I have some unusual circumstances - I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2010 with honors, double major in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology & Biology: Neuroscience, then did TFA in Baltimore for one year because I was pushed out for budgetary reasons (as a first year teacher in BCPS, I didn't have tenure - also happened to 10% of the 2010 TFA corps, got my principal to write an explanation letter to go with my application).
Didn't want to apply in the 2011 cycle, as my credentials are not amazing and I was unemployed. In the meantime, did an extra semester of work at the Univ. of Maryland (15 credits, all As) and have been teaching MCAT classes with Kaplan since '10. I just started a position at the NIH as a post-bacc IRTA in a neuroanatomy lab.
First time I took the MCAT, got a 29. My scores expired this year, so I took it again got a 34.
My GPA isn't great because I got bad grades freshman year, but have gotten A/A- since then, with loaded credit hours.
Also, I did a summer of shadowing with a neurologist, as well as shadowing with an ER physician during the school year for a semester. Was a TA for Physics of the Brain, and also President of the Iranian Cultural Society for 2 years.
Besides my work with TFA, did 100+ hours of community service during school, plus 3 years of research and an honors thesis with a psychology lab. Also some other biological research gigs here and there.
I want to know what my chances would be at a top school (Wash U says they accept 1/5 of Wash U undergrads), any advice on which schools to apply to (Maryland is my home state), and how to explain all these unusual circumstances without sounding like I'm making excuses! Any advice would be appreciated - I will be applying this cycle (June 2012).
Didn't want to apply in the 2011 cycle, as my credentials are not amazing and I was unemployed. In the meantime, did an extra semester of work at the Univ. of Maryland (15 credits, all As) and have been teaching MCAT classes with Kaplan since '10. I just started a position at the NIH as a post-bacc IRTA in a neuroanatomy lab.
First time I took the MCAT, got a 29. My scores expired this year, so I took it again got a 34.
My GPA isn't great because I got bad grades freshman year, but have gotten A/A- since then, with loaded credit hours.
Also, I did a summer of shadowing with a neurologist, as well as shadowing with an ER physician during the school year for a semester. Was a TA for Physics of the Brain, and also President of the Iranian Cultural Society for 2 years.
Besides my work with TFA, did 100+ hours of community service during school, plus 3 years of research and an honors thesis with a psychology lab. Also some other biological research gigs here and there.
I want to know what my chances would be at a top school (Wash U says they accept 1/5 of Wash U undergrads), any advice on which schools to apply to (Maryland is my home state), and how to explain all these unusual circumstances without sounding like I'm making excuses! Any advice would be appreciated - I will be applying this cycle (June 2012).