BG college students. Quick question.

[*Shinzon*]

I don't, that's one disadvantage to being a transfer from a CC. The chem prof that I was counting on passed away, so I needa work hard next year to get some LORs, lol.

Ah, I know the feeling though I didn't transfer. For all the courses towards my major I had great profs, even a harvard grad (I'm going to law school) and I only took each prof once, and never developed a close relationship with them even though I shoulda. They liked me but I didn't go out of my way to get their good graces. Only prof I ever had more than once was an english prof that I took twice for my minor in english. As far as that goes, ask the profs if they would be willing to write an LOR after each time you take a class with a prof that likes you. I don't know how it works with the MCAT but LSAC has a website for the LSAT that stores all your stuff and sends it to each school so you don't have to and as long as you begin apply before the payment on the service expires the LORs stay logged. I ended up scrambling last two semesters to get my LORs out of the way

[Talus]

For med schools, if your school has a pre-health/pre-med committee, you have to get a composite letter, rather than just individual letters from science/nonscience professors. The requirements at schools are different, at my school, I had to right a bunch of essays and do two interviews with committee members, and submit my LORs before they wrote the committee letter. They write their own letter based on their "holistic rubric" of core competencies for medical school, and include the letters that I solicited from professors. It's kind of a red flag if med schools know your school has a committee and you did not get a committee letter.

So many hoops to jump through. And for LORs, I recommend Interfolio. It's nice to have them all in one place (and will presumably come in useful down the road when interviewing for residency, when you have to procure yet more LORs).

[Edit: the saying: "Be careful whose toes you step on today, they may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow" seems appropriate for being pre-med/pre-health/pre-anything.]

[Chun Liroy]

Niggas complaining about an A-. Maybe you should have earned a 95 if you wanted an A.

[Heavencloud]

Isn't it the AMCAS system since US med schools have their applications through them. Also, they shy away from 4.0s because those applicationss tend to be from gunners and nobody wants gunners

Yeah, the AMCAS system is used, that's why it'll be seen the same no matter where I apply. I hate gunners too, although I guess I'm sounding like one with this topic, shit.

[*Shinzon*]

Wtf is a gunner? lol I've never heard that before.

[Heavencloud]

For med schools, if your school has a pre-health/pre-med committee, you have to get a composite letter, rather than just individual letters from science/nonscience professors. The requirements at schools are different, at my school, I had to right a bunch of essays and do two interviews with committee members, and submit my LORs before they wrote the committee letter. They write their own letter based on their "holistic rubric" of core competencies for medical school, and include the letters that I solicited from professors. It's kind of a red flag if med schools know your school has a committee and you did not get a committee letter.

So many hoops to jump through. And for LORs, I recommend Interfolio. It's nice to have them all in one place (and will presumably come in useful down the road when interviewing for residency, when you have to procure yet more LORs).

[Edit: the saying: "Be careful whose toes you step on today, they may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow" seems appropriate for being pre-med/pre-health/pre-anything.]

I'm not certain whether or not my school has a specific pre-health committee. I personally do not call myself a pre-med student because I absolutely hate the stigma that comes with it; I don't go to the stupid meetings because it's stuff that I can figure out on my own. I will have one prof that I should be able to get on the good side of for sure, but beyond that, I may have to dig into my CC professor bag. I'll have to check out Interfolio, thanks for the tip.

Can I ask what your profession is btw?

[Heavencloud]

Wtf is a gunner? lol I've never heard that before.

Gunners are basically people that stop at nothing to get the best grades and have the "god complex," they feel that they're better than everyone else and such. They're pretty much always douchebags on top of it all.

[ZarakiKujata]

Wtf is a gunner? lol I've never heard that before.

If you've not heard the term: http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/system/...png?1291929958 is a good way to sum a gunner up.

[Tyche]

We were required to create an interfolio (contained updated resume, certifications, LoR, any public commendations, etc) first semester and simply add to it throughout school for later use. I actually had to pull mine out for a PRN ER gig I applied for today. It's nice to have all that shit compiled.

[Talus]

I'm not certain whether or not my school has a specific pre-health committee. I personally do not call myself a pre-med student because I absolutely hate the stigma that comes with it; I don't go to the stupid meetings because it's stuff that I can figure out on my own. I will have one prof that I should be able to get on the good side of for sure, but beyond that, I may have to dig into my CC professor bag. I'll have to check out Interfolio, thanks for the tip.

Can I ask what your profession is btw?

Student, at the moment. I had a career before as a small business owner, made the decision to do the prerequisites for medical school, and I'm applying this cycle coming up (AMCAS/AACOMAS for EY2012). Initially I was just doing the prerequisites, but I had so many damn credits I am finishing up a BS in biology (to go with my BA in Government from my first stint in undergrad). Took the MCAT on April 9, got my score back, and happy I don't have to retake it, considering I waited until the last minute to take it. I ended up with a 34R (12 VR, 11 BS, 11 PS, R). I'm happy, GPA is competitive, I'm nontraditional, so I'm hoping I'm successful and someone is dumb enough to admit me.

As far as what a gunner is, they're ambitious overachievers who typically annoy their fellow classmates, because their success typically comes first before any personal relationships. They're the people most likely to sit in the first row (or second row if the first is full), they'll bring their voice recorder to class and set it on the lectern before the professor starts lecturing, they will ask at least ONE question every lecture, even though it's pretty apparent they probably know the answer. This is for one or two, or both reasons: 1) they like to hear themselves talk and 2) they want everyone to know how smart they are. A frequent line from a gunner is something like this:

Gunner: "How'd you do on the second exam?"
You: "I did okay, it seemed pretty tough. You?" (you actually scored something like 85-95, but don't want to tell the gunner the exact number)
Gunner: "Well I felt pretty confident but I let myself down. One of the questions was worded weird, and I had to look up the word in the dictionary when I got home. It turns out it's from the Middle French (blah blah blah), which means (blah blah blah) and it shares common etymology with (blah blah blah). I have to do better, I ended up with a 97."

yeah, it's like that... lol

[Edit: try to find out if your school has a prehealth/premedical adviser, for sure. You'll be wanting that committee letter if your institution offers it, because U-Dub probably expects it.]

[BerenTebogo]

Proud Melvin reporting in.

[Heavencloud]

Student, at the moment. I had a career before as a small business owner, made the decision to do the prerequisites for medical school, and I'm applying this cycle coming up (AMCAS/AACOMAS for EY2012). Initially I was just doing the prerequisites, but I had so many damn credits I am finishing up a BS in biology (to go with my BA in Government from my first stint in undergrad). Took the MCAT on April 9, got my score back, and happy I don't have to retake it, considering I waited until the last minute to take it. I ended up with a 34R (12 VR, 11 BS, 11 PS, R). I'm happy, GPA is competitive, I'm nontraditional, so I'm hoping I'm successful and someone is dumb enough to admit me.

You should have no problem getting into multiple MD schools. Did you take a MCAT prep course? That's a really nice score!