- Joined
- Feb 12, 2016
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 5
Hi all. I'm a pre-med student, and I'M STRESSED THE HELL OUT. I'm staying optimistic about my chances of getting into any medical school, but I feel that my stats are pretty flimsy compared to the rest of the stellar M.D. application pool. But here's my story anyway. I would be very grateful for any advice or remarks about my chances. I'm good at taking criticism, so bash away! Feel free to be brutally honest.
THE COLD HARD FACTS
uGPA: 3.6
sGPA: 3.4-ish
MCAT: practice scores around 30 (old scale). Confident that I will get it to 35 or higher if it's the last thing I do!
I worked at two different labs during my last two years of college, one of them an NSF-funded project. I left these projects since they weren't in areas of interest to me. Then I found my area of interest (developmental biology) and I'm currently working as a lab technician in a prestigious lab for the past two gap years with an independent project; no hope of publication though (they're stingy in that way).
I started volunteering recently and will probably get 200-300 hours in the next few months or so. (Is that enough?) I will also shadow a physician extensively for a LOR soon.
Lots of piano and violin volunteering, performance work, awards in music from my college; hired piano teacher this past year; volunteering at girls' juvenile detention as a tutor and book club member this past year; museum tour guide to school and adult groups for three years during college; independent T.A. for organic chemistry, piano, violin; orchestra and chamber ensembles;
Explanation
I went to an all-women's college. In the first two years, I did independent volunteering through piano and violin, giving tours at art museums, lots of educational outreach activities. I got awards in these areas, but I doubt that med schools are going to care about this crap (pooey!). I also worked at my dad's lab as a histotechnician since high school, but I'm not sure if med schools are going to give brownie points for that either (I doubt it since I'm related to the "employer").
Then I got hooked on research during my third year. I started delving into more research, doing science outreach activities, switching from a music to biology major, and jumping at the advanced science courses. Nothing too spectacular since I was only just starting what first/second year pre-meds do when they get to college, but I think I accomplished a fair amount for someone who switched to the sciences relatively late.
After graduation last year, I got hired as a lab technician. It's a pretty prestigious lab, so I will be spending one more year here before I apply to medical school in Spring 2017. But I am REALLY unsure about my chances. Due to my career change, my uGPA has seen a slight downward trend (lots of upper-division science courses during my last two years) and I think my GPA is NOT competitive. I also think it looks bad that I'm shoving in all my clinical hours THE summer before I apply, so I'm definitely worried that it will look like I'm not serious about medicine. BUT I REALLY AM DAMMIT!!!! Any thoughts on how I might improve my chances for medical school? (*sigh...how a career change can kill you....)
THE COLD HARD FACTS
uGPA: 3.6
sGPA: 3.4-ish
MCAT: practice scores around 30 (old scale). Confident that I will get it to 35 or higher if it's the last thing I do!
Research:I worked at two different labs during my last two years of college, one of them an NSF-funded project. I left these projects since they weren't in areas of interest to me. Then I found my area of interest (developmental biology) and I'm currently working as a lab technician in a prestigious lab for the past two gap years with an independent project; no hope of publication though (they're stingy in that way).
Clinical: I started volunteering recently and will probably get 200-300 hours in the next few months or so. (Is that enough?) I will also shadow a physician extensively for a LOR soon.
Extracurriculars:Lots of piano and violin volunteering, performance work, awards in music from my college; hired piano teacher this past year; volunteering at girls' juvenile detention as a tutor and book club member this past year; museum tour guide to school and adult groups for three years during college; independent T.A. for organic chemistry, piano, violin; orchestra and chamber ensembles;
Explanation
I went to an all-women's college. In the first two years, I did independent volunteering through piano and violin, giving tours at art museums, lots of educational outreach activities. I got awards in these areas, but I doubt that med schools are going to care about this crap (pooey!). I also worked at my dad's lab as a histotechnician since high school, but I'm not sure if med schools are going to give brownie points for that either (I doubt it since I'm related to the "employer").
Then I got hooked on research during my third year. I started delving into more research, doing science outreach activities, switching from a music to biology major, and jumping at the advanced science courses. Nothing too spectacular since I was only just starting what first/second year pre-meds do when they get to college, but I think I accomplished a fair amount for someone who switched to the sciences relatively late.
After graduation last year, I got hired as a lab technician. It's a pretty prestigious lab, so I will be spending one more year here before I apply to medical school in Spring 2017. But I am REALLY unsure about my chances. Due to my career change, my uGPA has seen a slight downward trend (lots of upper-division science courses during my last two years) and I think my GPA is NOT competitive. I also think it looks bad that I'm shoving in all my clinical hours THE summer before I apply, so I'm definitely worried that it will look like I'm not serious about medicine. BUT I REALLY AM DAMMIT!!!! Any thoughts on how I might improve my chances for medical school? (*sigh...how a career change can kill you....)
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