It's an online one semester program. Getting cross-trained isn't too common now and I would have to get an xray job first which is hard to do nowadays. Out of my 22 classmates only 1 got a job immediately. What books do you recommend for CT?I have 0 books and the recommended course books are outdated. I need a book for positioning bad.
I see. Good call then. The ONLY book I studied from for the boards was Mosby's. Get the latest edition, and know it front to back. You'll be good if you can do that. Like I said, I got a 92 that way. Does your program set you up with a clinical site to get your exams done?
Bump. I know I've asked this question a couple of times on here already, but this is the last week for me before I make my decision and I just want to make sure. Right now, I have to decide between 3 colleges: University of Houston, Texas A&M, Case Western Reserve University (Also got into Boston University, but I'm not paying 60k/yr). Obviously, Case is ranked highest but will also cost me about 35 k per year. UH will be about 2,300 per yr and A&M would be around 20k. My parents are willing to send me to any of these places but I don't want to put an unnecessary burden on them. Basically what I am asking is: is it worth it to pay that much more to go to the higher ranked college, or should I stick with UH/A&M?
Depends on what your going in for. Registered Nurse, no any good college will do. Heck just this last year there was a 700,000 nurse shortage. If you want prestige and your on a budget then just go for the best college in Texas (assuming thats where you live) so you can apply as residency saving an enormous amount.
What are you trying to get into? Honestly, in all or most healthcare fields, your GPA from a 4 year university is the same no matter where you attend, unless it's Harvard, Yale, etc. I would go to the cheapest school that you're most comfortable with. Some may not agree, but this is from my point of view. I got into 4 pharmacy schools (2005) and 3 medical schools (this year), so it worked for me.
what do you even want to do? TAMU is perfect for med school. UT & ATM have send out about 90% of texas med school students.
Your 700,000 nurse figure can be very, very misleading. Sure, there are jobs out there, but it's just very few in many parts of Texas, especially Houston/Dallas/Austin. Even the Nacogdoches/Lufkin area is saturated right now. There is a national maldistribution with healthcare professionals, not shortage in most urban areas nationwide. It's the same projected shortage, or better termed maldistribution for physicians and pharmacists.
I think we're asking you if you want to go to 1) med school, 2) pharm school, 3) nursing school, etc. You can do pediatrics in many fields. If it's nursing school, like someone posted, it won't matter a bit.
Like others have said, as long as you have the GPA and test scores to get in, it doesn't matter where your undergrad degree is from unless it's one of those eye catchers. I'd stick with an in-state school and wherever you are comfortable being.
1. med school Thanks for all of the help guys. I wasn't really considering A&M, but now that I think about it, I would be pretty happy with it.
Go to a state school. 1) Get a high GPA 2) Get a high MCAT Those are must haves and make your life easy. If not, then 3 and 4 becomes increasing more important. 3) Healthcare experience, volunteering, good LORs, shadowing, hobbies are also must haves, but not as important as the first 2 4) Research and leadership positions are not mandatory, but can improve your application as well.
This. the avg med school app GPA is somewhere around a 3.7 and avg MCAT for TX is a 29. Don't stick to the avg though and aim for a 30+ on your MCAT. If you want to get into one of the top schools such as Baylor or Southwestern you need a 3.8+ GPA, Major research (Southwestern especially) and an avg MCAT of around a 34. Apart from that you need to a have a really well rounded application with plenty of community service and medical experience. Medical school is the toughest professional school to get into, they get the cream of the crop in regards to applicants so they are all pretty good. Getting into the top schools is pretty hard to do if you don't get an outstanding MCAT score. Its like the cream of the cream of the crop. And I hate to bring it up but your ehtnicity matters too. If you are underpriviledged or a big minority in medicine look into JAMP. It bothers me a bit that people with far lower scores can get in but if you fit the criteria getting into med school becomes a WHOLE LOT easier. Hope that helps.
I'm applying to med school in a month or two and I'm extremely nervous. I'm probably gonna have a 3.7 GPA but have 2 C's in O-chem I and II. I hope a 35 MCAT kind of makes up for it. Then, my EC's are also pretty weak and I have no research. I'd be happy to get into any of the med schools in Texas, but I'm thinking I might have to reapply next year after beefing up my EC's.
Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it. One last question. Between UH and TAMU, which would you recommend? Based on your previous response, I'd assume TAMU, which is what I'm leaning towards now as well. I had UH in mind before because I knew that there were plenty of research/volunteer opportunities available, but I'm sure A&M has the same opportunities if I look for them.
With that and a 35 on your MCAT you should get an interview at every school in TX. You could have a **** GPA and get in with an MCAT score like that. It isn't easy to get I'll tell you that, but a lot has to do with which MCAT you take etc... I made Bs in both Ochems but made As in all my upper level med classes to make up for it. That certainly helps. It also depends on which school you graduate from. Aggies and Longhorns do have an advantage as 90% of med school students come from the two schools. I call bull****, but our proffessional school adivising office stated that 95% of aggies that had a 3.6 and at least a 28 on the MCAT got in. I see people with stats like that don't get in all the time so you should always push to do better.
If you're confident on a good MCAT and great GPA, it doesn't matter much like someone else said. But if your not a 3.8+ or 33+ MCAT taker I would say TAMU for reassurance reasons. I'll link you to the OPSA site and stats with the GPA and MCAT scores. http://opsa.tamu.edu/downloads/Stats.shtml
You will be fine. 35 MCAT with 3.7 GPA will most likely get you at least an interview with every TX school. Unless, you totally screw up your interviews, you'll get in somewhere. I have never heard of anybody with your stats that didn't get in.
Go to the cheapest school because med school costs a lot. It's all about GPA and mcat so technically the less prestigious school the lesser competition but that's not always the case because In sci majors you are always gonna have some smart cookies. I went to A&M but honestly undergrad is a completely different demon than med school, so focus on a place where you are able to succeed the most (as in a place with less social distractions) Prestige is great from undergrad or med school but in the end a white coat is a white coat. If anything matters it's where you did your residency and fellowship. Good luck on your long journey.
