- Joined
- Jul 19, 2015
- Messages
- 74
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Hello everyone,
First of all, thank you for taking the time to offer advice. I'm feeling very overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of potential medical schools for application and would like some help choosing a preliminary list. I'd also like some advice on my chances applying to my state school - which also happens to be my undergraduate alma mater.
Grade Point Averages: I have a cumulative GPA of 3.80 and a science GPA of 3.72
MCAT: I received a 514 (91st percentile) in my first and hopefully only bout with the MCAT
C/P:128, CARS:129, B/B:127, P/S:130
Ethnicity/Race: White (male)
Undergraduate Institution: Large public university
Clinical Experience: I'm currently working as a PCT in the ER and will have accumulated approximately 1400 hours by the time I apply. I plan on keeping this job next year, which will put me at almost 3000 hours (although I'm not sure this makes much of a difference).
Research Experience: I have about 300 hours clinical research experience performing phenotype assignment/adjudication for a large scale stroke study at an institution affiliated with my state medical school (one summer). Basically clinical grunt work - necessary, but not especially interesting. No associated publications, projects, presentations, etc.
Shadowing Experience: I've logged about 25 hours with a neurohospitalist; 15 hours with a neurologist; 4 hours with an anesthesiologist observing a carotid endarterectomy; 4 hours with a neurosurgeon observing an artificial disc replacement; roughly 100-150 hours in high school doing a shadowing rotation across a wide variety of departments (cardiology, oncology, ICU, PCU, orthopedics, etc.), which is why I haven't done much shadowing in college - now regretting that fact because I'm worried that medical schools won't take too much stock in such an early experience.
I have plenty of access to shadowing opportunities and plan to acquire roughly 50 more hours by the time I apply.
Non-clinical Volunteering: Volunteered with a large philanthropic organization dedicated to raising money for state children's hospital (also associated with my state medical school) for three years. I personally raised around $3000 over three years and served on a committee (60-80 people) that raised around $300,000 throughout that same time period. I have a hard time quantify the amount of time by hours. We had a weekly two hour meeting for the length of the school year, along with committee/organization wide events and fundraising opportunities. I would very roughly estimate the hours at 500+. I also spent a year volunteering with a mentoring program for local elementary-aged children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We spent about an hour and a half with them each week for a year, which comes out to about 50 hours total. I also participated in a number of smaller events through my fraternity, but will probably not list it on my application.
Extracurricular Activities: I don't have too many noteworthy extracurricular activities, besides participating in a fraternity for two years. Based on what I've gleaned from this site, however, it's probably not in my best interest to list on my application. Besides that, I'm a lifelong basketball player and love lifting weights - great stress relievers for me. I'm super interested in learning to play the piano and have begun that process (it's a daunting one). I feel I'm lacking particularly in leadership positions, which is concerning to me as I'm not sure how to develop such an experience before this cycle. Would it be helpful to address this and discuss in my application any plans I have to develop such an experience over the next year?
Reminder: Looking primarily for my competitiveness at my public state school and a list of schools at which I would have the best shot at an acceptance. Thank you for the help!
I also forgot to mention that I graduated last spring, so will be applying a full year after graduation and matriculating a full two years after graduation.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to offer advice. I'm feeling very overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of potential medical schools for application and would like some help choosing a preliminary list. I'd also like some advice on my chances applying to my state school - which also happens to be my undergraduate alma mater.
Grade Point Averages: I have a cumulative GPA of 3.80 and a science GPA of 3.72
MCAT: I received a 514 (91st percentile) in my first and hopefully only bout with the MCAT
C/P:128, CARS:129, B/B:127, P/S:130
Ethnicity/Race: White (male)
Undergraduate Institution: Large public university
Clinical Experience: I'm currently working as a PCT in the ER and will have accumulated approximately 1400 hours by the time I apply. I plan on keeping this job next year, which will put me at almost 3000 hours (although I'm not sure this makes much of a difference).
Research Experience: I have about 300 hours clinical research experience performing phenotype assignment/adjudication for a large scale stroke study at an institution affiliated with my state medical school (one summer). Basically clinical grunt work - necessary, but not especially interesting. No associated publications, projects, presentations, etc.
Shadowing Experience: I've logged about 25 hours with a neurohospitalist; 15 hours with a neurologist; 4 hours with an anesthesiologist observing a carotid endarterectomy; 4 hours with a neurosurgeon observing an artificial disc replacement; roughly 100-150 hours in high school doing a shadowing rotation across a wide variety of departments (cardiology, oncology, ICU, PCU, orthopedics, etc.), which is why I haven't done much shadowing in college - now regretting that fact because I'm worried that medical schools won't take too much stock in such an early experience.
I have plenty of access to shadowing opportunities and plan to acquire roughly 50 more hours by the time I apply.
Non-clinical Volunteering: Volunteered with a large philanthropic organization dedicated to raising money for state children's hospital (also associated with my state medical school) for three years. I personally raised around $3000 over three years and served on a committee (60-80 people) that raised around $300,000 throughout that same time period. I have a hard time quantify the amount of time by hours. We had a weekly two hour meeting for the length of the school year, along with committee/organization wide events and fundraising opportunities. I would very roughly estimate the hours at 500+. I also spent a year volunteering with a mentoring program for local elementary-aged children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We spent about an hour and a half with them each week for a year, which comes out to about 50 hours total. I also participated in a number of smaller events through my fraternity, but will probably not list it on my application.
Extracurricular Activities: I don't have too many noteworthy extracurricular activities, besides participating in a fraternity for two years. Based on what I've gleaned from this site, however, it's probably not in my best interest to list on my application. Besides that, I'm a lifelong basketball player and love lifting weights - great stress relievers for me. I'm super interested in learning to play the piano and have begun that process (it's a daunting one). I feel I'm lacking particularly in leadership positions, which is concerning to me as I'm not sure how to develop such an experience before this cycle. Would it be helpful to address this and discuss in my application any plans I have to develop such an experience over the next year?
Reminder: Looking primarily for my competitiveness at my public state school and a list of schools at which I would have the best shot at an acceptance. Thank you for the help!
I also forgot to mention that I graduated last spring, so will be applying a full year after graduation and matriculating a full two years after graduation.
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