Rank my chances: Stanford, Fulbright, mediocre GPA

[DSM_302.0]

Hello friends,

Wondering what my chances are and if any of you experts might chime in? Here's a bit about my background:

First generation white college student attended Stanford, majored in Cultural Anthropology and Arabic. No premed. Overall GPA 3.6.

I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship that sent me to the Middle East for a year and a half, where I made a documentary film about Iraqi refugees. Was not medical focused. I also taught English and worked with LGBT activists (I'm gay too).

Then worked at a top-tier consulting firm (MBB) in the Middle East focused on their nonprofits / foundation practice.

Have been working at a tech startup for 2 years while chipping away at my postbac at UC Berkeley Extension. I am about halfway done and have gotten all A's except for an A- in Orgo I. I have a ~3.95 and don't expect I'd dip below a 3.75 for the Postbac, hopefully will keep it closer to its current state.

Early next year I plan on moving from marketing tech to working at a med tech startup for a year or two while I finish my postbac, and then I want to travel for a year to the Middle East to volunteer with MSF, likely in Palestine or Jordan.

I plan on taking two months to do nothing but study for the mcat and crush it. I tested well 12 years ago when taking the ACT/SAT. I'll be 30 in a few months.

I know I have some good credentials and accomplishments, but I also feel lagging in many respects. What tier schools should I be looking at? Any ways I can strengthen my profile? Thoughts, suggestions, comments welcome!

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[Goro]

Get the necessary clinical experience in and you're fine!!

 

[Dral]

The MCAT will likely be your determining factor. Take practice tests until you can't stand it anymore.

As Goro mentioned, be sure all your clinical experience, shadowing, and volunteer work are all accounted for. Some medical related research would be helpful if you have the time/motivation.

In response to your school list question:

I had a 3.89 GPA and 37 MCAT. I applied top heavy and got interviews at a lot of the places I applied to...U Chicago, UMich, UPenn, Pitt, Cornell, UVA, GWU. However that was around 10 years ago...things do change.

Either way, just apply with a good mix of high, middle, and low tier. Again, this will all depend on your MCAT results.

You'll likely be matriculating about the same time I did in my life. No real regrets here. Best of luck!

 

[NonTrad16]

You have a great app it seems, so I'll just reinforce the above: give the MCAT a very good effort. It can break an otherwise excellent application. Also, medically focused service and shadowing would be ideal, but ~100/~25 hrs would be something you can easily manage in a year, though longer volunteering durations are probably better. Nothing like 100s of hours is really necessary though.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Thanks for the tips, all!
I plan on doing service abroad with MSF -- does that count as 'shadowing' and clinical experience?

 

[Cawolf]

Thanks for the tips, all!
I plan on doing service abroad with MSF -- does that count as 'shadowing' and clinical experience?

It really depends on your role with them.

It likely will show your interest in medicine, but it may also be worthwhile to get some stateside exposure in.

 

[Dral]

It really depends on your role with them.

It likely will show your interest in medicine, but it may also be worthwhile to get some stateside exposure in.

Yes, you need to shadow doctors here in the US. Most graduates practice in the US and you should show adcoms you have done your due diligence in understanding how a doctor works day to day so you sorta understand what you are getting yourself into.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Thanks for the tips, all!

I started a nonprofit attached to the tech startup I worked at and got my company of ~400 people to participate in hundreds of hours of collective volunteering, and volunteered myself as well. Also, I spent many hours volunteering as a Fulbright scholar teaching English.

I am going to start shadowing my friend (ha, who is already an attending here in SF #nontradLife) in the ER. Would I also need to find some med volunteering as well? I am helllla busy with all my classes and full time job.

 

[trev5150]

Take practice tests until you can't stand it anymore.

This point will likely occur after your first practice test, but do it anyway.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Okay it's looking like I'll end up with a 3.8 science GPA and a 3.62 overall GPA. A's and A-'s in my postbac with one B in Orgo II (ha, screw orgo). We'll see how I end up with Biochem but my guess is A- but holycow this class is hard.

I am starting to volunteer at a hospice this week with a weekly commitment and will be shadowing my friend who is an attending ER doc at UCSF.

I won't take any classes in the spring and will focus as much as I can on the MCAT for a June application.

Am I missing anything?

 

[DrMidlife]

...then I want to travel for a year to the Middle East to volunteer with MSF, likely in Palestine or Jordan.

You may have first hand knowledge that trumps mine, but generally that's not how MSF works. Generally as a premed, even if you have fluency in a relevant language, you almost certainly don't have anything to offer MSF that will get you anywhere near medical work. Volunteer gigs with MSF are sometimes available at the admin offices, and aren't full time. There aren't admin offices in the field, they're in metro centers where there's an office labor force. Generally you can't volunteer in the field as a premed, because of what it costs to house/feed/train/secure a non-local. Until you have a professional skill that MSF wants to pay for, or until you live in a locale where you are available to serve as the equivalent of a local, MSF isn't for premeds. Generally premeds aren't actually helping anybody but themselves in an international "medical" experience, other than the tiny % of trip $ that stays in the local economy.

Generally any medical activity outside the US is not going to meet the med school requirement that you become familiar with how health care is delivered in the US. There are a minimum of 7 training years in US hospitals, during which you might build enormous debt obligations, before an international experience becomes central to your practice. Those between you and a med school acceptance have decades of experience with baseless idealism.

Point being: build that base.

If you played a nontrivial role in producing documentaries, I think there are almost limitless opportunities to produce seminal work covering US health care. RAM is an example of a well-documented phenomenon. Things that have maybe not been well covered yet: Kynect, private prison health care, Jencare, subsidies vs. copays & deductibles in the newly insured, Valeant, the 3rd year LARC experience. Generally as a med school interviewer I'd be effing stoked to meet a premed who has done relevant US healthcare journalism.

