1 Year Later / First Semester Classes (MS1)

On November 20, 2008 I was accepted into Ross University School of Medicine. Hard to believe, but that was exactly one year ago, today. It's been a long year. And now, I leave for Dominica in just over 5 weeks.

Coincidentally, today I got an email notifying me that online registration was open. My first semester classes are as follows:

• Developmental / Microscopic Anatomy I
  
• Gross Anatomy I
  
• Doctor, Patient & Society I
  
• Biochemistry & Genetics I
  
• Medical Physiology I

I feel like I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. When you talk to medical students about the difficulty of med school, they always cite the amount of information you're required to learn day-to-day, week-to-week. "It's like drinking water out of a fire hose."

For me personally, there's not much I can do but wait. No sense in stressing over something that hasn't begun yet. But I am a little curious to see how much more difficult it is over their undergrad equivalents. (And I'm not kidding myself, they are going to be more difficult.) I look at the first semester classes again and I've taken just about everything they're going to throw at me: Microbiology, Histology, Human Anatomy, Biochemistry, Genetics, and Human Physiology. I'm curious to see how much they really help because you're probably in the same boat I am when it comes to "premed advice." We were both advised to take extra classes beyond both major requirements and premed prerequisites. I took that advice and followed through on it. (The same advice I've passed on to others on this blog, all the time.) I've yet to see how much it really helps, but I guess I'll see soon.

Poll Results: When you tell a family member you want to be a doctor, how would you best describe their reaction?

Poll Results

My blood is better than your blood.

I saw my doctor again. We filled out the rest of my paper work and I got all the required print outs from the blood work and immunizations I had a week ago. (I got everything but the chest x-ray which I'll have to pick up tomorrow.)

I have O Positive blood.

It's good to know these things. It's something that I should've known a long time ago and something I've been equally curious about for a while. And it might have been a little more incentive to donate some blood once in a while. I really haven't and it's a shame since O Positive blood is in such high demand (universal donor). (It's just too bad that my life will be harder to save, if I needed to receive blood.)

It's just funny to me. It's one of these things that everybody should know about themselves and it took some medical school required paperwork to finally get me the answer I needed.

In related news: Once I pick up the results for the chest x-ray, that's it. I'm done with all the requirements and I'm going to be sending the entire pre-Ross package back to them. The new student co-ordinator said they needed all of this (at the latest) by late November / early December for the January 2010 class. I know. I'm cutting it close, but at least it's finally done.

Take the MCAT a third time?

Grace writes:

Hi Jonathan,

I have been following your blog for some time now. I am like you, the older, non-traditional student with not-so-hot MCAT scores that U.S. schools wouldn't give much thought to. Well after much thought and hard work with AMCAS the last two years, I was accepted into Ross for May 2010 and SGU for this Jan 2010. I have committed to Ross!

Right now I am still in the AMCAS process, holding out for my state schools. There is one school that takes the January MCAT and I'm not sure if I should go for it the third time or if it would be a waste of money? What is your opinion? Thanks!

Hi Grace,

I always say, "nobody should be going to the Caribbean if they don't have to." So, if you think you have a shot, I'd say go for it.

If you want a cold, calculated answer, put it this way:

If you had a 100% chance of getting accepted to your state school if you took the MCAT a third time, would you do it? What if it were a 90% chance? Would you still do it? What about 80%? 50%? 25%? When you think about it seriously, where is your cut-off? Now take everything you've accomplished during your pre-med years, including: GPA, MCAT, clinical experience, volunteer experience, shadowing experience, research experience, letters of recommendation, and personal statements, and realistically speaking, what do you think your chances of acceptance are?

If your "Realistic Acceptance %" is greater than your "Personal Cut-off %", then go for it.

If not, don't worry about it. You're already accepted.


(Why did you choose Ross over SGU?)