3.5c/3.4s 40 MCAT

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gordony

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ASIAN CA Resident, NonTrad 25yrs
Engineering Major

The Facts:
- 3.5 cGPA
- 3.4 sGPA (6 C's and 2 Ws, a few Bs and plenty As)
- 40 MCAT
- upward trend (3.0, 3.3, 3.5, 4.0)
- 4 years research + work experience - NO publications, 1 Poster @ Conference
- 2 years clinical experience (4hrs/week)
- 2 years volunteer experience (4hrs/week)

The Questions:
1. WAMC (i'm happy to go to any MD school although a research oriented one is preferred)

2. I have 1 year where I can either take 6 science classes to further pad my gpa via open enrollment (boost my gpa by .1) at a local university or work at an academic lab to further solidfy my research experience. Which would you suggest?

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Honestly bro you have a lot of research experience I would focus on building up your gpa as much as possible. Dam good job on the 40 mcat that really puts your over the top gpa a bit on the low side but ur mcat more than makes up for it.
 
ASIAN CA Resident, NonTrad 25yrs
Engineering Major

The Facts:
- 3.5 cGPA
- 3.4 sGPA (6 C's and 2 Ws, a few Bs and plenty As)
- 40 MCAT
- upward trend (3.0, 3.3, 3.5, 4.0)
- 4 years research + work experience - NO publications, 1 Poster @ Conference
- 2 years clinical experience (4hrs/week)
- 2 years volunteer experience (4hrs/week)

The Questions:
1. WAMC (i'm happy to go to any MD school although a research oriented one is preferred)

2. I have 1 year where I can either take 6 science classes to further pad my gpa via open enrollment (boost my gpa by .1) at a local university or work at an academic lab to further solidfy my research experience. Which would you suggest?

i dont think you need any GPA padding. 3.5/3.4 are decent to begin with, but with your engineering major and 40 MCAT (plus strong, if a bit typical, ECs), an MD acceptance should be slam dunk. just don't put too much stock in the UCs; apply broadly!

EDIT: i have a peer (asian from another state) with a 3.5/40, and he received close to 10 interviews (including top tiers like washu, columbia, duke, etc.). he also had very limited research compared to you (i believe just over a year?)
 
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thanks for all the encouragement guys.

is there any other ECs or something else I am missing (except LoRs I have those)? lol i'm always worried i'm forgetting to do something.

Honestly bro you have a lot of research experience I would focus on building up your gpa as much as possible. Dam good job on the 40 mcat that really puts your over the top gpa a bit on the low side but ur mcat more than makes up for it.

the reason i was leaning toward more research is so i can make money instead of spending it (being nontrad has certain expenses) however if 6 classes worth of gpa can help i'd be willing to make the sacrifice.

secondly if I need to reapp, i might be able to get a publication to sort of bring my research to some sort of "closure".

i dont think you need any GPA padding. 3.5/3.4 are decent to begin with, but with your engineering major and 40 MCAT (plus strong, if a bit typical, ECs), an MD acceptance should be slam dunk. just don't put too much stock in the UCs; apply broadly!

EDIT: i have a peer (asian from another state) with a 3.5/40, and he received close to 10 interviews (including top tiers like washu, columbia, duke, etc.). he also had very limited research compared to you (i believe just over a year?)

thanks for the heads up! followup question: would the 6C's and 2W's make my 3.4 any "worse" than it already is?

i'll apply broadly and keep you guys posted.
 
=
EDIT: i have a peer (asian from another state) with a 3.5/40, and he received close to 10 interviews (including top tiers like washu, columbia, duke, etc.). he also had very limited research compared to you (i believe just over a year?)
I think I've heard seeing something like a 40 is really attractive to some top schools like WashU and Columbia (mainly heard this about WashU...numbers *****)
 
I think I've heard seeing something like a 40 is really attractive to some top schools like WashU and Columbia (mainly heard this about WashU...numbers *****)

i wasn't planning on applying to any of the top 30 (except UCs). should i change my strategy?
 
thanks for all the encouragement guys.

is there any other ECs or something else I am missing (except LoRs I have those)? lol i'm always worried i'm forgetting to do something.



the reason i was leaning toward more research is so i can make money instead of spending it (being nontrad has certain expenses) however if 6 classes worth of gpa can help i'd be willing to make the sacrifice.

secondly if I need to reapp, i might be able to get a publication to sort of bring my research to some sort of "closure".



thanks for the heads up! followup question: would the 6C's and 2W's make my 3.4 any "worse" than it already is?

i'll apply broadly and keep you guys posted.

you got 6Cs and still managed a respectable 3.5/3.4 as an engineer?

that's my impression :D
 
At this point, GPA improvement will be overall better for your application than doing research will. If you are taking advanced science classes, you will be showing adcoms that you can handle the rigors of heavy science (not that your 40 MCAT doesn't already say that anyway). Adcoms do cut a little bit of slack for engineering majors, and if your school is notorious for grade deflation.

