3.85s/3.66c, 37R, low on clinical/shadowing hours

[ameriver]

Hi all,

I've done a career switch from working in theater as a stage manager to medicine in the last couple years. I'm finishing a postbacc this June. My first degree was in drama at a top 10 school, completed in 3 years.
-37R MCAT*
-3.85 sGPA / 3.66 cGPA
-postbacc GPA is 4.0, for my first degree it was something like 3.5
-130 clinical volunteering hours, most at Planned Parenthood, the rest in an ER
-50 shadowing hours, all ER
-I'll be spending the summer teaching introductory majors biology labs (~150 hours)
-a couple thousand hours of theatrical experience, paid and unpaid, largely in management/technical roles, lots of leadership experience
-reapplicant from last year, when I applied late in the cycle, without any upper division classes, and with a lot less clinical experience.

I have stringent location restrictions due to family, so I will *only* be applying to my state school, OHSU. Yes, I know it's really unfortunate.

Do I have a decent shot? Is there anything else I ought to try and cram in before I submit my AMCAS?

I could retake the MCAT in the next couple of months - my practice scores were all higher than my actual score, and I hadn't yet taken O Chem, and I didn't manage my sleep schedule well beforehand, so I think I'd have a decent shot at improving my score. What do you all think?

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[ameriver]

Thanks for the feedback. When you say 'appearing arrogant,' do you mean to the SDN community, or are adcoms going to be seeing which schools I have applied to? Would it potentially improve my application to apply to other schools **even though I can't go to them if I did get in?**

As far as building other activities, do you have any specific suggestions, or is it just a matter of putting in the hours somewhere, anywhere?

Again, thanks for responding in spite of my arrogance

 

[Tots]

Thanks for the feedback. When you say 'appearing arrogant,' do you mean to the SDN community, or are adcoms going to be seeing which schools I have applied to? Would it potentially improve my application to apply to other schools **even though I can't go to them if I did get in?**

As far as building other activities, do you have any specific suggestions, or is it just a matter of putting in the hours somewhere, anywhere?

Again, thanks for responding in spite of my arrogance

Adcoms will not see where you applied but putting all your eggs in the OHSU basket does not seem like a winning proposition but if you have no other option..... Your stats are good though so I would assume you got a shot.

 

[ameriver]

Yeah, I get that. But in this case it is literally something (my marriage) that is literally more important to me than becoming a doctor. So I'm asking the question more so that I can just give up now if I have no chance, rather than wasting a lot of time and money on something that is essentially impossible given the other parameters of my life.

Perhaps the most frustrating part is that the location I happen to be locked into for the next few years is so *sparse* in the way of medical schools. The next two closest schools are UW and Stanford, neither of which I have *any* shot at getting into, and also neither of which are actually within a reasonable "commute." This just wouldn't be a problem if I lived in, say, New York.

/whinging

 

[TorpedoVegas]

You're not getting any responses because you ask about retaking the MCAT with a 37R.

Your location restriction will likely limit you completely. You need to apply to more than one school to avoid appearing arrogant. While you have stellar stats, you don't have much else going for you. You lack clinical experience and significant service work. You need to build your other activities to convince adcoms you're an interesting and sincere applicant rather than a theater expat abandoning ship after realizing the earnings potential was not as expected. You're likely to get in somewhere as you stand, but you'd have to apply broadly to realize your potential.

I'm just curious, from your point of view and the OP's as well, how is 130 hours of clinical experience low? It seems like a rather substantial amount, especially for someone who has been working and studying at the same time.