Trying to Plan Ahead

[rss1080]

Hi, I am wondering what you guys think my chances will be. I am currently a sophomore and want to know if there is anything else that I can do to help my chances of getting into a medical school. I currently attend VCU and my major is chemistry and minor is biology. Seeing people with 1000+ hours of volunteering really worries me, especially because of how small my numbers look and I would really like to know opinions and improvements I can do.

GPA: Right now 4.0 but just to be safe assume 3.9.

MCAT:32 is my minimum goal so assume that.

Ethnicity: White male

EC: I should have ~240 hours of volunteering in the hospital by end of senior, I get about 60 a year. I get about 2 hours a week at the hospital of volunteering. Will this be enough? I should also have from 150-200 hours of shadowing in whatever specialties are available by the end of my senior year too, not sure about when I will be able to shadow or for how long, I need to hear back from the volunteer coordinator.
I am part of a nonclinical volunteer organization and hold a board position.
During breaks I work as a delivery driver and work at a large stadium selling beer and stuff.

If I keep this up will this be enough? I am not too keen on research, as I would much rather interact with people and help them directly than work in a lab. How important do you think research is and what other things should I consider doing or will holding steady be good enough?

Schools I want to apply to, in no particular order because I just want to get into a medical school and will pick and choose after the fact (I am aware that some of the schools are unatainable but I just put it on the list anyway, let me know what you think of the list and what I can add):

VCU
UVA
Virginia Tech
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Georgetown
George Washington
University of North Carolina
Duke
Brody School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine
West Virginia University
Johns Hopkins
University of Maryland
Medical University of South Carolina
Penn State
University of Pernnsylvania

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[md-2020]

There is not reason to plan so far ahead.

The MCAT is no longer on the 45 scale.

Lots of high GPA folks trip up over the MCAT, so saying "minimum of 32" is dicey.

I don't know what state you're from but there are definitely OOS publics on your list that you shouldn't be applying to.

Focus on doing well in school first, a 4.0 freshman year honestly isn't a good indicator that you'll ace the next couple of years.

Good luck!

Hi, I am wondering what you guys think my chances will be. I am currently a sophomore and want to know if there is anything else that I can do to help my chances of getting into a medical school. I currently attend VCU and my major is chemistry and minor is biology. Seeing people with 1000+ hours of volunteering really worries me, especially because of how small my numbers look and I would really like to know opinions and improvements I can do.

GPA: Right now 4.0 but just to be safe assume 3.9.

MCAT:32 is my minimum goal so assume that.

Ethnicity: White male

EC: I should have ~240 hours of volunteering in the hospital by end of senior, I get about 60 a year. I get about 2 hours a week at the hospital of volunteering. Will this be enough? I should also have from 150-200 hours of shadowing in whatever specialties are available by the end of my senior year too, not sure about when I will be able to shadow or for how long, I need to hear back from the volunteer coordinator.
I am part of a nonclinical volunteer organization and hold a board position.
During breaks I work as a delivery driver and work at a large stadium selling beer and stuff.

If I keep this up will this be enough? I am not too keen on research, as I would much rather interact with people and help them directly than work in a lab. How important do you think research is and what other things should I consider doing or will holding steady be good enough?

Schools I want to apply to, in no particular order because I just want to get into a medical school and will pick and choose after the fact (I am aware that some of the schools are unatainable but I just put it on the list anyway, let me know what you think of the list and what I can add):

VCU
UVA
Virginia Tech
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Georgetown
George Washington
University of North Carolina
Duke
Brody School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine
West Virginia University
Johns Hopkins
University of Maryland
Medical University of South Carolina
Penn State
University of Pernnsylvania

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Research is a bonus but not as important as clinical experience and shadowing.

If you want to know what the chances are for someone with stats that aren't yours you can look at other threads. It's pretty silly for people to tell you what "your" chances are with a made-up GPA, MCAT, volunteering, shadowing and clinical experience. That's the entire application. Just keep reading general advice threads and do as much volunteering as you can handle while keeping up your GPA.

 

[rss1080]

I honestly wasnt sure if people on the forum have totally switched over so I figured go old to be safe but hopefully 460+ on the new one. Also I am ahead and have completed orgo which seems to be the big struggle with people, and these are my goals, could I get lower, absolutley but always aim for what you want is my thinking. And I am a Virginia resident, so that should answer most of your questions.

 

[md-2020]

I honestly wasnt sure if people on the forum have totally switched over so I figured go old to be safe but hopefully 460+ on the new one. Also I am ahead and have completed orgo which seems to be the big struggle with people, and these are my goals, could I get lower, absolutley but always aim for what you want is my thinking. And I am a Virginia resident, so that should answer most of your questions.

Stop worrying, especially if you think "460+" is even possible/good. Couldn't help myself, that was pretty funny You will have plenty of time to obsess over that next year and the year after that.

The lowest score on the new MCAT is a 472, fyi. A 32 is roughly a 512.


But again, stop caring about this right now.

 

[rss1080]

Well I guess my lack of looking into the new MCAT scores shows haha but thats not something im worried about right now. I guess the goal of this post is to see if I am headed in the right direction because now would be the time to start adding things and fix it, instead of a year or two down the line. In that respect do you have any suggestions?