That said, the improvement you will garner from spending an extra year in school will also be somewhat limited, and should be balanced against the additional year of tuition you will pay. There is a very good chance that you will get many interviews, and if you excel at interviews, several acceptances.

Since you didn't write much about your EC's outside of medicine, it will be tough to judge how good your chances are at the more top-tier schools, but if you do have substantive EC's, they aren't out of reach. Mid-tiers will focus less on that stuff, and I would imagine you should be more than okay targeting those schools.
 
At this point, GPA improvement will be overall better for your application than doing research will. If you are taking advanced science classes, you will be showing adcoms that you can handle the rigors of heavy science (not that your 40 MCAT doesn't already say that anyway). Adcoms do cut a little bit of slack for engineering majors, and if your school is notorious for grade deflation.

That said, the improvement you will garner from spending an extra year in school will also be somewhat limited, and should be balanced against the additional year of tuition you will pay. There is a very good chance that you will get many interviews, and if you excel at interviews, several acceptances.

Since you didn't write much about your EC's outside of medicine, it will be tough to judge how good your chances are at the more top-tier schools, but if you do have substantive EC's, they aren't out of reach. Mid-tiers will focus less on that stuff, and I would imagine you should be more than okay targeting those schools.

thanks for understanding the crux of my dilemma, i'm hesitant about spending the cash vs. taking in cash (albeit minimal).

i'm hoping for an acceptance at any medical school, beggars cant be choosers right....albeit i do want to prepare myself to reapply if necessary and thus was hoping to use my research experience (with maybe a publication in the works) to apply to oos md/phds if necessary just to broaden the pot next time around.

my ECs involve volunteering at the hospital doing direct patient interaction and another volunteering at a big brother program for a foster child. both are ongoing and i plan to continue through till i actually attend medical school as well.
 
thanks for understanding the crux of my dilemma, i'm hesitant about spending the cash vs. taking in cash (albeit minimal).

i'm hoping for an acceptance at any medical school, beggars cant be choosers right....albeit i do want to prepare myself to reapply if necessary and thus was hoping to use my research experience (with maybe a publication in the works) to apply to oos md/phds if necessary just to broaden the pot next time around.

my ECs involve volunteering at the hospital doing direct patient interaction and another volunteering at a big brother program for a foster child. both are ongoing and i plan to continue through till i actually attend medical school as well.

i really dont think you need to worry about this at all with a 3.5/3.4 and 40. your top goal right now is how to present your application so that you can get into the specific schools you want, aka a dream/reach school.
 
I also know that some schools offer free classes if you work for them full-time. Might be something worth looking into.
 
i really dont think you need to worry about this at all with a 3.5/3.4 and 40. your top goal right now is how to present your application so that you can get into the specific schools you want, aka a dream/reach school.

thanks for the encouragement.

are there any ECs / classes you think I should take in this coming year to improve my application. i keep freaking out that there's something I'm missing that I should be doing but am not...lol

also i dont have any socio/psychology classes...i know these are "recommended" but not sure how critical these are and worth the tuition...
 
thanks for the encouragement.

are there any ECs / classes you think I should take in this coming year to improve my application. i keep freaking out that there's something I'm missing that I should be doing but am not...lol

also i dont have any socio/psychology classes...i know these are "recommended" but not sure how critical these are and worth the tuition...

to be completely honest, i would just **** any additional classes, science or otherwise.

spending a couple thousand (at least i am assuming) to raise your sGPA by a modest amount isn't going to help you much. but if your ECs are already strong and you got all your bases covered, then taking courses isn't a bad idea.

just grab whatever easy courses you can at your local state school and call it a day.
 
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cool, i'm leaning toward just working in a research lab and making some $ on the side while keeping up my volunteering.

is there some EC (extracirricular activity) i should take on that you dont see? i cant think of any but i'm jaded right now...
 
cool, i'm leaning toward just working in a research lab and making some $ on the side while keeping up my volunteering.

is there some EC (extracirricular activity) i should take on that you dont see? i cant think of any but i'm jaded right now...

that is an excellent idea.
 
