Advice to sophomore

[indianboy7321]

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GPA: 3.26 cum
1st sem freshman: 3.02
2nd sem freshman: 3.5
80 hours of shadowing internal medicine, psychiatrist, and pulmonologist.
100 hours of volunteer work composed of FAST (first aid service team), tutoring children, and mentoring kids at outdoor camp.

GPA was low first semester due to a C in chem. I got caught cheating so I got a 0 on the exam🙁(luckily didnt go on my record).

Advice on how to beef up the resume a bit more?

 

[0dee]

Most important advice is don't cheat, it is not worth it. A friend of mine cheated in his upper division science class, and the teacher caught him. It went on his permanent school record, and needless to say every medical school he applied to rejected him, although he had a high GPA and a good MCAT score. Work hard to raise that GPA and ace your pre reqs.

 

[Bobcat18]

Advice: stop being dumb- don't cheat. You got lucky that it did not go on your record, as it should have. Take this as your one free pass (minus the C of course...). Grades you can come back from- a history of cheating is very very hard to, if not impossible. Grow up and stop cheating.

 

[mathnerd88]

Well, I hope you learned your lesson and don't cheat.

As for stats, we can't really say until you take the MCAT and come back with the score. If you maintain a 3.4 or higher, you should be good for DO schools with a decent enough MCAT score.

 

[DAC7]

The cheating isn't on your record so all you can really do is learn your lesson and move on. Your shadowing hours aren't bad at all. I would continue to shadow and volunteer. Also, make time for things that you're interested in. Take upper level science courses, shadow, volunteer, etc. and you should be OK. Also, when it comes time to take the MCAT, just relax. Give yourself enough time to study.

Cheating is never good. Not that I'm trying to lecture you (I'm sure you know.) Just learn from it and move forward. Good luck!!

 

[becomingdoctor]

Stop visiting sdn! You should focus on knowledge rather than stats. Focus on what do you know rather than what do you get. Also, start looking for research.

 

[indianboy7321]

Thanks everyone for their responses. Typically how many hours of volunteer service is considered average?

 

[Dr. Death]

Thanks everyone for their responses. Typically how many hours of volunteer service is considered average?

I would say have at least 200 hours of clinical experience and 250 hours of volunteering (no overlap!). I think you are good on shadowing. If I were you I wouldn't do any more shadowing.

 

[mathnerd88]

I would say have at least 200 hours of clinical experience and 250 hours of volunteering (no overlap!). I think you are good on shadowing. If I were you I wouldn't do any more shadowing.

Ehh, while more volunteer hours is good, I doubt you need that many hours to get in. Plenty of people get in with far less hours than that. You just need to show a lot of passion in osteopathic medicine and your reasons for wanting to go. Volunteering hours is just one way of doing so.

 

[Doctor or bust]

As long as you don't cheat anymore and do well you could still have a strong shot in allopathic and undoubtedly a good chance at osteopathic. My freshman year I had a 2.0 and as a senior I now have a 3.5. Your GPA isn't that bad and could very well still end up pretty high if you put the work into it. Focus on your grades and the MCAT, your ECs are fine. Maybe add a leadership position and continue volunteering as those things can only help.