Curious what my odds are / Want to gain some advice

[Sneaky Sloth]

Hi,

I am not sure how this forum works, but I am going into my third year at UCR as a Neuroscience major attempting to apply to an allopathic medical school. With the MCAT coming up this year, I wanted to post here and gain some last-minute pointers before I submitted my application this upcoming cycle.

My application thus far:
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
Science/Math GPA: 3.92
MCAT: will take it in the Spring (aiming for 512+)
Clinical experience: I am a medical scribe in the ED as of July 2019, so I will have about 10-11 months of ~ 8 hours a week under my belt before applying.
Research Experience: I have a research paper published with my name on it in the Journal of Environmental Science & and Engineering, however, I didn't do much in this lab (despite being there for a year), just some imaging, but they were kind enough to add me to the paper. I do also research in a Neuroscience lab (~1 year), where I do not have a publication for nor do I anticipate one (I will have a Senior Thesis though). But I participate heavily and understand the research much more clearly.
Community Service: I don't really have any long term clubs or commitments I am in, just small events I have done from time to time. However, I did recently join School on Wheels (tutoring homeless children) and plan to be here until matriculation into medical school. So about 6 months for about 2-3 hours a week.
Extracurriculars: Vice president of my social fraternity here on campus. University Honors. Tutored college kids. Planning to join my on-campus pre-med fraternity too.

This is, from what I understand, the bulk of my application. I plan to get a letter of rec from my Neuroscience lab professor, my English teacher whom I know very closely, and one of the providers from my hospital that I scribe for. Other than that, I am not sure, and I wanted to hear from you experienced folk how I sound so far and where I can improve on. I understand that this upcoming year will be tough with the MCAT and application, so I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks,

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[Bonne Nuit]

Hi,

I am not sure how this forum works, but I am going into my third year at UCR as a Neuroscience major attempting to apply to an allopathic medical school. With the MCAT coming up this year, I wanted to post here and gain some last-minute pointers before I submitted my application this upcoming cycle.

My application thus far:
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
Science/Math GPA: 3.92
MCAT: will take it in the Spring (aiming for 512+)
Clinical experience: I am a medical scribe in the ED as of July 2019, so I will have about 10-11 months of ~ 8 hours a week under my belt before applying.
Research Experience: I have a research paper published with my name on it in the Journal of Environmental Science & and Engineering, however, I didn't do much in this lab (despite being there for a year), just some imaging, but they were kind enough to add me to the paper. I do also research in a Neuroscience lab (~1 year), where I do not have a publication for nor do I anticipate one (I will have a Senior Thesis though). But I participate heavily and understand the research much more clearly.
Community Service: I don't really have any long term clubs or commitments I am in, just small events I have done from time to time. However, I did recently join School on Wheels (tutoring homeless children) and plan to be here until matriculation into medical school. So about 6 months for about 2-3 hours a week.
Extracurriculars: Vice president of my social fraternity here on campus. University Honors. Tutored college kids. Planning to join my on-campus pre-med fraternity too.

This is, from what I understand, the bulk of my application. I plan to get a letter of rec from my Neuroscience lab professor, my English teacher whom I know very closely, and one of the providers from my hospital that I scribe for. Other than that, I am not sure, and I wanted to hear from you experienced folk how I sound so far and where I can improve on. I understand that this upcoming year will be tough with the MCAT and application, so I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks,

Get another science prof LOR. That should give you 2 science letters, one non-science letter, and one "employer" letter (the doctor for whom you scribe). I had a similar set of LORs, and it was sufficient for all 30+ schools I applied to this cycle.

Will your neuroscience professor be able to speak to your personal characteristics as well as your academic qualifications? There should be at least one letter by someone who knows you very well.

Get as many community service hours with the tutoring program as you can. The more the better.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Hi, thanks for replying! I appreciate it.

Yes, I should probably do that. My other lab PI (environmental science) writes great letters of recommendation from what I hear from my colleagues, but I am not close with him at all. I will work on that otherwise I am going to be in trouble...

I believe my neuro LOR can, I will take a course with him and we've been able to do social activities outside of lab too, so we're good friends.

Where do we think a competitive number of hours for community service is?

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Hi, thanks for replying! I appreciate it.

Yes, I should probably do that. My other lab PI (environmental science) writes great letters of recommendation from what I hear from my colleagues, but I am not close with him at all. I will work on that otherwise I am going to be in trouble...

I believe my neuro LOR can, I will take a course with him and we've been able to do social activities outside of lab too, so we're good friends.

Where do we think a competitive number of hours for community service is?

