A few questions...

[yellowjellybean]

Hey guys,

I feel very vanilla...

-3.76, science and cumulative
-2 years of research, 1 poster at international conference and 2 posters at school symposium and 2nd author pub (behavioral ecology)
-hobbies: bugs and critters, evolutionary biology, naming insects...
-2 years Big Brothers Big Sisters
-1 year Boys and Girls Club
-1 semester with at risk youth org.
-12 hours shadowing a dermatologist
-9 months of ER scribing
-2 week medical trip to Honduras
-Chemistry/calculus tutor for 1 year
-other short-term stuff including a science outreach demonstration, judging 8th grade science fair, etc.

Arizona resident

I have several questions that if I can get your opinions on any of them, I would so appreciate it.

1. I was only able to start studying for the MCAT beginning of May. I signed up to take it 5/31 but do you think I should take it 6/21 instead? I haven't even started on my personal statement either

2. Do you think my clinical experience is good enough?

3. I was a club office for a year but I just basically helped plan stuff so I think I will leave this out completely. Do you agree?

4. If I do not have ANY leadership, should I bother applying to a school like Pritzker?

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[Catalystik]

-3.76, science and cumulative
-2 years of research, 1 poster at international conference and 2 posters at school symposium and 2nd author pub (behavioral ecology)
-hobbies: bugs and critters, evolutionary biology, naming insects...
-2 years Big Brothers Big Sisters
-1 year Boys and Girls Club
-1 semester with at risk youth org.
-12 hours shadowing a dermatologist
-9 months of ER scribing
-2 week medical trip to Honduras
-Chemistry/calculus tutor for 1 year
-other short-term stuff including a science outreach demonstration, judging 8th grade science fair, etc.

Arizona resident

I have several questions that if I can get your opinions on any of them, I would so appreciate it.

1. I was only able to start studying for the MCAT beginning of May. I signed up to take it 5/31 but do you think I should take it 6/21 instead? I haven't even started on my personal statement either

2. Do you think my clinical experience is good enough?

3. I was a club office for a year but I just basically helped plan stuff so I think I will leave this out completely. Do you agree?

4. If I do not have ANY leadership, should I bother applying to a school like Pritzker?

5. I feel very vanilla...

1) Yes, especially if you're aiming for a score strong enough to impress top ten schools.

2) I like to see more, but I suspect that your strong research and humanistic involvement will help many adcomms to overlook the brevity. Consider continuing some clinical involvement through the application year so you can include it in update letters. Additional formal shadowing would be nice to see, for example, of an office-based primary care doc, since your scribing has covered observation of ER docs.

3) Use it. You have nothing else that suggests peer leadership and it's better than nothing. If it wasn't all that leadership-y, then emphasize the responsibity and teamwork aspects.

4) I'd worry more about the MCAT score outcome before worrying about this.

5) Do what you can to spin the bug&critter interest into a hobby that will help you stand out and be memorable. I think this could make you look interesting.

 

[yellowjellybean]

Thanks Catalystik. I think I will take it in June. Do you think that will put me at a severe disadvantage?

 

[Catalystik]

I don't think you'll be at any disadvantage at all, provided you submit your application to AMCAS early in June (to just less-selective schools) when the line for transcript verification is short. If you wait until the end of July when you get the score, it will take another ~month to get verified, and even longer to get all Secondaries and supplemental materials sent in. Becoming Complete after 9/1, would make you "late" in my book. Be strategic and you can avoid that.

Once the score is known, you can add more schools based on how competitive you are. Newly added schools get the entire application within a business day.

To make your turn-around time rapid once you're invited to complete a Secondary, you can prewrite your essays from prompts you'll find here on SDN while you wait for the score.

 

[yellowjellybean]

bump!