My GPA is 3.8. My science GPA is 4.0. I have no clinical experience as of yet, but I have probably 100 hours of volunteer time on campus at my university and some shadowing. I'm a history major and made this decision recently, too recently to rack up stats needed. MCAT practice tests around 36 with 14-15s in verbal reasoning common. A true humanities person with a strong background in science. My school of choice is Cooper Medical. I love Camden and want to learn and practice there. I love surgery because I love tools. I'm a full time union worker, working on pharmaceuticals and medical devices. I'm a fine woodworker, a clothes designer and assembler, a designer and assembler of musical effects. I can't even stress how badly I want this. It's a lump in my throat constantly, getting worse and worse. Is a year long enough to rack up the extracurriculars I need clinically? I have access to a family practice doctor I can shadow and also 3 local hospitals to volunteer at.
Should I wait a year?
- Thread starter Dom D
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wait a year. Get good recs (preferably someone you've shadowed or from a clinical experience). do clincal work. show that you know what you're getting yourself into.
Oh and take the real MCAT, see what you get.
I would say 6 months in, evaluate and take stock
what have you learned?
is this something you want to do?
Oh and take the real MCAT, see what you get.
I would say 6 months in, evaluate and take stock
what have you learned?
is this something you want to do?
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How do you know you want to be a doctor? You haven't really exposed yourself enough to the field to know if it's something you can do for the rest of your life (in great debt too). You really need to beef up your ECs.
I think you should take the MCAT as soon as possible since you're scoring so high. This way, you won't have to take the new MCAT when it comes out.
Your GPA is great. Have you taken all of the prereqs necessary?
Also, troll?
I think you should take the MCAT as soon as possible since you're scoring so high. This way, you won't have to take the new MCAT when it comes out.
Your GPA is great. Have you taken all of the prereqs necessary?
Also, troll?
Yes. It took me being forced to work full time and not go to school to realize how dumb easy going to school is.
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Then you better get some clinical experience, some shadowing, possibly some leadership experience and something else that won't make your application look so cookie cutter, and you have 3 months to do it so you better get to work.
People with extremely high stats and little to no extracurricular activities are the reason why high stat applicants get rejected every year.
Also are you from NJ? Even if you are from NJ it will be hard to get into Cooper just because it's a fairly new school so theres only going to be 60-70 seats for a lot of applicants. On top of that-- showing compassion and help to underserved communities is of great importance to them since they serve the area of Camden. I believe that's even in their mission statement. If you don't have any work that deals with underserved communities, then it will be even more difficult to get in. If you are not from NJ and you're applying with the resume you have now, then it will be very difficult. Your stats are ONE component of your application. Theres more than 5 others you need to get together.
So not only do you need to shadow, get clinical experience, a leadership position etc.. It would be wise to get some community service to the poor since that is the mission of the school and they will want to accept students that fit into that mission. Just saying on your application that you want to serve underserved communities will not help as much because everyone applying to that school will put that in their secondaries because they know that's what Cooper wants to hear. Heck, I'm gonna emphasize my work with the underserved on my application when applying to that school, even though work with the underserved isn't my top priority.
I don't think it's impossible to do all of this before you apply, but it's going to be a difficult and extremely busy 3 months for you.
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This year, you're a 'stat *****' applicant with risky chances due to your marginal ECs, but I'd bet you could get into a mid-tier school somewhere (probably more than 1) if you interview well.
Next Year, with 16 months of beefy ECs, you've got the potential to be a top-flight applicant with the ability to choose between several top-20 schools with competing financial aid packages.
How big a hurry are you in?
