31Q, 3.5 oGPA, 3.7 sGPA

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lawdoc

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Just wondering what people thought my chances were.

I am a non-traditional applicant, as I am 32 and a lawyer. As I said in the subject line, I have a 31 Q MCAT- 9 PS (ouch a little), 10 BS, 12 Verb. I have a 3.5 overall GPA, a 3.7 science GPA, and a 3.93 post-bacc GPA (all of the prerequisites). If it makes any difference I finished in the top 40% of my law school class, and made law review.

I decided to go through this process late in 2006, started my post-bacc in 1/2007 and finished in 12/2008. For the last year and a half, I have been working as a scribe in my local ER, interviewing patients about their medical histories, present illness, as well as taking vitals and helping doctors with some procedures. In addition, I have been working full time as a lawyer while taking my prerequisites.

I'm a Virginia resident, and really am only looking at the 3 MD programs instate (UVA, VCU and EVMS). I will be submitting my applications in the next day or too (I know, earlier would have been better). What do you all think?

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Solid enough stats. I understand you're a nontrad, but you still should really have some kind of volunteering. Doesn't have to be clinical or anything, since you've obviously got that covered. I think you should have a good shot.
 
Thanks for your reply and encouraging words. I did leave out that I did volunteer work as an attorney under several programs, both in law school and in practice. I worked in a program called Wills for Heroes where we did estate planning for no charge for police, firemen and EMT's, as well as working with my legal fraternity in local schools to educated middle school students about our legal system an help them put on mock trials. I also was an officer in the the legal fraternity.

In addition I have about 25 hours of volunteer work in the same ER that I currently work in doing more menial tasks with patients before learning about the scribe program, where I have gotten more patient access.

Again thanks for the encouragement. I am mostly concerned about my MCAT score, mainly the 9 on the PS section. If I had only gotten to 10, I might feel more comfortable. I know it's only 1 point, but there is a psychologial barrier about not getting to double digits in all the sections.
 
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I wouldn't worry about your MCAT. Honestly, I'd be more concerned with your overall GPA (even though it's just a little low). I think your post-bac largely compensates for that though. I'd consider you a very solid applicant.

That said, apps are a crapshoot. With only three schools, there's certainly a possibility you won't get in, but I'd put odds on you.
 
Yeah, I'm worried about the 3 school thing as well. The thing is I do not want to stray to far from home. I did that for law school and it was not fun. In addition my father was killed in a car accident while I was in my post-bacc, so I really do not want to go to far from my mother and the rest of my family. Not to mention I plan on paying for med school with a navy scholarship, where I'll probably have to put time in the middle east, and you can see my hesitation to stray to far from home right now. I might expand my application to include Marshall, WVU, and George Washington, but I don't want to go mush further than that.
 
I might put a lot of research into those schools you're interested in, meet with someone from the school, etc. Whichever one you're most interested in, you could apply early decision to increase your chances.
 
I think you definitely have a lot going for you, but just make sure you have a really good reason for leaving an established profession. I could definitely see that coming up in interviews. And maybe think about adding more schools? GL on the application process though!
 
I think you are a very solid. I would go to each one of those schools and let them know you as a person more than numbers. It worked for me and I only applied to one school!! :eek:

The only thing I see is the volunteering aspect. Not the same as the scribe in ER. How about shadowing? This will be what stops you. Your GPA is a little low, but you have the JD and post bac to make up. MCAT is great. PS dont worry about a 9. Verbal is a 12!!

Your lack of some ECs might prevent you. I doubt it but it could.....
 
A friend of mine told me people who have more experience in life (such as yourself) usually have better chances due to the fact theat they know more about the world out there, and their superior interviewing skills.
 
If you applied in June, I'd have said your chances would be excellent for getting an acceptance at one of your preferred schools. This late in the cycle, I'd guess at 20% lower odds. I'd suggest you live your life during the next 9 months as if you know you'll be reapplying and begin plugging some of the holes in your application. Your clinical experience is excellent and includes embedded physician shadowing, but why not try to shadow some non-ER doctors: maybe a hospitalist, or surgeon. Start some non-medical/non-legal community service so you have something more recent (though as a full-time lawyer and non-trad, I think you'll be forgiven for not having much). If you have no leadership experience since law school, that's something else to update (maybe train some new scribes since you've done it for awhile). I apologize if you've done all these things and just hadn't mentioned it. And honestly, without them you may well be fine. But if there's anything you could do now to avoid a third application cycle, I expect you'd want the input.

I agree with adding more schools. You might check out whether there are any nearby DO schools that fit your geographic constraints. It isn't too late to apply to them (it's not as late in their cycle) and maybe half do not need a DO letter of recommendation.
 
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I'm a Virginia resident, and really am only looking at the 3 MD programs instate (UVA, VCU and EVMS). I will be submitting my applications in the next day or too (I know, earlier would have been better). What do you all think?

This is critical.

You are very late for UVA. Very late. The key to success at UVA is an early app and an early interview (certainly an interview before January, but you really want to interview here in September as an instater).

For VCU and EVMS, you should eventually get interviews, and I think you could get into one or both. What a shame, because if you had applied early, you could already know if you got into EVMS, and you would be finding out about VCU in less than 2 weeks...

But as a late applicant, you should anticipate a very long process, sitting on waitlists, and possibly not learning your fate until next June. Don't be a "deer in the headlights" and let the coming months slip past without your continuing to improve your ECs (shadowing?) and different volunteer activities (Free clinic?).

And there is a DO school that fulfills your geog restrictions: Edward Via.

And you should apply to VTC, the new MD school in Roanoke - this school is really struggling to get people to apply - they are interviewing anyone who submits the secondary. Your app here will NOT be late. PM me if you have questions.
 
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