3.8 GPA, 522 MCAT and URM/SES-Disadvantaged/First Gen... But a few red flags on app?

[deleted834048]

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[Seihai]

Long time lurker here

cGPA: 3.8 sGPA: 3.65
MCAT: 522 (128/130/131/132)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Puerto-Rican)
State of Residence: NY, grew up in a poor, heavily Hispanic inner-city neighborhood. Parents never went to college, disadvantaged.
ECs:
-Clinical: Oncology floor volunteer (100 hr), surgical floor volunteer (60 hr), Psychiatric clinic volunteer (35 hr), stroke/spinal trauma unit volunteer (35 hr)
-Nonclinical: 200+ hr in city-wide volunteer program that connects you with different opportunities (I did feeding the homeless/sick and adult tutoring for GED in my community)& got a presidential medal for my service, mentor and volunteer for program for kids of parents in jail in my childhood neighborhood (200 hr), therapy for disabled kids using horseback riding (35 hr, 1 summer), EKG tech certification (80 hr.)
-Work: Worked in a large factory (500+ hr), ran an Etsy/eBay shop for money in college
-Research: structural biology in undergrad (200 hr), currently on a gap year doing research at a top institution.

I am worried about how some parts of my app will be viewed:
1. sGPA (3.65). I feel like this is what is stopping me applying to top schools. My GPAs for freshman, soph, and senior yrs are all 3.9+. In junior year over Columbus Day weekend I visited a loved one out of state. An incident happened where I was staying and I could not take my return flight, missed a few classes where attendance is part of the grade and 2 midterms (thank you CA for all your wildfires). I pulled all B's, cGPA 3.3 sGPA 3.0 because I had a hard time adjusting when I came back. All classes after were A's...

2. No committee letter - I decided on premed end of Soph and my college requires you to declare it by the end of Freshman year to get the letter. I have individual letters. Is this a negative?

3. A lot of Ws - first semester my single parent lost a job so I switched to part time student because we didnt have money to pay for full time. The classes I dropped are marked "W". After this semester I dropped college completely to work in a factory, like many people in my community, since we had really needed the money.. Took ~8months off to save up to go back to school. How is this break viewed? Will the W's be given some leeway?

4. In my time off college(when working in the factory) I enrolled in an EKG tech program paid for by financial aid. This is what made me want to go back to college and be pre-med. Since the start of the new semester and EKG classes overlapped I had a hard time finishing it and when I did I ended up not using the certification for a job. It was huge in my decision to be premedso I mentioned it in my PS but I'm not sure if it would be viewed badly since I never got employment in the field?

5. Low number of collegiate activities. I was in a few clubs early on in college, but was not later on. I mentioned in my PS I lived in a multigenerational home (3 gen. of family) and had alot of responsibility caring for 3 of the kids I lived with (cousins, but they were like brothers and sisters to me). I commuted ~3hr a day for college and usually had to be back in time to help care for them, and was overcredited most semesters. This didn't leave me with alot of time for clubs, which I honestly didn't enjoy. They were not very active, and the meetings were essentially talking with friends for an hour. I thought I could use my time more wisely so I stopped going and focused on volunteering, etc. elsewhere. I left clubs off my app completely since I do not even know who to contact for the few I was in early on - will this be noticed and nitpicked??

So far I am applying to all NY schools. I am actually abit paranoid that I will be turned away from schools I am interested in like SUNY Upstate/Downstate because of my MCAT(over 90 percentile) and the yield protection everyone talks about.. thoughts? Should I apply to t20's with my sGPA and (potential) red flags? Are ECs too plain? I have (very) limited funds and do not want to waste them at schools I don't have a chance at! Thanks for any input.

Uh, first off, an MCAT breakdown of (128/130/131/132) is a 521, not a 522...

Not having a committee letter will look bad, but since you have a reasonable explanation it's not too bad. Your sGPA is a bit low, but might be within 10th percentile for a decent number of schools. Your lack of clubs isn't really too big of an issue, though your lack of leadership may hurt you at some schools.

Apply for FAP through AAMC - it will help with paying for primaries and most schools will waive secondaries.

I can't comment much on the rest. Yield protection is a thing, but I'm not well-versed enough on the MD side to know what schools you should apply to.

 

[deleted834048]

Uh, first off, an MCAT breakdown of (128/130/131/132) is a 521, not a 522...

Not having a committee letter will look bad, but since you have a reasonable explanation it's not too bad. Your sGPA is a bit low, but might be within 10th percentile for a decent number of schools. Your lack of clubs isn't really too big of an issue, though your lack of leadership may hurt you at some schools.

Apply for FAP through AAMC - it will help with paying for primaries and most schools will waive secondaries.

I can't comment much on the rest. Yield protection is a thing, but I'm not well-versed enough on the MD side to know what schools you should apply to.

Made a typo. C/P was 129 not 128.
I knew committee letters are always favored, but wasn't sure how much individual letters are a detriment since all schools still accept them. Thanks for the input!

 

[deleted972488]

Aim high.

 

[deleted834048]

Aim high.

Are carcinomas trustworthy?


...Hahaha. Thanks for the positivity

 

[deleted972488]

Are carcinomas trustworthy?


...Hahaha. Thanks for the positivity

It tried to kill me, but doctors outsmarted it.

And you’re welcome. I think your app will be very competitive. None of your “red flags” seemed like flags to me. I would apply to top schools and your state schools.

