Critique me!

[Kimchii]

Recently I got called back for another interview at UMDNJ which after looking on sdn might be a stress interview so I need help in finding any weaknesses in my application! Please critique and be as brutally honest and harsh as possible!

-MCAT: 31R (11 P, 8 V, 12 B)
-cGPA: 3.66 sGPA: 3.76
-Individual grades: Mainly A's and B+ but 1 C+ in chem lab II, C+ in pharm orientation and a D in english I - cant retake because im in a pharmacy program
-Research: 1.5 years, no publications
-Volunteer: Clinical volunteering at the SICU since Sept. 2010, no non clinical volunteering
-Shadowing: 40 hours with a family doc
-Leadership: Head of alumni relations in my fraternity
-Hobbies: Piano (14 years with awards), martial arts (6 years with awards)
-Pharmacy major (idk how this affects me)

Please critique! Criticism encouraged!
Thanks guys!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WisdomDoc]

The C's and D are not good! An 8 in verbal doesn't look the best either.

 

[Catalystik]

They wouldn't be calling you back if they weren't interested. I doubt your past lower grades are a huge issue since your overall stats are fine. It's up to you to sell yourself and present a person with a calm, doctorly mien, despite flustering questions. When you know it will be a stress interview, it is much easier to look at it as a game you have to play and keep your cool.

On your campus is there a Career Center where you could ask them to help you practice a stress interview so you remain calm and focused? If not, perhaps family and friends in the know can put you under fire.

Did you take English II and get a higher grade? Is there any evidence that your writing skills are good? (Yes! The "R" writing score.)

Did you already give a good explanation for wanting to drop out of the Pharm school? You need not rehash it here, but revisit it, refine it, add additional insights you've had since submitting.

Do you have a good explanation for how your attraction to pharmacy segued into a greater interest in medicine?

Why only 1 year of clinical experience? Why no nonmedical community service? Perhaps you demonstrated altruism in some other way? Why is the shadowing sparse? Did your Pharm program allow for any patient interaction or did you attend ICU/ward/etc rounds with physicians on the team that could qualify for "shadowing?"

Mind you, I am not personally attacking/criticizing you, but rather trying to think of questions you may have to field, and giving some hints of a good response.

 

[Morsetlis]

Basically, practice interviewing and answering hard questions. Brush up on current social healthcare issues. Remember your own transcript and EC's.

 

[Kimchii]

They wouldn't be calling you back if they weren't interested. I doubt your past lower grades are a huge issue since your overall stats are fine. It's up to you to sell yourself and present a person with a calm, doctorly mien, despite flustering questions. When you know it will be a stress interview, it is much easier to look at it as a game you have to play and keep your cool.

On your campus is there a Career Center where you could ask them to help you practice a stress interview so you remain calm and focused? If not, perhaps family and friends in the know can put you under fire.

Did you take English II and get a higher grade? Is there any evidence that your writing skills are good? (Yes! The "R" writing score.)

Did you already give a good explanation for wanting to drop out of the Pharm school? You need not rehash it here, but revisit it, refine it, add additional insights you've had since submitting.

Do you have a good explanation for how your attraction to pharmacy segued into a greater interest in medicine?

Why only 1 year of clinical experience? Why no nonmedical community service? Perhaps you demonstrated altruism in some other way? Why is the shadowing sparse? Did your Pharm program allow for any patient interaction or did you attend ICU/ward/etc rounds with physicians on the team that could qualify for "shadowing?"

Mind you, I am not personally attacking/criticizing you, but rather trying to think of questions you may have to field, and giving some hints of a good response.

Everyone thank you for the replies, its given me much to think about!

Yes theres a career center on campus and I will look into a mock interview.

I took English II and got a B. English unfortunately was never as good as science or math. The first interview, I did give an explanation of why I wanted to get out of pharmacy and how it helped me decide to go into medicine. I told the interviewer that what I really wanted was more patient contact and I wanted to diagnose and serve them directly. Although, I don't know how strong of a reason this is?

One of the things Im worried about is how schools will view quitting the program. The pharmacy program Im in is a 6 year 2+4 program where there are 2 years of undergrad and 4 years of pharmacy school. Right now Im in my 2nd year of pharmacy school but if it were regular undergrad, it would be my senior year. I can get a bachelors degree after completion of this year. I've asked the dean of pharmacy and I have it in email from her that I can leave, although I do not know if adcoms will accept this? And should I explain this to the interviewer?

