3x application

[DKDawg]

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2010 would be my third year of applying to med school, and I think I could use some help on evaluating what I am doing/if I could be doing more.

I graduated with a bio degree in may of 04 and completed a second bachelors in economics by December of 2004. I went to two different schools, finishing bio early to move back home after some financial situations caused private school to be too much. I changed my double major to a second degree and interned/worked from home.

I spent a year traveling, and have been working in 2 different clinical labs over the past 4 years. The two labs were very different, the old one was really patient oriented, and the one i'm at now is more research, so I've got a taste for both and got my name on few abstracts. I've moved up pretty quick and have letters from both directors, my undergrad bio thesis advisors, a coauthor on a paper publishing my undergrad research, and my advisor for my second part time degree in economics. (the undergrad research was not medical related - more ecological - but still published).

I spent a summer in college (2001) working at a homeless clinic and a few days shadowing my uncle in rural India (2005). Volunteered with headstart in college and some social mentoring in college. (upperclassmen to freshman making the transition to college)

I've taken the MCAT twice. The first time came a few weeks after a death in my family and sucked (8/9/9), and while the second wasn't much better (10/9/10) i'm not sure I want to retake the MCAT if I can help it.

I wasn't a premed in college so my GPA isn't astronomical: Cum: 3.54; sGPA: 3.39. I took a basic anatomy course in the winter quarter and got a B+ so it won't help much but I thought I should do something because I applied late this year (secondaries done between september and early november).

I did get one interview i'm waiting to hear back on, but have been soundly rejected for the second year in a row. The first year was a complete waste of time because I had no MCAT when I applied, and just bombed the test. This year, I did better on the MCAT, but didn't really apply early like so many people say is crucial. I'm not looking to go to a top school, but would prefer MD to do international or surgery, based on my experiences.

The only things I can think of to do are take the MCAT again at the risk of getting a lower score, take another class part time at the risk of lowering my GPA, or volunteering, at the risk of not getting a lot of time in between work and applying early this year.

I'm up for any suggestions because I'm not ready to give up on my hope of going to med school.

Thanks in advance, feel free to be honest and blunt.

 

[rockymhs]

2010 would be my third year of applying to med school, and I think I could use some help on evaluating what I am doing/if I could be doing more.

I graduated with a bio degree in may of 04 and completed a second bachelors in economics by December of 2004. I went to two different schools, finishing bio early to move back home after some financial situations caused private school to be too much. I changed my double major to a second degree and interned/worked from home.

I spent a year traveling, and have been working in 2 different clinical labs over the past 4 years. The two labs were very different, the old one was really patient oriented, and the one i'm at now is more research, so I've got a taste for both and got my name on few abstracts. I've moved up pretty quick and have letters from both directors, my undergrad bio thesis advisors, a coauthor on a paper publishing my undergrad research, and my advisor for my second part time degree in economics. (the undergrad research was not medical related - more ecological - but still published).

I spent a summer in college (2001) working at a homeless clinic and a few days shadowing my uncle in rural India (2005). Volunteered with headstart in college and some social mentoring in college. (upperclassmen to freshman making the transition to college)

I've taken the MCAT twice. The first time came a few weeks after a death in my family and sucked (8/9/9), and while the second wasn't much better (10/9/10) i'm not sure I want to retake the MCAT if I can help it.

I wasn't a premed in college so my GPA isn't astronomical: Cum: 3.54; sGPA: 3.39. I took a basic anatomy course in the winter quarter and got a B+ so it won't help much but I thought I should do something because I applied late this year (secondaries done between september and early november).

I did get one interview i'm waiting to hear back on, but have been soundly rejected for the second year in a row. The first year was a complete waste of time because I had no MCAT whlooking to go to a top school, but would prefer MD to do international or sen I applied, and just bombed the test. This year, I did better on the MCAT, but didn't really apply early like so many people say is crucial. I'm not urgery, based on my experiences.

The only things I can think of to do are take the MCAT again at the risk of getting a lower score, take another class part time at the risk of lowering my GPA, or volunteering, at the risk of not getting a lot of time in between work and applying early this year.

I'm up for any suggestions because I'm not ready to give up on my hope of going to med school.

Thanks in advance, feel free to be honest and blunt.

Did you ever look into DO schools?

Your MCAT is slightly below the national average for MD school matriculant while your GPA is low by a big margin.

Your EC's looks pretty good and your research experience is a plus.

You seem very competitive as a DO applicant, and you will need a LOR from a DO as well.

