3.75 GPA / 3.69 sGPA / 526 MCAT

[The_Muffin_Man]

Hi, I was wondering what my chances at T20 schools are? Recent graduate from a state university in New York and am currently taking a gap year working as an EMT for FDNY and in the ED at a new york hospital and will apply next cycle when I build up my experience.
1- 3.75 GPA / 3.69 sGPA
2- MCAT: 526
3- NY resident
4- Caucasian
5- Undergrad from state university
6- Clinical Experience:
~1200 hours as an EMT (without FDNY)
~1000 hours working in the ICU as a nursing assistant
~1000 hours of research in human memory and processing (poster, presented at conference, publication in progress)
7: Shadowing:
~100 hours general surgeon, ~50 hours cardiothoracic, ~70 hours neurosurgeon
8: Non Clinical Volunteering:
~750 hours volunteering as a camp counselor for a summer day camp over the span of 4 years
~100 hours volunteering as a physics outreach program teaching and showing demonstrations to kids aged 4-10

I was wondering how I can improve on my application and what my chances of getting into T20 schools such as Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, etc. are. Stanford is my number 1 choice but I would attend any MD school i get into haha. For now my list is:

Harvard
UCLA
Stanford
NYU
Mt. Sinai
Cornell
UMich
SUNY Upstate
SUNY Downstate
Yale
Columbia
Georgetown
UPenn
Johns Hopkins
Hofstra
Stony Brook
Emory
WashU

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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[Ultimakey]

Hi, I was wondering what my chances at T20 schools are? Recent graduate from a state university in New York and am currently taking a gap year working as an EMT for FDNY and in the ED at a new york hospital and will apply next cycle when I build up my experience.
1- 3.75 GPA / 3.69 sGPA
2- MCAT: 526
3- NY resident
4- Caucasian
5- Undergrad from state university
6- Clinical Experience:
~1200 hours as an EMT (without FDNY)
~1000 hours working in the ICU as a nursing assistant
~1000 hours of research in human memory and processing (poster, presented at conference, publication in progress)
7: Shadowing:
~100 hours general surgeon, ~50 hours cardiothoracic, ~70 hours neurosurgeon
8: Non Clinical Volunteering:
~750 hours volunteering as a camp counselor for a summer day camp over the span of 4 years
~100 hours volunteering as a physics outreach program teaching and showing demonstrations to kids aged 4-10

I was wondering how I can improve on my application and what my chances of getting into T20 schools such as Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, etc. are. Stanford is my number 1 choice but I would attend any MD school i get into haha. For now my list is:

Harvard
UCLA
Stanford
NYU
Mt. Sinai
Cornell
UMich
SUNY Upstate
SUNY Downstate
Yale
Columbia
Georgetown
UPenn
Johns Hopkins
Hofstra
Stony Brook
Emory
WashU

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Do you have any volunteering with the underserved?

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Do you have any volunteering with the underserved?

No, unfortunately I do not as of this moment. May I get some suggestions as to what I can do to improve it? What would be your definition of underserved?

 

[Goro]

No, unfortunately I do not as of this moment. May I get some suggestions as to what I can do to improve it? What would be your definition of underserved?

Poor people; immigrants; communities of color; the elderly; the mentally or physcially disabled

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Poor people; immigrants; communities of color; the elderly; the mentally or physcially disabled

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

@Goro Thank you so much for clarifying and taking the time to look through this post! If I improve on that aspect of my application, how would it look overall? Would I be considered a competitive applicant despite my lower gpa?(which shows a strong upward trend- 3.3 freshman year to 4.0 senior year)

 

[Goro]

@Goro Thank you so much for clarifying and taking the time to look through this post! If I improve on that aspect of my application, how would it look overall? Would I be considered a competitive applicant despite my lower gpa?(which shows a strong upward trend- 3.3 freshman year to 4.0 senior year)

Yes, you would be really strong candidate. Rising GPA trends are allays good

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Yes, you would be really strong candidate. Rising GPA trends are allays good

Thank you so much! Would you suggest I keep my list the same as it is now or change it around?

 

[Goro]

1. Harvard
   Stanford
   NYU
   Mt. Sinai
   Cornell
   UMich
   SUNY Upstate
   SUNY Downstate
   Yale
   Columbia
   UPenn
   Johns Hopkins
   Hofstra
   Stony Brook
   Emory
   WashU
2. UCSF
3. U Cincy
4. Einstein
5. Case
6. Keck
7. U Miami
8. U VM
9. U VA
10. SUNY Buffalo
11. U Rochester
12. Dartmouth
13. Jefferson
14. Western MI
15. Northwestern
16. OH State
    
17. Vandy

 

[Ultimakey]

Have you found any volunteer opportunities that you’re interested in? Are you in manhattan or somewhere else?

