3.8 GPA/32 MCAT. Late Application...

[sharkman12]

Hey guys! I'm a rising senior at in Texas applying to both IS and OOS schools. I'm an Management of Information Systems major. My cGPA is 3.87 and sGPA is 3.84. I got a 32 on the MCAT (12/10/10). I plan on submitting my primaries this week. After I started looking online a got worried that I'm applying too late in the cycle to have a chance at an interview.

EC's:
-100 hours shadowing a Cardiologist summer before my freshman year
-200 hours working as a receptionist/shadowing an family medicine doctor the summer after my freshman and sophmore year
-150 hours at a free health volunteer clinic
-Net Impact(environmental business organization) since 2012
- serve on the corporate committee
-Health Advisory Committee since 2013
- serve on finance committee

Should have good LORs

My main concern is that I don't have any research experience.

My school list is :
All of the texas schools
Georgetown
George Washington
Jefferson
Rush
Loyola
SLU
Cincinnati
Drexel


Questions for you SDNers:
1) Should I hold off on my application till next cycle?
2) Should I apply to more schools or is my list comprehensive enough?
3) Will me being a business major have any impact (positive or negative) on admissions?
4) How much will not having research experience affect my chances?

Thanks in advance for the help!

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[claduva94]

You are very late. That will be a problem. For instance, some schools are now scheduling interviews for January. You may be fine for TX schools but for the rest you may run into issues.

 

[sharkman12]

Thanks for the reply! So do you think I should hold off till next cycle?

 

[claduva94]

For OOS schools yes. It may be worthwhile still applying IS though.

 

[Avicenna]

Why all the shadowing? I have like 30 hours total

 

[sharkman12]

I enjoyed shadowing since I got to see patients. Also I didn't do research so I had extra time to shadow

 

[Abstractions]

You are very late. That will be a problem. For instance, some schools are now scheduling interviews for January. You may be fine for TX schools but for the rest you may run into issues.

Sorry to derail the thread, but would you mind sharing which schools are scheduling for January? All of the schools I'm interviewing at + the schools I've been following are only giving out II's for Sept/October at this point.

 

[claduva94]

Sorry to derail the thread, but would you mind sharing which schools are scheduling for January? All of the schools I'm interviewing at + the schools I've been following are only giving out II's for Sept/October at this point.

Tulane

 

[Afford]

I'm not for sure about your chances in Texas either. TMDSAS opens applications on May 1 and some schools started handing out interviews in July. I'm a Texas resident too and it took me about 4 weeks for schools to send me that they received my application after I submitted my primary. I already felt late by submitting it in July and I got my complete emails last week. If you submit now, you will probably be done mid to late September as TMDSAS is slower than AAMC at verifying. I feel that you can still get into a Texas med school because of your strong GPA and good MCAT, but it will be harder to get into Southwestern/Houston/San Antonio. If you get an invite from them, it will probably be one of the later ones and competition will be higher.

 

[sharkman12]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I'm feeling that way too. I have friends who applied in June who are just now getting interviews for those schools. Do you think I have a shot at UTMB? It's my first choice!

 

[Afford]

I checked the MSAR and their median MCAT is 32 and median GPA is 3.9, so you have a chance. Also, from http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...h-galveston-application-thread.1074156/page-3, someone just got an invite for 9/26. From here http://www.utmb.edu/somstudentaffairs/admissions/Interview_Schedules.asp, they've handed out about half of their interviews already. I feel that if you submit now, you'll probably be competing for the very last interview slots b/c it'll probably take 6 weeks for TMDSAS to verify and for them to actually look at your application. I think it's up to you if you feel that you're competitive to beat out the rest of the people for one of those slots. I would say you have a chance, but I definitely understand if you want to wait a year, so you have a very good chance at getting an interview.

 

[sharkman12]

Interesting. Thanks for the advice! If I applied and didn't get in this year due to a later application, is it advisable to apply the following cycle?

 

[Afford]

Your MCAT and GPA are good enough to get into a Texas med school and I would definitely reapply next year if you don't get in anywhere. For this cycle, I believe you can still get into Texas A and M or the Texas Tech schools and possibly UTMB. I think UTMB is harder to get an interview because there is no secondary, so everyone applied to there.

 

[sharkman12]

Appreciate the support! Hope you get some interviews soon

 

[Afford]

Thanks! I hope you get interviews too!

You could always consider a gap year. I voluntarily didn't apply as a rising senior and I am applying now after graduation. I first chose to do it because I decided to become premed later, so I was behind on pre-reqs/MCAT, but I am glad that I am taking a gap year. It lets me take a break and try something new. The only problem with reapplying is that schools will assume that something is wrong with you because they don't know why you didn't get in last cycle. I know that for my school, reapplicants have a 20% less chance getting into medical school than people who apply the first time, but this could be that they weren't really strong applicants in the first place.