Top Law Schools

nm

EDIT: Actually, I take that back. If you are a junior, just wait and see how you do in the remainder of your science classes.

(1) Do not do MD/JD. This does nothing for you. The paltry, vaguely-defined value it adds is easily outweighed by the additional cost and time of the second degree.

(2) An MD/DO degree, if you can get it, will objectively be a far better investment than the type of LS you'll be looking at w/ your stats. (Even if you get a 163.)

(3) You don't need any particular major, but you will need a year each of Gen. Chem, Orgo, Physics, and Bio. A non-trivial number of schools require 1 semester of Calculus, and a rising number (including all FL public MSs) require 1 semester of Biochem.

(4) The MS admission process is driven by your BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) GPA, which incorporates only those courses. The AO (all other) and comprehensive GPAs are distant seconds. There are a few easy courses you can sneak into this category (Astronomy, Ecology, and Neuroscience at most schools), but a lot of the easier "science-y sounding" courses like Nutrition and Psychology don't count. The AAMC has a document that outlines exactly which classes count for which GPA, and I think it is a highly under-utilized document for those looking to game the MS admission system.

(5) Because of (4), you will largely be judged on the basis of your performance in the courses listed in (3). What you'll need as a minimum BCPM to get in will vary based on (a) your MCAT score, and (b) your state of legal residence. (a) isn't nearly as big of a deal as you might imagine, as even with a top 5% MCAT you'd still need a ~3.2 BCPM to get in anywhere allopathic. (b) is probably just as important as (a), since OOS med school applicants are almost unheard of, and are usually strictly capped.

(6) You can't take the MCAT until you've taken the courses in (3), as they are prereqs for the test (not technically, but you'll obviously perform poorly since that material is on the MCAT). You will have virtually no chance below a 28, and a 30 is a highly-advisable minimum for which to strive. For reference, the median score is always between 24-26 (and, accordingly, the median MS applicant doesn't get in... anywhere).

(7) Use The Student Doctor Network for MS questions.

(8) Med school will take a few years, and lots of legitimate hard work (these are not poli sci courses). You can get into law school right now... and so can every other recent college grad with mediocre grades and mediocre work ethic and mediocre standardized test scores. Think about that for a second, and think about how it plays out down the line w/r/t employment prospects for the respective fields.

(9) FWIW, I am a current law student at a school far better than where you'll be going w/ a 157/3.66 (not trying to be a dick; read on). I would kill to be in med school, for a variety of reasons, and I may still go (I hope to God I don't lose my resolve). Med school offers a lifetime of guaranteed middle-class employment, entrance into a helping profession, and is attainable to people who aren't naturally brilliant provided they are willing to work their asses off. Law school used to be the exact opposite--you didn't have to be the hardest worker, but you had to be smart--but now the "you have to be smart" requirement has fallen off.

Dude above seems to know what he's talking about.

But if I remember correctly, a 3.5-3.6 GPA for a solid pre-med curriculum would be decent-good, and depending on your MCATs (10s and above), and also, importantly, on your extracurriculars during and after college, you'd be fine. I'd say GPAs are shifted down by at least a good 0.1 point for med schools when compared to relatively similarly ranked law schools. But this is hard to generalize, and med schools tend to be much more concerned about applicants' overall commitment to medicine as evidenced by stuff like clinical volunteering, biomedical research experience, etc. So it's not nearly as much a numbers game as law school admissions is.

drdolittle wrote:Dude above seems to know what he's talking about.

But if I remember correctly, a 3.5-3.6 GPA for a solid pre-med curriculum would be decent-good, and depending on your MCATs (10s and above), and also, importantly, on your extracurriculars during and after college, you'd be fine. I'd say GPAs are shifted down by at least a good 0.1 point for med schools when compared to relatively similarly ranked law schools. But this is hard to generalize, and med schools tend to be much more concerned about applicants' overall commitment to medicine as evidenced by stuff like clinical volunteering, biomedical research experience, etc. So it's not nearly as much a numbers game as law school admissions is.

This is true, but it is so true that it has become untrue.

MSs want to see physician shadowing (you should do this now, and for it's ostensible purpose: to see if you would actually like being a doctor), clinical volunteering, and research. The research is optional if you're gunning for a lower-end MS (which you are, and you should be: unlike LSs, their job prospects are almost entirely the same).

But they want it so bad that now nearly every serious applicant has it. Thus, it has gone from being a evaluative factor (like your BCPM or your MCAT score) to being a determinative factor (like having taken the appropriate pre-req courses).

MSs don't seem to strongly differentiate among quality/quantity of these, particularly the quality of research (psych research is just as valuable as biochem research, even though the latter is obviously far more closely-related to what you'll be doing in MS). With volunteering, 100 hours was said to be the 'magic number,' though any continuous recurring commitment will suffice.