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

1. Harvard
   Stanford
   NYU
   Mt. Sinai
   Cornell
   UMich
   SUNY Upstate
   SUNY Downstate
   Yale
   Columbia
   UPenn
   Johns Hopkins
   Hofstra
   Stony Brook
   Emory
   WashU
2. UCSF
3. U Cincy
4. Einstein
5. Case
6. Keck
7. U Miami
8. U VM
9. U VA
10. SUNY Buffalo
11. U Rochester
12. Dartmouth
13. Jefferson
14. Western MI
15. Northwestern
16. OH State
    
17. Vandy

Thank you so much! I noticed that UCLA is not on there anymore. Is that done purposely or by accident?

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Have you found any volunteer opportunities that you’re interested in? Are you in manhattan or somewhere else?

I looked into Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels and I’m going to contact them tomorrow because they are closed on the weekends. I’m in Brooklyn though and would love to hear if you have any more ideas!

 

[Goro]

Thank you so much! I noticed that UCLA is not on there anymore. Is that done purposely or by accident?

The accept rate for non-Californinas to UCLA is really low. As such, I don't normally recommend it.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Poor people; immigrants; communities of color; the elderly; the mentally or physcially disabled

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

Does the ICU experience count as working with the underserved? These patients are critically ill, at death's door. You've written highly about hospice work and nursing-home work; does "critically ill" count as "less fortunate"?

 

[Toutie]

The accept rate for non-Californinas to UCLA is really low. As such, I don't normally recommend it.

I don't really understand this. While the accept rate may be a bit low, UCLA does have the highest OOS matriculant rate of all CA schools with the exception of Stanford and Loma Linda.

 

[Goro]

I don't really understand this. While the accept rate may be a bit low, UCLA does have the highest OOS matriculant rate of all CA schools with the exception of Stanford and Loma Linda.

I'll double check MSAR tomorrow on this.

 

[Goro]

I don't really understand this. While the accept rate may be a bit low, UCLA does have the highest OOS matriculant rate of all CA schools with the exception of Stanford and Loma Linda.

I'm really burnt out from rewriting my annual chemical hygiene plan and inventory, so let's see
UCLA
apps
OOS:5198
IS: 5641

IIs
OOS 310 (6%)
IS 626 (11%)

seated:
OOS: 49 (.94%)
IS: 117 (2%)



UCSF
apps
OOS: 4288
IS: 3586

IIs
OOS 225 (5.2%)
IS 280 (7.8%)

seated:
OOS: 49 (.98%)
IS: 110 (3.1%)



Stanford
apps
OOS: 4435
IS: 2420

IIs
OOS: 343 (7.7)
IS: 150 (6.2)

seated:
OOS: 57 (1.3)
IS: 38 (1.6)

UCSD
apps
OOS: 3632
IS: 4291

IIs
OOS: 193 (5.3%)
IS: 549 (12.8%)

seated:
OOS: 15 (0.4%!)
IS: 119 (2.8)

I had always thought that UCSF was a tad friendlier to OOSers, but I can see that's not the case. I'm going to be more conservative and suggest not applying to any of the UCs

 

[Toutie]

I'm really burnt out from rewriting my annual chemical hygiene plan and inventory, so let's see
UCLA
apps
OOS:5198
IS: 5641

IIs
OOS 310 (6%)
IS 626 (11%)

seated:
OOS: 49 (.94%)
IS: 117 (2%)



UCSF
apps
OOS: 4288
IS: 3586

IIs
OOS 225 (5.2%)
IS 280 (7.8%)

seated:
OOS: 49 (.98%)
IS: 110 (3.1%)



Stanford
apps
OOS: 4435
IS: 2420

IIs
OOS: 343 (7.7)
IS: 150 (6.2)

seated:
OOS: 57 (1.3)
IS: 38 (1.6)

UCSD
apps
OOS: 3632
IS: 4291

IIs
OOS: 193 (5.3%)
IS: 549 (12.8%)

seated:
OOS: 15 (0.4%!)
IS: 119 (2.8)

I had always thought that UCSF was a tad friendlier to OOSers, but I can see that's not the case. I'm going to be more conservative and suggest not applying to any of the UCs

I dunno, I think UCLA and UCSF are still worth applying to for some OOS applicants. They both end up seating a good portion of OOS when all is said and done. UC Davis, Riverside and Irvine are a total waste of time and $$$ for most OOS...and San Diego is borderline waste.

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

I dunno, I think UCLA and UCSF are still worth applying to for some OOS applicants. They both end up seating a good portion of OOS when all is said and done. UC Davis, Riverside and Irvine are a total waste of time and $$$ for most OOS...and San Diego is borderline waste.