Well most of your ECs are research/clinical based, if u have time to get involved in your community like a donation center or something of that sort.
 
cool, i'm leaning toward just working in a research lab and making some $ on the side while keeping up my volunteering.

is there some EC (extracirricular activity) i should take on that you dont see? i cant think of any but i'm jaded right now...

I think your ecs are fine. You have really committed clinical and nonclinical volunteering. But when you continue these roles next year take on additional tasks and possibly a leadership position within them because some schools like to see that! Even if none exist sometimes you can create your own and ask the hospital or organization if it is ok to mention it on applications resumes etc... for example I am the only lead volunteer for a program at my hospital and the only lead trainer for two positions at my hospital.

I am happy to see you have two really committed volunteer activities that you are planning to do in your next year as well. Just make the most of these and step up when you can!!!!!
 
I think your ecs are fine. You have really committed clinical and nonclinical volunteering. But when you continue these roles next year take on additional tasks and possibly a leadership position within them because some schools like to see that! Even if none exist sometimes you can create your own and ask the hospital or organization if it is ok to mention it on applications resumes etc... for example I am the only lead volunteer for a program at my hospital and the only lead trainer for two positions at my hospital.

I am happy to see you have two really committed volunteer activities that you are planning to do in your next year as well. Just make the most of these and step up when you can!!!!!

great advice, thanks. i'm just hoping to get in somewhere this cycle, the app process is way to long and expensive...
 
If you apply wisely (i.e. broadly enough and early, with a well writen primary, with a timely and well written secondary, and you interview decently well) you should get some good acceptances.

However, a lot of schools waitlist applicants and expect them to send update letters and letters of intent so it is still important to do great things in the year you apply (and hopefully you enjoy them - I got into my dream school half a year ago and still volunteer 3 nights a week).

If you want to post a list of the schools you are thinking of you could get some helpful feedback:)

And this process is expensive and to me it is worth it to spend a little more money on one cycle than having to reapply.
 
hey october88,

thanks for all that feedback. do you have any words of wisdom on my s/c GPA?

currently my list is 45 schools might be too long...but i wanted to cover my bases.

I should put a comprehensive list out but it is essentially:
- all the UCs (excluding UCSF & UCLA)
- low tier private and oos schools that have "high" (relatively ofcourse) oos matriculants.
- stanford (my dream school so I thought I'd donate them some $ lol)

i populated this list using US news + MSAR.
 
As for your gpas I wouldn't worry about it too much. You have a freaking 40 on your mcat right? And its not like your GPA is THAT low like a 3.0 or something.

Anyhoo it is def lower than average for top schools that may be more in line with your mcat.

Therefore I would apply to a good range of schools but for sure not 45. That'd be crazy!!! If you want to apply broadly I would do around 30 or so Max.

I would definitely incident the CA schools even ucsf and UCLA unless you'd hate to go there.

On top of Stanford I'd apply to a few other top schools even.

And a good list of 10 or so low to mid tiers that are private or oos friendly and. But I don't think you need more than that.

Everyone freaks out when it comes to this. I was so scared I'd get in nowhere.

But as long as you don't do anything stupid like write a crappy application you should do good:)
 
alright folks, any differing thoughts before I ban myself from SDN for a few months...i cant sustain the time drain on this site lol
 
I had the same gpa/mcat breakdown as you. As long as you're competent at interviews, you'll get in.
 
- 4 years research + work experience - NO publications, 1 Poster @ Conference
- 2 years clinical experience (4hrs/week)
- 2 years volunteer experience (4hrs/week)

dear team,

another question - these ECs while continuous are "combined" since I geographically changed locations 3 times.

i.e. for work i did undergrad research for a year, then worked at company A for 2 years and am working at company B now for the past year.

similarly for volunteering/clinical I did 1 year in one state and 1 years in another state.

All the volunteer and work are similar in nature (dealing with children) but i was debating between whether to "combine" them into one EC so it looks like i'm "continuous". I'm afraid that my choppy 1-2-1 year will seem like i'm not devoted to a particular organization - and the adcom wont intuitively figure out its because i changed locations multiple times for work. (cant blame them...so many apps)

anyhow, suggestions?
 
They're not stupid, if you were doing similar stuff at all of the locations, they'll know you were committed to a certain aspect of them. You can even state that in your descriptions of these activities somewhere. If you aren't bumping anything off of your EC list in order to divide said research into three activities, then I say divide them up. They are technically three distinct activities and you can speak to the uniqueness of each.
 
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