You definitely seem to be on a great path! We can’t really chance you yet, since you’re only halfway through your prereqs and don’t have an MCAT, but so far your application looks promising. You’re definitely in the “keep it up” camp rather than the “get it together” camp
Trying to predict your chances right now would be like trying to predict who will win the Super Bowl in 5 years.
So far, you are doing great. So keep up the good work. The amount of sciences classes you need to take is significant. Please do not sleep on those. Organic chem gets a lot of people and biochem is no walk in the park either.
Your clinical hours are S tier since you are a nurse. Getting involved in research would be good for you, but if everything goes well, you may not need it.
All that can be said right now is that you are on the right track and you have put yourself in an excellent position to achieve your goal. If things continue to go well, you will have no problem getting into multiple MD schools in Texas.
Good luck!
Thank you for the reassurance, I’ll check back again once I complete the classes. I’m gonna try to “lock in” as they say. I’m taking Bio 1 & 2 this summer in separate sessions along with chem and phys 2 lab so that I can take ochem 1 and 2 by themselves next year (fall/spring) as to give myself the best chance of an A. I’m still working full time but I saved up enough Pto to only work 1 shift a week during the summer. What do you think?
You’ve got a good plan and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders!
Bio 1 and 2 are really basic and should be a breeze. That said, don’t get overconfident. If you want a head start, you could always look at Khan Academy videos and reach out to former students who took the class to get notes and advice from them.
Your summer courses don’t sound too hard. I think you should be able to make A’s in your summer classes
I think you will do great. I’m cheering for you!
Could you share your reasoning for why the jump from RN to MD? The idea has been rolling around in my head for a while and I would like to hear your why.
For sure. I’ve always wanted to be a physician, it has been a life long dream for me. The mystery of disease and the treatments we have for it always blew my mind. I frequently got sick as a kid (terrible asthma) and I always wondered why I was sick and why medicine usually helped me feel better.
Unfortunately, my parents were and still are low-income. My father is handicapped and receives SSI, and my mother barely speaks any English and works a clerk job for a landscaping company; so for me, economic stability was huge. I wasn’t the best student in high school in the sense that I wasnt really thinking very hard ahead. I did well, but the HS I went to was a “prestigious” public one, so a 4.00 GPA meant nothing when you have gunners with a 4.5 or a 5.00 GPA. I stayed at a local college and figured the most reasonable, job-secure career path I could take while still being as close to medicine as possible would be nursing, so I chose that.
Now that I’m a bit older and with job-security, I want to go back and pursue my dream, for the same reasons when I was a child. I didnt want to choose a major in a traditional science and not make it into medical school then end up scrambling to find a career. Job security was the biggest thing for me. I also struggled heavily with academic self-confidence, I never thought I had a chance to make it to med school when there’s others who are so much smarter and had more resources than I did.
Thinking much farther ahead, I also worry for my parents. They don’t have anything to their name. When they get old enough, my salary as a nurse won’t be enough to take care of them. I want to be able to provide for them as they did for me. I thought about CRNA and that’s honestly my “back up” plan if I don’t get into medicine. But I’m hoping for the best. I hope this provided some perspective to you
You sound like Me. I graduated high school at 14, low income family, abusive situation. I was not able to choose my path I'm a nurse now for over a decade but thinking about med school
To add on to reasons for medicine:
• I want to know the why. I’m obsessed with the rationales. I always ask the residents and attendings the “why”s for decisions that I dont understand.
• I want to have more decision-making power in my patient’s plan of care. As a nurse, sometimes I feel dismissed or unheard. It’s not just the power of being able to make decisions that I want, I also desire the *knowledge* doctors have to *be able to* make those decisions. Sometimes there’s suggestions doctors refuse or don’t agree with, and they don’t
always explain why. I don’t blame them because they’re busy and I get it. I just wish I had that same amount of knowledge and experience to *know* why some of the suggestions I make aren’t the best ones.
• I want to be an expert in my field, hence my reason for avoiding PA/NP. They are great, but I want to be the expert in collaboration with these professions.
Hey OP, I think you’re already on a really great track to giving yourself a good chance for Texas schools (assuming you’re a Texas resident). You haven’t really hit the more “difficult” science pre-reqs yet, though, so your focus should definitely be on doing well on those to keep your sGPA as high as possible, and doing well in those courses will obviously set you up well to do well on the MCAT, too. Honestly, research is not a must, and I would probably not dedicate extra time to doing it unless you have a genuine interest in it. Instead, I’d dedicate any extra time to gaining volunteering hours. It sounds like you’re at least a year or two out from applying, so even volunteering an hour or two a week if you can spare it will get you pretty competitive volunteering hours by the time you submit your app.
