How am I doing so far and what I can improve

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Naokuvi

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
119
Reaction score
112
Hi SDN. I am about to enter my sophomore year of undergrad and I want to share my stats with all of you so I can get advice on where I can improve and some advice on things I can do before I apply for medical school. I am an Asian-American Texas Resident and my dream school is TCOM (Osteopathic School) although I am planning to apply to all Texas Medical Schools. I recently posted a similar thread to the Osteopathic Forum but I want to get insight from the Allopathic side as well!
Here are my current stats:

cGPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0
Shadowing: 40 Hours (D.O and M.D)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: 100 Hours
Clinical Volunteering: 30 Hours
3 Leadership Positions (1 in my school's pre-med organization as the secretary, 1 in an philanthropy organization I helped create last semester to benefit a Children's Miracle Network Hospital, and 1 as a Freshman Mentor for my school's Honors Scholarship program)

I have a lot of non-clinical volunteering because of the work I do through my home town city during the summer and my city of residence during college. My clinical volunteering is a bit lacking because I was unable to get a hospital volunteering position during the summer and by the time I applied for a position my freshman year everywhere near me was filled. My clinical volunteering is mainly through health fairs/clinics for the uninsured and hospice care.

My plan for the coming years: Continue volunteering in my current clinical areas as well as pick up a weekly volunteer position at a hospital. Shadow different medical practices as I have only shadowed family doctors so far. Continue my non-clinical volunteering work. I may also try research however the idea of research doesn't really excite me and I don't want to do it just to do it.

What advice do you have for a student like me and what direction should I go? I know a lot of people here may give me answers saying pre-med isn't a checklist and I know that. I am very passionate in all the activities I do right now! However, I still want to be a competitive applicant and would like some advice on how I can beef up my application. What other clinical volunteer activities do you guys recommend doing that you all found you enjoyed? Is research a big factor in the application process? What would you guys change about your pre-med career if you had the chance? Am I on a good track to become a competitive applicant? Thanks for all your responses!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Continue with shadowing and your non-clinical volunteering, work to increase your clinical volunteering hours (hospice/nursing homes/VA/etc are all good places to try that aren't as packed as hospitals. Keep your grades up. Also do some activity that you love and are really passionate about that you enjoy that will help make you stand out. Research is always a good option to pursue, as is leadership positions.

You're on a strong track for MD applications as well as DO. Honestly you don't really need as strong of an application for DO schools vs MD (especially in terms of amount of research, gpa, and mcat), but I would recommend doing your very best like you are trying to get into Harvard, JHU, UCSF or the likes to keep your options open.
 
Continue with shadowing and your non-clinical volunteering, work to increase your clinical volunteering hours (hospice/nursing homes/VA/etc are all good places to try that aren't as packed as hospitals. Keep your grades up. Also do some activity that you love and are really passionate about that you enjoy that will help make you stand out. Research is always a good option to pursue, as is leadership positions.

You're on a strong track for MD applications as well as DO. Honestly you don't really need as strong of an application for DO schools vs MD (especially in terms of amount of research, gpa, and mcat), but I would recommend doing your very best like you are trying to get into Harvard, JHU, UCSF or the likes to keep your options open.
Thanks for the feedback. What is a VA btw?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Veteran Affairs Hospital
 
VA= Veterans Affairs, so he means a VA hospital which is basically a hospital that provides care to military veterans
 
looks good, continue doing what you are doing and add some research. It is important to many school.
 
Top