MD 3.67 cGPA, 3.70 sGPA, 38 MCAT

[phunky]

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[phunky]

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[nemo123]

Do you have any hobbies or non-med school related ECs?

 

[phunky]

Do you have any hobbies or non-med school related ECs?

My hobbies seem pretty boring by medical school standards. I do a lot of powerlifting (and by extension cooking), but I've never gotten to the level of competition due to injuries. My non-medical ECs are pretty much all education related. I'm passionate about education, and it's probably what I'd be doing if I weren't going into medicine. My other hobbies pretty much all just involve enjoying the outdoors. This is sort of my biggest fear in my application... I just seem really boring.

 

[keepingitsafemed]

I'm new and applying in June and you're a better applicant than I but letme try to relay what I often see.

..........in terms of scores and numbers you match these schools and exceed many but these schools receive a very large number of applicants and these applicants are often very involved in ECs but these are excellent numbers and maybe they may be enough. feel free to apply because you never know! but perhaps a lesser school may be in order for backup?

Best of luck!

*if i offered bad advice..please correct me*

 

[nemo123]

My hobbies seem pretty boring by medical school standards. I do a lot of powerlifting (and by extension cooking), but I've never gotten to the level of competition due to injuries. My non-medical ECs are pretty much all education related. I'm passionate about education, and it's probably what I'd be doing if I weren't going into medicine. My other hobbies pretty much all just involve enjoying the outdoors. This is sort of my biggest fear in my application... I just seem really boring.

Is there a possibility you'll be able to get an abstract in before you apply?

 

[darkjedi]

I agree with the others about figuring out some unique EC that would give you "wow" factor. That said your application looks quite solid and you will almost certainly get in somewhere.

I would consider cutting out UVM and UMass unless you are in-state. I would also cut Brown since they like non-traditionals to help complement their class of combined BA/MD. I would also cut down your list so that no more than 7-8 of your list are schools in the top 20. Unless of course you are rich enough/have enough free time to do all those secondaries.

 

[mma43949]

Your application sounds very very similar to mine and I just applied this cycle. I've gotten interviews/acceptances at most of the top 15-20 schools so i don't think you'll have trouble getting into a top 20 either. Id recommend taking off brown (they have a small class and accept a lot of ppl from their undergrad) and bu (really big on volunteering and you don't seem to have that much volunteer hours) and mayo (they have such a small class size and are really selective and do you really want to live in Minnesota??) You could probably add washu since you have good numbers and lots of research experience.

 

[phunky]

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[masaraksh]

I would recommend learning about schools outside of the top 20 as well.

Just being realistic:
- Tons of people have 3.9+ GPA (and you're a white/male which doesn't 'help')
- Your research is weak and basically non-existent until now (I know tons of people start research summer of freshman/sophomore year, and many will even work during school semesters)
- and ECs seem average.

 

[griffin3141]

I agree my GPA is low and my ECs are average, but am I really behind on research? I'll have well over 2000 hours of research by the time I apply, and the work I do is much more cerebral than most people I know who did "research" in college, which consisted of things like training rats or conducting hundreds of western blots without having any input on the creative side of things.

I'll definitely look into more mid and lower tier schools, but they all seem to have very primary care oriented missions, and I just don't think that fits with me.

 

[Goro]

With your packet, nothing wrong with aiming high. While "tons of people may have a 3.9", not many of them also have a 38 MCAT.

Goro's suggested list. Even with you're numbers, I'd skip the UC's. I sense you're an MA resident, so I've skewed the list a bit for geographic considerations.

Pitt
Hopkins
Penn
Yale OR Harvard (nothing wrong with aiming high)
Duke
Vanderbilt OR Baylor
Cornell OR Columbia
Mt Sinai
Northwestern OR Chicago
NYU
Emory
Case
BU
Tufts
USC
Dartmouth
Einstein
Tufts
UVM
UMass
Maybe GWU or Georgetown, perhaps consider Quinnipiac or Hofstra as a safety

 

[masaraksh]

Just noticed. Its s 3.76, not a 3.9+.... which is right around average. And you would be fooling yourself thinking that the research in the app is strong (just look at MDapps, people do TONS more of research)


Oh yeah, and high school doesn't count.

 

[phunky]

Just noticed. Its s 3.76, not a 3.9+.... which is right around average. And you would be fooling yourself thinking that the research in the app is strong (just look at MDapps, people do TONS more of research)


Oh yeah, and high school doesn't count.

I've been told that undergraduate classes taken in high school do count towards your cGPA. I'd be very happy if that were incorrect though.

 

[phunky]

With your packet, nothing wrong with aiming high. While "tons of people may have a 3.9", not many of them also have a 38 MCAT.

Goro's suggested list. Even with you're numbers, I'd skip the UC's. I sense you're an MA resident, so I've skewed the list a bit for geographic considerations.

Pitt
Hopkins
Penn
Yale OR Harvard (nothing wrong with aiming high)
Duke
Vanderbilt OR Baylor
Cornell OR Columbia
Mt Sinai
Northwestern OR Chicago
NYU
Emory
Case
BU
Tufts
USC
Dartmouth
Einstein
Tufts
UVM
UMass
Maybe GWU or Georgetown, perhaps consider Quinnipiac or Hofstra as a safety

Thanks, that's very helpful.

 

[masaraksh]

I've been told that undergraduate classes taken in high school do count towards your cGPA. I'd be very happy if that were incorrect though.

This depends on AMCAS rules. I will tell you my experience:

- I took AP classes in HS, with 5/5 AP exams. For these I got college credit, but no college GPA. AMCAS took this as AP credit with no bearing on GPA
- I took evening Gen Chem classes at a local Uni. Was graded on 4.0 scale. For these, YES, my GPA was averaged into AMCAS.

Edit: that evening Uni course was during senior yr high school

 

[phunky]

This depends on AMCAS rules. I will tell you my experience:

- I took AP classes in HS, with 5/5 AP exams. For these I got college credit, but no college GPA. AMCAS took this as AP credit with no bearing on GPA
- I took evening Gen Chem classes at a local Uni. Was graded on 4.0 scale. For these, YES, my GPA was averaged into AMCAS.

Edit: that evening Uni course was during senior yr high school

Thanks for clarifying. My school didn't offer AP classes. We just took our classes at the nearby University, so it sounds like those grades will get factored into my GPA. Too bad. I wish I could go back and tell my 17 year old self to work harder in school!

 

[phunky]

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[BillrothI]

Your application and school list looks great!

One small tip - I would avoid including powerlifting on your application. I included it as one of my hobbies and interviewers seemed a bit confused by it. It may have been kind of cool and unique (in my view), but even after explaining it they weren't really impressed. Better to use that spot for a more mainstream hobby (eg - musical instrument) or clinical experience.

Good luck!

-Bill

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I do powerlifting too lol but I would only include it if you have been in several competitions of if you hold some records in your weight class and fed. In my case, it's gonna be funny explaining powerlifting with me competing in the 132lb class lol