I am an international student from Jamaica on a student Visa. I attend a non-Ivy school in Washington DC. I am a rising senior studying for a BS in Biology. I will be taking my MCAT on September 1, 2012. Due to the lateness of my MCAT, I will be applying next cycle(June). I will be taking a year off and doing research in that year.
I have 200+ hours in clinical research experience, 40 hours in clinical shadowing and a few hours volunteering at a free clinic run by med students.
By the time I apply I will have 2 1/2 years of research, which includes summers. I will also have another year from my year off. The first experience was clinical (as stated above) and the second is a long-term commitment in a neurodevelopmental research lab. I have an interest in Psychiatry/Neurology and am interested in Neuroscience (MD/PhD). I have two abstracts out (first author on both) and am working on a manuscript (first author). My PI thinks it is almost a sure pub.A professor I had told me that getting a fellowship after med school was a better route, then I could still do research and practice clinically. I agreed, but the bonus of this program is the funding. I do understand that these programs are insanely competitive.
For EC's, I am the Vice President of Programming for a Pre-Med Fraternity. Through this I have done fundraising for a childrens' hospital. Planned and moderated educational events for premed students, eg. MCAT workshops, and panels discussions with med students. I am the current President and past years' Vice President for an org that's main aim is to assist international students with acclimating to the US and college life here. We help them set up bank accounts, give advice on classes, programs etc. I also volunteer two hours every week (for the past two years) in the office that processes these students paperwork. I answer calls, help students with questions, and help with the upkeep of records. Other than that, I have other volunteer/ and org activities from the past, but these two are the one's I find most relevant.
I feel like the most important thing at this time is my MCAT score. If I can do well on this I have been told that my app would be considered strong. Keeping up with SN2d's schedule has been tough, due to my research( soon my load will be lightened to 20 hours instead of the two 40 hours weeks I worked) and also planning, meeting and contacting people for my org's.
Could any one suggest a few schools that I might have the best luck applying to?