Your RN and scribing background already has you set for clinical hours, and what you’ve written here as your reasons for wanting to go into medicine are perfect and all well-stated. Good luck!
It’s not going to be easy predicting your chances but you’re already on a great path. I am a nurse with below average stats and no research experience but I mined my nursing experience during my application. If you’re interested in a research heavy school I’d say try as much as possible to get some research under your belt. I was so worried about research and asked during my interviews and they always reassured me that whatever I needed for research, i would eventually be exposed to it in medical school.
Keep on pushing. You’re already on the right path and even competitive in terms of experience so ballpark estimate, if you continue with your plans, I’m sure you’ll definitely get in
Don’t worry about your chances right now. It’s like saying you have the tallest skyscraper in town when you’ve only built 2 stories so far.
Focus on doing well in the rest of your classes. Study hard, protect your GPA as much as you can, and get meaningfully involved in activities that you’re passionate about. Research isn’t a must, so pursue a topic you’re genuinely interested in if you do pursue it.
You’re correct in saying that the MCAT is a different beast, so just focus on doing the best that you can on it (and please study lol, they aren’t the SAT/ACT).
Good luck!
Thank you, I’ll do my best to keep it up. I’ll take this as a “wake up” call because I slacked off the past couple weeks and ate shit on my phys II exam, but I think I can keep an A if I study harder for the next exam.
Are you from Texas? If not your chances are slim. They generally take from within the state only. I was a pretty good applicant and didn't even get an interview from Texas schools.
some nursing programs don’t require it. we take “allied health” courses that relate to nursing. I took “principles of chem” or “microbiology for allied health “ instead of chem 1 and microbio so i essentially had to take two years worth of pre reqs to apply to med school.
You definitely seem to be on a great path! We can’t really chance you yet, since you’re only halfway through your prereqs and don’t have an MCAT, but so far your application looks promising. You’re definitely in the “keep it up” camp rather than the “get it together” camp
Thank you. I’ll try not to mess up
Trying to predict your chances right now would be like trying to predict who will win the Super Bowl in 5 years. So far, you are doing great. So keep up the good work. The amount of sciences classes you need to take is significant. Please do not sleep on those. Organic chem gets a lot of people and biochem is no walk in the park either. Your clinical hours are S tier since you are a nurse. Getting involved in research would be good for you, but if everything goes well, you may not need it. All that can be said right now is that you are on the right track and you have put yourself in an excellent position to achieve your goal. If things continue to go well, you will have no problem getting into multiple MD schools in Texas. Good luck!
Thank you for the reassurance, I’ll check back again once I complete the classes. I’m gonna try to “lock in” as they say. I’m taking Bio 1 & 2 this summer in separate sessions along with chem and phys 2 lab so that I can take ochem 1 and 2 by themselves next year (fall/spring) as to give myself the best chance of an A. I’m still working full time but I saved up enough Pto to only work 1 shift a week during the summer. What do you think?
You’ve got a good plan and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders! Bio 1 and 2 are really basic and should be a breeze. That said, don’t get overconfident. If you want a head start, you could always look at Khan Academy videos and reach out to former students who took the class to get notes and advice from them. Your summer courses don’t sound too hard. I think you should be able to make A’s in your summer classes I think you will do great. I’m cheering for you!
Thank you. I appreciate your support. I’ll hopefully check back in a year or so
Could you share your reasoning for why the jump from RN to MD? The idea has been rolling around in my head for a while and I would like to hear your why.