Yeah my clinical experience is lacking a bit but I am still doing it right now. In my pharmacy program I had community and hospital experience, except for the most part I was distributing drugs to patient containers and not doing rounds in the ICU. I did get some patient contact at the community though but for the most part I got patient contact through volunteering at the SICU and the shadowing experience I had.

I attempted to get shadowing from more than one physician by calling lots of doctors around NJ but they all did not have time or they felt that their patients would not appreciate having a student observe. When I did get a chance to shadow it was with a family friend. How many hours do most people have?

Sorry for the length and don't worry, I consider this to be very constructive and I appreciate the honesty as now I have more insight as to what to improve upon so thank you!

 

[Kimchii]

I know I dont have any non clinical volunteer service but will teaching others piano and martial arts count? Recently I've been doing this since I've come back to school. No fee of course. I also help my friends and people in my class by answering any questions they have and helping them understand the material better. I wrote about this on my secondary application to the school. Would it be strong enough evidence of altruistic behavior?

 

[TriagePreMed]

I don't see any glaring issues to keep you from medical school. While the C+ is not too great, at least it was in one lab. Your "D" is in English and will likely have to retake if the school you apply to requires a year of English. Community volunteering would have been nice, and since most schools accepted students have it, it would be good to plan on doing some. The martial arts and piano are great activities, but I wouldn't call them volunteer work.

You might get limited by that 8, but I think you're a decent applicant. It'll be a hit or miss type thing. If you apply broadly enough, I can see you getting in somewhere.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I did give an explanation of why I wanted to get out of pharmacy and how it helped me decide to go into medicine. I told the interviewer that what I really wanted was more patient contact and I wanted to diagnose and serve them directly. Although, I don't know how strong of a reason this is?

2) One of the things Im worried about is how schools will view quitting the program.
I can get a bachelors degree after completion of this year. I've asked the dean of pharmacy and I have it in email from her that I can leave, although I do not know if adcoms will accept this? And should I explain this to the interviewer?


3) When I did get a chance to shadow it was with a family friend. How many hours do most people have?

1) The truth is the best reason to give.

2) If it was a deal breaker, they wouldn't hve invited you for a second interview.

3) About 50 hours of shadowing is the average listed.

 

[Catalystik]

I know I dont have any non clinical volunteer service but will teaching others piano and martial arts count? Recently I've been doing this since I've come back to school. No fee of course. I also help my friends and people in my class by answering any questions they have and helping them understand the material better. I wrote about this on my secondary application to the school. Would it be strong enough evidence of altruistic behavior?

If you teach piano or martial arts to kids in a poor school district, where private lessons aren't affordable, on a regular basis for a prolonged period of time, it would be viewed as a good nonmedical community service. Helping friends and classmates is not a community service.

 

[Kimchii]

1) The truth is the best reason to give.

2) If it was a deal breaker, they wouldn't hve invited you for a second interview.

3) About 50 hours of shadowing is the average listed.

For the first one, I absolutely agree and that is what I did. I would never lie to the interviewer. I was wondering though if there was a way to say it better than I did?

As for the second, I really hope its not a deal breaker because I don't know if there have been people in my situation who have done this before. Also, I've heard that some schools that do not like to take students away from other professional programs.

For the shadowing, I can try to get 10 more hours. As for my non existent non clinical volunteering, do you think it would be wise to talk about the volunteering I did in high school?

 

[Morsetlis]

Yes, but it doesn't excuse you.

 

[Kimchii]

How about future plans for non clinical volunteering?

 

[Catalystik]

That won't help you either. Could you get reinvolved with something similar to what you did in high school? Soon? Like, in the next week?

 

[Kimchii]

I can definitely try to find something. Can you give me some suggestions of where to look or what to do? Thanks.

 

[Catalystik]

What were your volunteer activities in HS?

Other options: soup kitchen, homeless shelter, womens shelter, Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, tutoring kids after school in a poor district, coaching akid's team, Big Brother/Big Sister, food pantry, helping with a scout troop.

 

[Kimchii]

I volunteered at a Chinese school. Probably not something they're looking for? Thanks for the ideas, I'll be searching for a soup kitchen to volunteer at soon, I really appreciate it!

 

[Morsetlis]

I volunteered at a Chinese school. Probably not something they're looking for? Thanks for the ideas, I'll be searching for a soup kitchen to volunteer at soon, I really appreciate it!

That counts as volunteering, and you should continue doing it, but it doesn't count as clinical experience (obviously).