Chance Me Please (GPA: 3.62; MCAT: 42)

[TheBigB]

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cGPA: 3.62
sGPA: 3.64
MCAT: 42

Realize that my GPA is on the lower side for anything to be for certain, but hoping you guys could give me a preview of what I might look forward to.

Raised in California; undergraduate at UCLA with neuroscience major (almost all classes were technicals outside of GE)

ECS:

Volunteering:

400 hours at one hospital stationed at PACU
900+ (currently) hours at another, rotating between ER, OR, and NICU
150+ (current) under Habitat for Humanity [biweekly]
150 hours + 20 platelet donations at Red Cross
200 hours volunteering program that provides medical stations for music/sport
200 hours local animal shelter
300 shadowing various departments (mainly surgeries; births; ICU)

Research:
~700 Research Assistant at one lab; nonmedical biological
~1200+ (currently) at another; medical

Work outside of research:
500+ hours Chemistry TA (Current)
160 Chemistry Tutor
Family Restaurant (Helped them in person till sophomore year; over 20hours/week for about 6 years; still deal with most of the legal paperwork)

Hobbies/Leadership: Each of these are more lifestyles-type activities and it was hard for me to gauge hours spent.
Tennis Club Captain
Cycling Club President
Rockclimbing

Heavily considering taking a year off unless I get into a school I really want to go to (Chicago, Hopkins, Yale, USC), so any advice for what I should do if I have to reapply would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Jewels86]

Although I am still premed...Please tell me your secret for the 42 MCAT!!

I personally think you look AMAZING!! My thoughts...write a killer personal statement, one that's from the heart and I think you'll be Dr. So and So in a matter of years.

In my years on earth (I'm nontrad), the worst things I've seen are canned lines. Think of George McFly...from Back to the Future 1, probably before you were born. When he saw his future wife at that snack bar, he said "You are my density...I mean, my destiny", it was from the heart. Write from the heart and you'll be there!

Again, what's the secret for the 42...special water, hours of studying, you're a genius? Thanks friend!!!

 

[TheBigB]

Aw chucks, thanks.

On a serious note, for the MCATs, it was a combination of cranking through the study material week after week, and luck. I've also historically been better at tests, but I don't think there's a substitute for studying.

Went through Kaplan and Berkeley Review before starting any of the official self-assessments. (Did Test 3 first just to get a gauge of where I was at). Also, I think my teachers for the relevant courses did a really good job preparing me for the material.

Also...special water. 1 part water, 2 parts special 🙂

 

[whatever5]

You're fine for anywhere. Do what you want. Why are you here again?

 

[DoctorWhoo]

If this is real... you are fine. That said, it seems incredibly unlikely that someone could accomplish so much in undergrad... if this is real, take my skepticism as the most sincere form of flattery 🙂

 

[TheBigB]

A lot of the volunteering comes from high school.

Many thanks. Guess I'm just just anxious to hear back like everyone else