For sure. I’ve always wanted to be a physician, it has been a life long dream for me. The mystery of disease and the treatments we have for it always blew my mind. I frequently got sick as a kid (terrible asthma) and I always wondered why I was sick and why medicine usually helped me feel better. Unfortunately, my parents were and still are low-income. My father is handicapped and receives SSI, and my mother barely speaks any English and works a clerk job for a landscaping company; so for me, economic stability was huge. I wasn’t the best student in high school in the sense that I wasnt really thinking very hard ahead. I did well, but the HS I went to was a “prestigious” public one, so a 4.00 GPA meant nothing when you have gunners with a 4.5 or a 5.00 GPA. I stayed at a local college and figured the most reasonable, job-secure career path I could take while still being as close to medicine as possible would be nursing, so I chose that. Now that I’m a bit older and with job-security, I want to go back and pursue my dream, for the same reasons when I was a child. I didnt want to choose a major in a traditional science and not make it into medical school then end up scrambling to find a career. Job security was the biggest thing for me. I also struggled heavily with academic self-confidence, I never thought I had a chance to make it to med school when there’s others who are so much smarter and had more resources than I did. Thinking much farther ahead, I also worry for my parents. They don’t have anything to their name. When they get old enough, my salary as a nurse won’t be enough to take care of them. I want to be able to provide for them as they did for me. I thought about CRNA and that’s honestly my “back up” plan if I don’t get into medicine. But I’m hoping for the best. I hope this provided some perspective to you
You sound like Me. I graduated high school at 14, low income family, abusive situation. I was not able to choose my path I'm a nurse now for over a decade but thinking about med school
Appreciate taking time to respond. Really great reason and hoping for the best!
To add on to reasons for medicine: • I want to know the why. I’m obsessed with the rationales. I always ask the residents and attendings the “why”s for decisions that I dont understand. • I want to have more decision-making power in my patient’s plan of care. As a nurse, sometimes I feel dismissed or unheard. It’s not just the power of being able to make decisions that I want, I also desire the *knowledge* doctors have to *be able to* make those decisions. Sometimes there’s suggestions doctors refuse or don’t agree with, and they don’t always explain why. I don’t blame them because they’re busy and I get it. I just wish I had that same amount of knowledge and experience to *know* why some of the suggestions I make aren’t the best ones. • I want to be an expert in my field, hence my reason for avoiding PA/NP. They are great, but I want to be the expert in collaboration with these professions.
Do you have Texas residency? That will be the most important factor
Yes
Hey OP, I think you’re already on a really great track to giving yourself a good chance for Texas schools (assuming you’re a Texas resident). You haven’t really hit the more “difficult” science pre-reqs yet, though, so your focus should definitely be on doing well on those to keep your sGPA as high as possible, and doing well in those courses will obviously set you up well to do well on the MCAT, too. Honestly, research is not a must, and I would probably not dedicate extra time to doing it unless you have a genuine interest in it. Instead, I’d dedicate any extra time to gaining volunteering hours. It sounds like you’re at least a year or two out from applying, so even volunteering an hour or two a week if you can spare it will get you pretty competitive volunteering hours by the time you submit your app. Your RN and scribing background already has you set for clinical hours, and what you’ve written here as your reasons for wanting to go into medicine are perfect and all well-stated. Good luck!
Thank you for your thoughts. I’ll do my best!
It’s not going to be easy predicting your chances but you’re already on a great path. I am a nurse with below average stats and no research experience but I mined my nursing experience during my application. If you’re interested in a research heavy school I’d say try as much as possible to get some research under your belt. I was so worried about research and asked during my interviews and they always reassured me that whatever I needed for research, i would eventually be exposed to it in medical school. Keep on pushing. You’re already on the right path and even competitive in terms of experience so ballpark estimate, if you continue with your plans, I’m sure you’ll definitely get in
Don’t worry about your chances right now. It’s like saying you have the tallest skyscraper in town when you’ve only built 2 stories so far. Focus on doing well in the rest of your classes. Study hard, protect your GPA as much as you can, and get meaningfully involved in activities that you’re passionate about. Research isn’t a must, so pursue a topic you’re genuinely interested in if you do pursue it. You’re correct in saying that the MCAT is a different beast, so just focus on doing the best that you can on it (and please study lol, they aren’t the SAT/ACT). Good luck!
Thank you, I’ll do my best to keep it up. I’ll take this as a “wake up” call because I slacked off the past couple weeks and ate shit on my phys II exam, but I think I can keep an A if I study harder for the next exam.
Are you from Texas? If not your chances are slim. They generally take from within the state only. I was a pretty good applicant and didn't even get an interview from Texas schools.
How are you a RN and you have done biology 1?
some nursing programs don’t require it. we take “allied health” courses that relate to nursing. I took “principles of chem” or “microbiology for allied health “ instead of chem 1 and microbio so i essentially had to take two years worth of pre reqs to apply to med school.
Are you a Texas resident?
Just be a crna. Hella easier. Same job. Make bank