What are my chances? (3.71 cGPA, 3.57 sGPA, no MCAT)

[shazil808]

Hello, I was wondering what my chances are with my current cGPA being 3.71 and my sGPA being 3.57.

I haven't taken my MCAT yet, but I plan to do so in April after preparing for it this Spring. I'm typically not great at standardized tests, so I'd be aiming for at least a 505 and I will do my very best to get a 510+.

Currently, my EC's are somewhat weak because I have to work full time to not only pay for my education at a small state school in Texas, but also pay the bills.

My Degree is BS in Biology w/ Second Major in Chemistry & a Minor in Political Science (I need 2 more classes to graduate = May 2016 Graduation)


Currently my EC's are:
- 140 Hrs. of Volunteering at a Hospital
- 25 Hrs. Volunteering in an Emergency Room
- 100 Hrs. Shadowing Surgeons, Nurses, and other Health Care Providers (in High School)
- Member of Medical & Dental Preparatory Association
- Member of Chemistry & Biochemistry Society
- 20 Hrs. of Shadowing a Primary Care Physician (Present)
- A few LoR from Political Science Professors.
- Multiple Scholarships from the University

- I have no Research Experience at this point. (I will hopefully get some in the Spring Semester, but I'm afraid it will hurt my MCAT prep)
- Hopefully I can get a LoR from my University's Health Professional Committee but they are supposedly set to change their sGPA cutoff to 3.6, a requirement that I won't meet. I've talked to the head of the Committee, and he says that he is still not sure if they will be changing the cutoff from 3.5 to 3.6, but that he will know soon.

Like I've said, I have a strong Assistant Manager position that pays extremely well, but with the pay comes a bunch of responsibilities which doesn't leave me with much time to do things outside of class. This has also hindered my ability to get strong LoR's. An excuse, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Also, to point this out, I am a DACA applicant (Asian) which leaves me with limited options as far as Medical Schools are concerned. At this point, I can only apply to:

UNTHSC/ TCOM (DO)
Loyola (Stritch) School of Medicine
University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Any advice or input whatsoever would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[jwilliams1993]

You definitely have a competitive application! The best advice I can give you is to apply early as you can, have your letters together WAY before you need them, and really give the MCAT every ounce of effort you have. I would definitely try to get some research in if you can. See if your school lets you build it in as a course for credit. Some research is better than no research.

 

[MD2BE92]

^I disagree. Take it from me as a reapplicant, your stats are very borderline. EC's are like the icing on the cake but not really a tipping factor. (More hurt if you don't have good ones than help if you do, is how adcoms have explained to me) Really buckle down to make all As for the final stretch to make whatever impact you can on your gpa and ABSOLUTELY DEDICATE yourself to the MCAT. 80th percentile and above is doable.

 

[holidayblend]

If DACA is the only reason why you are limited to those three schools...check out this list of 20+ schools that will accept DACA students. I think it's super important to apply to at least 8 schools to increase your chances of getting in.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...38d8cbe3-1f99-4a04-b01e-a9a34a1dc797/daca.pdf

 

[LaPola19_MD]

Have you thought of taking a gap year so that you could have more time to study and prepare for mcat and build more meaningful experiences?? Based on your post I will recommend that. Also there are other schools that accept daca students. The list of schools in the previous post is not accurate as some of the schools in that list dont truly accept daca students. For more info and resources go to prehealth dreamers website. Good luck!!