 

[ThaliaNox]

With your GPA, a 29 is probably not going to cut it. This is from someone who actually HAD a 29, so I'm not trying to be mean here. You need to retake the MCAT, preferably after some major studying, perhaps a course. It sounds like it has been a really long time since you took your pre-reqs, so it won't be easy, but it is something you really need to do.

You're good on research, no need to do anything more. You do need volunteering. Even if you did things previously, med schools like to see a continuing trend of commitment to service, so thinking you have the box checked isn't going to cut it either. Don't make excuses for yourself. Volunteering can be 3 hours a week. Everyone has three hours they're not using for essentials during an entire week.

Finally, you need to decide if med school is something you really want. You're making a lot of excuses for yourself. Ask yourself if that is a sign that you really don't want to make the personal sacrifices and deal with the hoop jumping involved in getting into medical school.

 

[MiniMoo]

A huge gaping hole in your application is your extremely weak clinical experience. From what you've described, all you have is one summer of work at a homeless clinic and a few days of shadowing your uncle overseas. Most applicants have at least 100-150 hours of local clinical volunteer work accumulated over a year or more. This is in addition to shadowing a number of physicians in different specialties. I'd suggest that you get more hospital volunteering under your belt as well as more shadowing time with different doctors, starting asap.

If you are not opposed to retaking the MCAT and can be fairly certain you can improve your score, I would do that as well. If you're not positive you can do better, then don't take that risk.

Your sGPA is also considered low for MD schools. Not sure how many units you've accumulated already, but pulling up your GPA with post-bacc work would strengthen your application as well. If you're willing to apply to DO schools, they do grade replacement, so you would be able to bring up your GPA much faster.

 

[DKDawg]

I don't really have a pre-med advisor, so I really appreciate the quick words of advice.

I was already leaning towards taking the MCAT again, so I will definitely do that.

I'm not sure on what sort of volunteering would work. I had looked into volunteering at the hospital I work at, but they have a very large time commitment that interferes with my work hours. (minimum 4 hours a week for 6 months from 9am-2pm one day a week - not bad, but not ideal for working full-time).

Would tutoring or something of that nature qualify? I'm not really sure where to look. I'm not adverse to volunteering or putting my time into "hoops", i'm just unclear on what I need to do.

Thanks for the help I am really grateful for your advice.

 

[MiniMoo]

I don't really have a pre-med advisor, so I really appreciate the quick words of advice.

I was already leaning towards taking the MCAT again, so I will definitely do that.

I'm not sure on what sort of volunteering would work. I had looked into volunteering at the hospital I work at, but they have a very large time commitment that interferes with my work hours. (minimum 4 hours a week for 6 months from 9am-2pm one day a week - not bad, but not ideal for working full-time).

Would tutoring or something of that nature qualify? I'm not really sure where to look. I'm not adverse to volunteering or putting my time into "hoops", i'm just unclear on what I need to do.

Thanks for the help I am really grateful for your advice.

Tutoring will not qualify. You need CLINICAL volunteer work. That means working with patients in a clinical setting. How else are you going to show adcoms that you know what medicine and working as a physician is like? Four to five hours a week is a very typical time commitment. Most people do this for about a year. If medicine is really what you want to do, then you will find a way to make it happen. If the 9am-2pm shift doesn't work for your schedule, and that's the ONLY hours your hospital offers (unlikely), then find another hospital in the area to volunteer at. I was able to find one that worked with my full-time schedule. I volunteered from 10pm-2am once a week on weekdays.

 

[MiniMoo]

Also you don't necessarily HAVE to work in a hospital. Community health clinics, hospice centers, etc. all work. As long as you're able to work with and interact with patients, it counts.

 

[DKDawg]

Ok, sounds good to me.

I will get on to studying and will see what I can do about my flexibility at work to volunteer with some patient contact.

Thank you so much for the advice.

 

[DKDawg]

AMCAS gave me 93 credits for science....

 

[Catalystik]

Listen to MiniMoo. And honestly, I don't think you'll do much better if you apply again June 2010. You need at least a year of US-based clinical experience, though 1.5 years is more average. And you need to shadow a few US physicians.Your MCAT score needs to be 32+. Changing your timeline gives you a lot more time to study for it. Teaching and Leadership are other areas of experience that strengthen your application.

Read these forums widely to get more ideas about making yourself a stronger applicant.

 

[DKDawg]

Thank you for the great advice.

I'm going to work a different work schedule and volunteer at the hospital.

I'm definitely going to take the MCAT again, and possibly push applying back for another year, to get that year of volunteering, and use the extra time to study.