Hello everyone!
I am starting my senior year at Penn State and am planning on taking a gap year before med school. I just got my MCAT scores back
, and I am looking for some advice on narrowing down my list to apply next summer.
My info:
I am a sociology major (Spanish, Bio, and international studies minors).
I predict my final cumulative gpa will be about a 3.75
sGPA: currently at about a 3.4, by graduation I hope to have it up to a 3.55
MCAT: 36: (12b,11p,13v)
Clinical experience:
Volunteering at a hospital ~2 summers (150 hours total)
Shadowing: ~100 hours total in various fields (some done abroad)
Volunteering at a clinic while abroad in Ecuador (50+ hours)
Research:
-Summer research program at a respected hospital (no publication, but a poster presentation)
-An honors thesis in medical sociology that is based of research I conducted while abroad.
Other:
-I have been involved in a philanthropy that raised=s money for pediatric cancer research ( 4 years--leadership role as a committee captain this year)
-I am a reporter for our school newspaper (3 years)
-I am a member of the pre-health profession honor society (might have a leadership role)
-Mentor for freshman orientation
-Member of Honors College Student Council (leadership role); also served as tour guide
-member of a special living option that
-While abroad I also taught English to children (total 50 hours)
-Alt. spring break trip to teach nutrition, hygiene, etc. to children in the Dominican Republic
Letters of Rec: non science from my thesis supervisor should be very strong, all of my science recs are from honors classes that I did fairly well in, so those should be strong as well.
Overall I feel pretty good about my application, but I am very worried about my science gpa. I definitely have an upward trend (I got a C+ in gen chem 2, B in orgo, and then an A in orgo 2 but that was after I late dropped it once). I am hoping that my high MCAT scores will show that I have mastered the material, but I am worried it will look like I was just being lazy when I got those grades. (I don't really have any concrete explanation for the poor grades other than being overwhelmed by my course load...I could probably explain that well in an interview, I am just worried about getting to that point).
I guess my main question is: Is my sGPA bad enough to bring down the rest of my application? Would it be worth it to do some kind of post-bacc to bring up that part of my app? I was hoping to do some more volunteering abroad in my gap year, but I am open to suggestions on that as well).
I was thinking of schools like Penn State, Jefferson, Temple, BU, etc.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
I am starting my senior year at Penn State and am planning on taking a gap year before med school. I just got my MCAT scores back
, and I am looking for some advice on narrowing down my list to apply next summer.My info:
I am a sociology major (Spanish, Bio, and international studies minors).
I predict my final cumulative gpa will be about a 3.75
sGPA: currently at about a 3.4
, by graduation I hope to have it up to a 3.55MCAT: 36: (12b,11p,13v)
Clinical experience:
Volunteering at a hospital ~2 summers (150 hours total)
Shadowing: ~100 hours total in various fields (some done abroad)
Volunteering at a clinic while abroad in Ecuador (50+ hours)
Research:
-Summer research program at a respected hospital (no publication, but a poster presentation)
-An honors thesis in medical sociology that is based of research I conducted while abroad.
Other:
-I have been involved in a philanthropy that raised=s money for pediatric cancer research ( 4 years--leadership role as a committee captain this year)
-I am a reporter for our school newspaper (3 years)
-I am a member of the pre-health profession honor society (might have a leadership role)
-Mentor for freshman orientation
-Member of Honors College Student Council (leadership role); also served as tour guide
-member of a special living option that
-While abroad I also taught English to children (total 50 hours)
-Alt. spring break trip to teach nutrition, hygiene, etc. to children in the Dominican Republic
Letters of Rec: non science from my thesis supervisor should be very strong, all of my science recs are from honors classes that I did fairly well in, so those should be strong as well.
Overall I feel pretty good about my application, but I am very worried about my science gpa. I definitely have an upward trend (I got a C+ in gen chem 2, B in orgo, and then an A in orgo 2 but that was after I late dropped it once). I am hoping that my high MCAT scores will show that I have mastered the material, but I am worried it will look like I was just being lazy when I got those grades. (I don't really have any concrete explanation for the poor grades other than being overwhelmed by my course load...I could probably explain that well in an interview, I am just worried about getting to that point).
I guess my main question is: Is my sGPA bad enough to bring down the rest of my application? Would it be worth it to do some kind of post-bacc to bring up that part of my app? I was hoping to do some more volunteering abroad in my gap year, but I am open to suggestions on that as well).
I was thinking of schools like Penn State, Jefferson, Temple, BU, etc.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
