
KY
Y
3.65
3.56
9.7P
LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans
LA
Y
3.72
3.61
9.3P
LSU School of Medicine-Shreveport
LA
Y
3.78
3.73
9.3O
Tulane University School of Medicine
LA
N
3.54
3.41
10P
Boston University School of Medicine
MA
N
3.74
3.72
10.7Q
Harvard Medical School
MA
N
3.87
3.85
11.7R
Tufts University School of Medicine
MA
N
3.69
3.68
11Q
University of Massachusetts Medical School
MA
Y
3.63
3.6
11Q
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
MD
N
3.87
3.87
11.7Q
Uniformed Services University of the Health Scienc
MD
Y
3.55
3.49
10P
University of Maryland School of Medicine
MD
Y
3.69
3.67
10.7Q
Michigan State University
MI
Y
3.63
3.54
10P
University of Michigan Medical School
MI
Y
3.8
3.79
11.7Q
Wayne State University School of Medicine
MI
Y
3.68
3.62
10.3P
Mayo Medical School
MN
N
3.85
3.85
11Q
University of Minnesota Medical School-Minneapolis
MN
Y
3.74
3.72
10.7P
University of Minnesota School of Medicine Duluth
MN
Y
3.84
3.85
9.3O
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
MO
N
3.74
3.7
10.3Q
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
MO
Y
3.79
3.75
10.3P
Washington University School of Medicine
MO
N
3.91
3.91
12.3Q
University of Missippi School of Medicine
MS
Y
3.84
3.82
9.3O
Duke University School of Medicine
NC
N
3.85
3.84
11.7Q
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
NC
Y
3.71
3.61
11Q
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
NC
N
3.73
3.69
10.7Q
The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina Univ
NC
Y
3.69
3.67
9.3P
Uni. of North Dakota Sch. of Med. & Hlth. Sci.
ND
Y
3.68
3.62
9.3O
Creighton University School of Medicine
NE
N
3.74
3.72
10P
University of Nebraska College of Medicine
NE
Y
3.77
3.74
10P
Dartmouth Medical School
NH
N
3.77
3.79
11Q
UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
NJ
Y
3.67
3.65
10.7Q
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
NJ
Y
3.64
3.6
10.3P
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Cente
NM
Y
3.7
3.63
9.7P
University of Nevada School of Medicine
NV
Y
3.67
3.57
9.3P
Albany Medical College
NY
N
3.58
3.49
10.3Q
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
NY
N
3.77
3.77
10.7Q
Columbia University College of P & S
NY
N
3.77
3.78
11.7Q
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
NY
N
3.75
3.68
11.7Q
New York Medical College
NY
N
3.61
3.55
10P
New York University
NY
N
3.83
3.84
11.7Q
SUNY Upstate Medical University
NY
Y
3.72
3.68
10.3P
SUNY at Buffalo Medical School
NY
Y
3.69
3.65
10.3P
SUNY Downstate Medical Center - College of Medicine
NY
Y
3.65
3.61
10.3P
Stony Brook University - School of Medicine
NY
Y
3.73
3.71
10.7P
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den
NY
N
3.71
3.69
11Q
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
NY
N
3.81
3.81
11.7Q
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
OH
N
3.74
3.72
11.7Q
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
OH
Y
3.71
3.65
9O
Ohio State University
OH
Y
3.81
3.77
11Q
The University of Toledo College of Medicine
OH
Y
3.67
3.58
10P
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
OH
Y
3.73
3.69
10.7P
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
OH
Y
3.63
3.56
9.7P
The University of Oklahoma
OK
Y
3.73
3.69
9.7O
Oregon Health and Science University
OR
Y
3.75
3.73
11Q
Drexel University College of Medicine
PA
N
3.62
3.57
10.3P
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ.
PA
N
3.62
3.58
10.3P
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
PA
Y
3.7
3.66
10.3P
Temple University School of Medicine
PA
N
3.68
3.63
10.3P
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
PA
N
3.82
3.83
11.7Q
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
PA
N
3.76
3.76
11.7Q
Ponce School of Medicine
PR
N
3.57
3.46
7.3M
Universidad Central Del Caribe
PR
N
3.38
3.15
6.7M
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
PR
Y
3.76
3.69
7.3M
Brown University
RI
N
3.76
3.76
11.7Q
Medical University of South Carolina
SC
Y
3.7
3.63
9.7P
University of South Carolina School of Medicine
SC
Y
3.7
3.67
9.3P
Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota
SD
Y
3.77
3.76
10O
East TN State U., James H. Quillen Coll. of Med.
TN
Y
3.67
3.65
9.7O
Meharry Medical College
TN
N
3.46
3.31
7.7O
University of TN Health Science Cntr Coll. of Med.
TN
Y
3.71
3.86
9.7P
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
TN
N
3.83
3.82
11.7Q
Baylor College of Medicine
TX
N
3.85
3.84
11.7Q
Texas A&M Uni. System HSC Col. of Medicine
TX
Y
3.72
3.66
9.7O
Texas Tech Univ. Hlth. Sci. Ctr. Sch. of Medicine
TX
Y
3.66
3.55
10P
University of Texas - Southwestern
TX
Y
3.83
3.8
11.3Q
University of Texas Medical School at Galveston
TX
y
3.79
3.76
10P
University of Texas Medical School at Houston
TX
Y
3.71
3.66
10P
University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio
TX
Y
3.58
3.47
10P
University of Utah School of Medicine
UT
Y
3.64
3.54
10P
Eastern Virginia Medical School
VA
N
3.5
3.43
10P
University of Virginia School of Medicine
VA
Y
3.79
3.78
11Q
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicin
VA
Y
3.62
3.56
10P
The University of Vermont College of Medicine
VT
Y
3.7
3.69
10.3Q
University of Washington School of Medicine
WA
Y
3.72
3.66
10.7Q
Medical College of Wisconsin
WI
N
3.77
3.73
10P
University of Wisconsin
WI
Y
3.82
3.81
10.3P
Marshall Univ Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
WV
Y
3.59
3.49
9O
West Virginia University School of Medicine
WV
Y
3.71
3.65
9.3P