MD sGPA 3.63 cGPA 3.79 Kaplan 504, MCAT in one week.

[optimisticallypassingorgo]

Would really appreciate any help and feedback. Be brutal.

• Year in school: Sophmore (senior in standing, I took community college classes while I was homeschooled in highschool) with major in Biology, minor is psychology.
• Country/state of residence: Illinois
• Schools to which you are applying: UIC, Rush, Loyala, Rosalind-Franklin, Northwestern, Medical College of Wisconsin
• Cumulative GPA: 3.79
• Science GPA: 3.63
• MCAT Scores: Taking it June 2nd.
• Research – 200+ hours at cancer lab. Poster presentation + publication (6th author). My data has been used in other presentations as well (don't know if that is relevant).
• Volunteering (clinical) – 90 hours at a local hospital in cardiopulmoary and emergency department
• Physician shadowing – 5 hours oncologist, 30 hours internal medicine doc
• Non-clinical volunteering: TA/teacher at a private religious institution since before highschool. ~400 hours in freshman/sophomore year alone. Worked with kids ages 5-11.
• Extracurricular activities: Organized a week long Syrian Awareness campaign at my school. Numerous lecture events + raised money for refugees. Worked on this for at least 5 hours/week for an entire semester.
• Employment history - Research was work study.
• Immediate family members in medicine?: No
• Specialty of interest: Getting into medical school
• Interest in rural health: No

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[ATPsynthase123]

You need more shadowing, i recommend a surgeon. sadly you and i are in similar boats. I cant get with family practice or internal medicine to save my life.

Also, MCAT projection is a little low. 504 corrresponds to the 64th percentile, from what i have heard 508 is the equivalent of 30 on the old MCAT. I dont know how true this is because no schools have released the last application cycles MCAT data, but it seems to be a recurring trend with the Kaplan MCAT FL.

So that is the bad MCAT news. The good news is i have heard that Kaplan deflates scores and makes the exams more difficult, so people are scoring 5-10 points better on the actual exam than what they did. dont count on it, but that is a tiny relief.

Volunteering is good. Research is a plus. community outreach is great.

All of that will help you, but i think that your shadowing will be a minor issue and your big issue is that if you score 504 on the MCAT you may be a little on the low side. Again, i have no way to verify this as literally no medical school has posted data and my Pre-Med advisors just tell me "shoot for the 500 range".

If you dont score high enough on the MCAT your GPA and extra curriculars will be great, but you may lose out to students who performed better

 

[7331poas]

The shadowing is fine.

I disagree with the above guy a bit. Your clinical experience is basically minimal. 90 hours is not a lot at all. You have put yourself at a disadvantage because you are only spending 2 years in college.

Research is OK as well. 300 hours is less than a full summer in the lab. Not sure how adcoms will see that.

Your application kind of hinges on how well you sell the syrian deal as well as the teaching experience.

The MCAT is low as well. I dunno man. My recommendation is more clinical work, more significant lab involvement, and working to bring your MCAT up more.

 

[optimisticallypassingorgo]

The shadowing is fine.

I disagree with the above guy a bit. Your clinical experience is basically minimal. 90 hours is not a lot at all. You have put yourself at a disadvantage because you are only spending 2 years in college.

Research is OK as well. 300 hours is less than a full summer in the lab. Not sure how adcoms will see that.

Your application kind of hinges on how well you sell the syrian deal as well as the teaching experience.

The MCAT is low as well. I dunno man. My recommendation is more clinical work, more significant lab involvement, and working to bring your MCAT up more.

I agree with you, I feel my clinical experience is very borderline.

As for the syrian deal, I talked about how it influenced my decision to become a physician in my ps (I'd love to have your thoughts on it. mind if I pm you the google doc?). We actually had a physician from a NGO specifically dedicated to Syria come and give a talk. Don't know about the teaching experience though. Leadership?

I actually spent an entire summer as well as a full semester (~14 hours/week in the summer and ~10/week in the winter ) in the lab I worked at and I guess my actual time is closer to 300, maybe a bit less. I just low-balled it.

My time on sdn is my only break from studying. I'm going back in forth between 'I've improved by 3 points within the past few days' to 'I don't know what the hell I'm doing'. As for clinical, I'm hoping to actually spend some time volunteering at a hospice instead of a hospital this summer. Will that have any effect on my app?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[optimisticallypassingorgo]

You need more shadowing, i recommend a surgeon. sadly you and i are in similar boats. I cant get with family practice or internal medicine to save my life.

Also, MCAT projection is a little low. 504 corrresponds to the 64th percentile, from what i have heard 508 is the equivalent of 30 on the old MCAT. I dont know how true this is because no schools have released the last application cycles MCAT data, but it seems to be a recurring trend with the Kaplan MCAT FL.

So that is the bad MCAT news. The good news is i have heard that Kaplan deflates scores and makes the exams more difficult, so people are scoring 5-10 points better on the actual exam than what they did. dont count on it, but that is a tiny relief.

Volunteering is good. Research is a plus. community outreach is great.

All of that will help you, but i think that your shadowing will be a minor issue and your big issue is that if you score 504 on the MCAT you may be a little on the low side. Again, i have no way to verify this as literally no medical school has posted data and my Pre-Med advisors just tell me "shoot for the 500 range".

If you dont score high enough on the MCAT your GPA and extra curriculars will be great, but you may lose out to students who performed better

I really hope kaplan is deflating it. Going to take the AAMC FL tomorrow or the day after so I'll see how that turns out. I am for sure aiming for more than a 504. That would not look good with my sGPA.

Basically it all hinges on the MCAT. I'm gonna stop replying and go take another FL.