Would you suggest that I be one of those OOS applicants that apply or should I listen to @Goro and save myself the trouble? Would I be competetive for Stanford?

 

[Goro]

Would you suggest that I be one of those OOS applicants that apply or should I listen to @Goro and save myself the trouble? Would I be competetive for Stanford?

Your ECs are killer...perhaps pick one of the two, but I'm inclined to be a tad conservative with your GPAs.

 

[Ultimakey]

Your ECs are killer...perhaps pick one of the two, but I'm inclined to be a tad conservative with your GPAs.

I think “killer” is pushing It, but I’m sure he’s going to add a lot more that he can talk about in terms of non-clinical!

 

[Ultimakey]

I looked into Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels and I’m going to contact them tomorrow because they are closed on the weekends. I’m in Brooklyn though and would love to hear if you have any more ideas!

I have a couple. Can I ask you if you have any connection to CUNY (for the sake of programs they are connected to)? If so, specifiying which one may help but it’s not needed. I’ll drop some names of programs that may look very good.

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

I think “killer” is pushing It, but I’m sure he’s going to add a lot more that he can talk about in terms of non-clinical!

What would you define as "killer" ECs? And although I do not have any direct connection to any of the CUNYs, I may be able to work something out. I would love to hear your input!

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

I have a couple. Can I ask you if you have any connection to CUNY (for the sake of programs they are connected to)? If so, specifiying which one may help but it’s not needed. I’ll drop some names of programs that may look very good.

Just bringing this post out of the ground- @Ultimakey Would you please be able to let me know which programs you were talking about? Any little bit of information helps and I will most definitely use it to my advantage!

 

[strugstofunc]

@The_Muffin_Man How did you study for the MCAT? What reviewer did you use and what was your MCAT practice exam trend? I promise those are the only 2 questions I'll pester you with. I'm currently trying to study for the March one, and I am feeling defeated, but hanging on.

 

[Ultimakey]

Just bringing this post out of the ground- @Ultimakey Would you please be able to let me know which programs you were talking about? Any little bit of information helps and I will most definitely use it to my advantage!

Oh yea, my bad. Pm me (for the sake of my own animosity).

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Oh yea, my bad. Pm me (for the sake of my own animosity).

I tried starting a conversation but an error message appeared and when attempting to go on your profile page, it states "This member limits who may view their full profile."

 

[Ultimakey]

Oh, I think it’s because of how new your profile is. I’ll type out a full list of organizations if you’re still searching tomorrow morning.

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Oh, I think it’s because of how new your profile is. I’ll type out a full list of organizations if you’re still searching tomorrow morning.

Yes, I would greatly appreciate that! Thank you!

 

[Ultimakey]

Ok here’s a few organizations I’m involved with/have been involved with.

1. Generation Citizen- Teaching civics to a class twice a week for a whole semester. Your hard work is shown at a poster secession at the end of the semester. Be aware that there is a one semester commitment.

2. Red Cross- I think you know about the commitment to this one. Check out the site.

3. Habitat for Humanity- I think you know about this one as well.

4. Peer-Health Exchange- Similar to Generation Citizen but there is no presentation at the end of the semester. You ask teach health practices instead of civics. Be aware there is a one year commitment.

5. Adolescent Tutoring at Mt. Sinai- I have yet to start this one, but I believe It was advertised as a tutoring opportunity to either help minorities or sick patients... or both. I’ll update when I go to my orientation.

6. All Stars Project- The goal of the project is to help underprivileged students achieve their goals through performances. I say: do this one if you’re interested in performing arts, not because you will be performing yourself, but you’ll enjoy your time there more if you are interested in It. No real time commitment- VERY flexible.

I have a couple of more interesting ones that I’m leaving out for my last ditch effort at anonymity (Yes, I can be identified easily by people I don’t want to find me on this site). If you want some more, you’d have to message me on something else. I also don’t mind being used as a reference for any of these opportunities if It helps you out.

Good luck!

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

Ok here’s a few organizations I’m involved with/have been involved with.

1. Generation Citizen- Teaching civics to a class twice a week for a whole semester. Your hard work is shown at a poster secession at the end of the semester. Be aware that there is a one semester commitment.

2. Red Cross- I think you know about the commitment to this one. Check out the site.

3. Habitat for Humanity- I think you know about this one as well.

4. Peer-Health Exchange- Similar to Generation Citizen but there is no presentation at the end of the semester. You ask teach health practices instead of civics. Be aware there is a one year commitment.

5. Adolescent Tutoring at Mt. Sinai- I have yet to start this one, but I believe It was advertised as a tutoring opportunity to either help minorities or sick patients... or both. I’ll update when I go to my orientation.

