How should I improve?

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birdboybird

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If I plan to apply this upcoming cycle....How should I improve my chances ?
- I am a traditional student. I plan on taking my MCAT early July

3.6 GPA
BIO major

Extra-circulars--
ROTC cadet ( various ROTC leadership roles )

100 hours of hospital volunteering
50 hours of shadowing at an air force base
100 hours of volunteering for hunger and homeless issues.

2 years active member of a sports club
1 year as vice president
Both years I did very well

Was a retreat leader for a leadership organization.

...So that basically my entire application. I would appreciate some smart person telling me what looks weak, and what looks good! thank you SDN!

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If you are a senior, too late to do research. If you are a junior, you are just missing research.
Aim for a +27 on the MCAT and you should be good granted you're normal. You seem normal lol
 
Everything looks great. I would just continue to do what you have been doing. Study well for the MCAT and take it early enough so that you have time to retake it if needed. And, APPLY EARLY.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't being in ROTC create another hurdle for you? I could be entirely wrong, but if you have a service obligation I thought your respective branch had to grant you authorization to go to medical school. I know for the academies that there are only a certain number of slots for individuals they let pursue graduate school.

In any case, good luck!
 
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Everything looks great. I would just continue to do what you have been doing. Study well for the MCAT and take it early enough so that you have time to retake it if needed. And, APPLY EARLY.
apply early even if no mcat?
 
apply early even if no mcat?
If he starts studying now, he could be ready to take the MCAT by April - June.

Rereading his post, I see he's trying to take it in early July though. That's not bad either.

Personally, I took the MCAT last April. If I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, I could have taken it again by June/July. Anything over 3 - 4 months of studying just starts to melt one's brain.
 
**Thanks for the responses thus far**

-Yes ROTC does create another hurdle. I do have to get my branch, army, to allow me to go. My commander says that they need doctors and it isn't entirely to difficult to get that option... at least I hope...

I am worried about my current stats because it seems like every person I talk too ( or read on here ) has double the volunteer hours I have, or some really cool medical job already ( EMT, scribe) . My measly 100 hours of volunteering in the hospital doesn't seem like much comparatively...

EDIT: Apply early no mcat?? is that a thing?
 
This forum provides a somewhat biased picture of pre-meds. I don't think you'll find a lot of individuals with no hours, etc. posting in this site.

Your volunteer hours are fine, simply keep them up. Continue to show that continued interest.

Also, you don't need to have some "cool" job to make it. Just have all of your ducks in a row when the time comes.
 
OP, you're fine. Listen to medickdb, and continue what you're doing. Study hard and do well on the MCAT. I would recommend taking it earlier though. You should aim for May or June, but obviously only take it when you're ready.

Either way, you should submit your AACOMAS on day one (1st of June I think) with your MCAT score pending. Let your app get verified, make sure you have all your LORs, and pre-write secondary essays while you are waiting for your MCAT scores to come in. Verification in the beginning takes ~4 weeks, so you don't want to have to wait a month for your MCAT score then wait another 4 weeks to get verified. When your scores come in, submit them right away and send in your secondaries and LORs. That will keep you ahead of the game/early.
 
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