MD 3.76sci/3.78c - 39S MCAT, little clinical experience, chances

[OCDOCDOCD]

I applied MD/PhD last cycle and at this point have been rejected by all but two schools (waitlisted at one MD, continued at one MSTP), both of which are very unlikely to accept me. I'm not going to apply MD/PhD again this year, but have considered trying to apply MD to a few schools. However, my application is sorely lacking clinical activities and volunteering, and I have done nothing with those two activities since applying last year, so I don't know if I have any chance at any school.

GPA - 3.76 BCPM, 3.78 overall
MCAT - 39S
Research - 6 years, did an undergrad thesis, 3 first author papers (one as communicating author), two international conference poster presentations, served as an ad-hoc reviewer for a journal recently
Clinical experience - 90-100 hours shadowing a few primary care physicians and a neurologist, all last year
Volunteering - 30 hours at a free clinic doing desk work and fundraising (last year), recently served as a judge at two regional science fairs for middle and high schoolers
Hobbies - Programming (don't have any projects to show off though) and reading
LORs - Can have great LORs from research mentors, probably only generic stuff from past teachers

What do you guys think? Worth applying? I'm a lifelong Georgia resident so I could apply to Georgia Regents and Mercer, although I'm not sure about the latter due to the insane tuition (cost is a major concern). I'm also not looking to apply to very many schools. Last cycle I applied to 25 schools (only completed secondaries for 18) and I don't have the finances for anything like that again. This time I'd like to keep it under 10 schools, ideally under 5 schools, which obviously isn't going to help my chances.

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[DokterMom]

How many interviews? And was your list top heavy?

Your background sounds skewed to a very MD/PhD / MSTP orientation that it might be a stretch to go plain MD. Sounds like you don't have a lot of 'working with people' street cred. Given that your application was weak in that area to begin with, and you haven't improved there, I'm not at all confident about your 'apply MD to <5 schools' plan...

How many more volunteer hours (with public contact) can you cram in before you apply? Anything with an earlier start date so your 1-1-1-1-1-40-40-40 pattern could be 'spun' into an '85 hours over 6 months' story?

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

How many interviews? And was your list top heavy?

Your background sounds skewed to a very MD/PhD / MSTP orientation that it might be a stretch to go plain MD. Sounds like you don't have a lot of 'working with people' street cred. Given that your application was weak in that area to begin with, and you haven't improved there, I'm not at all confident about your 'apply MD to <5 schools' plan...

How many more volunteer hours (with public contact) can you cram in before you apply? Anything with an earlier start date so your 1-1-1-1-1-40-40-40 pattern could be 'spun' into an '85 hours over 6 months' story?

I got 6 interviews (1 top 10, 1 top 20, rest were in the 20-40 area). The list was, in hindsight, a little top heavy, but I did have several "safeties" nonetheless and tried to get a spread of schools within MSTP programs (plus one non-MSTP). Unfortunately most of the MSTPs are top 40-50 schools and since my main concern was strength of research and reliability of funding I didn't apply to schools outside of that range.

As for getting in volunteer hours, it's May so at this point getting more hours would mean putting off applying for a number of months, and there's really no way to make it not look like I'm frantically box-checking. My MCAT scores are also two years old now, so this is the last cycle I'll be able to apply at most schools without retaking the test, which is something I am never going to do (and even if I was willing finances would become a major obstacle), so it's either get in this year or never.

 

[solitarius]

So why don't you bulk up your deficiencies before applying under AMCAS 2016?

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

So why don't you bulk up your deficiencies before applying under AMCAS 2016?

I was under the impression that MCAT scores are only valid up to three years to the date of matriculation. Since I took the test in 2012, that would mean the 2014-2015 cycle is the latest I could apply with those scores.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Yes, time is running out. Here's what I think is needed to be a strong candidate:
shadowing, clinical, non-clinical volunteering, and leadership.
Here's where you stand: 90-100 hours shadowing, no clinical, 30 hours non-clinical volunteering, no leadership.
Unfortunately, I think you'll still be disappointed until you get some of those, even if you switched from MD/PhD or straight MD. Obviously, you won't find a leadership activity between now and the time you apply, but hopefully you can get some clinical and non-clinical volunteering in there. As Goro often writes, you need to show you know what you're getting into.

 

[Aerus]

Frantically box checking is better than not checking those boxes. If you're not focused on doing research anymore, try committing hours and hours each week to get some volunteering and clinical experience in. Because the AMCAS asks you to list total amount of hours, you could still potentially get hundreds of hours in. As LizzyM says, you have 24 hours in a day.

 

[Goro]

Do not apply until you have at least 100 hrs of patient contact volunteer experience,. You need to show that you want to spend the next 30-40 years being around sick people.

Once you do that, at least consider the three GA schools, and any other medium-high tier school.

I applied MD/PhD last cycle and at this point have been rejected by all but two schools (waitlisted at one MD, continued at one MSTP), both of which are very unlikely to accept me. I'm not going to apply MD/PhD again this year, but have considered trying to apply MD to a few schools. However, my application is sorely lacking clinical activities and volunteering, and I have done nothing with those two activities since applying last year, so I don't know if I have any chance at any school.

GPA - 3.76 BCPM, 3.78 overall
MCAT - 39S
Research - 6 years, did an undergrad thesis, 3 first author papers (one as communicating author), two international conference poster presentations, served as an ad-hoc reviewer for a journal recently
Clinical experience - 90-100 hours shadowing a few primary care physicians and a neurologist, all last year
Volunteering - 30 hours at a free clinic doing desk work and fundraising (last year), recently served as a judge at two regional science fairs for middle and high schoolers
Hobbies - Programming (don't have any projects to show off though) and reading
LORs - Can have great LORs from research mentors, probably only generic stuff from past teachers

What do you guys think? Worth applying? I'm a lifelong Georgia resident so I could apply to Georgia Regents and Mercer, although I'm not sure about the latter due to the insane tuition (cost is a major concern). I'm also not looking to apply to very many schools. Last cycle I applied to 25 schools (only completed secondaries for 18) and I don't have the finances for anything like that again. This time I'd like to keep it under 10 schools, ideally under 5 schools, which obviously isn't going to help my chances.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Alright, the consensus in this thread is pretty much what I expected. Going to have to get more clinical volunteering in. I guess now the question is, when's the optimal time to apply? Is it better to cram in 100 hours in a month to meet the June opening of AMCAS, or is it better to spread things out over a few months until around August, if not even later?

 

[Lamel]

I think you should just cram and apply early (within June).

 

[mimelim]

If you had to guess, why didn't you get in last time? Your numbers indicate that you weren't shooting all THAT high. Clinical experience generally is less important to research heavy programs, which all MD/PhD programs are. Also, why are you applying to medical school if you think your clinical experience is severely lacking? Your application/experiences look more like someone going pure research.