3.67 GPA, 32 MCAT

[chip2dale]

Alright guys I'm trying to figure out a list of schools to apply to and its tough for me. I'm just gonna post everything relevant and hope to hear some good advice below! Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out.

Undergrad at Johns Hopkins, graduating this coming fall with a BS in biomedical engineering
cGPA: 3.67, sGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 32 (11 PS, 11 VR, 10 BS), August 2013

EC's

• Pulmonology design team: small team of undergrad BME students working with pulmonologists at JH hospital to create a new device to be used in biopsy procedures (current). many poster presentations and business plan presentations and regular presentations. got to observe procedures and work closely with many physicians through this. Plan to move forward with pig model testing.
  
• Parkinson's design team: team of 4 undergrads spent the year working with a neurologist from JH hospital to create a system for remote treatment/assessment of Parkinson's. (Sophomore Year)
• Electrocardiology research (Sophomore year) - worked in a lab analyzing ECGs for predictors of sudden cardiac death.
• Medical Imaging research (sophomore summer) - worked in a lab creating software for medical imaging
• Tour guide, general tour guide on campus
• Engineering admissions volunteer - organize and run events for prospective engineering students at hopkins and give specialized tours throughout the semester
  
• GED tutoring 4 hours a week
• Neurology shadowing - spent time shadowing freshman summer, going to do more shadowing this summer at a new clinic, same doctor
  
• Other small stuff (intramural soccer, misc. volunteering events)

LOR: 1 from pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1 from doctor I've shadowed, 2 from professors
I expect my letters to be strong.

I'm a Minnesota Resident. I am applying MD for 2015 entry. I will be submitting my application early June. Don't really have a school list yet, I feel kind of stuck figuring out where to apply. Specifically, how do you weigh in-state bias when looking at schools? I also have a strong research/design based background but my GPA and MCAT aren't really on par with top-notch schools which tend to favor those experiences, so I just feel kind of in limbo. Any general advice or school-specific suggestions are more than welcome.

Thanks!

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[gyngyn]

Buy the MSAR. Apply to your IS school. Identify the OOS schools you would attend whose median stats are near yours and that take at least 15% OOS. Verify your concordance with their mission statement and you should have at least 20.

 

[Catalystik]

Alright guys I'm trying to figure out a list of schools to apply to and its tough for me. I'm just gonna post everything relevant and hope to hear some good advice below! Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out.

Undergrad at Johns Hopkins, graduating this coming fall with a BS in biomedical engineering
cGPA: 3.67, sGPA: 3.55
MCAT: 32 (11 PS, 11 VR, 10 BS), August 2013

EC's

• Pulmonology design team: small team of undergrad BME students working with pulmonologists at JH hospital to create a new device to be used in biopsy procedures (current). many poster presentations and business plan presentations and regular presentations. got to observe procedures and work closely with many physicians through this. Plan to move forward with pig model testing.
  
• Parkinson's design team: team of 4 undergrads spent the year working with a neurologist from JH hospital to create a system for remote treatment/assessment of Parkinson's. (Sophomore Year)
• Electrocardiology research (Sophomore year) - worked in a lab analyzing ECGs for predictors of sudden cardiac death.
• Medical Imaging research (sophomore summer) - worked in a lab creating software for medical imaging
• Tour guide, general tour guide on campus
• Engineering admissions volunteer - organize and run events for prospective engineering students at hopkins and give specialized tours throughout the semester
  
• GED tutoring 4 hours a week
• Neurology shadowing - spent time shadowing freshman summer, going to do more shadowing this summer at a new clinic, same doctor
  
• Other small stuff (intramural soccer, misc. volunteering events)

LOR: 1 from pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1 from doctor I've shadowed, 2 from professors
I expect my letters to be strong.

I'm a Minnesota Resident. I am applying MD for 2015 entry. I will be submitting my application early June. Don't really have a school list yet, I feel kind of stuck figuring out where to apply. Specifically, how do you weigh in-state bias when looking at schools? I also have a strong research/design based background but my GPA and MCAT aren't really on par with top-notch schools which tend to favor those experiences, so I just feel kind of in limbo. Any general advice or school-specific suggestions are more than welcome.

Thanks!

I noticed you have passive shadowing experience, but I don't see mention specifically of clinical experience where you interacted with patients yourself. A lot of med schools will expect to see that in your Experiences section. Was that part of either design team activity?

For how many semesters have you done GED tutoring and was it paid or volunteer? How many shadowing hours have you got and what do you anticipate adding before you apply?

 

[chip2dale]

I noticed you have passive shadowing experience, but I don't see mention specifically of clinical experience where you interacted with patients yourself. A lot of med schools will expect to see that in your Experiences section. Was that part of either design team activity?

For how many semesters have you done GED tutoring and was it paid or volunteer? How many shadowing hours have you got and what do you anticipate adding before you apply?

Thanks for your guys' responses. I have had patient interaction with both of my design teams, especially the parkinson's one last year. We had to make sure the system worked for the end user, especially with how much PD affects daily activity, so the doctor we were working with helped us gauge ease of use with his patients who volunteered to help us out.

GED tutoring is volunteer, I have done it since Sophomore spring. I have about 50 hours of shadowing so far just at the neurology clinic (plus ~10 hours of electrocardiology shadowing, and a few hours of pulmonology observation). I expect to spend at least 3 full weeks (7-8 hour days) at the clinic this summer shadowing various physicians (the same physician I shadowed before plus her colleagues).

 

[Catalystik]

1) I have had patient interaction with both of my design teams, especially the parkinson's one last year. We had to make sure the system worked for the end user, especially with how much PD affects daily activity, so the doctor we were working with helped us gauge ease of use with his patients who volunteered to help us out.

2) GED tutoring is volunteer, I have done it since Sophomore spring.

3) I have about 50 hours of shadowing so far just at the neurology clinic (plus ~10 hours of electrocardiology shadowing, and a few hours of pulmonology observation). I expect to spend at least 3 full weeks (7-8 hour days) at the clinic this summer shadowing various physicians (the same physician I shadowed before plus her colleagues).

1) Think about how you'll be listing that so adcomms won't miss it, since it won't be under Volunteer or Employment listings where it's usually seen. You'll want to get an idea of how many hours of contact you had.

2) & 3) Sounds good. Since you'll have more shadowing than average, you might think about whether some of that time this summer can be utilized as playing a helpful role in some way: bring patients back to the room, for example.