MD 3.4 cGPA / Lots of ECs & Research

[Otherside]

BSPH, Cum Laude, Departmental Honors in Public Health

GPA: 3.4 cGPA / 2.8 sGPA

• Comment: I had really poor grades my entire freshman year (when I took some pre-reqs), but demonstrated an upward trend in subsequent years (with the exception of my final semester).

MCAT: I am registered to take the MCAT on July 17.

Research Experience:

• Summer 2013: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship @ Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• Winter 2013: Independent Study Project in Valparaiso, Chile
• Summer 2014: Research Internship @ Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Merida, Mexico
• Summer 2014: SURF @ CCHMC (I did the SURF program again after I finished working in Mexico)
• 2014-2015: Honors Thesis
• Spring 2015: Independent Study with a Stem Cell Lab @ my university's medical school
• Now: I just graduated a few weeks ago and at the start of July I will be moving to Houston to work in a laboratory for 1 year @ Texas Children's Hospital

Invited Presentations:

• H3C: Health Sciences Innovation Conference (Mumbai, India)
  
• Academic Surgical Congress (Las Vegas, NV)
• American Public Health Association (New Orleans, LA)
• International Scholars Symposium (New Orleans, LA)
• Academic Surgical Congress (San Diego, CA)

Publications:

• 1 publication from SURF 2013; Journal of Surgical Research (1st author)
• 1 publication from SURF 2014; Journal of Surgical Research (4th author)
• 1 publication from additional work @ CCHMC; Surgery (3rd author)
• On the last edits for a paper for the stem cell lab; it should go out within the next month.
• I am almost finished with a paper from my work in Chile on nutrition, I am going to publish it in my university's undergraduate research journal (it should be out to the editor sometime late this summer)
• I completed an honors thesis, and am shopping around for a journal currently.

Shadowing:

• I have approximately 80 hours of shadowing currently (orthopedic surgeon, fetal surgeon, plastic surgeon, pediatrician, emergency medicine and physician assistant). I will be at Texas Children's Hospital starting in July, so I could easily add to this if need be.

EC's:

• American Public Health Association (Campus Liaison; I was the 1st at our university)
• American Medical Student Association
• International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta (Community Service Chair)
• Undergraduate Student Government (Senator)
• Public Health Undergraduate Student Government
• Academic Affairs Committee
• USG Awards and Elections Committee
• Student Health Advisory Council
• English as a Second Language (Tutor)
• Community Health Advocates at Tulane (Founding Member)
• Pre-med Society
• Tulane Public Health Society
• Economics and Management Society (Honor's Society Leader)
• Intramural Soccer
• Greek League (Soccer, Softball)

Awards:

• The Outstanding Undergraduate Public Health Student Leadership Award
• Poster Merit Award (H3C: Health Sciences Innovation Conference)
• Top 20 Abstract (H3C: Health Sciences Innovation Conference)
• Dean's List
• Honorable Mention (SURF-CCHMC Capstone Symposium 2014)
• Dean's Grant Program
• SURF Grant (Center for Clinical & Translational Science & Training)
• CELT Summer Internship Award
• 1st Place (SURF-CCHMC Capstone Symposium 2013)
• Mercy Hospital Physician's Scholarship

School List:

• Definitely Applying:
  • University of Cincinnati (Medical Science Training Program)
  • The Ohio State University
  • Case Western Reserve University
  • Boonshoft School of Medicine
  • Neomed School of Medicine
  • Tulane University
  • LSU
• Potential:
  • Vanderbilt
  • Baylor
  • UNC-Chapel Hill
  • Emory
  • University of Kentucky
  • University of Alabama
  • Ross
  • Oschner Clinical School
• Why not?
  • Harvard
  • Stanford
  • Yale

Disclaimer: I am from Ohio and completed my undergraduate degree in Louisiana.
Note: I have letters of rec from current physicians and surgeons that attended Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. I will be working as a research tech for Baylor at TCH this upcoming year.

I only recently put this list together, and am looking for input on other potential schools where I could be a competitive candidate. Any thoughts, suggestions, comments, or input about this list is much appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration!

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[The Big Lebowski]

First, your research experience is fantastic -- very impressive
The bad news - while a 3.4 cGPA isn't a death blow for MD schools (although not strong), a 2.8 sGPA very well might be. I would do a post-bacc focusing on upper-level science courses. You really need to prove to adcom's that you can handle the rigors of medical school courses, because your sGPA indicates that you won't be able to.
Furthermore, while your research EC's are impressive, I don't see a whole lot of clinical volunteering experience.

Apply next cycle (your MCAT scores won't be available until late August), kill the MCAT, apply to some D.O. schools (get rid of those carib schools -- D.O is a much better option!!) and be realistic about your chances at the schools you're applying to (i.e. no Harvard's, Yale's, etc.)

 

[Jumb0]

You will need a 32+ mcat