Ca resident, 31 mcat, chances?

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WMike

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CA resident
31 MCAT 10/10/11Q
cGPA ~3.76+
sciGPA ~3.9+

2 years at cc
2 years at UC (I'm graduating in June)
biology major

I have a couple of grades from HS that are 8 units of D's (dual college credit not in anything important - this is from 1999, I'm a non-trad), but everything else since then has been straight A's.

Hospital work in the operating room for 3 years 16-24 hours a week. Lots of patient care experience and lots of observing multiple specialties (2,600+ hours total).

1 year 40+ hours a week EMT-B on a BLS ambulance, also picked up a few shifts working on an ALS ambulance with a paramedic. (2080+ hours total)

3 seasons volunteer coaching soccer for kids (~75 total hours)
1 season coaching baseball(50 total hours)
volunteered teaching CPR/First aid at a residential drug and alcohol rehab 2 years (~160 total hours)
American Heart Association BLS instructor (4 years)- Teach at least 1 class per month.

Shadowed 2 doctors for about 20 total hours

Research in neuroscience for 1.5 years (~15 hours/week). No pubs but I did a 15 minute presentation at a symposium.

School list:
UCSD
UCI
USC
UC davis
UCLA
OHSU
Creighton
UVM
VCU
Penn st.
MCW
Univ. of Wisconsin
Tulane
WVU
Wakeforest

What are my chances?
Any suggestions on schools to add or remove?

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Does your cGPA include those Ds?

Add UIllinois and Rosalind Franklin as they love Californians.

Yes, without those D's I'd have ~3.95 cGPA.

:thumbup: Thanks I'll take a look at those schools.
 
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I'm confused by the shadowing of 20 hours when you earlier remarked on observing multiple specialties. I'd aim for a total of 60-80 hours of shadowing, split among at least three docs, of which at least one is primary care. With that, you'll have a very solid application, assuming a good PS, strong LORs, and good interview skills.
 
I'm confused by the shadowing of 20 hours when you earlier remarked on observing multiple specialties. I'd aim for a total of 60-80 hours of shadowing, split among at least three docs, of which at least one is primary care. With that, you'll have a very solid application, assuming a good PS, strong LORs, and good interview skills.


In my job at the hospital I am basically assigned to at least 2 (sometimes I cover up to 10) surgical suites and I transport/position/prep patients. Set the equipment up for each surgery and do bunch of other stuff. A good portion of the day I am in the surgical suite during the procedure so over the last 3 years I have seen general surgery, orthopedics, organ transplant, urology, gynecology, vascular, cardiac, ENT, plastics, anesthesiology, etc. . .

I asked to shadow a couple of the docs in the specialties I am most interested. I asked to shadow them during their clinic time b/c I wanted to see how much and what types of patient interactions they have during pre-op & post-op visits. I have seen plenty of surgery, so I was looking to see the other side a little more. That is where the 20 hours of shadowing is from.

Honestly, further shadowing doesn't really interest me. Between my job in the hospital and the different health care facilities I visited as an EMT (urgent cares, ED's, nuclear med, radiology, skilled nursing facilities, etc...) I know exactly what I am getting into. Of course I will do it if getting more hours is a must. . . but I'd rather not.
 
Does your cGPA include those Ds?

Add UIllinois and Rosalind Franklin as they love Californians.

I'll probably add both of those schools, but the OOS tuition at Illinois is a lot!


I have gone back and forth about Drexel, Temple, and Jefferson. I'm not that big on Philly because they seem to be everyones back up. I wonder if I should take a shot at Maryland, Iowa, Einstein, Loyola, or Miami instead. Out of the three Philly schools Jefferson seems the best but there LOR requirements seem like a hassle.


My LOR are:
Honors o-chem prof
Biochemistry prof (bio dept.)
Psychology prof
Post-doc I do research with
Doctor I've worked with for 3 years

Thanks for the advice guys!
 
I'll probably add both of those schools, but the OOS tuition at Illinois is a lot!



I have gone back and forth about Drexel, Temple, and Jefferson. I'm not that big on Philly because they seem to be everyones back up. I wonder if I should take a shot at Maryland, Iowa, Einstein, Loyola, or Miami instead. Out of the three Philly schools Jefferson seems the best but there LOR requirements seem like a hassle.
If UIllinois was the only school accepting you, you'd suck up the high OOS tuition and get the necessary loans. UIowa is a good choice. So is Loyola, and since you already have Creighton, you might as well include St Louis, another Jesuit school. UCentral Florida takes 25% OOS and could be considered too.
 
