Q & A

I've gotten a few questions, so I thought I'd post them with some answers in hopes of encouraging more questions!


When did you decide to head down the pre-med Journey?
When I was eight years old, I came out of my first appointment with a female pediatrician. I turned to mom and said, “You mean girls can do that too?!” She, of course, took that opportunity to deliver the classic speech that girls can do anything boys can do, and I responded with, “Well then that’s what I’m going to do!” I have never swayed from that dream to this day – I only become more convinced that being a pediatrician is the ideal job for me.


How many Med schools in Ohio?
There are seven med schools in Ohio. Six of them are MD schools and one is a DO school. The MD schools are The Ohio State University (Columbus), University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), University of Toledo, NEOUCOM (Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine - Rootstown - 20 mins East of Akron) and Wright State University (Dayton). The DO school is Ohio University (Athens). Ohio has an incredibly high number of medical schools for its size, which is really nice for the Ohio resident tuition discount - so I'm guessing I'll end up staying in the state for medical school.

A quick explanation of the difference between MD and DO: MD is what you think of when you think of the stereotypical doctor. DO stands for doctor of osteopathic medicine and is not much different than being an MD (medical doctor). Historically the difference tended to be that MD's had a more localized approach while DO's had a more holistic approach. For example, if your knee hurt, an MD was likely to look at your knee for the cause while a DO may look at your entire leg or body to consider what other issue may be leading to your knee pain. Traditionally, MD's are also more prescription focused while DO's are more willing to consider alternative medicine such as acupuncture or herbal remedies. The differences between MD's and DO's are getting smaller and both have the same authority/privileges. DO's are usually in the more general primary care fields of family practice, pediatrics, etc and don't sub-specialize as frequently as MD's do. There are not nearly as many DO schools as MD schools and it used to be that DO schools were a lot easier to get in to and not as high of quality as MD schools but that is not the case as much any more.


How do the MCAT scores go across those med schools?
You're making me do my research on this one! I figured while I'm at it I'd include acceptance rates and average GPA's. All of the stats are for their 2007 class. I've sorted it from highest average MCAT score to the lowest.

Ohio State
Overall acceptance rate: 8.7%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.74
Average MCAT score: 33.6

Case Western
Overall acceptance rate: 7.6%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.62
Average MCAT score: 33.6

Cincinnati
Overall acceptance rate: 8.2%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.67
Average MCAT score: 31.8

Toledo
Overall acceptance rate: 9.1%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.58
Average MCAT score: 30

NEOUCOM
Overall acceptance rate: 10.5%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.71
Average MCAT score: 28.5

Wright State
Overall acceptance rate: 6.8%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.58
Average MCAT score: 28.2

OU (DO School)
Overall acceptance rate: 4.8%
Average undergrad GPA: 3.57
Average MCAT score: 25.2

There are a few out of state schools that I'm considering, but the price jumps from about $25,000/year to about $40,000/year just for tuition when you leave the state you live in (although these numbers vary quite a bit). I haven't researched establishing residency requirements for other states yet. State schools are the only ones that have a change in tuition like that. Private schools (such as Case) are usually around $40,000/year for everyone. I still have quite a bit of research/thinking to do before I apply to medical schools, which starts June 1.


Does it matter what Undergrad school you go to for the prep on MCAT? Or to get into a med school?

This is not a question that has a definitive answer. To some extent, it does matter. If you go to a college with a great pre-med program, they're likely to know exactly how to help you prepare for the MCAT and med school. They're also likely to do well with advising you and being sure you know what you need to do for the next step. The better a school's professors are has an impact as well, because the MCAT tests over a lot of knowledge that you need to have purely memorized and understood. Some schools even have MCAT prep classes that students can take as part of their regular schedule that is designed purely to help them prepare for the test.

However, even if a college has a bad or nonexistent pre-med program - all of these goals can be accomplished individually. It's very possible to figure things out on your own, and do well - although this route is often harder than having adequate guidance.

It also matters some where you went for undergrad when med schools consider your GPA and MCAT scores. For example, a 4.0 GPA at Bowling Green doesn't mean as much as a 4.0 at Harvard. Likewise, a 33 on the MCAT from Bowling Green doesn't mean as much as a 33 from Harvard. School reputation carries some weight, but it's not typically something that can't be overcome. GPA is more influenced by college reputation than the MCAT is, since the MCAT is designed to be universal. How much reputation matters would depend on that school's perspective as well.

The MCAT is finally over!

I'm so relieved to finally be done with the MCAT! I've been working to prepare for this test for about six months, so being done with it is a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Thanks so much to everyone for their encouraging comments and messages - it was really nice to know that I had a lot of support. (Also, when leaving a comment, instead of checking "anonymous" you can check "name/url" and enter your name there instead of at the bottom of your message.)

I won't get my MCAT scores for about four weeks. I believe they will be posted on May 20th, and I will probably post on here how I do.

The scoring for the MCAT consists of a number and a letter. The number goes from 3-45 and comes from three different sections each worth 1-15 points. The three sections are physical sciences (general chemistry and physics), verbal reasoning, and biological sciences (biology and organic chemistry). There is also a writing section comprised of two essays which is given a letter score from J-T. Two readers score each essay individually and the four total scores are combined and changed to a letter with T being the best.

The average score for those taking the MCAT is roughly an 8 in each section and an N on the writing section, which would be reported as 24N. However, the average score for those actually admitted to medical schools is higher. For example, for OSU the average score is about a 33P. A school that is not ranked as highly as OSU, like Wright State in Dayton has an average of around 27O for their students. A perfect score of 45T is nearly impossible to achieve - only about 0.1% of test takers can get a perfect score in any of the sections, so you can imagine how rare it would be to do that well in all of them.

I'm hoping that my score will be at least a 30. Ideally, I would like to have at least a 10 in each of the scored sections. I'm not worried about the writing section because it is typically not given as much weight as the other sections and I usually write fairly well. Even if I don't score as well as I hope, I should be able to make up for some of it with my GPA which is well above the average.

Medical schools typically have acceptance rates that are lower than 10%, although your chances increase slightly if you are applying to a state school and you are a resident of that state. For OSU, the out-of-state acceptance rate is 6.5% and the in-state acceptance rate is 15.7%. Some schools vary even more: Cincinnati's out-of state acceptance rate is only 4.9% while their in-state rate is 21.9%.

Now that the MCAT is over, the next step is just waiting for my scores to come in. Then I'll start the application process, which I'll explain more when the time gets closer.

If there's anything specific about the application process or the MCAT that you'd like to know, post a comment with your questions and I'll definitely answer them. Thanks again for all of your support!

MCAT!

I'm taking the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) in two weeks! I've been preparing for this test all year, and I will be extremely relieved when the test is over with.

Although I've been taking classes and working on improving my resume, the MCAT is the first official step in the med school application process. I'll post later about the rest of the process.

My test date is April 19th starting at noon. The test takes around six hours to take and covers biology, chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, verbal reasoning and writing. The style of the exam emphasizes both content knowledge (how much do you remember from your classes) as well as critical thinking (can you apply what you know and/or figure out information about a topic about which you know nothing). The MCAT is known for being arguably the hardest standardized test.

I should receive my scores roughly four weeks after taking the exam.

Feel free to post questions/comments for me!