Hi:

I am currently a senior in high school and getting ready to apply to schools. I have a strong passion for becoming a doctor, and am absolutly sure this is what I want to do. However, since medical school is so hard to get into, I was hoping some one could give me some advice or a realistic perspective of me getting accepted down the line based on my stats right now. I do not have the highest gpa but it is decent at a 3.5. I attend the second biggest high school in my state and it is a tougher one. I am very involved in school and participate in two varsity sports(I don't know if this helps with college or not) and I also am working on getting my EMT-B certification. I should be certified in a few weeks, but as I just turned 17 I will not be able to practice until I am 18. Will this look good to medical schools? Also I have read about the BS/MD programs..how hard are these to get into? I understand its a lot of work, but it would be perfect for me. I doubt I have a realistic look at these though with a 3.5 but I was looking for input. I know this is a lot of questions but any info would be awesome! I know my Gpa isnt the highest, but I was thinking it would raise once I got to college since my two B's are in my AP math and Spanish, which I will not be taking in college since I am getting dual cred., and would my passion and ex currics (emt ) help?

Thankss

Steven

Good Luck! Stick with it. Unless you are serious about the combined BS/MD programs your high school performance isn't especially important to med school admission people. Yes, the combined programs are tough to get into, strong competition so you're up against a lot of 4.0s. The extra curricular stuff helps but probably needs to include something besides sports to really impress (community volunteer work seems to be favored these days). The EMT cert. is good (if you do something with it). My question would be why? Do you need the money? If you need to work during college and graduate school I would avoid the combined BS/MD programs, there just isn't enough time for everything. To do well med school takes a lot of effort and time to do it justice. If you go on to college, get into a good one and continue to perform well -- and do well on the MSATs (or what ever they call them nowdays) you should have little trouble getting into a good program. Good luck to you - we can always use a few more docs!!