I've been really stressed trying to figure out if I'll be ready to apply in June this year.. can anyone tell me if my application looks ready enough?
Background: I graduated in May 2023 in Psychology. Started off premed freshman year, failed my first semester due to mental health issues, switched paths to tech (health tech), realized it wasn't fulfilling me and had a family member fall ill which inspired me to switch back to premed.
Texas resident, Asian Female
GPA: cGPA of 3.47, sGPA of 3.19
GPA trend: 2.4 > 3.3 > 3.80 > 4.000
Since graduating I have completed 21 DIY premed credits with a 3.81 postbacc GPA
MCAT: scheduled for 5/4 and am planning to study full time until then while taking Biochem and volunteering 8 hours a week. aiming for at least 515...
Clinical:
300 paid hours as a Medical Assistant and Scribe in Psychiatry and Endocrinology clinics
30 hours of psych shadowing, trying to squeeze in 20 hours of DO shadowing
Non Clinical Paid:
Product designer for EMR interface and for a HVAC company
Social media manager for a local Asian radio, longest commitment of 3 years
Communications and graphic designer for university's global health department and school district leadership
STEM engineering summer camp counselor for low income high school students
Volunteering:
50 hours product/web designer for bone cancer non profit
50 hours as product team lead for non profit org
20 hours as hospice volunteer (hoping to bring this up? the only volunteering I've done since switching to premed)
Research:
150 hours research assistant in Autism and family health lab
50 hours in virtual reality surgery training study for countries lacking medical equipment
No posters or pubs
Other orgs:
University art museum internship, mentorship program for incoming freshman, graphic design chair for Asian student org
hobbies include yoga, art, poetry, running, hiking
LORs: one from former non medical employer, one from the Doc I shadowed, one from old psych professor. I'll need to try and secure one from a volunteering position and a BCPM professor. none of these are going to be very strong, probably just okay
also note: I got fired from one of my MA positions and I quit the other one because the Dr. was threatening patient safety... so I can't get LORs from either. Is this a red flag?? I'm really worried that adcoms decide to reach out to them.
Most of my experience is in tech or design, somewhat related to health before I decided to go premed. I feel like I'm missing enough hours of meaningful volunteering, nothing about my application feels very impressive to me and I haven't commit to any super long term positions.. I also feel like I'm missing a cohesive theme. Any insight on this?
I'm going to volunteer for an underrepresented population starting in February. If I wait another cycle I can do research at UC Berkeley and try to get a publication, more volunteering hours and complete 13 remaining premed credits bringing my cGPA to 3.53 and sGPA to 3.38. On the other hand I really don't want to waste another year. I just need to get into at least one DO school somewhere, ideally in Texas. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated!
Background: I graduated in May 2023 in Psychology. Started off premed freshman year, failed my first semester due to mental health issues, switched paths to tech (health tech), realized it wasn't fulfilling me and had a family member fall ill which inspired me to switch back to premed.
Texas resident, Asian Female
GPA: cGPA of 3.47, sGPA of 3.19
GPA trend: 2.4 > 3.3 > 3.80 > 4.000
Since graduating I have completed 21 DIY premed credits with a 3.81 postbacc GPA
MCAT: scheduled for 5/4 and am planning to study full time until then while taking Biochem and volunteering 8 hours a week. aiming for at least 515...
Clinical:
300 paid hours as a Medical Assistant and Scribe in Psychiatry and Endocrinology clinics
30 hours of psych shadowing, trying to squeeze in 20 hours of DO shadowing
Non Clinical Paid:
Product designer for EMR interface and for a HVAC company
Social media manager for a local Asian radio, longest commitment of 3 years
Communications and graphic designer for university's global health department and school district leadership
STEM engineering summer camp counselor for low income high school students
Volunteering:
50 hours product/web designer for bone cancer non profit
50 hours as product team lead for non profit org
20 hours as hospice volunteer (hoping to bring this up? the only volunteering I've done since switching to premed)
Research:
150 hours research assistant in Autism and family health lab
50 hours in virtual reality surgery training study for countries lacking medical equipment
No posters or pubs
Other orgs:
University art museum internship, mentorship program for incoming freshman, graphic design chair for Asian student org
hobbies include yoga, art, poetry, running, hiking
LORs: one from former non medical employer, one from the Doc I shadowed, one from old psych professor. I'll need to try and secure one from a volunteering position and a BCPM professor. none of these are going to be very strong, probably just okay
also note: I got fired from one of my MA positions and I quit the other one because the Dr. was threatening patient safety... so I can't get LORs from either. Is this a red flag?? I'm really worried that adcoms decide to reach out to them.
Most of my experience is in tech or design, somewhat related to health before I decided to go premed. I feel like I'm missing enough hours of meaningful volunteering, nothing about my application feels very impressive to me and I haven't commit to any super long term positions.. I also feel like I'm missing a cohesive theme. Any insight on this?
I'm going to volunteer for an underrepresented population starting in February. If I wait another cycle I can do research at UC Berkeley and try to get a publication, more volunteering hours and complete 13 remaining premed credits bringing my cGPA to 3.53 and sGPA to 3.38. On the other hand I really don't want to waste another year. I just need to get into at least one DO school somewhere, ideally in Texas. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated!