Definitely try to rope in the other PI to write you a letter. I recommend scheduling a meeting with him to formally request a LOR. Ahead of the meeting, send him your resume, a recap of what you did in his lab, a brief description of any special successes you had in his class/lab (just to jog his memory or prime him to think nice things about you), and maybe a very rough outline of your personal statement. Let him know who you are as a person, and ask if he'd be willing to write you a positive letter of recommendation. 95% likely he'll say yes.

I've heard a good rule of thumb is a minimum of 100 hours community service, with extra bonus points for working with disadvantaged groups (which you're already doing). SDN candidates generally seem to have about 150-300 hours (in my loose estimation). Obviously, you can never give too much service to underserved communities, but your bare minimum hours should be around 100. It shows you've given a few hours a week for about a year. The Jesuit/mission-driven schools (e.g., Loyola, Rush) are going to want to see lots of service hours, but your state schools/other private schools may be fine with less.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Makes sense. Will do. Thank you so much, you've been of great help!

 

[candbgirl]

Does your school have a committee letter? If so, use that. Med schools expect you to use the committee letter when available. As to hours, the following is expected:
-150+ clinical experience
-150+ nonclinical volunteering geared to the underserved/ unserved in your community
-50 hours physician shadowing, this should include a good chunk shadowing a primary care doc

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Does your school have a committee letter? If so, use that. Med schools expect you to use the committee letter when available. As to hours, the following is expected:
-150+ clinical experience
-150+ nonclinical volunteering geared to the underserved/ unserved in your community
-50 hours physician shadowing, this should include a good chunk shadowing a primary care doc

Good point about the committee letter; my school doesn’t offer one so I always forget about it!

Question for you though: does OP need additional shadowing given their scribing experience? I’ve never been quite clear on whether scribing can substitute for shadowing or not.

 

[candbgirl]

Good point about the committee letter; my school doesn’t offer one so I always forget about it!

Question for you though: does OP need additional shadowing given their scribing experience? I’ve never been quite clear on whether scribing can substitute for shadowing or not.

I’m not a big fan of scribing so I’m probably not the best person to ask. But it wouldn’t hurt to get some real shadowing with a primary care doc. Otherwise it’s like OP I double dipping.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

What is a committee letter? And how would I go about getting it?

 

[THEBACKANDFORTH]

What is a committee letter? And how would I go about getting it?

If you're a pre med and havent heard of committee letters, doubt your school offers them

your mcat is really all that matters about your app now in my opinion. 512 YAY im gonna be a doctor 508 I hope i interview well at my state school 501 Hello D.O.

edit: although you should have 2 science letters. Send your english letter in place of 2nd science letter when possible since it will be better

 

[candbgirl]

What is a committee letter? And how would I go about getting it?

Go to your premed office and ask if they do a committee letter and if they do what is the process for obtaining one.

 

[Cornfed101]

Good point about the committee letter; my school doesn’t offer one so I always forget about it!

Question for you though: does OP need additional shadowing given their scribing experience? I’ve never been quite clear on whether scribing can substitute for shadowing or not.

I scribed for a few months, and I recommend shadowing a little. I only did 20 hours of shadowing, and I thought that was sufficient. I have NOT shadowed in primary care, and if you can do that then great, but don't feel like your app is doomed if you have not.

Scribing would be listed as clinical employment on AMCAS so it is always good to have a separate entry specific to shadowing.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

I scribed for a few months, and I recommend shadowing a little. I only did 20 hours of shadowing, and I thought that was sufficient. I have NOT shadowed in primary care, and if you can do that then great, but don't feel like your app is doomed if you have not.

Scribing would be listed as clinical employment on AMCAS so it is always good to have a separate entry specific to shadowing.

Hi,

Thanks for that input! If you don't mind me asking, what is the importance of shadowing when you already scribe? I figure that scribing is essentially very similar to shadowing as we both follow the physician around.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

If you're a pre med and havent heard of committee letters, doubt your school offers them

your mcat is really all that matters about your app now in my opinion. 512 YAY im gonna be a doctor 508 I hope i interview well at my state school 501 Hello D.O.

edit: although you should have 2 science letters. Send your english letter in place of 2nd science letter when possible since it will be better

It took me a second there to understand your joke about the MCAT scores, but once I got it, I laughed haha.

Can you elaborate on the order I should select my LORs to be in?

Thanks

 

[Cornfed101]

Hi,

Thanks for that input! If you don't mind me asking, what is the importance of shadowing when you already scribe? I figure that scribing is essentially very similar to shadowing as we both follow the physician around.

For me? I shadowed a half dozen different specialties. I wanted to see more than just emergency medicine. I think it was also to make it easier on myself during interviews. I will never be asked “why didn’t you shadow?” Because while most people think shadowing and scribing are synonymous, not everyone does. Your focus is a little different.

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Makes sense, thank tho!

 

[Sneaky Sloth]

Update: I just talked to my Pre-Med Academic Advisor and my school does not offer committee LORs