Progress Evaluation; GPA + EC's, No MCAT

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Vaseline

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hello,

hoping you all could give me some insight into how i currently look on paper. also, i would appreciate any advice on how to improve my application.

i am a junior at a private university. however, i do intend to take a gap year before applying. i plan to apply early and broadly to mid-tier MD and DO schools.

Academic Profile:
Biochemistry major
non-sci GPA: 4.0
sci GPA: 3.98

*only qualm i have regarding academics is i have a few semesters where i took a lesser number of credits than average (13 cr, 13 cr, 14 cr), albeit these semesters did include tough science courses and often multiple labs. is this a problem?

MCAT:
will be taken this summer. expectant score: 31 +/- 3

EC's:
- volunteer in patient transportation at local hospital for 2 years, totaling 200 hours. will continue till graduation (by then totaling 300 hrs). experience includes lots of direct patient contact, although i simply wheel them out of hospital
- i have helped coach a special olympics team for past 7 years. since i have been in college (out of state), i have only been able to help coach during the summer. GREAT experience. will hopefully do for rest of my life.
- last summer i had clinical research internship. internship included much shadowing, although limited direct patient contact. no pubs nor presentations
- week long medical mission trip that included direct patient contact (soph. year)
- week long volunteer trip in US to aid in katrina relief (fresh. year)
- 1 semester of TA for chemistry
- i also currently mentor freshman students
- i currently have logged 80 hours of shadowing, with the majority of the time being spent with a PCP. i intend to log approx. 140-150 hours by time of application

future:
- i will begin wet lab research in the fall of my senior year.
- this summer along with studying for mcat, i will continue coaching special olympics and also plan to find some regular non-medical volunteering, perhaps helping the poor
- i intend to be a TA for both semesters of my senior year
- i will continue being a mentor next year as well

gap year:
- looking into scribe or research position
- anybody have thoughts/ suggestions on gap year??

there is a run-down of how i look on paper.

how do my EC's look??

any insight/ advice is appreciated

much obliged,
vaseline

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I would say, assuming you get a 30 or above on the MCAT (or even your low limit of 28), you're good for MD. The lack of research may keep you out of top MD's even if you get a 34 (upper limit) MCAT, but your EC list + above average stats will get you in most places from what I've read.

For that last bullet, maybe start a research position next year that continues into the gap year. Then all your bases would be covered in an above average way.
 
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Assuming you do 30+ on MCAT, don't waste you're time/money on DO (you have a 4.0gpa....). However, i have seen some people on here say that 4.0gpa with a 28/29/30 MCAT "screams easy classes/profs." Just keep that in mind. aka... don't take the MCAT lightly just because you have the ECs and gpa of a competitive applicant.

As the other poster said, keep up your research until you matriculate (if you like it and think you're benefiting from it), as this will make sure you have covered all the bases of ECs.
 
does my clinical experience look sufficient? say i end up choosing research position over scribe position, will my hospital volunteering and shadowing suffice?
 
anyone else have any input regarding my last reply?
 
does my clinical experience look sufficient? say i end up choosing research position over scribe position, will my hospital volunteering and shadowing suffice?

Yes definitely. Volunteering at a hospital with patient interaction and shadowing are more than sufficient for clinical experience, based on everything I've read here on SDN (mainly including LizzyM threads).
 
Yes definitely. Volunteering at a hospital with patient interaction and shadowing are more than sufficient for clinical experience, based on everything I've read here on SDN (mainly including LizzyM threads).

Based on what i've seen around here, yes. But just to make sure you understand, and i say this because some people will actually think that it is, but the work as a coach for the special Olympics does not count as a clinical EC.
 
You've checked all the boxes, or will have by the time you apply. Special Olympics would be "volunteer, non-clinical" as mentioned earlier and that's good.

With a 4.0 and sGPA of 3.98, anything less than a 30 on the MCAT is "below average". Take as many practice tests as possible and don't take the exam unless you are sure you are ready. If you are sick, cancel or void the test. Most applicants with gpa of >=3.8 score 30 or higher on the MCAT and they have an 80+% chance of being admitted to a medical school. Applicants with an MCAT below 30 (with gpa >=3.8) are significantly less likely to get into medical school (67% or less depending on how low the MCAT is).
 
You've checked all the boxes, or will have by the time you apply. Special Olympics would be "volunteer, non-clinical" as mentioned earlier and that's good.

With a 4.0 and sGPA of 3.98, anything less than a 30 on the MCAT is "below average". Take as many practice tests as possible and don't take the exam unless you are sure you are ready. If you are sick, cancel or void the test. Most applicants with gpa of >=3.8 score 30 or higher on the MCAT and they have an 80+% chance of being admitted to a medical school. Applicants with an MCAT below 30 (with gpa >=3.8) are significantly less likely to get into medical school (67% or less depending on how low the MCAT is).

Do the chances drop significantly because low MCAT and high GPA are a bad combo? Or is it some other factor?
 
Nothing wrong with not taking many hours some semesters as long as you can show that you're spending the rest of your time wisely.

Do the chances drop significantly because low MCAT and high GPA are a bad combo? Or is it some other factor?

You may want to look at the AAMC MCAT and GPA grid. Low MCAT and high GPA are as bad a combo as high MCAT and low GPA.
 
thanks for all the responses.

1) meihua, all i had during semesters where i took lighter # of credit hours were a volunteering commitment (4 hrs/ wk) and tutoring (2 hrs/ wk), but i received academic credit for the tutoring (1 cr).
but the schedules themselves, although light in hours, were not by any means light in coursework. i.e. upper level biochems and orgo/ phys

2) i understand this question may be more appropriately deposited in the MCAT threads, but i was hoping i could get some feedback here. what do medical schools expect you to be doing while prepping for the mcat. i have set aside about three months this summer solely for MCAT prep, save for 6 hrs/wk occupied by two volunteer activities. is this okay?

and i fully expect to score 30+, just included a low limit for perspective

thanks!
 
thanks for all the responses.

2) i understand this question may be more appropriately deposited in the MCAT threads, but i was hoping i could get some feedback here. what do medical schools expect you to be doing while prepping for the mcat. i have set aside about three months this summer solely for MCAT prep, save for 6 hrs/wk occupied by two volunteer activities. is this okay?

and i fully expect to score 30+, just included a low limit for perspective

thanks!

How many hours a day are you planning on studying during these three months?
 
i don't know lol. i'm following SN2's schedule. anyone follow this schedule? i'm thinking maybe 4-6 hrs a day. i might look for part time job
 
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