 

[Faha]

I suggest adding these OOS schools to your application:
Boston University
Brown
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Miami
U South Florida
Duke
Pittsburgh
Case Western
Cincinnati
U Chicago
Arizona (both schools)
Kaiser

 

[deleted834048]

Well, this is embarrassing. I am not verified and self-calculated GPAs. My sGPA is wrong; it is ~3.76 (previously posted as 3.65, calculated a while back). Yes, math classes always brought me down. I triple-checked it this time. (Not sure how substantial the difference is between the two?)


Looking forward to @Goro for any more school suggestions before finalizing the list... Thanks all.

 

[deleted972488]

Well, this is embarrassing. I am not verified and self-calculated GPAs. My sGPA is wrong; it is ~3.76 (previously posted as 3.65, calculated a while back). Yes, math classes always brought me down. I triple-checked it this time. (Not sure how substantial the difference is between the two?)


Looking forward to @Goro for any more school suggestions before finalizing the list... Thanks all.

Yeah, apply to top 20s plus your state school(s). You’re golden.

 

[Kardio]

Long time lurker here

cGPA: 3.8 sGPA: 3.76
MCAT: 522 (129/130/131/132)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Puerto-Rican)
State of Residence: NY, grew up in a poor, heavily Hispanic inner-city neighborhood. Parents never went to college, disadvantaged.
ECs:
-Clinical: Oncology floor volunteer (100 hr), surgical floor volunteer (60 hr), Psychiatric clinic volunteer (35 hr), stroke/spinal trauma unit volunteer (35 hr)
-Nonclinical: 200+ hr in city-wide volunteer program that connects you with different opportunities (I did feeding the homeless/sick and adult tutoring for GED in my community)& got a presidential medal for my service, mentor and volunteer for program for kids of parents in jail in my childhood neighborhood (200 hr), therapy for disabled kids using horseback riding (35 hr, 1 summer), EKG tech certification (80 hr.)
-Work: Worked in a large factory (500+ hr), ran an Etsy/eBay shop for money in college
-Research: structural biology in undergrad (200 hr), currently on a gap year doing research at a top institution.

I am worried about how some parts of my app will be viewed:
1. sGPA. I feel like this is what is stopping me applying to top schools. My GPAs for freshman, soph, and senior yrs are all 3.9+. In junior year over Columbus Day weekend I visited a loved one out of state. An incident happened where I was staying and I could not take my return flight, missed a few classes where attendance is part of the grade and 2 midterms (thank you CA for all your wildfires). I pulled all B's, cGPA 3.3 sGPA 3.0 because I had a hard time adjusting when I came back. All classes after were A's...

2. No committee letter - I decided on premed end of Soph and my college requires you to declare it by the end of Freshman year to get the letter. I have individual letters. Is this a negative?

3. A lot of Ws - first semester my single parent lost a job, so I switched to part time student because we did not have money to pay for full time. The classes I dropped are marked "W". After this semester I dropped college completely to work in a factory, like many people in my community, since we had really needed the money.. Took ~8 mo. off to save up to go back to school. How is this break viewed? Will the W's be given some leeway?

4. In my time off college(when working in the factory) I enrolled in an EKG tech program paid for by financial aid. This is what made me want to go back to college and be pre-med. Since the start of the new semester and EKG classes overlapped I had a hard time finishing it and when I did I ended up not using the certification for a job. It was huge in my decision to be premed, so I mentioned it in my PS but I'm not sure if it would be viewed badly since I never got employment in the field?

5. Low number of collegiate activities. I was in a few clubs early on in college, but was not later on. I mentioned in my PS I lived in a multigenerational home (3 gen. of family) and had alot of responsibility caring for 3 of the kids I lived with (cousins, but they were like brothers and sisters to me). I commuted ~3hr a day for college and usually had to be back in time to help care for them, and was overcredited most semesters. This didn't leave me with alot of time for clubs, which I honestly didn't enjoy. They were not very active, and the meetings were essentially talking with friends for an hour. I thought I could use my time more wisely so I stopped going and focused on volunteering, etc. elsewhere. I left clubs off my app completely since I do not even know who to contact for the few I was in early on - will this be noticed and nitpicked??

So far I am applying to all NY schools. I am actually abit paranoid that I will be turned away from schools I am interested in like SUNY Upstate/Downstate because of my MCAT(over 90 percentile) and the yield protection everyone talks about.. thoughts? Should I apply to t20's with my sGPA and (potential) red flags? Are ECs too plain? I have (very) limited funds and do not want to waste them at schools I don't have a chance at! Thanks for any input.

I seriously love your story.

True URM story + SES Disadvantage WITH academic excellence. If "holistic review" means anything, you will go to whatever medical school you want. In the future, I think members of your community will look up to you. Good luck.

 

[fuzzydoc303]

You inspire me! Big congrats on your success despite the barriers you have had to surmount. I think you can apply anywhere you want- yes, even Harvard. The "red flags" you cite above are not a big deal considering the context, which you will have ample opportunity to expound upon. As for your lack of club-related activities, I don't see this holding you back significantly. Good luck on your cycle, let us know how it goes!

 

[TempuraOreos]

You're going to have a great cycle! Aim high! Get FAP benefits if you qualify to offset secondary costs!

 

[MyOdyssey]

OP

You have a very strong application.

Aim high. Harvard, Penn, Columbia, NYU, UCSF? Yes.

Are you applying this cycle? If so, you’re bordering on hurting your chances by how late you’re applying. Perhaps wait a cycle and demonstrate some research moxie in the meantime.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

You've got a very strong application; if you're shooting for the stars you might want to wait. If not? Apply now, to top-20s, your state schools, and maybe a few mid-tier schools to round out your application. Your chances are very strong.