3.73 GPA, 519 MCAT

[collegepremed123]

1. cGPA: 3.73; sGPA 3.48
2. MCAT: 519
3. State of Residence: MA
4. White male
5. School: State school within top 100
6. Nonclinical Experience: 110 hours [teaching English to immigrants (40hrs) and volunteering with adults with disabilities (70 hrs)]- I started both of these my junior year
7. Clinical Experience: 200 hours (volunteering in a clinic)
8. Research: More than 1500 hours in two labs, 2 posters, name on 2 different conference abstracts
9. Shadowing: 30 hours with primary care physician, 10 hours with pediatrics doctor
10. Other: I am the president of my community government. I have worked in the community government for three years.

I am a senior, and I would like to apply this June. In my year off, I would like to volunteer and work in a lab. Is there anything I should fine tune or work on? I am willing to apply in 2020 for two gap years if I need to work on anything.

Also, I transferred schools. Would this have any impact?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

Add more service to others less fortunate than yourself.
Aim high. I suggest:
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
U Miami
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
U MA
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U IA
U VM
Western MI

 

[Walter Raleigh]

1. cGPA: 3.73; sGPA 3.48
2. MCAT: 519
3. State of Residence: MA
4. White male
5. School: State school within top 100
6. Nonclinical Experience: 110 hours [teaching English to immigrants (40hrs) and volunteering with adults with disabilities (70 hrs)]- I started both of these my junior year
7. Clinical Experience: 200 hours (volunteering in a clinic)
8. Research: More than 1500 hours in two labs, 2 posters, name on 2 different conference abstracts
9. Shadowing: 30 hours with primary care physician, 10 hours with pediatrics doctor
10. Other: I am the president of my community government. I have worked in the community government for three years.

I am a senior, and I would like to apply this June. In my year off, I would like to volunteer and work in a lab. Is there anything I should fine tune or work on? I am willing to apply in 2020 for two gap years if I need to work on anything.

Also, I transferred schools. Would this have any impact?

Transferring doesn't have any impact. Are you the president of your local government - of your small town or something? That's unique leadership experience for sure. Your nonclinical experience is a little low; if you want to be loaded for bear and take two gap years, you might consider something like Americorps. You don't necessarily need more research.

 

[stairway2seven]

Goro has wisdom far beyond mine but I have to disagree with some of his recommendations
Your sGPA is weak and IMO would significantly worsen your odds at the 1st half of his list

Unless you really enjoy your lab experience, I'd recommend discontinuing that to focus on volunteering and clinical experience. If you can do all 3 without getting overwhelmed, go for it

 

[Walter Raleigh]

@LizzyM, care to weigh in on this one? sGPA is low for top 20s and volunteering is okay. The wild card here is what OP's "president of community government" means; if they were the mayor or leader of a small town, this might save them. It could be seen as community service and salvage OP's low-ish nonclinical hours.

 

[LizzyM]

I'd need more information about being president of the community government. Is that a "selectman" position?
Nonetheless, the science GPA is concerning and whether the transfer was up to a more elite school or "down" from an elite school to a less selective one. If interviewed, this could come up in questioning.
Major? upper level science courses?
With so much lab time relative to clinical experience and non-clinical volunteering, and with the desire to work in a lab during a gap year, the question as to "why medicine" will be a big question that needs an adequate answer.

The discrepancy between sGPA and MCAT makes this a tough one.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

OP might be well-served by a year doing something like Americorps, or perhaps by taking and acing some more science credits in addition to getting more volunteering hours. Do you think OP needs DO schools on their list, @LizzyM?

 

[collegepremed123]

Thank you all for taking time for responding.

In terms of clarification, I should have been more clear on the community government. I simply meant that I was the president of my dorm/residence community for two years and a treasurer for one year. It simply is a form of student government.

For transferring, I moved to a better ranked school, but it was not a huge leap. It was mainly for financial reasons because my second school was able to offer more scholarship money. Also, I have done a little bit better at my new school. I have an upward GPA trend.

My research is not well spread-out. I did my research during my first two years before transferring to a new school in a different state. At my new school, I stopped working in a lab so that I could focus on volunteering. So, my volunteering and research has not been continuous. I have done research only freshman and sophomore year while the volunteering has been contained to only junior and senior year. I understand that this is a red flag, but I did feel like I would have been overwhelmed.

I am a biology major.

Some of classes have been cookie-cutter, but I have still managed to take a few higher level courses in biology (3-4 classes).

In terms of a gap year, what would be the best thing to maximize my chances? Do you have any other tips?

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Something like Americorps; any thoughts, @LizzyM? I think a year of full-time volunteering with something like that could help OP a lot.