cGPA: 3.72 sGPA: 3.68 40R (2nd time)

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extramaniac

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Hi all, long time reader, first time poster

Stats
MI resident
College: UC Berkeley; molecular and cell biology major
cGPA: 3.72
sGPA: 3.68
1st MCAT: (11PS, 6VS, 8BS)
2nd MCAT: (14 PS, 13VS, 13BS) :D

ECs
Volunteering
-volunteered at a UCSF clinic where I talked with patients, asked how they were, and made them feel comfortable (1 year)
-volunteered at an eye clinic in India where I helped escort patients to the eye exam room and helped the ophthalmologist with giving certain lenses for eye exams (every winter break+summer before freshman year)
-non-clinical: volunteered at an elementary school in India and taught kids basic english and arithmetic skills

Shadowing
-shadowed a primary care doc and a cardiologist for about 80-90 hours total

Research
-worked in a bioengineering lab at berkeley for 2 years on several of my own projects including things such as PEG micro fabrication, heart on a chip, and cardiac patch. (I can expand on a lot of this, but I don't think that's necessary here). I also helped and fixed a lot of computer-like equipment (and microscopes) in the lab since I'm a computer person
-worked in a hypertension lab at a hospital in Michigan during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years on a project involving measuring the tensile strength of the thoracic aorta in rats (so I can work with animals too)

Miscellaneous
-pre-med honor society member at berkeley: this is an invite only club and I had a hand in organizing and participating in events such as an ice cream social for kids in Oakland, organizing places in the library for study hours, having a potluck for members, etc)
-during my free time in college, i built and sold many computers to people and I always tinker around with electronics to see what other things they can do (manually jailbreak my iPhone etc)

Schools (a little top heavy I suppose)
Stanford
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Harvard
Yale
UPenn
UCSF
UCLA
UCSD
Columbia
Cornell
Pittsburgh
Michigan
Chicago
Northwestern
Georgetown
Emory
NYU
Boston University
Miami
USC
Dartmouth
Brown
MSU
Wayne State
Oakland University

Few questions
I had a bad junior year (Freshman GPA: 3.76 Sophomore GPA: 3.84 Junior GPA: 3.1 Senior GPA: 4.0). Are my overall and science GPA good enough for the top schools? Will my 1st MCAT attempt count against me? Stanford is my dream school.

Thanks for any input

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I don't think your list is TOO top heavy. You are a stellar candidate so it SHOULD be op heavy - but you are doing the right thing by applying to a healthy number of schools and including some lower/midtier schools as well.

Most schools look at your highest MCAT score so I don't see your first score being a problem for you whatsoever. I was worried about this too last cycle and did did ok.

Your GPA is a tad low, but not so low that i think you should lose sleep over it. According to the MSAR about 10% of people accepted had a GPA below a 3.5 and your MCAT is at the very top of their 10% to 90% range.
 
Wow!! Can you please offer a little insight on how you went from a 25 to a 40? That is the most significant jump I have ever seen! Congrats!
 
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Wow!! Can you please offer a little insight on how you went from a 25 to a 40? That is the most significant jump I have ever seen! Congrats!

Me too... I am anxious to read what OP has to say...
 
Thanks for everyones responses.

The dramatic increase in my MCAT score wasn't as much studying and getting the material as it was confidence, readjustments, and most importantly rest.

Retrospectively, after the first 2 years of college, I was a little burnt out and I wasn't really mentally prepared to take such an exam. I took practice exams, scored 35-40 on the AAMCs, but when it came time to take the actual exam I was a nervous wreck, something I normally am not. I think I put too much time in studying for the MCAT the summer before my junior year and less time relaxing (studied around 12 hours a day for 2.5 months straight). This put a lot of pressure on me and by the time I took my actual exam, I was mentally exhausted. I also feel somehow this led to my bad junior year as I was pretty deflated over that MCAT score and did lose a lot of sleep (and hair).

Needless to say, I did take a small break the next summer and with rest I performed up to my capability.

Anyway, back on topic..my GPA is my biggest concern for the top schools. I really would like to go them since in addition to enjoying what a physician does, I really do enjoy research and the hard science aspect of it. Stanford is not only a huge research school but also is in Silicon Valley (I'm big tech guy). I feel like there is a lot of potential between technology and medicine and I would like to be at the forefront of it.

Any other input is greatly appreciated.
 
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I know the Stanford secondary has an interesting question about what arena of medicine you'd like to go into - private practice academic etc - and I think if you could write a really strong secondary you'd have a good shot at an interview...

Also the interviews are mmi which I hated so you would also need to do good at those.
 
Thanks for everyones responses.

The dramatic increase in my MCAT score wasn't as much studying and getting the material as it was confidence, readjustments, and most importantly rest.

Retrospectively, after the first 2 years of college, I was a little burnt out and I wasn't really mentally prepared to take such an exam. I took practice exams, scored 35-40 on the AAMCs, but when it came time to take the actual exam I was a nervous wreck, something I normally am not. I think I put too much time in studying for the MCAT the summer before my junior year and less time relaxing (studied around 12 hours a day for 2.5 months straight). This put a lot of pressure on me and by the time I took my actual exam, I was mentally exhausted. I also feel somehow this led to my bad junior year as I was pretty deflated over that MCAT score and did lose a lot of sleep (and hair).

Needless to say, I did take a small break the next summer and with rest I performed up to my capability.

Anyway, back on topic..my GPA is my biggest concern for the top schools. I really would like to go them since in addition to enjoying what a physician does, I really do enjoy research and the hard science aspect of it. Stanford is not only a huge research school but also is in Silicon Valley (I'm big tech guy). I feel like there is a lot of potential between technology and medicine and I would like to be at the forefront of it.

Any other input is greatly appreciated.


lol i wish i could say rest was the solution to my MCAT miseries, if only everyone was like you.
 
If nothing else, your post has convinced me to be way more relaxed for tomorrow! My AAMCs are in the same range, and I would be less than happy if after all this I came out with a 25.

You'll get in somewhere, don't worry.
 
Your chances are otustanding. Aim high. Your junior year is likely to prompt questions like "Why the bad junior year"? (I'd ask that!), but it shouldn't be a hinderence. You might want to add all other UC's, U NV, U Az, U CO, Wake Forest, and maybe Tufts and Wash U? Good luck!



Stanford
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Harvard
Yale
UPenn
UCSF
UCLA
UCSD
Columbia
Cornell
Pittsburgh
Michigan
Chicago
Northwestern
Georgetown
Emory
NYU
Boston University
Miami
USC
Dartmouth
Brown
MSU
Wayne State
Oakland University
 
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