Best of luck to ALL of you, man, woman, black, white, brown, or yellow. Namaste.
I have seen that many people choose to be quite ambiguous about the specifics of their situation with respect to GPA, MCAT scores, etc. I am warning you that I am going to be quite explicit about mine, so if that is rude or upsetting in your book, just skip my post! 🙂
My situation is this: I am a 24 year old Caucasian male, native to Pennsylvania. I have a cumulative undergrad GPA of 3.0 and a science GPA of 2.9, both at Cornell University. Yes, bad.
What I'm doing to make PROGRESS (the topic of this thread, you know!), is this:
I am currently at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh working my rear end off as a post-bacc student trying to raise my GPA. Currently I have 4 A's and 1 A-. I'm not certain if A-'s are considered or if they're rounded, but I suspect that since AMCAS tends to be cruel, they are probably counted as a 3.8 or something rather than a 4.0. I'm working on two more summer classes that I'm confident will get me A's, so my post-bacc GPA should be around 3.9 or so.
While at Duquesne, I am also working on a master's degree in health-management systems. I opted to do this because it is teaching me a lot of valuable information about managed care, healthcare organizations in general, and it is getting me exposure to people who have worked as healthcare providers and now work as hospital administrators, public health representatives, etc. I am slated to have both the post-bacc and master's program done by Spring of 2008. Sadly, this means not all the grades will make it onto my AMCAS application, but I intend to mention updated grades in secondary applications (and I definitely intend to mail updated transcripts to schools as I apply!).
As far as the MCAT goes, I took the LAST paper MCAT in the Fall of '06. People who get to take it electronically: I hate and envy you (kidding about the hate!). I scored a 34P. A good score, but not off the charts like that fellow Q (seriously, a 43S? Ug!). I do not intend to re-take the MCAT, EVER, because I am terrified of doing worse and undermining my chances of getting into med school.
I am participating in a number of EC's: 1. every Sunday I work with a program called St. Vincent de Paul. We deliver food, clothing, and toiletries to the homeless of downtown Pittsburgh. 2. I volunteer in a hospital ER. 3. I am working full-time over the summer at UPMC's Immunology lab working on finding a vaccine to prevent metastasis of lung cancer. 4. Thinking about picking up an additional volunteer job at another hospital.
I have my AMCAS application almost completed. Still fiddling around with the personal statement because I just can't quite seem to get it right. 😡
I have 5 *great* letters of recommendation: 1. from the priest that runs the homeless program with which I am affiliated. 2. from a local opthalmologist and friend of the family with whom I have shadowed for several days. 3. two from my two favorite professors with whom I've had extensive dialogues outside of class. 4. from a non-science professor that taught me outcomes management and has been like a second mom to me in Pittsburgh. I'm sure all 5 letters will be glowing.
My question, therefore, is this: what am I missing!? I'm not concerned about interviews or secondaries as of yet. I'm worried about what else can I put on my resume!? What else can I add? I'm very non-traditional: I originally wanted to go into marine biology, then looked at veterinary medicine. I've worked as a vet tech for a year, as a dolphin trainer in Hawai'i for a year, and am now a full time student.
I feel that I have explained my bad GPA in my "academic action" essay: long story short, I was severely ill and have had corrective surgery to remedy the problem, which my 4.0 GPA and good MCAT score should now reflect.
Is anyone else in a similar boat, and if so:
1. How have you covered your weaknesses? AND
2. What strengths have you sought to accentuate?
I should note that I am also getting a composite letter from my post-bacc committee, so I guess that makes a total of 6 letters. It was the post-bacc office's recommendation that I get 5 individual letters from which they will then write a composite.
I hope this either A. helps someone else out there who is in a similar boat by being inspriational (believe me this isn't easy, but if you plug away at it, it sure is rewarding!) or B. gets a response so I can stop sitting on the edge of my seat!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!,
Minos
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