another one of "those" questions

[mk2009]

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Hey guys. Couple questions.

I'm from california 🙁. I had a really rough sophomore year due to family problems. I ended up with F in 2nd semester of ochem (retook-B+) and got bunch of B and B- in my prereqs. My defense (or excuse) is that I was holding 3 jobs at that moment and I had to commute around 3 hours per day to get to school.
I got back on track end of my sophomore year, and ever since then I have done pretty well (GPA over 3.85 every quarter with only upper div science classes in the schedule).
Because of my horrible sophomore year and an okay freshman year, my overall GPA is 3.57 and BCPM is 3.58.
I'm a second author in an article in the Cell (couple more manuscripts being prepared at the moment), I have volunteered at the hospital for around 6 months (4 hours/week). I'm involved in my church for soup kitchen and fundraising for the needy as well as I serve as an interpretator for the services. I tutor biology for the minority students at school (1 year), I have couple poster presentations, a scholarship for research and teaching ($6000.00), and a stipend for research. I also shadowed different doctors for a week in a program. I'm starting work as a full time lab technician in a month. I held various jobs throughout the undergrad years.

I just got my MCAT score back and I ended with 34Q. (10ps, 10v, 14bs)

1. Should I retake the mcat to balance the scores? ( I was usually getting around 37 on my practice and I dont know what happened to my verbal score)
2. Would I have any chance at any of the MD/PhD programs?
3. Should I even bother applying to california schools?
4. I did horribly in my chem series (B-/B/B in general chem, A-/F(replaced by B+)/B+ in ochem). Since then, I took 3 biochem classes, and ended up getting 2As and 1A+. Would this even help me?

Sorry for the long post. And thank you for the help!

 

[PowerButton]

1. I don't think you should retake it; it's a solid score, and from what I've read and researched it doesn't seem like the MCAT "balances" any GPA deficits. They seem to be measures of 2 separate things. (btw, my MCAT score and practice score were nearly identical to yours. weird.)

2. If you have good research experience, you might as well apply for them. Why not?

3. You have a unique situation - I'm sure they would take it into account. Being a resident helps.

4. They like to see upward trends and improvements. Does that F even show up on your transcript, or is it just completely replaced by the B+?

 

[mk2009]

It still shows up on my transcript as a big fat F 🙁
I definitely have a huge improving trend. I took 23 classes my junior and senior year, ended with 1B, 2B+, 2A-, 5A+, and 13A, compared to my mediocre first two years. Do you think upward trend will help a lot?

Also, I am editing my personal statement at the moment, and should I go into depth about my family situation that made me earn those grades in sophomore year or should I just briefly touch on it since it seems like I'm making bunch of excuses?

I was thinking about retaking the mcat because the score seems unbalanced... like my ps and v isn't high enough compared to bs...

 

[PowerButton]

That's unfortunate about your transcript. I don't really know what to do about that.

The upward trend definitely helps; they'll see it as likely continuing into med school.

Sob stories are generally frowned upon, but I think in your case you really do need to offer some explanation for your F, etc. Be positive though. Don't emphasize the crap you had to go through, but rather use it to show how you dealt with it, and how it made you who you are now.

It's really up to you if you want to take the MCAT. I personally wouldn't take the risk of scoring lower; the subject-based nature of the test makes it so you'll always have random crap thrown at you. It's also kind of expensive. If you feel confident that you will absolutely improve your PS and VR, and not have your BS score go down.. sure!

 

[Flamen04]

Do NOT retake the MCAT. You already got a 34.. that's very impressive as many struggle to even get a 30

 

[mk2009]

So I'm trying to figure out which schools to apply to.
So far I have all CA schools except for UCSF and Stanford
rosalind franklin
loyola
drexel
george washington
tulane
albany
where else should I apply? I think I'll be applying to around 20 schools...

btw I'm a california resident, and I go to UCLA

Thanks!

 

[abcabc1]

In general, Medical Schools penalize an applicant for weak grades less severely if that person has strong MCAT scores than if his/her MCAT scores are weak. Your MCAT scores are strong, so that gives you an edge. While an F looks horrible, the people reading your application realize that things happen and Academic performance may suffer as a result. I agree w/ PowerButton that you'll want to explain what happened but focus on what you learned from the experience and how it has helped you do so well in recent years.

Your grades in the recent Biochemistry courses will help, for sure.

Looks like you read my mind already with regards to schools, but add NYMC, Jefferson, Saint Louis and MCW. Good luck!