MD 3.75 cGPA/3.60 sGPA/517 MCAT

[Westeros1]

Graduated in 2014, applying for admission in 2015, will have taken (2) gap years if I hopefully get accepted this cycle.

Upward trend: Graduated with a 3.65 cGPA/3.43 sGPA/24 MCAT. Completed a post-bacc through UC Berkley Extension and raised my cGPA to 3.75 and sGPA to a 3.60. Also re-took the MCAT and got a 517.

About myself: I majored in Biology Education in undergrad. After graduating, I spent a summer in Indonesia backpacking and attending a University in East Java through a state department scholarship. I then came back and started working as a Middle School Science Teacher near Washington D.C. During that year, I conducted research at the National Eye Institute and pushed out two papers through the help of my PI. I also volunteered at the local hospital, and was an HIV/AIDS youth mentor. And, I ran the afterschool guitar program for high-needs kids. Also, like I stated above, I completed 30 credits of post-bacc through UC Berkley Extension. And, I studied and retook the MCAT.

Now, this is the summer after quitting my teaching job. I loved it, but a better opportunity came up for me. This summer, I won a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and am working in Norway as a researcher composing a monograph concerning race relations, specifically black and white relations, in Scandinavian school systems.

After finishing the summer, I'm going to be moving to Camden, NJ, to start my chemical engineering degree at Princeton. I was offered a National Teacher's Award and will have my degree at Princeton fully funded, which is a relief. It's a one-year MEng, which works perfectly with my hopeful matriculation to medical school.

After working at the NEI, I've become super interested in medical device development, and having an MEng in ChemE will help my medical research career in the future.


So that's me in a nutshell. After graduating from College, I had no hopes really of being an MD caliber student, but I feel like I might be able to squeeze into a school this year. I am a Virginia resident who would chop off my right leg to get into UVA.

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[Goro]

You're golden; aim high:


Harvard

Wash U

Yale

Stanford

U Chicago

U Penn

U VA (maybe)

U MI (maybe)
U Colorado
U VM

U WI
Ohio State

Jefferson
U IA
UCLA OR UCSD OR UCI
U Cincy
Miami
Albert Einstein
Tulane
Loyola
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
Baylor
JHU
Mayo
Pitt
Northwestern
NYU
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Duke
Case
Hofstra

 

[GrapesofRath]

Graduated in 2014, applying for admission in 2015, will have taken (2) gap years if I hopefully get accepted this cycle.

Upward trend: Graduated with a 3.65 cGPA/3.43 sGPA/24 MCAT. Completed a post-bacc through UC Berkley Extension and raised my cGPA to 3.75 and sGPA to a 3.60. Also re-took the MCAT and got a 517.

About myself: I majored in Biology Education in undergrad. After graduating, I spent a summer in Indonesia backpacking and attending a University in East Java through a state department scholarship. I then came back and started working as a Middle School Science Teacher near Washington D.C. During that year, I conducted research at the National Eye Institute and pushed out two papers through the help of my PI. I also volunteered at the local hospital, and was an HIV/AIDS youth mentor. And, I ran the afterschool guitar program for high-needs kids. Also, like I stated above, I completed 30 credits of post-bacc through UC Berkley Extension. And, I studied and retook the MCAT.

Now, this is the summer after quitting my teaching job. I loved it, but a better opportunity came up for me. This summer, I won a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and am working in Norway as a researcher composing a monograph concerning race relations, specifically black and white relations, in Scandinavian school systems.

After finishing the summer, I'm going to be moving to Camden, NJ, to start my chemical engineering degree at Princeton. I was offered a National Teacher's Award and will have my degree at Princeton fully funded, which is a relief. It's a one-year MEng, which works perfectly with my hopeful matriculation to medical school.

After working at the NEI, I've become super interested in medical device development, and having an MEng in ChemE will help my medical research career in the future.


So that's me in a nutshell. After graduating from College, I had no hopes really of being an MD caliber student, but I feel like I might be able to squeeze into a school this year. I am a Virginia resident who would chop off my right leg to get into UVA.

So in the span of 1 year you did the following?

1) A summer in Indonesia backpacking
2) Attending East Java through a scholarship
3) Work as a MIddle School teacher
4) Do research and have 2 papers to show for it
5) Volunteer at a hospital
6) Help run an after school program
7) Take 30 credits
8) Study to re-take the MCAT

If in fact that is true, and the timeline for that is correct, that is some year. You got more than enough schools to think about it from above. Having VCU and Eastern Virginia in your backyard really helps cover some of your bases in terms of your lower tiers. UVA might be within striking distance as are a whole bunch of great schools. Only thing I might say is I wonder how the 24 with the 36 caliber MCAT will look and what effect the 24 will have. Other than that, give it your best shot good luck.

 

[Westeros1]

@Goro Wow, harvard? I'm skeptical of squeezing into EVMS, my state school. But thanks for the vote of confidence.

@GrapesofRath, it is a lot but much of it overlaps. I was tired of being really lazy in college and wanted to prove, mostly to myself, that I was capable of being productive. The summer after college, I got a Critical Language Scholarship to study in Indonesia, and stayed an extra three weeks to backpack. As soon as I got back, I started working as a Middle School teacher (one of the smartest things, and probably only one, that I did during undergrad was get a teaching licensure), and through that, started running an after school guitar program.

