Help getting into medical school?

Question

My son, age 24 graduated with chem degree, pre-med. This past year he has been shadowing and volunteering at the hospital, working with two cardiac doctors and doing research for them. My son's GPA is 3.6. He has taken the MCAT 3 times. Making a score of 24 as highest. He is now unsure of his likelihood of med school acceptance. He feels his MCAT score isn't good enough, but does not want to give up his dream. It has been suggested for him to go to Med school in the Caribbean. I honestly don't know how to advise him at this point. He is very dedicated, everyone at the hospital where he volunteers thinks very highly of him and encourages him to keep trying.

What can he do at this point to improve his changes of being accepted into a US med school?

Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Answer 1

A 24 on the MCAT is a rather low score and about the only way he can improve that is to repeat the courses in the areas he's weakest in.  But the good news is that as a chemistry major he's already learned the information that is usually the most difficult for med students.  (My personal opinion is that biology is a waste of time and I seriously believe they only keep it as a prerequisite to weed out weaker students).

There are four or five excellent Caribbean medical schools.  The "Gold Standard" for achieving a quality education is recognition by the California Medical Board.  These are the only Caribbean medical schools to have achieved that:  St. George University (Grenada), Ross (Dominica). UWI (Barbados and their Jamaican campus) and Saba, on the island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles.  

There is another excellent option, too.  It's called the Fifth Pathway.  The school is located in Guadalajara, Mexico and is called Autonomous University of Guadalajara Faculty of Medicine.  The program is taught in English and enjoys an excellent reputation in the US.

Another course to consider is called the Fifth Pathway.  There is a medical school in Mexico (UAG) that is renowned for it.  That program is taught in English and is highly regarded.

Answer 2

Most Med schools won't even look at a score that low, there is a minimum score known as the baseline competency. It varies, but tends to be about 24. The chances of him getting into med school are very low. I would recommend taking a prep class, studying for the MCAT for an entire year, and then retaking it. That's really the only chance he has, raising his score a lot. Sure he could go to the Caribbean, but he won't get a good medical education, and he will have to take certification tests when he's done if he ever wants to work in the States, and if he can't get a good MCAT score he probably will struggle with that.

Answer 3

If he wants to go to a medical school in the U.S., he needs to have an MCAT score of at least 30 to be safe.  Since he has already taken it 3 times with a 24 being the highest, it is unlikely that he will improve dramatically without any additional help such as a prep course, which I'm assuming he hasn't taken in the past.  He will need to live, eat, and breath the MCAT to improve his scores.  I liked the Kaplan course when I was prepping for the MCAT because of the number of practice tests they had.  The best way to prep for the exam after taking the course is to take as many practice exams you can and study the questions you got wrong.  However, even if he improves his MCAT score the 4th time, the other 3 scores will show up as well when he applies to medical school and he will have to explain the reason of why his previous attempts were not as fruitful (e.g. not enough preparation, poor time management during the exam, etc.).  He should have an answer prepared because it will be asked.  I've known several people who took the MCAT several times and did well on repeat attempts and got into medical school in the U.S., so it can be done but it will require work and preparation.

In addition to improving his MCAT scores, he will need outstanding letters of recommendation and something that will set him apart from others applicants such as a unique work/life experience or publication in a major research journal to further improve his chances.

As mentioned by previous posts, applying to medical school in the Caribbean is another option that is available, but you will have to deal with other obstacles after graduating in order to do your residency and practice in the U.S., but it is also fairly commonly done as well.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

he may have a lower score than other applicants , but the voluntering work will help in his favour plus if he can get refrences from doctors hes worked with this will greatly improve his chance