6. All Stars Project- The goal of the project is to help underprivileged students achieve their goals through performances. I say: do this one if you’re interested in performing arts, not because you will be performing yourself, but you’ll enjoy your time there more if you are interested in It. No real time commitment- VERY flexible.

I have a couple of more interesting ones that I’m leaving out for my last ditch effort at anonymity (Yes, I can be identified easily by people I don’t want to find me on this site). If you want some more, you’d have to message me on something else. I also don’t mind being used as a reference for any of these opportunities if It helps you out.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! Between these opportunities and those that @Goro suggested, there is definitely a lot to choose from and I have no doubt that they will help me. I'll reach out to them as soon as I get the chance and if I ever have any questions, I'll be sure to post them. This thread has helped me so much it's unbelievable. Thank you!

 

[The_Muffin_Man]

@The_Muffin_Man How did you study for the MCAT? What reviewer did you use and what was your MCAT practice exam trend? I promise those are the only 2 questions I'll pester you with. I'm currently trying to study for the March one, and I am feeling defeated, but hanging on.

Sorry, I didn't notice you asked yesterday. At the moment I won't be able to post too much of a detailed study guide but for now I will give the basics:

I started studying for the MCAT about a year and a half before I planned on taking it (planned to take it June but took it 2 months early). In my opinion you don't necessarily have to start this early but I decided to due to my lower gpa at that instance (slightly under 3.5 at the time) and I figured that if I don't do well on the MCAT, my hopes of going to med school would be finished. I began studying with the Barron's New MCAT book at the end of my fall semester. During the month off, I read about 30-50 pages a day which took about 3 hours of average depending on the depth of the material. Physics II and biochem took me a little longer since I did not take the courses yet so i had to figure out some of the stuff (since the book is more of a review than pure material). The material took me about a month or so to finish and then I jumped to take a practice test and got a 506. Over the course of the next semester, I got additional books: The Kaplan 7 book review, ExamKracker 6 book set, and the Princeton Review 7 book set, Kaplan and Barron’s MCAT flashcards. I spent about 2 or 3 months for each of these sets and would do around 5 flashcards a day (there were around 1500 cards). Even though there are a lot of similar features, the concepts are phrased differently and if I wouldn't understand something from one book, the other would do a better job for me. As I was going over all the books, I would take a practice exam once every 3 or 4 weeks (don't really remember the scores from the top of my head but I will check when I get back and post them). I would then spend the next day going over the mistakes and making sure I understood the questions AND all the answer choices (more important for psych where different answer choices are different concepts). In my spring semester, I managed to finish Kaplan and just barely started on ExamKrackers. Over the summer, I started watching Khan Academy and that basically became my Netflix and chill (if you think about it, it’s only half as long as all of Grey’s Anatomy haha). It took me the entire summer to finish as I watched about 1-2 hours a day. I kept doing this until I finished all three sets which was around the end of September and by this point, my average score was around 514. At this point, other than the flashcards, I didn’t really have much to do and felt like I knew the material well but still wasn’t getting as high as I wanted to. After finishing all the books (which took a little under a year), I ordered a whole bunch of GS and NS exams and with those along with the AAMC (around 15 in total), I started to get my hands dirty. Every 2 weeks, I dedicated an entire weekend to the exams with a Saturday taking it and the day after reviewing my mistakes, guesses, etc. During my next winter break, I decided to go over the Barron’s book again (in hindsight, not that great compared to ExamKrackers) and testing myself with the flashcards. I did 4 exams and I was done with all the exams in early March and the highest score on practice that I got was a 521 (around 20 exams taken). At this point, I was so fed up with the MCAT seeing that my score wasn’t going up a lot that I signed up for April and got my score of 526 (131/132/131/132). The benefit of studying so far in advance was that I had a bunch of time taking multiple exams and I was used to how it would feel on test day. From my experience, getting a score of above 520+ has a lot to do with luck. Even if you know the material inside and out, the exam is extremely long and it is mentally draining. People tend to make mistakes when they get careless/nervous. After every section, I would advise just stepping out somewhere and taking deep breaths to relax and get your brain more oxygen. (AND CHOCOLATE!)

If I had to choose from the three sets, I would study the ExamKrackers book in the time and take as many practice exams as possible! Ever heard of the testing effect? Long term memory improves when you constantly test yourself and material becomes easier to retrieve! And for what it's worth, I wanted to give up multiple times because I was getting very slow results. Just hang in there and give it all you got!

 

[strugstofunc]

Hahaha no worries, @The_Muffin_Man . Still, thanks for the advice!! I really do appreciate it