What are my chances with out shadowing?

[skijumpbump]

I submitted my AMCAS last night at ~ 2:00 am, my transcripts have been received and processed and I am now just waiting for my application to be verified. I am getting somewhat nervous that I do not have any shadowing experience on my app. I do have a good amount of clinical volunteer work where I have seen doctor-patient interaction, yet I lack actual formal shadowing experience. Also an 8 on my MCAT may be a deal breaker and my GPA is a little low. My stats are:

-MCAT: 8PS, 11VR, 11BS
-UG GPA: 3.59
-BCMP GPA: 3.52
- ~100 hours Emergency Department Volunteering
- ~ 40 hours managing a free health clinic
- Many research experiences in neurobiology through all 4 years of college no publications, several poster talks.
- played rugby in college
- currently doing tumor immunology work at large medical school

So what do you think my chances are at these schools?

Creighton University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School
George Washington University
Jefferson Medical College
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin
Michigan State University
New York Medical College
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine
Rush Medical College
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
The University of Toledo College of Medicine
The University of Vermont College of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
Uniformed Services University of the Health Science
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine

Thanks!

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[abcabc1]

Shadowing experience means nothing. Don't worry about it. Shadowing doesn't even give you any idea of what being a Doc is like anyway. You won't be able to get that until your third year and even that is only semi-accurate.

The 8 in VR does hurt. Considering it's in PS, you should be able to bring it up. IMO, it's much easier to go from 8->9 in PS than VR.

Which state are you a Resident of? VA? You have a lot of public schools. Eliminate the ones that are not from your home state: EVMS, MSU, PSU, Temple, Toledo, VCU and WVU. Vermont does tend to take many OOS, so you can keep it.

It's going to be tough for you, but give it a shot! You may want to take the MCAT again, in case things don't work out. Good luck.

 

[SketchLazy]

Shadowing is pretty inane. However it does matter to some schools out there even if you have a lot of clinical experience besides shadowing. If you can find someone to shadow, you should try to get some in before interview time. That would open you up to more of the schools that see shadowing as a prerequisite experience.

 

[skijumpbump]

I don't know if I made it clear but the 8 on my MCAT is in the PS section not the VR. Is this the PS section the worst to have low, I think that it has the highest average score for matriculants? I took the MCAT twice and this is my second score. I went up from a 26 to a 30. The catch is that my PS score stayed an 8, so I don't think taking the test again to raise this one section will do me any good as I don't think I can improve much upon 11 in the other 2 sections.

 

[abcabc1]

Raising your PS to 9 would help. There's no single section that is 'better' or 'worse' to do poorly in, but I would feel more comfortable about having to raise PS or BS than VR.

 

[Kaydubz]

Shadowing is pretty inane. However it does matter to some schools out there even if you have a lot of clinical experience besides shadowing. If you can find someone to shadow, you should try to get some in before interview time. That would open you up to more of the schools that see shadowing as a prerequisite experience.

Anyone have an idea of which schools do see shadowing as a prerequisite experience?

 

[bozz]

Some schools admissions directors (I forget which.. this was last year) explicitly say you need to have shadowing experience.

 

[skijumpbump]

Does anyone know if you don't have shadowing on your AMCAS you are screened out? After reading this I plan on doing some ASAP but my AMCAS is already in so I can't tell schools about it here. I know that some secondarys have a place to put your work/activities again, but if others don't there will be no way of schools knowing that I have done some shadowing since submitting my AMCAS. Should this go in a secondary prompt?

 

[SketchLazy]

Does anyone know if you don't have shadowing on your AMCAS you are screened out? After reading this I plan on doing some ASAP but my AMCAS is already in so I can’t tell schools about it here. I know that some secondarys have a place to put your work/activities again, but if others don’t there will be no way of schools knowing that I have done some shadowing since submitting my AMCAS. Should this go in a secondary prompt?

I don't know if I was screened out for not having shadowing experience but I heard nothing but silence from most of my schools. Pretty much all the schools I applied to had a space in the secondaries where you could add anything you wanted, even the schools that don't require essays like UCSF. And if you don't add it there, you can always include it in an update letter or a letter of interest.

 

[Phoenix.]

Does anyone know if you don't have shadowing on your AMCAS you are screened out? After reading this I plan on doing some ASAP but my AMCAS is already in so I can't tell schools about it here. I know that some secondarys have a place to put your work/activities again, but if others don't there will be no way of schools knowing that I have done some shadowing since submitting my AMCAS. Should this go in a secondary prompt?

I had a 30 MCAT, an 8 in PS, NO shadowing, and the only school that screened me out was Wake Forest (see my mdapps to see the schools I applied to). But WF seems to be REALLY random about their screening process, so I would take that with a grain of salt. Just put together the best app you can, and I think you'll do well in this process.

 

[Dendrite]

I had a 30 MCAT, an 8 in PS, NO shadowing, and the only school that screened me out was Wake Forest (see my mdapps to see the schools I applied to). But WF seems to be REALLY random about their screening process, so I would take that with a grain of salt. Just put together the best app you can, and I think you'll do well in this process.

With Wake Forest, I hear the admissions department wants to see that you are interested before they send out the secondaries. Sending a letter or giving them a call before they make their decision on sending you a secondary would help. I don't think a lack of shadowing would be the end-all in their case.

 

[Phoenix.]

With Wake Forest, I hear the admissions department wants to see that you are interested before they send out the secondaries. Sending a letter or giving them a call before they make their decision on sending you a secondary would help. I don't think a lack of shadowing would be the end-all in their case.

I absolutely agree. Thanks for the insight into their screening process. I really thought that the "why us" essay was traditionally a part of the secondary, and thus really couldn't make heads or tails of why they screened out those of us that they did. Bygones.