- Joined
- Oct 24, 2014
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I'm a NY resident that graduated with a BA in Biology, and am now in a post-bacc program, taking upper level science course work at UPenn.
My GPA is low because of poor grades in my sophomore year (including physics and organic chemistry). I retook them for A (in physics) and B/B+ (for orgos). I have an upward trend in my last year and a half of undergrad, and will have almost all A's for the eight classes of this post-bacc program (besides one B+). I have taken lots of relevant coursework, like physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, and so on, with B to A grades.
I took the MCAT and got a 29 (12 verbal, 8, 9) and retook it right before they switched to the new MCAT, and got 31 (11 verbal, 10, 10).
I have a summer of clinical volunteering (can get more if I need), many shadowing hours in lots of different specialties, and have done research with a poster presentation. I also have very strong volunteering leadership experience with a non-profit community empowerment organization I coordinated (1000s of hours). I also part-owned a restaurant during undergrad and worked nearly full-time, and have been a tutor and landscaper during this post-bacc program. I'm a financially-disadvantaged candidate, although not an under-represented minority.
I have an extremely strong letter of recommendation from a neuroanatomy professor, a good letter from a histology professor, a strong letter from my research PI, a strong letter from my volunteering regional coordinator, and a letter or two from doctors I have shadowed (one stronger, the other good).
Since I qualify for the financial assistance program, I'm applying to 32 schools, mostly in the northeast (NY, PA, MA, etc), as well as schools across the country that are in my range and don't select too heavily against out of staters.
I was wondering what you would rate my chances of getting in this cycle are. I definitely would prefer to do MD, but will apply to some DO schools as safeties. What would you recommend that I do to increase my chances? Thank you!
My GPA is low because of poor grades in my sophomore year (including physics and organic chemistry). I retook them for A (in physics) and B/B+ (for orgos). I have an upward trend in my last year and a half of undergrad, and will have almost all A's for the eight classes of this post-bacc program (besides one B+). I have taken lots of relevant coursework, like physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, and so on, with B to A grades.
I took the MCAT and got a 29 (12 verbal, 8, 9) and retook it right before they switched to the new MCAT, and got 31 (11 verbal, 10, 10).
I have a summer of clinical volunteering (can get more if I need), many shadowing hours in lots of different specialties, and have done research with a poster presentation. I also have very strong volunteering leadership experience with a non-profit community empowerment organization I coordinated (1000s of hours). I also part-owned a restaurant during undergrad and worked nearly full-time, and have been a tutor and landscaper during this post-bacc program. I'm a financially-disadvantaged candidate, although not an under-represented minority.
I have an extremely strong letter of recommendation from a neuroanatomy professor, a good letter from a histology professor, a strong letter from my research PI, a strong letter from my volunteering regional coordinator, and a letter or two from doctors I have shadowed (one stronger, the other good).
Since I qualify for the financial assistance program, I'm applying to 32 schools, mostly in the northeast (NY, PA, MA, etc), as well as schools across the country that are in my range and don't select too heavily against out of staters.
I was wondering what you would rate my chances of getting in this cycle are. I definitely would prefer to do MD, but will apply to some DO schools as safeties. What would you recommend that I do to increase my chances? Thank you!