Consider more safety schools.
 
Consider more safety schools.

With a 31 MCAT I don't think there is such a thing as a "safety school." I have tried to include only schools in my range that are outside of CA. What is a good number of total schools to apply to?
 
For CA, you have to apply to a lot more schools out of state b/c the in-state schools are so competitive. I applied to about 25 and I think that 20 should be the minimum.
 
With a 31 MCAT I don't think there is such a thing as a "safety school." I have tried to include only schools in my range that are outside of CA. What is a good number of total schools to apply to?

I'm from CA with similar stats and applied to 24 schools, out of which I got 6 invites, which I felt comfortable with. I would advise 20+ schools unless your ECs are amazing.
 
Thank you guys for all of the advice. I know CA is a crap shoot and my MCAT isn't very strong so I will add more schools. I felt like my clinical experience is probably much better than most and combined with my non-med volunteer work and decent research I would be ok with ~15 schools. I also have some decent work experience besides what I listed and a compelling story (was told that by a diector of admissions). I don't want to have to re-apply so I will definitely add more schools.

Here is my new list:
UCSD
UCI
USC
UC davis
UCLA
OHSU
Creighton
UVM
VCU
Penn st.
MCW
Univ. of Wisconsin
Tulane
WVU
Wakeforest
U. Illinois
U. Miami
Drexel
St. Louis
U. Iowa
Georgetown
GWU
Rosalind Franklin
U. Maryland

Also, I'm on the quarter system and my spring grades don't come in until the end of June. I can have everything ready submit the first day (all LOR are ready now). Should I submit early June with my winter grades or wait until the end of June and submit with my spring grades? I am a senior so I have plenty of graded classes, but my spring classes are molecular basis of human disease, immunology, and physiology II. The difference in my cGPA if I get straight A's in the spring will only be 3.79 to 3.80 (very minimal I know- also my sGPA is 3.99 either way). I wonder if b/c the classes are medically relevent it will look good to have good grades in them when my app is reviewed. Or is it better to submit a month earlier?
 
You can wait if you want. In your case, I don't think you'll need to submit that early and even if you wait till grades come out, it'll still be earlier than most. I would still add a few more schools but that's just my opinion.
 
You don't need the GPA boost those classes will give you. You can enter the courses under future classwork, so schools will know you took them. And the A grades will be good fodder for an eventual update letter. I'd apply early, since you're OOS for schools most likely to consider you seriously.

You don't have a consensus here, so do what you want.
 
Looks really good. I'm thinking that you're not an average 22-year-old fresh out of college applicant?
 
You can wait if you want. In your case, I don't think you'll need to submit that early and even if you wait till grades come out, it'll still be earlier than most. I would still add a few more schools but that's just my opinion.

You don't need the GPA boost those classes will give you. You can enter the courses under future classwork, so schools will know you took them. And the A grades will be good fodder for an eventual update letter. I'd apply early, since you're OOS for schools most likely to consider you seriously.

You don't have a consensus here, so do what you want.

Apply as early as AMCAS opens.....

the best and simpliest thing to do....:thumbup:
Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I can't go wrong either way. I'm kind of leaning toward applying the first day AMCAS opens b/c I can have everything ready. I think the early app will probably help me more than the extra grades.

Looks really good. I'm thinking that you're not an average 22-year-old fresh out of college applicant?

I'm 27 yo. My son was born when I was 20 and my GF (his mom) bailed out (haven't had any contact with her in 5+ years and only saw her 2 or 3 times during the two years before that). I took a few years off school to work to support myself and my son. I was finally able to make it back to school at 23 years old (went part time at night before that though).
 
Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I can't go wrong either way. I'm kind of leaning toward applying the first day AMCAS opens b/c I can have everything ready. I think the early app will probably help me more than the extra grades.



I'm 27 yo. My son was born when I was 20 and my GF (his mom) bailed out (haven't had any contact with her in 5+ years and only saw her 2 or 3 times during the two years before that). I took a few years off school to work to support myself and my son. I was finally able to make it back to school at 23 years old (went part time at night before that though).

Impressive....will help you stand out!!
 
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