20 y.o. 30qmcat 3.6 g.p.a.

[younggun92]

Hey Y'all I'm wondering what you think...I have 500 hours of organic chemistry research, 1000 hours of organic chemistry tutoring, author of two journals, one involving a novel approach to cancer treatment with polylactic acids. I am a microbiology major with a 3.6 GPA and 100 hours of clinical experience and 5 solid letters of recommendation, 2 with organic professors I worked with, one from the orthopedic surgeon I shadowed, one from my german professor (I taught myself to fluency) and one from a bacterial physiology professor. I know my MCAT is not great but I took it when I was 18 and never took it again because I chose to do full time research instead. I've worked my whole life in restaurants, came from a household where everyone suffered mental illness (literally) and siblings who went to jail and none are college educated (I mentioned this in my secondaries). I applied to VTC school of medicine, USC SOM-Greenville, Emory, and Wake forest. I am a south carolina resident. Thank you...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[younggun92]

Bumpty Bump

 

[FrkyBgStok]

what exactly are you asking? how is your application season going thus far?

 

[younggun92]

I only have had one interview so far, from USC -Greenville. I've gotten secondaries from every school but am getting nervous that I haven't heard back from anyone else..I'm asking what are my chances all things considered? Also what else could I do to perhaps get schools attention in order to get an interview?

 

[younggun92]

Bump?

 

[Anathema]

What is the timeline of when you were completed and all that with the schools? Were those the only schools on your list?

 

[younggun92]

I completed every secondary except for vtcsom by september, I completed that one in mid october. I just sent in another secondary to musc. I had my primary in before august. so thats a total of five schools, five secodaries, 1 interview.

 

[CRCprofessional]

Why didn't you apply to USC (Cola)? Seems like you would be competitive for in-state USC and MUSC...

 

[younggun92]

As pretentious as it sounds, I knew I would never want to go there and applied to other schools where I would be about as competitive.

 

[mcloaf]

As pretentious as it sounds, I knew I would never want to go there and applied to other schools where I would be about as competitive.

Not pretentious; applying to schools that you wouldn't actually attend puts you in an awful situation of it's the only place you're accepted and wastes a lot of time for many people.

 

[CRCprofessional]

As pretentious as it sounds, I knew I would never want to go there and applied to other schools where I would be about as competitive.

Understandable. USC is definitely not one of my top choices either, and my scores are below average...

 

[younggun92]

would I be competitive at any other (non-SC) schools? Also I won a minority achievement award because I'm 1/8-1/16 cherokee (but so is everyone else it seems....)

 

[dontdothat317]

You're funny.

Your ECs seem very strong and your GPA is competitive. Your MCAT is also not too bad. I got a 30R and that was 74th-80th percentile, so I certainly wouldn't say that's crap even if it's not what I was hoping for.

I think you're competitive, but it certainly hurts you that you didn't apply broadly to more schools throughout the nation. Of course this is for you to decide as you know what fits you best. However, I will suggest that you just keep an open mind and apply more broadly if you have to.

You're still very young also, the average age of matriculants I believe is closer to 22-24 these days for MD programs... even 22 is on the young side. 2 years from now you could have a very different perspective on where you see yourself. When I was 20, I didn't want to leave California. Now at 24, I can't really see myself staying here because I'm ready to experience a different area and different people.

Though I doubt that it would be a single reason for anyone to reject you, some schools may think age does say something about general exposure to life experiences. Again just keep an open mind, think critically about your experiences and you'll do great!

 

[younggun92]

Thank you for your wisdom!!

 

[trackrunner1500]

//