Chances for 2013 cycle

[TheLadyVanishes]

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Maybe a little premature.

Nontrad, undergrad cGPA 3.70 from a public ivy, sGPA 3.63 with upward trend. Basically fell flat on my face during Orgo/Bio as a sophomore due to poor study habits and then made straight As in my upper division classes. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but registered for March.

I've done a little shadowing but my ECs are pretty much nonexistent, as I decided I want to be a doctor only a few months ago. I work in allied health.

If I start volunteering ASAP, do I have a chance to apply for 2013? I'm just concerned as so many people here seem to have years of volunteering and ECs and I will have 1.5 yrs max when I apply May 2013.

Thanks.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Confused. You just decided a few months ago that you want to be a doctor, but you took all the prereqs? What field of allied health? And why are you taking the mcat a year earlier than you need to? And you can do that with a year and a half of volunteering hitting it decently hard.

 

[flodhi1]

Maybe a little premature.

Nontrad, undergrad cGPA 3.70 from a public ivy, sGPA 3.63 with upward trend. Basically fell flat on my face during Orgo/Bio as a sophomore due to poor study habits and then made straight As in my upper division classes. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but registered for March.

I've done a little shadowing but my ECs are pretty much nonexistent, as I decided I want to be a doctor only a few months ago. I work in allied health.

If I start volunteering ASAP, do I have a chance to apply for 2013? I'm just concerned as so many people here seem to have years of volunteering and ECs and I will have 1.5 yrs max when I apply May 2013.

Thanks.

1.5 years is average but what's more important is to get as many hours as possible with a wide variety of physicians. Work with Primary care physicians and some specialties. Also try to get some research under your belt since almost every school I interviewed at asked about research. Community service/ non-medical volunteering is also essential in the sense to show your compassion towards humanity. Get some experience tutoring since that will show some leadership and outreach qualities. Try to join a club that's productive towards your academic and non-academic goals. Again all of these things other than clinical experience are not necessary but are suggestions to strengthen your application. You still have plenty of time and even though ECs are an extremely important part of the application process so are your grades and the MCAT. Do NOT let your academic career suffer in a pursuit for stronger ECs, try to balance it out. You still have a chance but you must act now. Good luck 👍

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

Confused. You just decided a few months ago that you want to be a doctor, but you took all the prereqs? What field of allied health? And why are you taking the mcat a year earlier than you need to? And you can do that with a year and a half of volunteering hitting it decently hard.

I have a bachelor's degree that required me to take the prereqs (chem, orgo, bio, physics, math).
As for the MCAT, if I take it in 2012 I'll have time to study and retake it if necessary. Wouldn't I be kind of screwed if I took it - say - Jan/March 2013 and got a terrible score?

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

1.5 years is average but what's more important is to get as many hours as possible with a wide variety of physicians. Work with Primary care physicians and some specialties. Also try to get some research under your belt since almost every school I interviewed at asked about research. Community service/ non-medical volunteering is also essential in the sense to show your compassion towards humanity. Get some experience tutoring since that will show some leadership and outreach qualities. Try to join a club that's productive towards your academic and non-academic goals. Again all of these things other than clinical experience are not necessary but are suggestions to strengthen your application. You still have plenty of time and even though ECs are an extremely important part of the application process so are your grades and the MCAT. Do NOT let your academic career suffer in a pursuit for stronger ECs, try to balance it out. You still have a chance but you must act now. Good luck 👍

I'm some years out of school so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get research experience. I feel like volunteering/shadowing are more important at this point?

 

[flodhi1]

I'm some years out of school so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get research experience. I feel like volunteering/shadowing are more important at this point?

As I stated before, "Again all of these things other than clinical experience are not necessary but are suggestions to strengthen your application." Therefore, yes clinical experience which includes shadowing and clinical volunteering is the most important EC.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I'm some years out of school so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get research experience. I feel like volunteering/shadowing are more important at this point?

How many years out are you. If it is one or two, you might be ok. Much more than that, schools are going to want to see recent coursework. And you can't apply until June 2013 so it would be possible to retake if you didn't do well in march before that. Your scores are usually good for about 2-3 years so if (heaven forbid) you weren't successful the first time, you can still apply broadly the second time. Plus it gives you another year to prepare.

 

[drgioiadds]

How many years out are you. If it is one or two, you might be ok. Much more than that, schools are going to want to see recent coursework. And you can't apply until June 2013 so it would be possible to retake if you didn't do well in march before that. Your scores are usually good for about 2-3 years so if (heaven forbid) you weren't successful the first time, you can still apply broadly the second time. Plus it gives you another year to prepare.

This isn't necessarily true. My prereqs are over 15 years old and I've been out of school for 10. Didn't retake a single course. Only one school mentioned to take new courses. I work in healthcare as well, and it wasn't my life long ambition to be a physician. Literally, a few key experiences influenced me to apply to DO and I rushed into the mcat with 2.5 months of studying (didn't score great but I did score ave). Looking back, I would have retook the Mcat and applied the next cycle, but I applied very late to DO schools and got waitlisted. Changed nothing except my EC's (CME and more shadowing) reapplied early the next cycle and was accepted.

OP--I can see how working in an allied profession could lead you to change your mind. I would consider DO schools as well. Score mid - high 20's on the MCAT and you should be fine.

 

[Catalystik]

What type of patient contact do you have in your allied health field? How many years? If you have a lot of experience with this, then most of the volunteering can be nonmedical community service (since you'd already have clinical patient experience and just need to add some clinical environment experience). You could use the same volunteering gig to gain teaching and/or leadership experience depending on what you choose.

Surely you have hobbies, sports, and/or Arts involvement? These are good to include on your application as well.

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

What type of patient contact do you have in your allied health field? How many years? If you have a lot of experience with this, then most of the volunteering can be nonmedical community service (since you'd already have clinical patient experience and just need to add some clinical environment experience). You could use the same volunteering gig to gain teaching and/or leadership experience depending on what you choose.

Surely you have hobbies, sports, and/or Arts involvement? These are good to include on your application as well.

Not a lot of patient contact, but do interact with physicians/nurses and other medical staff. For volunteering, I'm hoping to work with vulnerable elderly, refugees or the chronically ill and fuse clinical/nonclinical.
In any case, thanks everyone for your suggestions.