Hey, so this is something I've been thinking about for a little over a semester now and I've finally decided to ask on here. I've asked a few friends of mine who are currently in medical school and they think I'll be fine, but those students took gap years -I do not intend to do that (hopefully).
I am a junior (entering 6th semester) student of chemical engineering with a cGPA 3.83, sGPA 3.93, MCAT 514 (91st percentile - 129/127/130/128). I believe I have participated in a good number of extracurricular activities as I have played intramural sports every semester, have an officer position in American Chemical Society, and am in various honors organizations. Additionally, I have done research work in a laboratory for 2 summers and 1 semester. My letters of recommendation are from great full-professors and a medical committee from my college. Now for the fun part -I've got only about 20ish hours of clinical experience in shadowing various physicians; this is what I have been working on during the winter break. I have no volunteer hours in medicine yet. I actually just got offered a volunteer position for the spring semester in which I will be working 3 hours every week for roughly 40ish hours by the semester's end -when I start applying for medical school.
Reason for lack of volunteering: I was pretty set on going into chemical engineering and only after taking the MCAT (Fall 2015) did I switch to the pre med track 100%. I will graduate on time as I have made sure to take the proper science classes each semester.
My concern: is this enough volunteering and shadowing?
What I would like to say regarding shadowing is the following; many applicants I talk to say they have completed 50+,100+ hours of shadowing and to me it doesn't make sense why one would need to shadow for so long. One is only observing what the physician does when they shadow and observation is not a true experience that can help someone learn significantly. Without actually practicing you cannot learn -more than a certain amount- about how to do something, no matter how much observation takes place. From my 20ish hours of shadowing, I believe I have learned all I can learn from the respective physicians. Maybe I can shadow a few more different types of doctors, but I am not sure how beneficial this will be.
Bringing me to my main concern, will 40ish hours of hospital volunteering be respectable enough given my other stats and circumstances to get me interviews? I will most definitely continue volunteering through the summer and my final two semesters, bringing my hours up above 100, but the admissions committees will not be able to see my hours passed this spring semester.
Am I in trouble? Any suggestions about what I can do to further improve my application? Please help! :/
Edit: Forgot to mention, I have been a paid on-campus grader for 3 semesters now and have tutored students in several subjects.
I am a junior (entering 6th semester) student of chemical engineering with a cGPA 3.83, sGPA 3.93, MCAT 514 (91st percentile - 129/127/130/128). I believe I have participated in a good number of extracurricular activities as I have played intramural sports every semester, have an officer position in American Chemical Society, and am in various honors organizations. Additionally, I have done research work in a laboratory for 2 summers and 1 semester. My letters of recommendation are from great full-professors and a medical committee from my college. Now for the fun part -I've got only about 20ish hours of clinical experience in shadowing various physicians; this is what I have been working on during the winter break. I have no volunteer hours in medicine yet. I actually just got offered a volunteer position for the spring semester in which I will be working 3 hours every week for roughly 40ish hours by the semester's end -when I start applying for medical school.
Reason for lack of volunteering: I was pretty set on going into chemical engineering and only after taking the MCAT (Fall 2015) did I switch to the pre med track 100%. I will graduate on time as I have made sure to take the proper science classes each semester.
My concern: is this enough volunteering and shadowing?
What I would like to say regarding shadowing is the following; many applicants I talk to say they have completed 50+,100+ hours of shadowing and to me it doesn't make sense why one would need to shadow for so long. One is only observing what the physician does when they shadow and observation is not a true experience that can help someone learn significantly. Without actually practicing you cannot learn -more than a certain amount- about how to do something, no matter how much observation takes place. From my 20ish hours of shadowing, I believe I have learned all I can learn from the respective physicians. Maybe I can shadow a few more different types of doctors, but I am not sure how beneficial this will be.
Bringing me to my main concern, will 40ish hours of hospital volunteering be respectable enough given my other stats and circumstances to get me interviews? I will most definitely continue volunteering through the summer and my final two semesters, bringing my hours up above 100, but the admissions committees will not be able to see my hours passed this spring semester.
Am I in trouble? Any suggestions about what I can do to further improve my application? Please help! :/
Edit: Forgot to mention, I have been a paid on-campus grader for 3 semesters now and have tutored students in several subjects.
Last edited: