CHANCE ME! cGPA: 3.46 sGPA: 3.35 MCAT: 315 [MD/DO]

[DoctorProfessorPat]

Hello all, I’m applying to MD and DO programs this cycle and just wanted to get your opinion on my chances of admission. I did nicely on the MCAT, but my undergrad GPA is kind of weak, and I don’t have much direct patient contact (corona kinda messed my plans for last year up, but I plan to work in a clinical capacity for the rest of my gap year). So, I’d appreciate any advice or insight you might have, particularly on the kinds of schools for which I'd be a good candidate!

Biographical: Male, ORM. Transferred after my freshman year to an Ivy League and graduated a semester early. New York state resident. Just starting the second year of my 2-year gap year.

Scores:
cGPA: 3.46
sGPA: 3.35
Trend: Funky- very strong freshman year, a dip after transferring, then better later semesters but still some B-range science classes.
Major: Biology and Health
MCAT: 515

ECs:
Research: 2,025 hours across 3 labs (mix of paid, academic credit, and voluntary) with 2 publications (I'm the only author on one and in the middle on the other).
Medical Volunteering: 175 hours by starting a club on campus.
Non-Medical Volunteering: 60 hours through a club.
Shadowing: 152 hours between 2 offices.
Leadership: 280 as president of an honor society.
Other: 30 hours in a club tangentially related to health.

LoR:

• 2 from PIs
• 1 from Undergrad Advisor
• Committee LoE
• Looking to get a DO letter before submitting AACOMAS

Essays: I’ve gotten pretty positive feedback on them, so I think they’re in good shape.

Relations in Medicine: None

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[candbgirl]

With the exception of research and shadowing, your ECs are really weak. What kind of on campus club did you start for “medical volunteering”? Likewise how is your 60 hours of club activities nonclinical volunteering?
CLINICAL EXPERIENCES ( can be paid or volunteer) are meant to be opportunities to be face to face with the sick and injured. How do you know you even want to work with these people? You need 200+ hours.
NONCLINICAL VOLUNTEERING - should be focused on the unserved/underserved in your community. You should be dealing with people very unlike yourself.
Get off campus and out of your comfort zone. You need 200+ hours.
If you get IIs people will wonder why bother with medicine and not just do a PhD. You are more of a lab rat than a premed. Of course the pandemic affected applications but there will be thousands of well qualified applicants who figured out how to build an application despite the pandemic. Maybe consider waiting another year and fill in the gaps. Between a lowish GPA and weak ECs you need to build a stronger application before applying. Good luck.

 

[Faha]

What is the nature of your campus clinical volunteering ?

 

[DoctorProfessorPat]

What is the nature of your campus clinical volunteering ?

Hi, sorry my post is a bit vague on my experiences. The volunteering involved addressing social determinants of health in my Collegetown.

 

[DoctorProfessorPat]

With the exception of research and shadowing, your ECs are really weak. What kind of on campus club did you start for “medical volunteering”? Likewise how is your 60 hours of club activities nonclinical volunteering?
CLINICAL EXPERIENCES ( can be paid or volunteer) are meant to be opportunities to be face to face with the sick and injured. How do you know you even want to work with these people? You need 200+ hours.
NONCLINICAL VOLUNTEERING - should be focused on the unserved/underserved in your community. You should be dealing with people very unlike yourself.
Get off campus and out of your comfort zone. You need 200+ hours.
If you get IIs people will wonder why bother with medicine and not just do a PhD. You are more of a lab rat than a premed. Of course the pandemic affected applications but there will be thousands of well qualified applicants who figured out how to build an application despite the pandemic. Maybe consider waiting another year and fill in the gaps. Between a lowish GPA and weak ECs you need to build a stronger application before applying. Good luck.

Hi, thanks so much for your candid advice; it’s great food for thought! I’ve exclusively classified only 60 hours as non-clinical volunteering, however, my other experiences (i.e. leadership) have also heavily involved service in the community. I also think “on-campus” might give the wrong impression: these club activities were focused more on serving folks in our Collegetown than anything. That being said, I agree, I think I need to demonstrate my commitment to serving the un/underserved more through my experiences. Actions speak louder, as they say. Also, I definitely agree with you on the clinical side. As I mentioned I’m pursuing clinical roles for the rest of my gap year (currently weighing options between medical assistant, scribe, and EMT), so hopefully I’ll be able to share my experiences working in of these roles with medical schools via secondaries, correspondence, and interviews. I’d appreciate any follow-up you may have based on this (sorry I’m being kind of scant with the details, I just don’t want to dox myself).

 

[Faha]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
All 4 SUNYs
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
For DO schools I suggest these:
Touro-NY
UNECOM
NYITCOM
PCOM
LECOM (all schools)
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools except Monroe)
MU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
ACOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM

 

[DoctorProfessorPat]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
All 4 SUNYs
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
For DO schools I suggest these:
Touro-NY
UNECOM
NYITCOM
PCOM
LECOM (all schools)
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools except Monroe)
MU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
ACOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM

Thank you so much! This is very helpful!