Pro tip: if you can still use the word "system" to talk about US healthcare, without finger quotes, you don't understand US healthcare.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DSM_302.0]

You may have first hand knowledge that trumps mine, but generally that's not how MSF works. Generally as a premed, even if you have fluency in a relevant language, you almost certainly don't have anything to offer MSF that will get you anywhere near medical work. Volunteer gigs with MSF are sometimes available at the admin offices, and aren't full time. There aren't admin offices in the field, they're in metro centers where there's an office labor force. Generally you can't volunteer in the field as a premed, because of what it costs to house/feed/train/secure a non-local. Until you have a professional skill that MSF wants to pay for, or until you live in a locale where you are available to serve as the equivalent of a local, MSF isn't for premeds. Generally premeds aren't actually helping anybody but themselves in an international "medical" experience, other than the tiny % of trip $ that stays in the local economy.

Generally any medical activity outside the US is not going to meet the med school requirement that you become familiar with how health care is delivered in the US. There are a minimum of 7 training years in US hospitals, during which you might build enormous debt obligations, before an international experience becomes central to your practice. Those between you and a med school acceptance have decades of experience with baseless idealism.

Point being: build that base.

If you played a nontrivial role in producing documentaries, I think there are almost limitless opportunities to produce seminal work covering US health care. RAM is an example of a well-documented phenomenon. Things that have maybe not been well covered yet: Kynect, private prison health care, Jencare, subsidies vs. copays & deductibles in the newly insured, Valeant, the 3rd year LARC experience. Generally as a med school interviewer I'd be effing stoked to meet a premed who has done relevant US healthcare journalism.

Pro tip: if you can still use the word "system" to talk about US healthcare, without finger quotes, you don't understand US healthcare.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you for such a thoughtful response, Dr. Midlife!

I had an interview with MSF a month ago, and they told me while they are impressed with the fact that I got **** done while living abroad and that I can speak Arabic, they agreed with what you just said: I don't have the necessary skills to be an employee with them. I was applying to be an HR coordinator or logistics 'generalist'. The only Arabic speakers they send abroad are those that are dual passport holders.

I'll be volunteering at Zen Hospice Project: http://zenhospice.org/. I started training yesterday. Feels so powerful already. I'll have lots of volunteer hours racked up by the time I apply, as well as some shadowing here in a US hospital. But I'd be honored to volunteer here even if I weren't applying to medical school.

The topics you mentioned about other documentary work are all super interesting! And those I don't know all that much about. I love the idea of blending my interests and skills after residency in a career of civic engagement and activism.

I'm going to keep your note about the US healthcare 'system' in mind. What do you call it? The US Healthcare economy? The healthcare markets? Capitalist exploitation of perpetual disease instead of a more ideal system without a profit motive ensuring the health and wellbeing of a nation?

Hope you have a great day and thanks for chatting.

 

[BombsAway]

You may have first hand knowledge that trumps mine, but generally that's not how MSF works. Generally as a premed, even if you have fluency in a relevant language, you almost certainly don't have anything to offer MSF that will get you anywhere near medical work. Volunteer gigs with MSF are sometimes available at the admin offices, and aren't full time. There aren't admin offices in the field, they're in metro centers where there's an office labor force. Generally you can't volunteer in the field as a premed, because of what it costs to house/feed/train/secure a non-local. Until you have a professional skill that MSF wants to pay for, or until you live in a locale where you are available to serve as the equivalent of a local, MSF isn't for premeds. Generally premeds aren't actually helping anybody but themselves in an international "medical" experience, other than the tiny % of trip $ that stays in the local economy.

Generally any medical activity outside the US is not going to meet the med school requirement that you become familiar with how health care is delivered in the US. There are a minimum of 7 training years in US hospitals, during which you might build enormous debt obligations, before an international experience becomes central to your practice. Those between you and a med school acceptance have decades of experience with baseless idealism.

Point being: build that base.

If you played a nontrivial role in producing documentaries, I think there are almost limitless opportunities to produce seminal work covering US health care. RAM is an example of a well-documented phenomenon. Things that have maybe not been well covered yet: Kynect, private prison health care, Jencare, subsidies vs. copays & deductibles in the newly insured, Valeant, the 3rd year LARC experience. Generally as a med school interviewer I'd be effing stoked to meet a premed who has done relevant US healthcare journalism.

Pro tip: if you can still use the word "system" to talk about US healthcare, without finger quotes, you don't understand US healthcare.

Best of luck to you.

I guess this post is as good as any to tell you that you're my favorite person on the internet.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Update! I got a 515. 127/128/129/131. Glad it's behind me but wish it were a little higher / more balanced.

 

[gyngyn]

Update! I got a 515. 127/128/129/131. Glad it's behind me but wish it were a little higher / more balanced.

It's good enough to get into several fine schools.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Thanks for the validation. I'm worried about that C/P subscore; it was lower than I scored on AAMC official materials. At this point, a retake would be silly, so nothing to do but wait to hear back on secondaries. Here's hoping for a stay in CA! Good luck to any reading.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Where should I apply? My dream is UCSF or UCLA.
I'm thinking of starting with all my state schools and some reaches:

UCSF
UCLA
OHSU
UCDavis
UCSD
UCIrvine
Michigan
Keck
Stanford (Donation to my alma mater?)
Columbia
Yale
University of Virginia
Dartmouth
Harvard (Donation?)
Chicago (Donation for sure)
NU (Donation?)
Brown
UNC

 

[gyngyn]

I count 5 schools where you have a fair to good chance at an interview.
A dozen would be better.