Debating if I should apply now

[Khong]

Here are my stats and I am wondering if I should wait a year or apply now.

There is a caveat to my GPA. This year, I just have not been doing well so my GPA flucuates all over the place. 1st year: 3.5ish, 2nd year, 3.8 about. This 3rd year has just been atrocious. I have 1 W and 1 C in one quarter and didn't do very well my other quarter. I've overwhelmed myself in activities and just don't have the study habits I used to have. Anyways I am rambling now. Here are my stats. Let me know what you think.

20/Asian/3rd year
GPA: 3.60
MCAT: 34S MCAT (14/9/11)
Physiological Science Major, Top CA state school

Clinical Experience
- 4 international medical missions
- Disaster healthcare volunteer (EMT who assists during public health emergencies)

Shadowing
Ob/gyn - 18 hours
General Surgery - 18 hours
Ophthalmology - 18
CCU - 10 hours
Emergency - 20 hours
Internal medicine - 18 hours
Peds - 18 hours
Family practice - 50 hours
Total: 170 hours

Non-Clinical Volunteering
CPR instructor
Volunteer for charity organization (fundraising/pr)
PEDFACTS instructor

Leadership
Student of the medical mission (2 years) - hundreds of hours
Team leader of medical mission (1 year) - hundreds of hours
Planning committee for medical missions (2 years) - hundreds of hours
Fundraising/PR committee for medical missions (3 years) - hundreds of hours

Awards
Dean's list
Freshman honor's society
possibly Mortar Board (senior honor society)

Employment
Tennis coach - 5 years (hundreds of hours)
Intern at a gene sequencing lab - ( 160 hours)
Tutor - (hundreds of hours)


Research
2 years of research in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. (2 papers pending, conference pending). Running my own research project and my ideas spawned the other project also being done in the same lab.

Letters
Should be good (4 physicians, 2 science professors, 1 social science, PI)

Hobbies
Teaching
Tennis
Following sports

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[gyngyn]

You might as well apply. You are numerically slightly above average (for CA). It will all come down to your ability to articulate your commitment to service and what you have learned from your EC's (and your communication skills in the interview/MMI). A strategic school list and you should be good.

 

[Catalystik]

Here are my stats and I am wondering if I should wait a year or apply now.

There is a caveat to my GPA. This year, I just have not been doing well so my GPA flucuates all over the place. 1st year: 3.5ish, 2nd year, 3.8 about. This 3rd year has just been atrocious. I have 1 W and 1 C in one quarter and didn't do very well my other quarter. I've overwhelmed myself in activities and just don't have the study habits I used to have. Anyways I am rambling now. Here are my stats. Let me know what you think.

20/Asian/3rd year
GPA: 3.60
MCAT: 34S MCAT (14/9/11)
Physiological Science Major, Top CA state school

Clinical Experience
- 4 international medical missions
- Disaster healthcare volunteer (EMT who assists during public health emergencies)

Shadowing
Ob/gyn - 18 hours
General Surgery - 18 hours
Ophthalmology - 18
CCU - 10 hours
Emergency - 20 hours
Internal medicine - 18 hours
Peds - 18 hours
Family practice - 50 hours
Total: 170 hours

Non-Clinical Volunteering
CPR instructor
Volunteer for charity organization (fundraising/pr)
PEDFACTS instructor

Leadership
Student of the medical mission (2 years) - hundreds of hours
Team leader of medical mission (1 year) - hundreds of hours
Planning committee for medical missions (2 years) - hundreds of hours
Fundraising/PR committee for medical missions (3 years) - hundreds of hours

Awards
Dean's list
Freshman honor's society
possibly Mortar Board (senior honor society)

Employment
Tennis coach - 5 years (hundreds of hours)
Intern at a gene sequencing lab - ( 160 hours)
Tutor - (hundreds of hours)


Research
2 years of research in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. (2 papers pending, conference pending). Running my own research project and my ideas spawned the other project also being done in the same lab.

Letters
Should be good (4 physicians, 2 science professors, 1 social science, PI)

Hobbies
Teaching
Tennis
Following sports

You forgot to mention your BCPM GPA.

Applying with a significant downward grade trend generally doesn't end well. Considering the application strategic "common wisdom": Do it once; do it right, I think that waiting a year to turn your grades around should be considered strongly. All those wonderful activities won't do you any good if your grades are mediocre. Why not drop some of them? Adcomms like to see evidence of good time management skills.

 

[Khong]

You forgot to mention your BCPM GPA.

Applying with a significant downward grade trend generally doesn't end well. Considering the application strategic "common wisdom": U]Do it once,; do it right[/U], I think that waiting a year to turn your grades around should be considered strongly. All those wonderful activities won't do you any good if your grades are mediocre. Why not drop some of them? Adcomms like to see evidence of good time management skills.

If I come back this spring quarter with a near 4.0 gpa quarter, would you recommend applying still? I realized my mistakes when time managing this past quarter and have started to fix it. Would this bounce back be enough for med schools to consider?

 

[Goro]

It's pretty late in the game now. We've pretty much filled out the Fall class and people will be competing for wait list positions for now on. Keep in mind that if you applied today it would probably take about a month for your application to work its way through the system.

So, unless you think you're a absolute Nobel-calibre candidate, what's the harm in waiting a year?

Here are my stats and I am wondering if I should wait a year or apply now.
s

 

[Khong]

It's pretty late in the game now. We've pretty much filled out the Fall class and people will be competing for wait list positions for now on. Keep in mind that if you applied today it would probably take about a month for your application to work its way through the system.

So, unless you think you're a absolute Nobel-calibre candidate, what's the harm in waiting a year?

I meant to applying starting this June, for next year's cycle vs. the year after.

 

[Catalystik]

If I come back this spring quarter with a near 4.0 gpa quarter, would you recommend applying still? I realized my mistakes when time managing this past quarter and have started to fix it. Would this bounce back be enough for med schools to consider?

I wouldn't be reassured by a single term of good grades that an applicant is capable of consistency. And consistent excellence in med school is important.