Chance&advise - late start on premed

[asecondtolife]

I'm a sophomore UG that recently considered med school a possibility. If possible, I would want to be a traditional student - med school right after my 4 years of undergrad.

I am taking a time-intensive lab course this semester and will apply for volunteering/shadowing at a hospital my junior year.

Specific Questions:
1) Is starting all the "med school" clinical stuff in junior year considered too late?
2) Currently, how are my chances right now, and what suggestions would you make to improve them?
3) When do you think would be the best time for me to take the MCAT? I will be done with all prereqs next semester.

Thank you for any answers

My stats:

My cGPA and sGPA are both 3.9
I am a Psychology/Biology double major.

Worked 6 months in a psychology lab as a research assistant - no hypothesis-testing research or publications
Secretary of an ethnic club for 1 year
Spend my summers volunteering at a food pantry
Creative writing has been my hobby since, well, forever :\ I've written a novella that's waiting for some poor soul to publish it haha. (It's probably never going to see the light of day)

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[TriagePreMed]

Since you have other volunteer work, starting hospital volunteering during your junior year won't be necessarily seen as "too late."

You are doing fine, but nobody can tell you your chances because you still have 2.5 years to go. A lot can happen.. I'd recommend taking the MCAT during the fall of your Junior year just in case you want to retake.

I don't think that a double major will help your chances by a lot. If it were me, I'd drop one major and use the extra time pumping my EC instead.

 

[varsityblue]

I'm a sophomore UG that recently considered med school a possibility. If possible, I would want to be a traditional student - med school right after my 4 years of undergrad.

I am taking a time-intensive lab course this semester and will apply for volunteering/shadowing at a hospital my junior year.

Specific Questions:
1) Is starting all the "med school" clinical stuff in junior year considered too late?
2) Currently, how are my chances right now, and what suggestions would you make to improve them?
3) When do you think would be the best time for me to take the MCAT? I will be done with all prereqs next semester.

Thank you for any answers

My stats:

My cGPA and sGPA are both 3.9
I am a Psychology/Biology double major.

Worked 6 months in a psychology lab as a research assistant - no hypothesis-testing research or publications
Secretary of an ethnic club for 1 year
Spend my summers volunteering at a food pantry
Creative writing has been my hobby since, well, forever :\ I've written a novella that's waiting for some poor soul to publish it haha. (It's probably never going to see the light of day)

1) SDNers generally advise 1.5 years of clinical experience to be competitive. That said, I'm sure if you can convey how meaningful your relatively limited experiences have been, adcoms will consider your application.
2) Your GPA is excellent but your ECs seem really scattered. Try to figure out what you're really passionate about and focus only on those items. I'd also highly advise you to get some clinical experience ASAP.
3) Take the MCAT whenever you feel you'll be most prepared. Many on SDN suggest taking it the summer after sophomore year--so for you, this summer--so that they can focus 5-6 hours a day on preparation. Others have had good results taking it junior year.