Hello everyone,
New to SDN. I've tried to search through SDN for questions/applicants similar to mine, and haven't found many that fit well. If there are threads that I'm missing please let me know!
My main question is probably the most popular here - what is the best path to med school for me/is it viable at this point? I've heard a lot about SMPs, gap year activities etc, looking to get a feel if:
1. Should I be counting on having to take a gap year? (my guess is yes, but preference is no)
2. What should be my course of action/targeted med schools from here on out/is med school even in the cards for me?
3rd year undergrad
cGPA 3.28 sGPA 3.47 - downward trend
MCAT 517
Asian-American
Nontraditional major - Business (BBA), Biology minor
Avg shadowing, volunteer work
below-average research (1 minor publication, hoping to add a better one during this summer while applying to schools but won't show on application)
ECs - avg/typical health-related ones, plus 2 summers of internship at clinical stage biotech pharma company (cardiovascular). Started Business/Health organization that offered debt-management classes to recently graduated MDs. TA for B-school class that focused on socially-beneficial business ventures -- I tried to do ECs that would merge my interests in Business and Medicine
Struggled with mental-health issues from 2nd semester freshman year onwards, was able to get a better handle on them around MCAT time (hence better performance than GPA might indicate). cGPA is lower than sGPA because IMO my Business courses were largely participation-based (~30% grades from participation), aforementioned mental-health issues interfered with speaking up, etc. Not sure if this is relevant.
Should I even bother with applying to Med schools this summer? If so which kinds?
If gap year/SMP is the way to go, what would be good courses of action to pursue? Debt, etc. are concerns but willing to take out (more) loans.
Thoughts are appreciated!
New to SDN. I've tried to search through SDN for questions/applicants similar to mine, and haven't found many that fit well. If there are threads that I'm missing please let me know!
My main question is probably the most popular here - what is the best path to med school for me/is it viable at this point? I've heard a lot about SMPs, gap year activities etc, looking to get a feel if:
1. Should I be counting on having to take a gap year? (my guess is yes, but preference is no)
2. What should be my course of action/targeted med schools from here on out/is med school even in the cards for me?
3rd year undergrad
cGPA 3.28 sGPA 3.47 - downward trend
MCAT 517
Asian-American
Nontraditional major - Business (BBA), Biology minor
Avg shadowing, volunteer work
below-average research (1 minor publication, hoping to add a better one during this summer while applying to schools but won't show on application)
ECs - avg/typical health-related ones, plus 2 summers of internship at clinical stage biotech pharma company (cardiovascular). Started Business/Health organization that offered debt-management classes to recently graduated MDs. TA for B-school class that focused on socially-beneficial business ventures -- I tried to do ECs that would merge my interests in Business and Medicine
Struggled with mental-health issues from 2nd semester freshman year onwards, was able to get a better handle on them around MCAT time (hence better performance than GPA might indicate). cGPA is lower than sGPA because IMO my Business courses were largely participation-based (~30% grades from participation), aforementioned mental-health issues interfered with speaking up, etc. Not sure if this is relevant.
Should I even bother with applying to Med schools this summer? If so which kinds?
If gap year/SMP is the way to go, what would be good courses of action to pursue? Debt, etc. are concerns but willing to take out (more) loans.
Thoughts are appreciated!
