Am i on the right track?? 3.88 GPA

[imGonBAsurgeon]

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Hey all,

I'm a 3rd year bio major at a california school. Right now my GPA is a 3.88
Extracurriculars:
-Core team member of church's teen youth program (1 year)
-Current paid tutor at tutoring program at school (gchem, ochem, ecology)
-ER volunteer at a hospital (part of the standards committee there)
-Starting CCE program (clinical care extender)
-5 months of research with the chief of GI surgery (lots of shadowing in this specialty in clinic and OR) at a hospital thats part of my school. First author on an abstract and second on another. Presenting poster this upcoming January at ACS conference.
-Chemical education research on campus for about 8 months
-As far as letters go, I plan on getting one from my writing professor, one from the professor i tutor for, one from the associate dean for i class i am currently taking, and of course another from the surgeons I am researching for. The rest that i may need, I'll figure out later.

What areas would you say could use more touch up? I plan on taking the MCAT this time next year and applying spring of next year and wanted to do as much as I can to increase my odds of staying in California (but of course any medical school would be fine by my book)

Sorry if this was a long read, i switched to pre Med a little than less a year ago so I got a later than desired start on some of my activities. still a little frantic.

Thanks 🙂

 

[jbz24]

I think you're on the right track. Continue your research experience. Your GPA is superb so keep that up. I'm a little confused though - you say you're gonna take your MCAT this time next year (October 2011) and apply that spring? Doesn't work that way. You can either take your MCAT earlier and apply this coming up summer or you'll have to take a year off after you graduate.

 

[imGonBAsurgeon]

I think you're on the right track. Continue your research experience. Your GPA is superb so keep that up. I'm a little confused though - you say you're gonna take your MCAT this time next year (October 2011) and apply that spring? Doesn't work that way. You can either take your MCAT earlier and apply this coming up summer or you'll have to take a year off after you graduate.

Thanks for the input. Yeah I plan on taking the MCAT this time next year, and sorry about the confusion, i didn't mean im applying spring of 2011, i meant 2012 (when i graduate). And yeah i realize that'll mean I'm taking a year off, I wanted to give myself time to get more clinic hours in and well more time in general in all of my activities. 🙂

 

[Catalystik]

MCAT take dates aren't offered in October.

Your ECs are coming along nicely, especially since you've only been pre-med for a year. Besides the surgeon shadowing, get in an office-based primary care doc, and at least one other specialty for a good breadth of experience.

California schools seem to like folks with some unique interest. Any hobbies, avocations, artistic endeavors, or sports that fall into that category?

 

[imGonBAsurgeon]

MCAT take dates aren't offered in October.

Your ECs are coming along nicely, especially since you've only been pre-med for a year. Besides the surgeon shadowing, get in an office-based primary care doc, and at least one other specialty for a good breadth of experience.

California schools seem to like folks with some unique interest. Any hobbies, avocations, artistic endeavors, or sports that fall into that category?

Are they offered in September? I do have hobbies but nothing really official? I'm big on fishing (mostly surf fishing at the moment, which i know may be unusual) and I am a bit of a gym rat, not sure how that would count though, maybe I should participate in some triathlons?

 

[Catalystik]

The MCAT can be taken in September.

Being a gym rat and a surf fisherman are both good hobbies to list. Adcomms like to see that you have stress-relieving, leisure-time activities.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Thanks for the input. Yeah I plan on taking the MCAT this time next year, and sorry about the confusion, i didn't mean im applying spring of 2011, i meant 2012 (when i graduate). And yeah i realize that'll mean I'm taking a year off, I wanted to give myself time to get more clinic hours in and well more time in general in all of my activities. 🙂

Why wait? Your numbers are very good and your EC's are average in CA, and would be above average after another year of beefing. If you applied this upcoming round you'd still have a full year before you submitted your secondaries, so you could always update your app with extra research or clinic time. Do you really need 2 more years of EC's? No. It's good not to rush into medicine and the year off thing is seen positively by some ad comms, but I'm telling you you would get acceptances this cycle if the MCAT goes well. Consider it, you'd save a year and be happy for it later. In reality, your real competition out there are not all gung-ho SDN gunners. There are a lot of 3.6-3.7's and 29's on the MCAT, with less EC's than you, who get acceptances at cali schools. I'm at a UC and see a lot of apps b/c I do interviews for the ad com here...if that makes a difference. A year off seems fine when your younger but by the end of med school, the older you are, the less inclined you are to jump into one of the many specialties with 5-7 years of residency. It's stressful to take the MCAT in the spring and interview during 4th year, but if you think about it in terms of an extra year of doctor salary down the road...would you do it if someone wrote you a check this year for $200-300K? It's the same thing. I know that's untraditional advice.

What I'd do...more clinical experience. Everyone loves to see it, it's by far the most important EC, much more so than research. (Continue your research and CCE stuff (I did that too!), but if you can squeeze in an extra activity over the summer it'll look like you've got more clinical exposure than you actually do.) Take the MCAT in the early summer, and get your apps in before 4th year starts in the fall. I'd put money on you doing fine.

 

[imGonBAsurgeon]

Why wait? Your numbers are very good and your EC's are average in CA, and would be above average after another year of beefing. If you applied this upcoming round you'd still have a full year before you submitted your secondaries, so you could always update your app with extra research or clinic time. Do you really need 2 more years of EC's? No. It's good not to rush into medicine and the year off thing is seen positively by some ad comms, but I'm telling you you would get acceptances this cycle if the MCAT goes well. Consider it, you'd save a year and be happy for it later. In reality, your real competition out there are not all gung-ho SDN gunners. There are a lot of 3.6-3.7's and 29's on the MCAT, with less EC's than you, who get acceptances at cali schools. I'm at a UC and see a lot of apps b/c I do interviews for the ad com here...if that makes a difference. A year off seems fine when your younger but by the end of med school, the older you are, the less inclined you are to jump into one of the many specialties with 5-7 years of residency. It's stressful to take the MCAT in the spring and interview during 4th year, but if you think about it in terms of an extra year of doctor salary down the road...would you do it if someone wrote you a check this year for $200-300K? It's the same thing. I know that's untraditional advice.

What I'd do...more clinical experience. Everyone loves to see it, it's by far the most important EC, much more so than research. (Continue your research and CCE stuff (I did that too!), but if you can squeeze in an extra activity over the summer it'll look like you've got more clinical exposure than you actually do.) Take the MCAT in the early summer, and get your apps in before 4th year starts in the fall. I'd put money on you doing fine.

Thanks a bunch for the input Catalystik and Zoom, it means a lot to me. I'll definitely reconsider applying for the upcoming cycle. Hopefully I'll be able to juggle studying for the MCATS on top of my classes, ayye the stress. What type of summer clinical exposure do you suggest? Does going abroad to do a medical mission count? The club I'm involved with does a trip to Vietnam every year and I'm planning on going if things fit my schedule.

 

[Catalystik]

What type of summer clinical exposure do you suggest? Does going abroad to do a medical mission count? The club I'm involved with does a trip to Vietnam every year and I'm planning on going if things fit my schedule.

While most of one's clinical experience should be gained in the US, international service trips can supplement either clinical experience or nonmedical community service, depending on your role there. Shadowing should be primarily with US-based physicians also.

For the rest of the summer, consider gaining clinical experience in a different environment than that of the academic year, maybe a nursing home or clinic, for example.