Chance MEE!

[Wormy912]

c3.6 s3.3 from private liberal arts university with an upward trend. First gen female from underrepresented minority. Have held a lot of leadership roles in undergrad as well as volunteering hours in the community. However, don't have shadowing due to change in career plans recently. I'm currently volunteering at my nearby hospital and looking into becoming a scribe. Do I have any chance at MD? CA resident, havent taken mcat yet

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[giguerex35]

c3.6 s3.3 from private liberal arts university with an upward trend. First gen female from underrepresented minority. Have held a lot of leadership roles in undergrad as well as volunteering hours in the community. However, don't have shadowing due to change in career plans recently. I'm currently volunteering at my nearby hospital and looking into becoming a scribe. Do I have any chance at MD? CA resident, havent taken mcat yet

Only a fellow Pre med but say nobody answered so here my thoughts. Hard to judge without an mcat but your sgpa is a bit low for md school. If you’re dead set on md try and raise it a bit and ace the mcat. You will need at least 50 hours of shadowing before submitting your app and a physician letter of rec so get that too.

 

[DetroitDoc1993]

c3.6 s3.3 from private liberal arts university with an upward trend. First gen female from underrepresented minority. Have held a lot of leadership roles in undergrad as well as volunteering hours in the community. However, don't have shadowing due to change in career plans recently. I'm currently volunteering at my nearby hospital and looking into becoming a scribe. Do I have any chance at MD? CA resident, havent taken mcat yet

When do you plan on taking mcat? Can't say much without knowing that. You're cumulative gpa is not bad, but should be higher especially since Cali is so competitive from what I hear. But most importantly you have to get that science gpa up. Get quality clinical or patient care hours as well hospital volunteering is not always considered patient care because med schools know that it doesn't always involve patient interaction so it depends what you did there. Some good example would be free clinic, hospice, things like that. Scribing is good, I think it's considered clinical but not patient care, there's a different between the two. Make sure to do some good non clinical volunteering or outreach for a cause or program that you care about, if it's meaningful then it's better because you can talk about it more

 

[xochitl]

Honestly you are URM so your cumulative GPA is not a problem...but what are your trends? there are many ways to get to a 3.6, did you get 4.0 first two years and then 3.2 the next two years? What are your yearly breakdowns? Also a fellow URM who was accepted this cycle btw. Also what are your trends from your science gpa? which community do you represent? Your focus should be on the MCAT though and try to get 510+ and you should be solid for MD...in my opinion unless you have a downward trend in grades

 

[freedoctor17]

Just a reply to first dude/dudette. You don't need a letter of rec from a physician. General consensus on here is that they're useless. Get them from professors/research mentors/volunteer coordinators/bosses (if you had a job).

 

[BombsAway]

Just a reply to first dude/dudette. You don't need a letter of rec from a physician. General consensus on here is that they're useless. Get them from professors/research mentors/volunteer coordinators/bosses (if you had a job).

I got lots of positive comments about my physician LOR during interviews.

If you don't know the reasoning behind the advice you've read, don't blindly repeat it.

 

[freedoctor17]

I got lots of positive comments about my physician LOR during interviews.

If you don't know the reasoning behind the advice you've read, don't blindly repeat it.

The reasoning was that a physician you shadowed for a day can't really comment much about you because they don't really know you.... Also shadowing usually entails standing and watching and asking occasional questions. That doesn't really give them much to write about. Of course there are exceptions like if you've shadowed a doctor long term and got to know them well but general consensus based on reasons I stated above is that they aren't very helpful since a lot of people shadow different physicians in 10 to 20 hour chunks.

Sorry should've gave the reasoning above but good for you that yours got a lot of positive feedback. If you'd care to elaborate on your relationship with the doctor that might help more.

 

[giguerex35]

Just a reply to first dude/dudette. You don't need a letter of rec from a physician. General consensus on here is that they're useless. Get them from professors/research mentors/volunteer coordinators/bosses (if you had a job).

the reason i put it isnt becasue it is necessarily the most useful tool but it seems to be more of a formality that someone already in the job you want can recommend you as a future physician as well

 

[freedoctor17]

the reason i put it isnt becasue it is necessarily the most useful tool but it seems to be more of a formality that someone already in the job you want can recommend you as a future physician as well

Hmm some of the adcoms on here have said not to get one? I guess it depends on the person though? Personally I'd rather get a letter I feel would benefit me than one that would just be a bunch of fluff. My school's committee letter also has very specific requirements though and physician letter is at the bottom of the list of letters you wanna prioritize. They even recommend a volunteer coordinator above a physician you shadowed.

Personally these are the ones I'm planning to get. 2 science professors, 2 non science professors, 1 either from boss or lab.
I would go with the lab one if I feel like I can get a good one in time due to interest in research but I know my boss can write a good one so I'd rather go with that for now.

 

[BombsAway]

Hmm some of the adcoms on here have said not to get one? I guess it depends on the person though? Personally I'd rather get a letter I feel would benefit me than one that would just be a bunch of fluff. My school's committee letter also has very specific requirements though and physician letter is at the bottom of the list of letters you wanna prioritize. They even recommend a volunteer coordinator above a physician you shadowed.

Personally these are the ones I'm planning to get. 2 science professors, 2 non science professors, 1 either from boss or lab.
I would go with the lab one if I feel like I can get a good one in time due to interest in research but I know my boss can write a good one so I'd rather go with that for now.

This statement is correct: don't bother with a letter from a physician you only shadowed for a few hours.

This statement is incorrect: don't bother with a letter from a physician.

 

[freedoctor17]

This statement is correct: don't bother with a letter from a physician you only shadowed for a few hours.

This statement is incorrect: don't bother with a letter from a physician.

Yeah my bad, I'll edit that in the initial post

Edit: for some reason I can't edit that post... Maybe because I'm on mobile. I'll try later on my computer

 

[gyngyn]

If you don't know the reasoning behind the advice you've read, don't blindly repeat it.

Except for the handful of MD schools that request a clinical letter, I would not recommend cluttering an application with "physician" letters. Shadowing letters, in particular are as predictable as one can imagine and essentially useless. No physician is going to write anything but a generically positive letter for someone they let follow them around (including scribes). On the other hand, if your PI happens to a physician or your long term employer, go right ahead.

DO's do love a DO letter, though.

 

[Goro]

c3.6 s3.3 from private liberal arts university with an upward trend. First gen female from underrepresented minority. Have held a lot of leadership roles in undergrad as well as volunteering hours in the community. However, don't have shadowing due to change in career plans recently. I'm currently volunteering at my nearby hospital and looking into becoming a scribe. Do I have any chance at MD? CA resident, havent taken mcat yet

Probably. Rising GPA trends are always a good thing.

What ethnic group do you represent?