Please Advise! Good ECs, Meh GPA

[rush152565]

Hi Everyone,

I need advice/criticism and opinions on chances to a school. Please be honest!

I appreciate any and all advice.

Non-traditional stats-
3rd year student, will complete degree (biology) within two years, total of 4 1/2, 5. The reason for length is due to military.
-3.29 cGPA (I hate math, had a couple C's)
-3.33 sGPA (mainly B's, A's)

No MCAT yet, sorry! Practice is pointing to 30~

Here's where I shine- ECs-

-7000~ hours (7 years) as an emergency room tech.
-5 years as a medic in the military.
Tours to Iraq and Germany.
Worked in the field, ERs, Blackhawks, C130's, etc.
I've been trained in a hospital immunizations clinic, lab, basic field surgery, trauma, ERs, etc., all across the states. I worked a rig for over 6 months along side a paramedic in the states. Ironically, I left the military with only an EMT-B...
-1000~ hours as a phase 1 pharmaceutical research assistant, paid position.
Collecting blood, urine, feces, monitoring vitals, providing basic care to those who had adverse rxns; all sorts of fun stuff! I also separated blood to prepare samples for further testing of effects on body. Overall it was great!
-200~ hours volunteering in a low-income community service center.
-I help my sister coordinate yearly fund-raisers/walks/events for Lupus. We've raised $10,000+ in three years. All donated to local high profile research facilities.

I will be tutoring this semester in both Chem 1&2, and Bio 1. I received B's in all three classes; however, my professors came directly to me saying they would be more than happy to write incredible LoCs; due to my work ethic, ability to work in a lab setting, personal skills, ability to communicate with individuals and organize help sessions, and love toward science among other things.

My bane is testing... It's the only reason my grades aren't that great. Physical hands on work I'm (literally) a perfect A student. I have yet to find a quality method toward written tests. I can't find what works sadly.

With that being said, I'm sure I've missed a few things.

Please give advice on chances, opinions, criticism; all would be appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read!

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[chachabing]

You can only number crunch so much before it really gets to your head. If you're worried about your numbers...APPLY. I think the ECs more than make up for your GPA (which, I might add, isn't even a deal-breaker). You never know what the schools are looking for besides grades and MCAT scores because those intangible qualities, like life-experiences and personality, are not available in the statistics of "who gets in with what numbers" charts. Now, I'm not on an admissions committee and everything I say must be taken with more than one grain of salt. And I certainly don't deny that numbers play a large role in the admissions process because they are (particularly the MCAT score) one of the only ways to directly compare applicants from schools all over the country.

That being said, I've been around pre-meds long enough to know that thinking about your numbers will only drive you crazy. At some point, you have to realize that some degree of "randomness" factors in to the admissions process that none of us will ever know about. I'd say take a chance, apply broadly and smartly, and worse case scenario, you figure out where your app was lacking and apply again (if this is financially doable, of course). If you don't think you'd be able to apply twice, I'd recommend calling the admissions offices of med. schools you are interested in and discussing some of your concerns directly with an admissions adviser at the medical school. Better yet, I recommend sitting down in person and discussing your qualities. I did this at my state school and got some positive and realistic feedback directly from the admissions office that I couldn't get elsewhere (from MSAR or websites).

I really hope this helps, I would hate to see someone with such great credentials as yourself be discouraged from even applying.

 

[Lucky Louie]

I'm really impressed by your ECs. The fact that you've been in the military is another big plus. There will be some med schools that will outright reject your app given your gpa, but move forward in any case. One thing I should caution you with is that there are LOTS and LOTS of tests in med school. No denying that. If you're aware of that, fine. But do not explain your lower gpa on poor testing skills, even if it's it's true. Adcoms sure don't want to hear that because they know what's coming.

 

[SisterDisco08]

Your ECs will carry you very far with schools that look at the whole package, and aren't number-heavy (ie, my school, MSUCHM). If you can manage to get a solid MCAT to tie everything together, you should be in a pretty good place, for MD schools. You could probably get into a DO school right off the bat.

Worst case scenario is you end up doing an SMP/backdoor program into an MD program after strengthening your GPA a bit, if that's that route you want to go. There are a few good one-year programs with strong ties (or even guaranteed interviews upon completion) to their respective medical schools (University of Toledo has a program that guarantees an interview after MS completion, and I think the one at Tufts does so or something too).

 

[darkjedi]

Provided you score a 30+, you seem to stand to have a bunch of interviews. Apply broadly and good luck!