Applying this cycle with weak stats and background.

[medicineandcalculus]

I want to know if it's worth even applying this cycle since as I've read on here it's better to apply the first time and get in to avoid having to try to reinvent yourself. I have a GPA of 3.557 and MCAT of 511. On my transcript I have 1 W from my freshman year taking an advanced stats course that I wasn't prepared for but also 2 W from study abroad where we had issues scheduling the final exam while I was not in the country. I think those are the biggest red flags on my transcript. I double majored in mathematics and neuroscience. I have mostly As in my classes except my upper division math classes I was getting Bs and then a C in a graduate level math class. I had went into uni wanting to purse medicine but then I fell in love with mathematics and the rigor of it and moved towards grad school in mathematics, but then decided that it wasn't for me after doing independent reading/research at my university and taking graduate level courses.

Since graduating I have lived abroad and have been teaching English as a teacher! I love it a lot, worked with kids from 5 to adults with 60 years! It's something that I will never regret and has helped me grow tremendously. I still volunteer. I work with a UN group here and I started volunteering with the Red Cross where I go to the homes of elderly people and check their vitals and make sure that they are healthy (these people are in their 90s or 80s with hypertension etc. and cannot be expected to leave).

I have more than 700 hours of research from my first two years of uni actual labs but I didn't enjoy them nor do I have publications. I vastly preferred the independent reading projects that we did in mathematics. I have no publications but I did give 3 presentations. I have my name on a paper from contributing to a grow project from a different volunteering project during undergrad.

I have about 8 hours of shadowing done and hopefully more soon, I have at least 500 hours of non-clinical volunteering (the UN group i volunteer for now is nonclinical. If what I do with the red cross is clinical, then I have 2 hours.

What can I do better my chances. Please be strict with me. I will not be offended.

I was thinking for MD schools: Emory, McGovern, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, University of Washington, Texas Tech
I know i need to apply DO as well and this is something that wouldn't bother me as well.

I want to be a psychatrist.

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[SpoiledMilk]

You listed Texas medschools. Are you a resident of Texas? Your GPA is below the GPAs of matriculants in Texas. Google the TMDSAS for metrics of mariculants. What is your sGPA and cGPA breakdown? You might want to consider taking a year or two to do a DIY postbac to raise the GPAs. Your MCAT is fine.

You will need clinical volunteering hours (I'm not certain the Red Cross volunteering will be considered clinical). Regardless, you will need much more hours (min. couple hundred), more primary care doctor shadowing hours(50-100 hrs), esp a DO where you can get a DO LOR which is required for DO medschools, and continue with your other ECs.

 

[Faha]

Where is your state of residence ?

 

[SpoiledMilk]

You have to go to TMDSAS and get the listing of classes that TMDSAS will use to determine your science GPA and cumulative GPA and do the calculations yourself. As a Texas resident unless you are set on schools outside of Texas, you will have a better chance of matriculating to a Tex medschool since most schools outside of Texas will assume you will matriculate here because of the costs. Exceptions are applicants with Harvard-type stats. Unless you have close ties to the WWAMI states, you will just be donating your app/secondary fees to the University of Washington.

As is, if you apply the upcoming cycle to Texas medschools in TMDSAS with your current stats and lack of ECs (clinical volunteering, shadowing), you will most likely be a reapplicant even to DO schools in TMDSAS like TCOM, Sam Houston State. I state up to 2 years to give you the time to take classes to increase your sGPA and cGPA as well as get the hours in clinical volunteering and shadowing. Whether it will take 2 years, more or less is up to your schedule and time commitment.

Please google and study the stats for matriculants on the TMDSAS website and get up to date on all the checklist of items that medschools want their applicants to have before applying to be the most successful at getting an offer and not become a reapplicant which will result in more roadblocks to overcome...

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Once you determined your GPAs and have the requisite hours in your ECs, you can post in What Are My Chances? WAMC Medical for the best advice on what schools you can realistically apply to.

Your major does not matter. You can major in communications as long as the science core requirements are met and your GPAs are competitive for the particular school.

Regarding that fact that you don't currently live in the US, whether shadowing foreign doctors and volunteering in a foreign medical setting count, and whether your Red Cross is considered clinical experience, I will defer to actual Adcoms and experts like @Mr.Smile12 and Faha for schools outside of Texas and @wysdoc for TMDSAS schools.

 

[Faha]

Texas

You need to accumulate 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including primary care) and 200+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact before you apply. OOS MD schools interview few Texas residents with your stats since they know from years of experience that Texas residents will attend a Texas school. You could try OOS DO schools and I suggest these:
OSU-COM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
CUSOM
VCOM (all 4 schools)
WCU-COM
ACOM
PCOM
LECOM
WVSOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP, fill out and post in WAMC Medical. You need to do the exercise of self-assessment.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

My understanding is that even though TMDSAS does include graduate courses in their report sent to the schools, your undergraduate courses GPAs are what schools considered in determining admissions. Whether you have a graduate degree is used by the school for the stats highlighting the make up of their class.

Your sGPA is a positive. If you take some more undergraduate science courses in a DIY post bac you could increase them and in the mean time try to get the requisite hours for the mandatory clinical experience and shadowing. Unless you plan to do the clinical volunteering and shadowing in the US, since you are not in the US right now, might want to post in the pre-med thread asking whether doing them in a foreign country and with foreign doctors will suffice.

Remember, it's not a sprint, but a marathon. Medschool will still be here when you are ready to apply. So take as much time as needed to get all your metrics/stats as competitive as possible.