What are my chances? Id like a survey of opinions if i get a high/low mcat

unfortunately, while no one would ever disparage your GPA normally, the unfortunate fact is that how hard a college is remains completely subjective. therefore, med schools do not really care what your undergrad is and to be honest I don't think it should make a difference.

with that in mind, your GPA is kind of on the low side. It's going to be a slight disadvantage for you as you can't use it to compensate for other weak areas of your application. What I see listed so far is shadowing and research. Did you manage to get published? In either case, you fine in those cases.

Do you have any other extracurriculars though? I ask b/c outside of your grades and LOR's, there's not much left to look outside of the MCAT. It will definitely make or break you. If you cannot get beyond a 30+, then I would heavily suggest looking at DO schools in addition to MD schools. Regardless, UC schools are notoriously difficult to get into, even for people with exceptional stats. As with all California applicants, you must apply out of state and broadly. Get back on the forums when you get back your MCAT score. It might be prudent to take another year to improve your app depending on your circumstances then.

Although you have shadowed that seems to be your only clinical experience. The grades are poor and you will probably need 32+ on the MCAT to make up for your grades. It's not that they are abysmal grades, but they are below average. If you do not do so hot on the MCAT I would recommend applying DO. If you can bring that Verbal score up and get 32+ I would apply very broadly for MD.

I'd suggest you spend another year raising your GPA, adding a second year of research before you apply, and start volunteering in a clinical environment ASAP, as the average person has 1.5 years of such experience on theri application (and shadowing, being apassive observership, doesn't cover that expectation).

Being in a leadership program doesn't help you, but exerting leadership qualities does. I'd suggest assuming some responsibility, possibly in the reading program you mentioned, which is your strongest EC so far, and which makes you strong in teaching as well (another desirable activity). If you do this right, it could be the special "hook" you need to get into a California med school. Make a difference. That's what they're looking for,

Most schools will take a look at your GPA in the context of where you went to school, a > 3.5 from Cal is pretty good.

I think a 32-33 would make you competitive for med schools in general, for UCs you're gonna want a 35+

bannie22 said:

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good thing grammar is not necessary except for SOAPs....

i don't think it's that hard to get above a 3.5 as a science major in CA. certain majors are harder than others but I don't think bio is extremely difficult.