4.0/38 - Lacking in Volunteering/Clinical Exp.

[mnmike]

Howdy all! I just received my MCAT score (applying this cycle), and I am working on putting together a list of schools to consider. I recognize my GPA/MCAT are very good, but I am concerned some with the low totals of volunteering/clinical experience and at which schools that might most strongly affect my chances (I'd like to apply to at least some top 10-20 schools). I plan to apply to all in-state (TX) schools plus numerous out-of-state ones, but I am looking for ways to improve my app over the next couple months.

White male
TX resident
21 y.o.
No notable hardships
Major: Environmental Geosciences
Minors: Oceanography, Geology

strengths: GPA, MCAT, leadership, unusual major and work experience (?)
weaknesses: little clinical exposure, no real consistent non-clinical volunteering, limited research

GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 38 (14 PS, 11 VR, 13 BS)

-Clinical volunteering: 50 hrs over two summers in oncology clinic & on surgery floor; will hopefully complete additional 40-50 hours at different hospital this coming summer

-Shadowing: 40 hrs (18 in radiology, 12 burn doc, 10 gastroent.)

-Research: 1-semester independent project in microbial oceanography + later poster presentation of work (won 1st place in competition); will likely also do independent geochemistry research project senior year

-Nonclinical volunteering: approx. 70 hrs of one-time events and a couple recurring things

-Employment: completed 6-week internship abroad working on databases for professor at university in Spain; in summer '13, will work full, paid summer internship doing environmental data analysis for large chemical company

-Leadership: president of pre-health fraternity, executive officer in five other organizations over last three years, from student government to a science radio show to a dean's advisory panel (my student organization leadership positions have taken much of the time I probably should have devoted to clinical volunteering)

Assuming a good personal statement and three decently strong LoRs, what looks weakest in the ECs in this application? What could I improve and where should I look given that my strengths are in my academic numbers and my leadership? Are certain schools more numbers-based?

Thanks in advance!

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[yellowfish]

Research would likely be the largest deficiency in your application if you do those additional clinical hours. You could try to do a summer research fellowship to bolster your research credentials, and fit in additional clinical/non-clinical volunteering if possible. A few schools I would suggest applying to in the top 20 with your application: Penn, WashU, Yale, Michigan, UChicago, Vanderbilt.

 

[mnmike]

Research would likely be the largest deficiency in your application if you do those additional clinical hours. You could try to do a summer research fellowship to bolster your research credentials, and fit in additional clinical/non-clinical volunteering if possible. A few schools I would suggest applying to in the top 20 with your application: Penn, WashU, Yale, Michigan, UChicago, Vanderbilt.

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, with the internship and clinical volunteering this summer, I won't have time to start research until next fall, when I would have to do it here at my university. If I line up a project this spring, would I be able to indicate that somehow on my application?

 

[Cynicalbrit]

Research would likely be the largest deficiency in your application if you do those additional clinical hours. You could try to do a summer research fellowship to bolster your research credentials, and fit in additional clinical/non-clinical volunteering if possible. A few schools I would suggest applying to in the top 20 with your application: Penn, WashU, Yale, Michigan, UChicago, Vanderbilt.

Why do you recommend those specific schools? Are they known for favouring high stats?

 

[DokterMom]

Since you're a TX resident with great numbers, you've got all sorts of great options. Some things to consider:

- The cost of attending medical school OOS will be about $150 - $200K MORE than attending one of the Texas schools (this translates to an extra $2,000 per month for 10 years when you pay it back ). So for that reason, you should only consider those schools that are worth that much more money to you.

- Many of the top-ranked schools are research-focused, so if research is your weakest area, that's what I'd focus on building. If you don't especially *want* to do research, then search out the best primary care schools you can find and apply there (in addition to TX, of course)