How can I improve?

[Skittsie13]

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[Oso]

-great GPAs, keep them up & study well for the MCAT
-definitely keep up the hospital volunteering (this will serve as your clinical experience); you'll have 3 semesters by the time you apply, which should be ok
-I would aim for about 50-60 hours of shadowing spread across a few different specialties
-keep up the research, a publication would be great
-keep everything else up and I think you'll have a well rounded app
-will you continue the cervical cancer awareness project once the course ends? If so, I think you could count it as an EC

 

[Skittsie13]

We're mostly fundraising right now and developing a brochure, so once we reach our fundraising goal I'm not sure there would be anything else to continue. Technically the class was in the fall, but this semester we are completing our project. I might ask my premed advisor at school what to classify it as since he's more familiar with the program. Thank you so much!

Is 3 semesters too little for top schools? It took a whole semester to jump through all the hoops so that's why I'm only just starting. Should I try to look for some more opportunities?

 

[Oso]

In that case, I think the awareness project should probably be classified as a school project (not an EC). But best to ask others who are more familiar with the program.

Schools want to see continued engagement in activities, so it's more than just how many hours you spend volunteering. I think if you have three continuous semesters with intentions to keep volunteering during your senior year, you should be just fine. Top schools like to see productive research, so keep doing that and try to get a poster presentation, publication, etc. as well as a strong letter of recommendation from your PI. Any leadership positions will also be viewed favorably.

Overall, I think you're on the right track. I wouldn't add anything new (unless you want to and you can fit it in). Just keep up all your activities, keep up the GPA, and when the time comes, study hard and do well on the MCAT. Good luck!!

 

[Lya]

ECs don't look impressive considering that you got a full ride. I was hoping to see you taking more advantage of having nearly zero financial constrain.

For research, it is posters/publications that matter, not how many semesters you worked. Your capstone project is also a part of your ECs, so I would include that in AMCAS activity section, probably under the leadership category.


Besides the study abroad, the only thing that seems unique is your cervical cancer involvement. What exactly do you hope to achieve? Are you genuinely passionate about this area, or is it just your class work you don't care much about? How do you measure or evaluate the success of these brochures? How do you know people will actually use those brochures? Are you traveling abroad to distribute them? It sounds like it is just another project for you, and I find it hard to tell what you are actually passionate in, just by looking at your ECs.

 

[Skittsie13]

If you want I can PM you to describe the project in more detail -- it's long and I don't know how much I can write about it without giving myself and my school away. But it is definitely not just another project for me. This project is like my baby. It was originally my idea in the class, as I'm interested in women's health, and I did a lot of research on it to convince everyone and the MFI we work with that it was the best project for us to pursue.

I love working with children and I think my volunteering demonstrates that. I'm also passionate about helping others learn, that's where my tutoring and elementary school volunteering come in. I wouldn't do any of my activities if I wasn't interested in them! As for unique ECs, I thought my club sport might be one.

I realize my ECs are a little sparse, so I'm trying to improve what I can until application time. Thanks for your input!

 

[Lya]

Okay. Pursue the project hard and deliver some meaningful results. You need to go beyond just brochures.

It's just that tutoring and working with children are not unique ECs. They are great and nice, but not uncommon. Keep it up though!

 

[Skittsie13]

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[gyngyn]

I just wanted to update with my MCAT score and ask for a bit more feedback. I scored a 35 (12/11/12) which was honestly pretty disappointing after averaging a 39 on all the AAMCs. It's not wise to retake, is it? I was really hoping to get a score worthy of some top 20 schools, especially with my average, but it didn't turn out that way. Do I still have a shot? I'm a TX resident.

Some updates from January:

- elected as a senator for my college's student government
- summer of research, should have another summer and hopefully a pub
- decided to take a gap year, will be studying abroad next fall in Australia and then graduating in May '16
- continued all the previous activities, at about 85 hours of clinical volunteering, 30 hours nonclinical, 40 hours shadowing (will be continuing until graduation), still working on fundraising for the cervical cancer project

Are there any weak points I need to address? Since I am taking a gap year I will have that year to hopefully beef up my app. I was thinking of doing some sort of clinical research, unless there are more pressing areas to consider. Thank you!

You are a fine candidate for the best schools in TX.

 

[Skittsie13]

You are a fine candidate for the best schools in TX.

Thank you @gyngyn ! I am originally from the East Coast, so while the TX tuition is very alluring, I want to keep my options open for top out of state schools as well. Am I also okay for those? I'm worried my MCAT is a tad low.

 

[gyngyn]

Thank you @gyngyn ! I am originally from the East Coast, so while the TX tuition is very alluring, I want to keep my options open for top out of state schools as well. Am I also okay for those? I'm worried my MCAT is a tad low.

OOS schools know that their tuition can't touch your IS schools so unless they are prepared to offer $, interviews will be less likely to be forthcoming.

 

[zzxxzz]

I'm worried my MCAT is a tad low.

Quintessential SDN post.

Most premeds would sacrifice their first-born for a 35. It's ~95th percentile. Don't retake even if you averaged a 39, because at scores that high all it takes is a few small mistakes to score lower on your retake.

 

[Skittsie13]

Quintessential SDN post.

Most premeds would sacrifice their first-born for a 35. It's ~95th percentile. Don't retake even if you averaged a 39, because at scores that high all it takes is a few small mistakes to score lower on your retake.

I know it's a good score. It was just demoralizing to score so far below my average and get the worst score I have ever gotten on the real thing. Also many of the schools I was interested in have an average MCAT of 36/37 so which is why I was worried about it being a little low for those schools. Obviously it's not low in general.