MD WAMC pls help kinda scared high 3.6 aiming 515+mcat

[someone9820]

I feel like I suck compared to other premeds so pls tell me if i do or not

Clinical volunteering: currently have 200 hours, probs will have 300 before matriculating if I get in this cycle, EMT volunteer since freshman year, now a junior
NonClinical: 432, will have 792 before matriculating, president of a club that runs a soup kitchen for 1.5 years
Shadowing: 12 hours RIP but I got some gigs planned hope to have 50-60 before matriculating
Research: 200 rn 300 before matriculating is the hope, was in 1 lab soph year, quit and joined a new one

Taking mcat 4/13, aiming 515+

My university GPA is a 3.7but due to classes taken in high school and one unfortunate 9 credit hour class taken through community college, it drops down to a 3.65 sad but my sGPA is around a high 3.6

Let me know your thoughts! Also--any school recommendations? IL resident

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Faha]

Post your MCAT score here when available in May and we can give you a list of schools to apply to. Try and accumulate 50 hours of shadowing before you submit your application.

 

[DrRiker]

Second the above. Hours accumulated after you submit the primary are essentially meaningless, especially for shadowing, which is supposed to inform your decision to apply in the first place.

 

[someone9820]

Thanks! My ECs are mediocre otherwise...is it worth applying this cycle even if I do achieve my goal MCAT score? I'm not aiming for top 5 schools, I just want to get in somewhere. I'm hoping to go to an MD school.

 

[DrRiker]

The question is how many hours of each will you have when you apply. Also, do you include the EMT volunteering in your current count of clinical volunteering?

Whether or not you apply this cycle is a personal question that depends mostly on your finances. Gap years are also a good time for personal growth. If you do apply now, continue preparing under the assumption that you will have to reapply, just to be safe.

Everything you present is more or less cookie cutter. Apply to your state schools and OOS private schools that approximately match your stats. Your non-clinical volunteering is probably your strongest point right now.

That MCAT score has potential to make or break your application.

 

[candbgirl]

Do you have the MSAR? If not buy it and use it to develop your school list. You should have DO schools on your list too. What do you mean by a “high 3.6”? 3.6 is actually a little below average for MD matriculates. The average is 3.7x and goes up every year. That’s why you should include DO schools .

 

[someone9820]

When I submit my primaries I will have 500 NC, hopefully 250 Clinical (EMT hours included, plus a semester of hospital volunteering which I did not enjoy, that is why I became a certified EMT), 280 Research (did a lab last year, toxic environment so had to quit, in another lab this year but things are going slow so I wasn't able to get as many hours as I wanted to), 50 Shadowing. I do understand they look cookie cutter on paper...however I do know I can talk passionately and meaningfully about them --they have helped form my drive to become a physician, so hopefully that helps.

I will also have worked as a TA for General Chemistry for a class of high achieving, but underserved students for 300 hours at the time of primaries

I do have MSAR, and I will formulate my school list once I get my MCAT score, and by high 3.6 I mean a 3.68

I know I will take a gap year if I have to...but I would prefer not to, although I do understand that gap years allow for a great amount of growth. Finances are rough but I'm looking for guidance on how to get in *this* cycle.