3.4 cgpa 3.4 sgpa MCAT TBD but 33-34 expected

[Helixkam]

Hey everyone i have a 3.45cgpa and 3.35 sgpa from the Honors college at my school with some A's in organic chem, physics and all A's in bio pretty much. I do have an upwards trend near the end of my college career and a dip in the middle.

Have a personal reason for the low grades but im not sure how much it matters much to adcoms even if the issues in my life were very serious .With all the time commitment that some terrible events in my life took as well as seeing my family members like that i wasn't really focusing in school. I know it wont change anything but i figure id tell you guys to add perspective to my grades. The worst part of this is not knowing how competitive I am for either MD or DO

Some EC's

-3 years shadowing the head of cardiology at a major city hospital in NYC where I went on
rounds with him and all the attendings and residents every day during those summers. I spent about 5 days a week for 3 summers so thats probably somewhere near 1000 hours.

-3 years of the being a head editor at my college newspaper

-Was vice president of a club that played music for cancer patients/veterans and children who are all inpatient

-2 trips during my spring break to rebuild homes and communities damaged by hurricans and tornadoes etc.

-Worked full time (paid temp position) in a molecular diagnostic lab for 4 months.

-Have watched some surgeries and been in the operating room during the procedures

-Have organized community outreach at local areas with a hospital for at-risk communities who have poor healthcare and especially poor cardiovascular health.

-Have completed a senior research project with my mentoring professor and had to go up in front of a council of teachers for questioning.

As far as the MCAT is going I am taking it on May18th and am scoring around 34-36 on all the practice tests so far. I know this isn't a ton of information but just need a bit of guidance. Im hoping to apply and stay instate to stay close to family (NY state) but am obviously ready to go wherever I get accepted. Thanks for reading and thanks for the help!

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[MTHFR]

Bump for similar stats.

 

[Helixkam]

Anyone?

 

[Goro]

As far as the shadowing goes, that's fine, but I'd like to see more honest-to-god patient contact volunteer work. Shows us that you LIKE being around sick and injured people.

The GPAs are almost non-competitive for MD schools, but fine for DO. If you can score >32 on the MCAT, suggest low-tier schools like Rosy Franklin and NYMC, and, depending where you live, perhaps your state school.

Everyone has their own reasons for doing poorly. Unfortunately, with the 1000's of applicants we see, we simply don't have the time to look past that and say, well, now this guy/gal will do well. It's a not a luxury for us. BUT, strong upward trends do help.

Strongly suggest getting the MSAR so you can so how you stack up for each school out there.

Have a personal reason for the low grades but im not sure how much it matters much to adcoms even if the issues in my life were very serious .With all the time commitment that some terrible events in my life took as well as seeing my family members like that i wasn't really focusing in school. I know it wont change anything but i figure id tell you guys to add perspective to my grades. The worst part of this is not knowing how competitive I am for either MD or DO

 

[MrChance2]

Apply June 5th or whatever date it opens this year. You're kinda borderline for MD so early app will be hugely helpful to you IMO. I had v similar stats and had one of my top MD choices reject me, when I called to ask why they said I applied too late but my stats and app were fine (Submitted app in July and took 2nd MCAT,33, in Aug).

Plenty of DO schools would let you in. I'd add in a few DO schools.

 

[Jewels86]

Everyone has their own reasons for doing poorly. Unfortunately, with the 1000's of applicants we see, we simply don't have the time to look past that and say, well, now this guy/gal will do well. It's a not a luxury for us. BUT, strong upward trends do help.

Do some schools take the time to look at the upwards trend? Is that during the secondary application and post interview? Or are some multi-faceted schools ~ not only looking at GPA/MCAT but actually read the personal statement?

My stats are similar to OP. I'm a nontraditional premed, worked in wound care and ED as an RN

 

[CognitiveSci]

Do some schools take the time to look at the upwards trend? Is that during the secondary application and post interview? Or are some multi-faceted schools ~ not only looking at GPA/MCAT but actually read the personal statement?

My stats are similar to OP. I'm a nontraditional premed, worked in wound care and ED as an RN

The upward trend will be evident on your AMCAS transcript. They will be able to see the trend from one year to the next, so they don't have to "take time", it's done for them. They look at the whole transcript, not just you final GPAs

 

[Helixkam]

I have actually interacted with patients alot by being with the doctor as they come into the cardiac ICU and with him asking questions and trying to analyze the charts etc. The patients are usually sedated or out of it at the time but I have had plenty of communication with the immediate family of the patients about their condition etc. I live in Long Island btw so I will definitely apply to state schools as well as the DO schools close to here. Im also taking my MCAT right on May 18th so I will have my application in the first day it opens and have my scores sent straight to AMCAS. Im getting my LORS and transcript and personal statement ready now so that I am good to go.

Do you recommend addressing the personal situation in my personal statement or should I keep it more along the lines of talking about why I want to be a doctor, or should I mix both topics in there.

Thanks again!

 

[Helixkam]

Also I figured I'd add that I am a first generation American and grew up in a pretty poor neighborhood in queens. Not sure how that will affect the application process. I'm Asian however (north Indian) and I know this can make it a bit tougher for me to get into a medical school with my stats. Any advice on my personal statement or anything else would be awesome!

Also I should add my Lors are

-science teacher and thesis mentor
-Honora science and technology yeacher
-Head of cardiology at a major city hospita
-Head of large molecular diagnostic lab department working on cancer treatments (worked there full time/paid)
-Maybe able to score a letter from the dean of a major medical school


Thanks again everyone I really appreciate the support and help =]

 

[Helixkam]

Hey guys figure id keep updating this thread with how my whole process is going. Managed to score an LOR today from a good teacher and my MCAT is about 20 days away so I am putting in many hours every day. Do you guys have any schools that you could suggest for me to definitely try for? thanks again!

 

[Helixkam]

bumpity bump

Any more advice guys? Im seeing my advisors soon (tomorrow) about applying but would like some feedback from all of you to take to her. thanks again

 

[Helixkam]

just found out that my school made an error on my transcript and after getting it fixed my cGPA as gone from 3.33 to 3.44 and it put me on the Deans list for that semester That is a great surprise to wake up to! I know its still low but every little bit helps! Im super glad I caught that mistake in time to get it fixed. Everyone should double and triple check their transcripts before we apply.

 

[Helixkam]

Got my LOR requests to my teachers already and will have my school send my transcript to AMCAS as soon as I can. I need to get a committee letter from my school so I am not sure how long that will take. I am taking the MCAT on May 18th so I am really really hoping I score around my practice average which is a 34 or so. Does anyone have any school suggestions that I should aim for? I am a NY state resident by the way and grew up in Queens, NYC

 

[Helixkam]

Bump