Non-Traditional Route...What are my chances

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Qoubster88

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That low sGPA is going to hurt you, even at DO schools. Best to try low-mid tier schools for MD, and a few DO programs to be safe. ECs look fine. But anything below 30 on MCAT and MD becomes a lot harder.

Hello All,

I'll be applying to medical school in this coming cycle. Just a bit of background information before stats. I went to community college for 3 years not knowing what I wanted to major in (finished w/3.3 GPA) then applied to a 4-year institution and got my act together and maintained a 3.6 gpa there (trying to explain my GPA here). This showed at least somewhat of an upward trend (due mainly to maturity).

My bachelor's is in health science with concentrations in echocardiography/vascular sonography which was part of the school of medicine in this particular university. The bachelor's program was two years and included approximately 2,000+ hours of clinical shadowing and hands on training. I am also now in the process of obtaining a master's of science in health science with a concentration in clinical management and leadership.

-cGPA: 3.5, sGPA 3.0, MCAT: TBA (Taking it June)

Clinical volunteer activities
-Volunteered at two different hospitals.

Physician shadowing (include specialties and total hours)
-I haven't shadowed more than two doc's (for over 100+ hours) however I am currently working for vascular surgeons, cardiac surgeons, interventional radiologists and interventional cardiologists all of whom I've assisted pre-op, post-op, and on occasion during procedures.

Research
-Won third place at my Universities Health Science/School of Medicine Research Day for senior project research

Nonclinical volunteer activities

-I aid in a community service that takes place once a month to help feed homeless individuals but more importantly create a dialogue between us and them.

Employment
-Currently a Echocardiography (Board Certified) and Vascular Technologist (Board certified) for almost 1 year and a half. My work allows me to diagnose mainly peripheral vascular disease along with cardiac pathology associated with; MI's, CAD, DVT's, CVA, TIA, etc.
-Currently an undergrad Lab Assistant for basic cardiac/vascular pathology in the same health science program I graduated from.

Other notable Extra Curricular's
-Student Association-Undergrad Senator
-Vice President of Ultrasound Society
-President of Health Science Student Council
-Student Representative on the Health Science Curriculum Council
-Member of Several National Leadership and Honor Societies


If there is anything else I am forgetting or anything else that anyohe can think of, please let me know. Thank you in advance.
 
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The USN & WR rankings are crap....mostly opinions of deans about their cronies. Most of the opinions of "tiers" vary, but and GPA score of matriculants can be seen to scale from the highest (Ivies/Stanford/Wash U/Hopkins) through the state schools to a number of private schools (NYMC, Rosy Franklin, Drexel). You can get a great education at any one of them, so the tiers might be more in terms of competitiveness

Thanks for the reply, Goro. That science GPA is basically just my pre-reqs, where most of them were B's, some A's but two C's brought it down. I regret not taking my classes more seriously when I didn't know what I wanted to pursue.

Also, in terms of tiers that you've mentioned - I've heard of this before but never truly knew what it meant. Does this have anything to do with the US World News and Report top 100 med school list? If you don't mind (or if it has already been asked) could you explain or direct me somewhere to find out more?
 
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