MD 3.96 cGPA, 3.93 sGPA, 524 MCAT, what are chances for schools listed?

[rwilbur77]

1. 3.96 cGPA, 3.93 sGPA
2. 524 (132/131/132/129)
3. Illinois resident
4. Ethnicity and/or race: White
5. No solid clinical experience
6. 1 year research, no publications, presented at a conference
7. 80 hours shadowing - orthopedics, family practice, sports med, internal medicine
8. 40 hrs Boys and Girls Clubs of America
9. Division 1 football all 4 years amounting to who knows how many hours; Worked for Boys and Girls Clubs for 2 years and another nonprofit 1 year; leadership position within football and social fraternity

Here are the schools I have applied to. I am just now finishing up secondaries. What are your guys thoughts?

• Duke
• Johns Hopkins
• Loyola
• Northwestern
• Southern IL
• Stanford
• UCSF
• UC Davis
• U of Chicago - Pritzker
• U of Illinois
• North Carolina
• Vanderbilt
• Wisconsin
• Saint Louis University

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[Lawpy]

Ethnicity and/or race: White

1. No solid clinical experience
2. 1 year research, no publications, presented at a conference

You need clinical experience. While you have good athletics and strong stats (research is alright), the lack of active clinical experience (shadowing is passive; clinical volunteering at hospitals, hospices, clinics etc. is active) will hurt you badly.

As far as the current cycle goes, wrap up the secondaries but immediately get something clinical to work on.

 

[rwilbur77]

As far as the current cycle goes, wrap up the secondaries but immediately get something clinical to work on.

Is the purpose of getting something clinical right now in preparation for the next cycle or when I hopefully receive IIs that I can show I have that?

 

[Lawpy]

Is the purpose of getting something clinical right now in preparation for the next cycle or when I hopefully receive IIs that I can show I have that?

The latter ideally (to avoid reapplying). If you can get something in now, you can send your clinical experiences in an update letter sometime in December-February hopefully.

 

[rwilbur77]

The latter ideally (to avoid reapplying). If you can get something in now, you can send your clinical experiences in an update letter sometime in December-February hopefully.

Are paid and unpaid clinical work regarded equally and would you have any suggestions for low level of entry clinical experience? I don't have any certifications.

 

[Lawpy]

Are paid and unpaid clinical work regarded equally and would you have any suggestions for low level of entry clinical experience? I don't have any certifications.

Anything is fine. Some examples include those listed by the @Goro Guidelines, which are:

"Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics."

Scribing is another example. Clinical research is probably okay, although adcoms would like you to actively engage with patients in some way (even if it means transporting them from one room to another for various tests).

 

[WedgeDawg]

If you get/have gotten IIs, you'll probably get in somewhere.

If not, start doing some clinical stuff (easiest thing to do is pick up some ED volunteering shifts at a local hospital - doesn't require much training) and then send an update in, say, December or so saying what you've done and what you've learned (hopefully it reinforces your desire to go into medicine).

List looks fine - UC Davis is a wash as they take single digits of out of state students. UNC usually too, but they might bite because of your numbers.

If you don't get any interviews by December, it might be worth doing a longitudinal clinical experience thing (scribing or hospice work or something) and then prepare to reapply - come back and we'll construct a school list from scratch if that's the case, but hopefully you'll get in somewhere and won't have to worry.