I also had an offer to join an NIH lab, but because I had 10K in student loans, I really wanted to be out of debt (which I accomplishes, woot woot!!!), so I offered to work for free on the weekends while keeping my much higher paying teaching job during the week. Through that, I worked on one project assisting, and got a mention on the paper, and got to have my own mini project for 6 months, through which I published as a second author. The PI I worked with at NEI was awesome, and I am so indebted to him for giving me a shot.

And throughout that time, I was studying and taking classes through extension. I took 20 credits during the Fall, and then 10 more credits in the Spring while devoting most of my time to my MCAT studying.



Basically, I thought up what I would consider a "good" application to Med School, and tried my best to create it. There are plenty of things I wish I could've done but just did not have the time to accomplish.

 

[Goro]

If not Harvard, try the four Manhattan Titans, and, naturally, U VA. a good friend of mine is on faculty at the latter.

@Goro Wow, harvard? I'm skeptical of squeezing into EVMS, my state school. But thanks for the vote of confidence.

@GrapesofRath, it is a lot but much of it overlaps. I was tired of being really lazy in college and wanted to prove, mostly to myself, that I was capable of being productive. The summer after college, I got a Critical Language Scholarship to study in Indonesia, and stayed an extra three weeks to backpack. As soon as I got back, I started working as a Middle School teacher (one of the smartest things, and probably only one, that I did during undergrad was get a teaching licensure), and through that, started running an after school guitar program.

I also had an offer to join an NIH lab, but because I had 10K in student loans, I really wanted to be out of debt (which I accomplishes, woot woot!!!), so I offered to work for free on the weekends while keeping my much higher paying teaching job during the week. Through that, I worked on one project assisting, and got a mention on the paper, and got to have my own mini project for 6 months, through which I published as a second author. The PI I worked with at NEI was awesome, and I am so indebted to him for giving me a shot.

And throughout that time, I was studying and taking classes through extension. I took 20 credits during the Fall, and then 10 more credits in the Spring while devoting most of my time to my MCAT studying.



Basically, I thought up what I would consider a "good" application to Med School, and tried my best to create it. There are plenty of things I wish I could've done but just did not have the time to accomplish.

 

[WedgeDawg]

If you get an interview at UVA, which I think you have an decent shot at, you will have an 80% chance of being accepted. I would be surprised if you don't interview at at least one of the 3 main VA schools.

As for the top tier schools suggested, I think you are a slightly below average but still very possibly competitive applicant for some of them. Look into ones that you really like and apply to those. I would recommend looking into and choosing a few from Duke, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Pitt, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Mt. Sinai.

 

[GrapesofRath]

The improvement you made in one single year is wild. You really transformed yourself from a middling DO applicant to someone with a competitive shot at top 20 MD schools in one single year.

There is a lot of optimism on this site and it is justified but I will ask how the 24 MCAT the first time around affects things, even with such a substantial improvement. A 36 doesn't look as strong with a 24 the first time around; the question is how much worse it is. I don't imagine it being significant but it's still something worth throwing out there with all these recommendations for schools with 36+ MCAT averages.

All in all everything though is looking sharp. Keep slayin it at princeton and let's see how this cycle goes.

 

[Lamel]

Its hard to say how 2 MCATs may be viewed, especially if they are so far apart. Some schools may just disregard the first one and assume you have the academic chops if you got a 517, some may average your scores. It is still worthwhile to throw in some strategic reaches, but definitely apply broadly to all tiers of schools. I think overall you have a good shot.

 

[Nietzschelover]

Don't worry about the 24 even though someone has told you to worry about it twice. You did what you were supposed to do with a massive improvement. You are protected by your in-state options. Apply where you want. You ECs are stellar, unique, and show devotion to helping others and especially the underserved (State Department scholarship, National Eye Institute, National Endowment for Humanities, National Teacher's award, different cultures, mentoring for HIV/AIDS, volunteering with high needs kids, research papers, studying race relations in a foreign country, getting a graduate degree in engineering at Princeton, etc, etc). You ultimately determine what is justified or not....not fellow applicants.

 

[Westeros1]

@Goro Really? You wouldn't mind sharing who? (Jokes). But yeah, UVA would be an absolute dream. I love Virginia dearly, and training at my childhood dream school would be well...a dream.

@WedgeDawg Thank you, I am a bit starstruck at your response, I really used your system to help devise which schools I should shoot for. So thank you for creating that awesome tool, because it helped me focus in on which schools I should be targeting. Also, I went ahead and added Sinai and Northwestern. Not sure I am that caliber of student, but who knows? I will keep you all updated.

@GrapesofRath Thank you, it was bitter work, but I'd like to think the results were worth it, Princeton definitely is. I never thought I would attend a University like this, but hard work pays.

@Lamel Yes I feel that the 2 MCAT interpretation will be idiosyncratic, esp since this is the first year the new MCAT is being used. We will see how that goes I suppose!

@Nietzschelover Thank you for your reply, and for giving me a bit of honest advice. It is important for me to focus in on my own merits and make this more of an individualized journey!

 

[jaxon]

Don't know how or why but found this thread. OP mind giving an update for the cycle?
Your story is incredible, consider me inspired.