MD 3.62 GPA/3.6 sGPA/ 525 MCAT/ Hispanic URM. Advice if applying this year?

[futuremd009]

My EC's seems pretty mediocre by SDN standards:

- Clinical Volunteering in Hospital 140-160 Hours
- Volunteering Org. 1 : 40 hours
- Volunteering Org. 2 : 110 hours
- Research 1 year with a MD

My only strong EC is work experience.
- Around 2 years (15 hrs/weekly)


I'm really interested in top schools (specially Harvard) apart from middle tiers and state school. So in order to maximize my chances, should I wait another year and apply with stronger extracurricular activities? If yes, which activities would you guys recommend?

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[futuremd009]

bump

 

[md-2020]

Depends on what type of Hispanic you are, and if it counts as URM.
Your ECs are quite light by any standards, not just SDN, unfortunately.
Do no exclusively apply to top schools and you will get into good MD programs. HMS? No one could tell you (or anyone, really) for sure.

If a top school is your goal, I'd wait a year and get in shadowing, more research, and much more volunteering of both varieties. You'd have a more realistic shot (but still no guarantees!) then.

 

[occams_razor]

your MCAT score of 525 is the 100 percentile/ equal to a 39+ on the old exam. you will have absolutely no problem getting into a top school. being URM will only help you

 

[md-2020]

your MCAT score of 525 is the 100 percentile/ equal to a 39+ on the old exam. you will have absolutely no problem getting into a top school. being URM will only help you

Even considering URM status those ECs might turn away the very best. Any shadowing at all?
525 is about a 42-43.

 

[Banco]

Aim high. Just add your state schools and some mid tiers as well.

 

[md-2020]

Aim high. Just add your state schools and some mid tiers as well.

This.

 

[futuremd009]

Thanks all of you. Will be applying next cycle (2016-2017) in order to improve GPA and ec's.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Thanks all of you. Will be applying next cycle (2016-2017) in order to improve GPA and ec's.

What Hispanic community do you represent. The reason this is such an important question is there are a number of Hispanic communities that aren't considered URMs for medicine(but are for other kinds of admission).

If it is in fact a URM one, go ahead and apply this cycle. Your EC's can suffice in that case. If you aren't considered a URM if your goal is to gun high it is probably in your best interest to wait a year.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Even if he's not from a Hispanic community that is URM, fluency in Spanish is a very valuable EC. A solid GPA, a 525 and being able to translate sounds like a winning combination.

 

[Goro]

You're golden. Aim high