3.41 GPA, 3.33 Science, 33 MCAT - Help with schools!

[chessodoc]

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Hi All

I am a re-applicant having just graduated from an Ivy League school. My total GPA is 3.41 (with an upward trend - last two years 3.65) and my science is around 3.3. I took the August 2006 MCATs and have not retaken them since. My breakdown was the following - 8 VR, 11 BS, 14PS, P in writing - English not my primary language.

No hospital volunteering -I will be starting next month.

4 years of research experience, currently doing research - 2nd author in a Nature publication.

Good LORs and extracurriculars.

Pennsylvania Resident

Here is my school list:
Albany Drexel
GWU
Georgetown
Jefferson
Marshall Univ Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Michigan State
NYMC
Pennstate
Rosalind
Temple
Toledo
Tulane
UPENN
Pittsburgh
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicin
Boston UNiv.

By the way, is it true that Med schools get the recommendation letter packets starting as late as August?

Thank you for any input!

 

[Lokhtar]

2nd author in Nature? That's fantastic. Why not do a PhD instead - you'd be ideal with that type of research background (and obviously it seems you enjoy it).

 

[chessodoc]

I am a good PhD candidate, but I would rather go to Medical School. I was actually thinking of MD PhD...do you think I would have easier time with Md PhD seeing how I have good research experience?

 

[chessodoc]

Thanks for the reply.

I just sent my AMCAS and I made a rather stupid mistake (well Word made it)...there is one (only one hopefully) grammatical typo in the PS...how much is this going to hurt?

 

[prio001]

First off- why are you a re-applicant? Either way… I think you are stellar this time around. YOU PUBLISHED IN NATURE!! That is AMAZING! You should be very proud. And despite your GPR and 8 on verbal—this publication supports your intellectual ability. I would recommend adding a few more research focused schools… and shoot a little higher! You GPA is not that bad especially coming from a good school.

Oh and even though you lack clinical EC- YOU PUBLISHED IN NATURE! I am sure medical schools will understand (something I am sure other SND's might not) how much work and dedication it takes to produce a journal article which is NATURE worthy. Don't re-take the MCAT for only on section- your other scores are great. Good-luck!

 

[JLC]

Getting second author is very diff from first author. If the chessodoc had gotten a 1st author paper....in Nature, that would be something

You can get 100 second author papers in Nature (or any top journal) and never receive a NIH R01 or grant funding. You can get one first author Cell paper and become Howard Hughes investigator...and a nobel prize, think Linda Buck.

Not saying anything about the OP but everyone who has done research (referring to basic science) knows that co authorship are a crap shoot, some do just as much work as primary author or even more, some do nothing, I've seen both happen.


BTW, to chessodoc, everything you've done spells out a solid applicant except clinical exp....get started, it might even be too late for this application cycle

 

[AlbaMD]

Well, your verbal score is definitely on the low side, but you have a decent writing score for someone who is not a native English speaker. If your grades in English classes are fine then I wouldn't worry about the verbal score next to the impressive scores on the other two sections.

Your research experience looks good. Was the lack of clinical experience what prevented you from getting in before? Try doing more volunteering between now and your interviews (other than the hospital, Red Cross can look really good on the application, for instance). Maybe do a few hours of shadowing. Then you should be fine. Your school list looks fine btw.

 

[Lukkie]

just want to commend you for your name in Nature... that is fantastic. definitely bring it up during an interview.

 

[Food]

Getting second author is very diff from first author. If the chessodoc had gotten a 1st author paper....in Nature, that would be something

You can get 100 second author papers in Nature (or any top journal) and never receive a NIH R01 or grant funding. You can get one first author Cell paper and become Howard Hughes investigator...and a nobel prize, think Linda Buck.

Not saying anything about the OP but everyone who has done research (referring to basic science) knows that co authorship are a crap shoot, some do just as much work as primary author or even more, some do nothing, I've seen both happen.


BTW, to chessodoc, everything you've done spells out a solid applicant except clinical exp....get started, it might even be too late for this application cycle

I don't know man. I think having your name on any Nature publication is note-worthy and stands out. If he worked on something that made it to Nature, that is impressive. It is a crapshoot, but no med-school is going to ignore a Nature publication.

 

[JLC]

I was too hasty,sorry, let me explain:

Pubs, any pubs is always impressive. But a second author paper will not help an applicant by much, even if its to nature (at least for MD).

My sister told me that Harvard Med adcom had told their students that a student with a 1st author Nature was not given acceptance. I bet at least half if not more of the med students at HMS don't have pubs...much less first author...much less in Nature

Then again co author, whether second or third or fourth are all mysterious positions to be authors, only the first and last (99% of the case) are the only sure positions where you know how much or what that person did for a project.

Another point is being in a high impact journal does not= quality paper. It simply means the paper had a high impact. For example a grad student worked with 25 diff mutants (proteins, from molecular work to protein purification to activity) got one biochem paper. There are many nature papers that do much less work and require less expertise. Another example is crystal structure, some crystal structures can go into Nature or science, other go onto online journals.

It is also much more common to see an undergrad get second authorship as they help a grad or postdoc as opposed to doing their own project.

 

[WinterLights]

Your GPA is on the low side, and your MCAT score is not high enough to make up for this. On top of that, you have no clinical. A lack of clinical has killed 4.0/38 applicants in the past. Imagine how it will affect people who do not have amazing stats. I really think that you should consider doing a post-bacc and volunteering clinically in the mean time. Your chances are not good at this point.

 

[Vince86]

I think you might be a good bet for some low tier schools like drexel. Clinical experience is needed, but u said you'll do it during the application, so that is good enough... Don't bank on any of your Extracurriculars for getting into med school, its your grades that gets an interview, your EC's just help along the way.
if you are a reapplicant, you need to improve your application in some way. Your low gpa was probably the problem your first time. You could improve it through a post bac.
you could shadow a doctor for a few weeks and if you want you could add on some volunteering. but i believe shadowing is a better idea cause that gives you an overall idea of what a doctor does. unless your aiming for some top schools, dont spend too much time on volunteering.