I'm a junior applying to medical school this cycle. As the title says, I have a 3.95 cGPA and a 3.9 sGPA.
I have not yet received my MCAT scores, but I'm expecting something in the mid-30s based on practice tests. I am waiting to submit my application until I receive my scores, which should be in mid-to-late June.
I am a music performance major with minors in both biology and chemistry.
I am an MN resident.
I have a couple extended family members who are doctors. I have talked with them extensively and feel I know what being a physician entails.
I have pretty extensive non-medical volunteer work with the blind, tutoring children in math, and with the homeless.
I have some research experience working with an organic chemistry faculty member, but there are no publications from it as of yet.
I have significant leadership experience between ECs and employment.
I have applications in for brief shadowing experiences in Internal Medicine and Pathology. I will hopefully have completed these by the time I submit my application.
I am concerned by my lack of clinical experience and was wondering if people could give me their thoughts on my chances in light of the fact that I don't have much experience. However, I do feel that this lack of experience was caused by a lack of availability, not by a lack of effort. To elaborate:
I attended the first two years of UG at a small college in the middle of the woods. There were no clinical opportunities for volunteering at the school and I did not have a vehicle for pursuing more distant opportunities. During summers, I have been taking summer class and doing some non-clinical volunteering, but was unable to find any clinical positions which were both temporary and which worked with me taking class five days per week. In April of my sophomore year, I had to transfer very abruptly because the music faculty at my old school were insistent that I drop Pre-Med and do music exclusively, otherwise I would be barred from a performance major. As such, I transferred to a new school, this time in a more urban area with more volunteer opportunities. I have been doing my best to look for opportunities, but between practicing violin 20h per week for my major, taking a credit overload, and caring for a pregnant significant other, I have had little time to pursue substantial clinical experiences.
I feel my personal statement is rather strong. It reflects on some rather substantial health problems I had at a very young age and also addresses how a very close family member's battle with cancer created the impetus for my pursuit of medicine.
I have not seen my letters of recommendation, but I am confident they will be strong as well.
Anyway, my apologies for such a wordy explanation. Here are some questions I was wondering about as I draw close to submitting my AMCAS:
1) How big of a disadvantage will my lack of clinical experience create for me?
2) Will my numbers and other experiences help compensate for the lack of clinical experience?
3) When/how should I discuss my inability to have significant clinical experiences? Should I incorporate this somehow into the AMCAS? Should I mention this during interviews? Should I leave it out altogether for fear of sounding "whiny?"
4) Would you recommend the addition or subtraction of schools from the list below? (I fear I have a disproportionate amount of "reach" schools).
Many thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this post in its entirety. Your responses are greatly appreciated!
Schools:
Mayo (my dream school)
U of MN - Twin Cities
U of Mich
Texas A & M
Johns Hopkins
NYU
Cornell
Columbia
U of NC
Northwestern
U of Chicago
Rush University
U of Iowa
U Penn
Vanderbilt
U of Arizona
Loyola
U of South Dakota
U of Wisconsin
Medical College of WI
I have not yet received my MCAT scores, but I'm expecting something in the mid-30s based on practice tests. I am waiting to submit my application until I receive my scores, which should be in mid-to-late June.
I am a music performance major with minors in both biology and chemistry.
I am an MN resident.
I have a couple extended family members who are doctors. I have talked with them extensively and feel I know what being a physician entails.
I have pretty extensive non-medical volunteer work with the blind, tutoring children in math, and with the homeless.
I have some research experience working with an organic chemistry faculty member, but there are no publications from it as of yet.
I have significant leadership experience between ECs and employment.
I have applications in for brief shadowing experiences in Internal Medicine and Pathology. I will hopefully have completed these by the time I submit my application.
I am concerned by my lack of clinical experience and was wondering if people could give me their thoughts on my chances in light of the fact that I don't have much experience. However, I do feel that this lack of experience was caused by a lack of availability, not by a lack of effort. To elaborate:
I attended the first two years of UG at a small college in the middle of the woods. There were no clinical opportunities for volunteering at the school and I did not have a vehicle for pursuing more distant opportunities. During summers, I have been taking summer class and doing some non-clinical volunteering, but was unable to find any clinical positions which were both temporary and which worked with me taking class five days per week. In April of my sophomore year, I had to transfer very abruptly because the music faculty at my old school were insistent that I drop Pre-Med and do music exclusively, otherwise I would be barred from a performance major. As such, I transferred to a new school, this time in a more urban area with more volunteer opportunities. I have been doing my best to look for opportunities, but between practicing violin 20h per week for my major, taking a credit overload, and caring for a pregnant significant other, I have had little time to pursue substantial clinical experiences.
I feel my personal statement is rather strong. It reflects on some rather substantial health problems I had at a very young age and also addresses how a very close family member's battle with cancer created the impetus for my pursuit of medicine.
I have not seen my letters of recommendation, but I am confident they will be strong as well.
Anyway, my apologies for such a wordy explanation. Here are some questions I was wondering about as I draw close to submitting my AMCAS:
1) How big of a disadvantage will my lack of clinical experience create for me?
2) Will my numbers and other experiences help compensate for the lack of clinical experience?
3) When/how should I discuss my inability to have significant clinical experiences? Should I incorporate this somehow into the AMCAS? Should I mention this during interviews? Should I leave it out altogether for fear of sounding "whiny?"
4) Would you recommend the addition or subtraction of schools from the list below? (I fear I have a disproportionate amount of "reach" schools).
Many thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this post in its entirety. Your responses are greatly appreciated!
Schools:
Mayo (my dream school)
U of MN - Twin Cities
U of Mich
Texas A & M
Johns Hopkins
NYU
Cornell
Columbia
U of NC
Northwestern
U of Chicago
Rush University
U of Iowa
U Penn
Vanderbilt
U of Arizona
Loyola
U of South Dakota
U of Wisconsin
Medical College of WI
