nontraditional 3.71 GPA 3.79 sciGPA 32Q

Your primary application looks to be very good just as you are, with above-the-median-acceptee numbers, and both nice longevity and nice variety for clinical experience. Your research time is good, you've got Teaching with the HIV prevention counseling, some shadowing (though twice as much of the latter would be nice to see) and a bit of nonmedical community service, too. Doing Teach for America would be icing on the cake, though I'm not sure of the requirements for gaining NY residency, but you'd want to be careful that your MCAT score doesn't expire. Maybe a one-year gig for Americorps would be more wise, unless you plan to gain an acceptance and then defer matriculation.

Two stumbling blocks might be getting strong LORs, and then doing well in the interview, considering the shyness you mention. Sad to say, you could be a powerhouse in every way and not get an acceptance if you interview poorly and come across as socially inept. To avoid this, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Get interview questions from SDN's interview feedback section and give the list to employers, teachers, friends, parents, and med school acceptee friends, and ask them to grill you mercilessly while you paractice coming across and friendly and stress-free, with relaxed body language. A video tape of the sessions might help.

Look at a copy of the MSAR and research schools and their OOS acceptance rate, whether they allow deferrals, costs, geography, etc. When you have a list, we'd be happy to critique it. OHSU gives preference to the WICHE program people and OOS MD/PhD, MD/MPH OOSers before they consider high achieving other OOSers, so it may not be your best, surest choice to stay near the west coast.

Some more shadowing. Work on those LoRs, professors are notoriously SLOW in completing them (and some will just outright forget/ignore you).

Overall, I like your profile, and your MCAT shows that you're smart enough to handle medical school. The nontraditional major is nice too.

you look to be in good shape, mcat and gpa will get you interviews

but during your interviews they dont matter, all that matters are your ECs so have something good to talk about

singoutoftune said:

I am not convinced that her writing skills are competent based upon her occasional e-mail (misspelled words, poor sentence structure, inappropriate use of punctuation, etc.) ...I cringe at the thought of her well intentioned words not meeting a professional standard with my admittance on the table. Is there anyway that I can have it proofread without insulting her?

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There is no reason to agonize over your coordinator's inadequate writing skills. She is not the one being judged and her writing skills will not be held against you. Her glowing words of praise will no doubt shine through and add to your luster, however.

Most med schools don't ask for a volunteer letter. Are you being asked to provide one by your premed committee? In the latter case, I expect any exerpts used will be "cleaned up" when paraphrased within the body of the committee letter, anyway.

singoutoftune said:

To be honest I have never heard of anything like the committee you described. My advicers have told me to get the following LOR;

2 Science prof.
1 Humanities prof.
1 Shadow doc.
1 Research doc.
1 Volunteer/EC

The letter I had in mind was for the latter, as you might have guessed.
I know every MD school has slightly different requisites, but I was told this is the basic LOR template. Is that accurate?

Otherwise, thank you for clarifying my previous concern. One less thing to worry about.

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I think that list is comprehensive enough to cover every possible request any school can make, and it's good to be prepared. Sometimes you are allowed to send an elective letter to strengthen a school's impression of you, and then you get to pick one of the extras. But 2 science prof, one non-science prof and one PI letter are the usual basics asked for.

singoutoftune said:

Thank you all for the encouraging words. I really didn't know what to expect as I sometimes see similar numbers fed to the lions.

So I have another question that I hope someone could advice me on, and I will surely have more to come. I can see this being a common problem with LORs amongst premeds.

Here it is: One of the stronger relationships I have built is with the volunteer coordinator of the hospital where I accumulated 400 hours. She is a wonderful woman and should have quite a bit to write about me due a lot of initiative on my part to recruit and put in hours. The catch is that I am afraid she is not very highly educated--just an honest woman who has worked her way up the hospital system after highschool. Now I imagine MD schools don't expect to see an MD/PhD at the end of every signature, so it's not a matter of title. I am not convinced that her writing skills are competent based upon her occasional e-mail (misspelled words, poor sentence structure, inappropriate use of punctuation, etc.) I've noticed this to be quite common in middle-aged adults with less demanding, careers with little or no reading or writing involved.
Anyway, to get to the point, it would be a shame to not use her reference for such a superficial reason but I cringe at the thought of her well intentioned words not meeting a professional standard with my admittance on the table. I understand I am not allowed to see anything. Has anyone brought up this problem? Is there anyway that I can have it proofread without insulting her?

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She sounds like she would give you an excellent recommendation. Is there anyone who can edit her letters before sending it or even suggesting editing services for letters, especially if she is amenable to the idea.

As for more letters from your professors, write a page outlining your reasons for pursuing medicine and send it to them. Remind them of who you were in the class, etc. Even shy people get noticed. If you did very well in their class, they will only be too happy to write you a letter - we all want credit for other's success. Goodluck - You come across as a very mature and compassionate individual - I am sure you will do well in the cycle.