I've got a friend that's been thinking about attending medical school recently and have a few questions that I am unsure of. 1. I know most medical schools do a background check before admitting students. If you have a misdemeanor offense on your record, would this prevent an applicant from gaining admission to medical school or lessen the chances that they get accepted? 2. When applying for medical school, can you apply before you have actually graduated college?
the answer to #2 is yes. you "should" take the mcat the summer of your junior year. then apply your senior year. when you apply and get accepted into med school, you normally have to wait 1 year before school starts. for example, if you apply in 2008, you dont begin med school until the fall of 2009.
"2. When applying for medical school, can you apply before you have actually graduated college?" Yes, you can apply when you have the required classes and hours needed to get in. BUT, it is highly recommended that a degree is acquired before applying. A 4.0 and lots of activities as a junior might get you in a med school.
This is not true, it is generally expected that you graduate before you start (not apply) medical school. Most of applicants are seniors in college, are accepted during their senior year and start in August after they graduate.
it is true, it's in the fine print, you can apply to a medical school without a degree, or being a senior..i said though before that the chance of getting accepted is very very small
you can APPLY, before graduation (you apply your senior year). This isnt pharm school where you dont need a bachelors. You must have at least a bachelors and all the pre-reqs to attend med school. I dont know any of this business that you are encouraged to have the degree before applying. the application asks you to disclose if you have a criminal record. I matriculated in 2006 so I don't quite remember if it said felonys only or all criminal activity, I think it is all. I don't know if they run a background check. I would just disclose that on the record.
Thanks for all the info guys, personally I don't see how you would get in without a degree. I will pass this info on to him. I have another friend who is scared to apply to medical school. He has a GPA of just below 3.0 and is afraid that is not good enough to get in. I told him if he does good on the MCAT, has some extracurricular activities and volunteer work in the medical field, and does good in his interviews he may have a better than average shot at getting in. I could be totally wrong. I remember a thread started in here showing a link that displayed GPAs and LSAT scores and showed if these people were accepted or declined for law school. I saw GPAs as low as 2.5 getting into law school. Is it that much harder to get in medical school?
Some schools have early admission. My gf applied her sophomore year, got in her junior year and didn't have to take the mcat. She has a few classmates from her class in Gtown, so yes you can apply before you graduate but you had better have stellar grades, ace those interviews and be squeaky clean. Having the misdemeanor's won't prevent him from getting into med school, but if he isn't a prime candidate, they could factor in as being a disincentive if there are other applicants with equal value. Same with law school, having an arrest record won't bar you, but it certainly won't help you.
i dont want to sound discouraging but your friend has a very very slim chance of getting into a US med school w/ his gpa. maybe if he scores a 40 on his mcat then that would be a different story. but below 3.0, hes going have have a hard time getting past the first round of cuts. i dont know how accurate this formula is but... (gpa x 10) + mcat = ? if you get 70 or greater, you have a pretty good chance of getting accepted into a med school. however, if your friend SERIOUSLY wants to become a physician then he should do his best to get his gpa up and then kill the mcat. it can be done. another option is to look into foreign med school (mexico, carribean, phillipines...), homeopathic med schools (doctor or osteopathy), dental school, pharm school, physicians assistant, or even nursing. you can still become a lisenced doctor in the US if you grad from a homeopathic med school or a foreign med school because you take the same board exam. However, its much much harder to land a residency. but like i said, if your friend really really wants to become a physician then he'll find a way. he'll just have to work harder than the average student.
You can get in to medical school before a degree...I have seen people w/ 2 years of college get in, very rare though I would call the courthouse that this person got the misdemeanor from. Usually if small enough it will not go on your record. Ask them if this will be on any records that will be available to anyone outside of the court and law enforcement. If not, no need to mention it at all The guy with the sub 3.0 is going to have a hard time but its not impossible. Also, going with D.O. (osteopathic medicine) does not really put you at a disadvantage because you study the same things as MD but also some osteopathic medicine. Basically it will always come down to your grades and board scores. The person with the higher board scores and higher GPA will get the residency 99/100 times. Board scores being the most important thing. I would probably say the same goes for foreign medical schools
Regarding the applying/getting in without a degree issue: The majority of people who get in apply before they actually have the degree. Most apply during their senior year and go through the application and interview processes during that time. So some get accepted before they have technically graduated, but the med school requires that you send a final transcript before you matriculate to prove that you did graduate and had all the required courses. Whether you have the degree at the time of application is not important, but they do expect you to have finished the degree by the end of that year if you want to matriculate. It should also be noted that it doesn't really matter if you apply later than your senior year. Many people concentrate on raising their gpa and strengthening their application during their senior year, and then apply the year after. Or spend a few years after college doing research or volunteering, or studying their ass off for the mcat. It is possible to get in with a 3.0 gpa, but your friend would have to really prove that he wants it.
Yeah, truth is med school is hard as hell. I kind of coasted through law school without working too hard, but I wouldn't survive a week in med school. I learned its easy to pass law school, but very hard to be the best in the class. Passing Med school is equal to the effort it takes to be in the top 10% in law school. You basically can't compare the two. No sleep, inhumane hours, no respect from peers, many years of school + residency + extremely high tuition + no time for fun, and then you get screwed by insurance costs when you actually do start making money...a good 6 to 9 years after starting Med school, wanna make more money? gotta specialize. If you can't manage above a 3.0 in school, you probably won't survive med school, if you do, you better have a lot of drive. My gf had two friends, one from MIT and one from Princeton, complete nerds, no social life, and they both failed one course and had to repeat a year. Fail again and they flunk out. $45K more in tuition + another year and you won't be making money + living expenses, is quite a loss. If I were your friend, I would work somewhere in the med field or try to do grad work in the sciences first. If he does bio, he can at least skip a few med school classes. Wanting to go to med school does not factor into admissions, because everyone has that, you have to show how badly you want in by dedicating your life to being a good student, nailing the mcats and showing it off in the extracurriculars and the interviews.
